Historic Medical Drawings
These drawings continued my research into both anatomy and slicing. These drawings, primarily taken from Leonardo da Vinci's research displays a dark drawing styled give a similar mood to Susan Aldworth's pieces. I appreciate the commitment and early pursuit of knowledge from these early surgeons and doctors and I can imagine brutal process that the artists went through to achieve these drawings. I'm only slicing fabric for research, they were slicing humans to further their research.
Lindgren, Laura. Mütter Museum. Historic Medical Photographs / The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. New York, New York : Blast Books, 2007.
ASSEMBLE
When I began my research into slicing objects, I was reminded of these stools by ASSEMBLE. The stools were commissioned by a public park in Harrow. The stools and the diagrams on their website displayed this idea of slicing in a clear manner. I love the shapes the trees and the rings inside created. I can imagine I'll use this shaping for experimentation and draping.
Assemble. Furnishing Lowlands. 2011. Furniture
Evelyn Tables
These evelyn tables were the main reference point for Susan Aldworth's "The Portrait Anatomised". I think it's informative and fascinating to see the references for other artists. This allows me to see whta they extract from their research and to create something from the same research point.
Evelyn, John. The Evelyn Tables. 1646. Arteries on wood.
Experimentation with suit
As Petra advised, I bought a suit from a charity shop for experimentation. This garment experimentation follows my slicing research and allows me to observe the materials used in a suit. I cut away at the shoulder pad to reveal each layer of material. This layered material element is something I want to include in my final piece.
It has informed my material choices for my final piece. I think using actual menswear materials found in suiting will make my final pice more mature.
The shape cutting the shoulder has created can also be used in my collaging.
Gus Cunningham
Gus Cunningham is an epileptic artist and one of my most insightful references. He talks openly about how epilepsy has affected his life and his art. One piece of his I found very interesting was bran scans of a man moments before a seizure. The images show the inside of a mans brain, I love this idea of something being revealed underneath something using an X-Ray.
Cummins, Gus. Aura. 2007. Print
"Interview: Gus Cummins talks about his new work Itcal" 11th August 2008. Colin Hambrook. http://www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/Gus_Cummins_Interview
I'm interested in how you came to the idea of making work that comes out of your experience of epilepsy?
My first seizures occurred in 1991, and I did not recognise them as epilepsy. As a result, I was not diagnosed for two years. My very first seizure felt like an out of body experience ? walking along a road I had a glowing sensation in my abdomen, rising through my body. This was followed by a sense of unreality, like a very intense déjà vu. As the episode ended, I smiled involuntarily ? I wasn?t particularly happy, more intrigued as to what had just happened (I now know that it was a typical Temporal Lobe Seizure).
Over the next couple of years the seizures continued, increasing in intensity and frequency. At the same time I started an Art Foundation Course. This was a fantastically creative time of my life, and I will always associate epilepsy with art. The seizures provided me with creative material, and somehow I shrugged off the fact that I didn?t know what was happening.
Eventually the condition intensified into Grand Mal seizures ? ?tonic clonic? is the current term for these convulsive fits, which leave a person unconscious, and recovering in great pain and confusion.
I was diagnosed and medicated, and the epilepsy was 95% controlled. At that time my artwork lost a bit of spark in my opinion ? I was now on a drug that tamed my brain, and I felt it did the same to my creativity.
Nearly ten years later epilepsy returned with a vengeance. Once again it came in the back door. I didn?t realise that sleep time episodes of writhing were the beginning. Then the Temporal Lobe Seizure returned, along with episodes that led to periods of dysphasia ? inability to speak or understand language ? and confused wandering.
I was referred to a neurologist who worked hard to find a combination of drugs to control the epilepsy. When she couldn?t completely control the condition after trying a few combinations, she explained that medication was now unlikely to achieve the control it had previously. I was now offered the option of brain surgery, and began a long episode of scans and tests ? which has now been ongoing for nearly four years.
I sought luminosity ? laying coloured glazes over reflective under painting. I used geometric harmony as a subject, but still hidden within some of the images was a private language of imperfection and dysfunction.
As I underwent tests, I was immersed in a scientific world of brain scans and analysis. I asked lots of questions; I wanted to know about my condition and the possible outcomes of different treatments. Then something clicked - the elements were in front of me: I was a creative person. I?d been through dark times due to my ignorance of epilepsy. I was surrounded by great imagery related to epilepsy. If I created using the brain scans and scientific data I could make an exhibition of artistic and social merit. I decided to make work informed by epilepsy.
Who were your creative influences?
My creative influences have been diverse. I was lucky to travel in Asia 20 years ago and was very impressed by Indonesian art, especially fabric printing and weaving techniques. The processes required a lot of discipline and were steeped in tradition.
Researching Asian art led me to Taoist philosophy, and also to Japanese art and music. I was very influenced by an exhibition by Paris based Yoshida Kenji in about 1993. I admire the work and ethos of Bauhaus artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian. Kandinsky used music as a device for visual composition, a technique that I have used. Klee also associated music and vision. Mondrian divided canvases into panels, with ratio and proportion as a priority.
My paintings with large areas of single colour recalled the work of Mark Rothko. When I made the first Ictal Project exhibition with its screen-printed images, it was with respect to the work of Andy Warhol.
I've long been fascinated by Dosteyevsky's descriptions of having a seizure, as the feelings he describes fit some of my own experiences of having out-of-body experiences. However, rather than epilepsy my own diagnosis has always been on the maniac depression / schizophrenia threshold. I think it shows how little is really understood by the medical profession.
I identified with some of the experiences of Prince Myshkin, the character with epilepsy in Fyodor Dostoevsky?s novel The Idiot. Dostoevsky uses Myshkin to describe aspects of the epileptic experience, occasionally sublimely beautiful, usually blurred and dark. This matched Dostoevsky?s own experience of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. I only had the beautiful feelings on very rare occasions, but they are permanently etched on my memory.
Umbrella
Wen-Ying Tsai's 1971 piece- Umbrella is something I first saw last year at the Tate Modern. I noticed the sign outside stated the piece would not be appropriate for epileptics. I was confused at first as I walked into a dark dome, eventually someone clapped and their action sent a jolt of light up the umbrella. More and more people began to clap triggering the piece to continue to light up.
This piece captures the brain epileptic perfectly from my point of view. My research has shown me that epileptics suffer seizures due to an overload of electricity in the brain. With this in consideration I saw the Umbrella as the brain, our claps as the triggering material and the electricity as the intense electrical activity in the brain of an epileptic during a seizure. I'm unsure if this is what Tsai intended but it's how I perceived it. In a way, this seems like a fine art response to my brief.
Susan Aldworth- The Portrait Anatomised
Susan Aldworth is a visual artist / painter who's exhibition: The Portrait Anatomised combined the anatomy and struggle of people living with Epilepsy. Each portrait represented an individual. For example, one person she did a piece on, Elizabeth, wanted to start a family but didn't want her child to be born with side effects from Antiepileptic Drugs. This is a dilemma that I imagine many people suffering from epilepsy go through and Aldworth did a good job illustrating this.
I find her reference to early art about anatomy fascinating. The Evelyn Table was a clear influence on the delicate lines and lay out of her paining. These reference gives her work a medieval kind of look, I could imagine it on a surgeons wall hundreds of years ago.
Aldworth, Susan.The Portrait Anatomised. London: National Portrait Galery, 2014. Print.
Adverse effects of anti epileptic drugs
"Since antiepileptic drugs have a narrow therapeutic index and their adverse effects can affect any organ and apparatus, their widespread use has significant safety implications...
...For people with drug-resistant epilepsy, several studies have shown that adverse effects are the primary determinants of low quality of life and have a more important impact on quality of life than the frequency of seizures...
Neurological adverse effects
...Since antiepileptic drugs act by modulating the activity of cerebral neurons, it is no surprise that the majority of their adverse effects affect the central nervous system. Those most frequently observed include sedation, fatigue, dizziness, coordination disturbances (ataxia, dysarthria, diplopia), tremor, cognitive deficits, mood alterations, behavioural changes and sexual disorders (loss of libido, erectile dysfunction)...
...Among effects on the central nervous system, the possibility of paradoxical worsening of seizures has been reported. This phenomenon may be caused by use of excessive doses, or by prescription of an antiepileptic drug inappropriate for the specific type of epilepsy. For example, carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine can worsen seizures and even precipitate status epilepticus when given to patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy..."
Peruca, Emillio. "Adverse Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs." English. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017. <http://www.pharmaco-vigilance.eu/content/adverse-effects-antiepileptic-drugs>.
Wax Experimentation
The Artifacts of Fire and Wax (process)
Caleb Charland's prints- The Artifacts of Fire and Wax create a really intriguing texture that I could see being translate into a textile. The photos were processed using a gelatin silver print (photogram).
I believe the pieces were created by melting a candle onto a canvas or piece of paper, the name is a pretty good clue as well as the burn marks on the pages.
What I appreciate is how the marks on the paper appear to be small drawings of bubbles, yet the artist has little control over the outcome as he is allowing a candle to melt rather than having control over the placement.
Caleb Charland,The Artifacts of Fire and Wax, gelatin silver print (photogram) 2014.
Design Museum
I visited the Design Museum last week for general inspiration. I was hoping to find some interesting design details for later in my research as well as designs that involve channelling electricity
There were definitely some designs that interested me but not much that applied to my research. However, visiting this museum provided me with inspiration that I was lacking earlier this week. I feel being around architecture or product design can provide me with the mood I desire for my development
Janet Yagoda Shagam
Janey Yagoda Shagam suffers from epilepsy but says she doesn't like to make it a large part of her life. Shagam creates monochromatic paintings. I can see this pieces influencing the colour and mood of my work.
Janey Yagoda Shagam, Loon Lake 2008
Birdeye Landscapes in France
The art piece by Caleb Charland has the appearance of a landscape so I began studying landscapes.
This one I found had a similar appearance to the art work. However, I want to consider the physical aspects of the landscape.
BioGraphs (process)
Caleb Charland is a photographer with epilepsy, he works primarily with photography but also creates paintings which capture light and texture. In this case however, he creates something which captures life.
Charland's process involved coating film in Agar and allowing it to sit to observe bacteria create patterns on the film. These microscope patterns create something of a juxtaposition as they look like little worlds, some emulating a birds eye view of a landscape.
This idea is intriguing and I would like to apply this process to a textile on a piece for this project.
Caleb Charland, Biographs (2009)
Epilepsy Research UK
Epilepsy research is a charity which donates all their money to projects funding projects for epilepsy countering drugs and cures. As some may know Anti Epileptic Drugs often cause depression, weight loss and more. They spend around £800,000 a year on different projects. Often time this money goes to universities and scientists researching the topic.
I feel this charity is very important as I can imagine the struggle with AEDs is very difficult as its the choice between having life risking seizures and being possibly severely depressed. More advanced AED's would further these people's lives significantly.
Creative Sparks- Epilepsy & Art
Creative Sparks is a website dedicated to artists with epilepsy. Their goal is to bring an insight to how these artists portray their difficulties. Some artists make work based on their difficulties and seizures, where as some choose to not allow it to define them.
Epilepsy Action
Epilepsy Action is the UK's leading epilepsy organisation and is member led meaning everyone involved has epilepsy. Their website has quick advice in case of a seizure and advice and aid for those suffering from epilepsy.
CONTROL (2007 FILM)
When thinking of Control the first media that came to my mind was the 2007 film Control about the life and death of Ian Curtis. Control is naturally a reoccurring theme of the film. This theme is often represented through Ian's struggle with epilepsy, he fears his lack of control when performing as he was prone to seizures. However, the drugs he receives to combat these seizures cause him to be severely depressed. The lack of control he had over his life was a contributing factor to his suicide.
This inspired me to focus my research on epilepsy as it represents control on a physical and metal level.
Gallery Visit: White Cube
The current exhibition at the White Cube will certainly influence the mood and colours in my sketchbook and work for this project. Though I'm yet to come up with a solid concept, I hope to channel the same feelings this exhibition creates in my work. The 3-D pieces of this exhibition look as if they survived a bombing and were repurposed for this exhibit. I love the look of the twisted rusted metal and will keep this material in mind later on. The paintings in the exhibitions carried on this apocalyptic feel. The deep blues and captivating yellows of the painting will have to be something I keep in mind when I consider colour for my garment.
Anselm Kiefer. Walhalla. 23 November 2016 – 12 February 2017. Bermondsey c/o White Cube.