The Theory of Forms
I hope you get to see the next show:
JUNE 6 - JULY 31, 2013
Opening Reception:
Thursday, June 6 4-6 pm
Showing posts with label Arthur DeBow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arthur DeBow. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Object Acquisition # 77-285.1.3 Magneto-Electric Machine
Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:
Object Acquisition # 77-285.1.3 Magneto-Electric Machine
Object Interpreted and Statement by Marilyn Joyce
“I am busy just now again on Electro-Magnetism and think I have got hold of a good thing but can't say; it may be a weed instead of a fish that after all my labour I may at last pull up.”
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) contributor to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
Through the turn of a crank, rotating magnets generate an electric current, passing through cloth-covered wire and metal handles. The surge, an electrical force penetrates the skin, then deeper into the tissue, reaching the place of stored pain. The buzzing sensation professed to be the magical force of the ‘cure’ pulsates through the body of the anxious patient…
This piece references the nervous system that was treated by the Electro Magnetic Machine during the mid 1800’s, my object for The Hunt. I was attracted to the types of disorders that people suffered from and sought treatment for: exhaustion due to overwork, insomnia, melancholia, poor circulation, female and male weaknesses, head pains – echoing what so many people struggle with in our contemporary culture.
The materials selected, thin paper on which a transparent print of my back rests, veils a second paper with marks built in layers, waxed and ink stained - an internal world that lies underneath, felt but hidden from view - vibrations, agitation, short bursts, pulses, rhythmical beating - a network of energy as it flows through our nervous system.
As I marked, I reflected on what people may have experienced prior to treatment: vulnerability, isolation, shame and fear - laced with hope for a cure and the freedom of life without pain - which ultimately did not transpire with the use of this machine.
The materials selected, thin paper on which a transparent print of my back rests, veils a second paper with marks built in layers, waxed and ink stained - an internal world that lies underneath, felt but hidden from view - vibrations, agitation, short bursts, pulses, rhythmical beating - a network of energy as it flows through our nervous system.
As I marked, I reflected on what people may have experienced prior to treatment: vulnerability, isolation, shame and fear - laced with hope for a cure and the freedom of life without pain - which ultimately did not transpire with the use of this machine.
This image was printed from the body
and had an amazing drawing underneath.
This drawing illustrated the internal nature.
This photo doesn't capture the
feeling of this image in person.
Closer detail.
Curators note:
This pieces was thoughtful and provoking into the inner workings of the human body and feelings. Very powerful.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Object Acquisition # 77-131.2.5 Aspirating Syringe
Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:
Object Acquisition # 77-131.2.5 Aspirating Syringe
Object Interpreted and Statement by Maria Cardenas
I was completely and utterly excited about this project, and then I saw my chosen object…excitement turned to fear. How can I find inspiration from an object that inflicts pain?
The Brass Aspirating Syringe was beautifully crafted in 1887 - how could I not be inspired by a 124 year old piece of medical equipment? I had to find another way to fully embrace this distinctive device.
No one I know enjoys the prospect of being injected. But it is a necessary and vital part of everyone’s life medically today, just as it was more than a century ago. How do you feel when faced with physical or emotional pain? How do you cope with it, knowing it’s coming and inevitable?
What allows me to endure and cope during these moments – is the simple ability to breathe. This brings me great solitude, deep breathing, slow and steady.
Curators Note: Complete Beauty... The simplicity of breath.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Object Acquisition # 77-201.1.10 Cupping Set
Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:
Object Acquisition # 77-201.1.10 Cupping Set
Object Interpreted and Statement by: Liv Rainey Smith
www.LivRaineySmith.com
Upon examining them, I could identify signs of their hand construction such as saw blade marks and solder lines. After some careful handling I was able to raise and lower the blade depth, cock the blades with the lever, and trigger the spring loaded action with the button. The blades passed in and out of the device so rapidly my eyes almost didn't register the movement. Although my stomach churned at the thought of being cut by those twelve rounded blades, fascination soon set in and I realized a relationship exists between this once high-tech tool and modern bloodletting tools.
Diabetics today utilize adjustable, spring loaded lancets to draw blood on a daily basis. The purpose is different, but the mechanics are similar. Even if you've never used a testing lancet, you've likely been exposed to advertisements touting the ease and comfort of the latest model. With this connection in mind, I created my vision of a 19th century advertisement for G.C. Ahlbeck's finely crafted product.
Detail of G.C.Ahlbeck's Scarificator advert
Detail of G.C.Ahlbeck's Scarificator advert
Curator's Note:
This piece was created by carving one wood block. She started with one color and worked her way to black. Excellent Work! Be sure to check out Liv's webpage for other goodies.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Object Acquisition # 2001-014 McLean Book Plate
Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:
Object Acquisition # 2001-014 McLean Book Plate
Object interpreted and Statement by: Jessie Benenson
"The McLean Prospected Fund Memorial Scholarship Trust"
The OHSU Archive is haunted by traces of the lives of medical practitioners, researchers and patients. A medical archive is filled primarily by the words and materials of dead men and women. Doctors and Institutions leave their papers to an archive in the hopes that their lives and sacrifices were important enough to be maintained and preserved. It is interesting to wonder at what is saved and even more intriguing to speculate what is not included; what stories are lost.
There is no way to catalog a life and even if there were, there is no way to control the way information is disseminated after you are gone. A brilliant and arrogant brain Surgeon donated his book collection to the archives perhaps in the anticipation they would be useful in the future.
My "object" in the scavenger hunt were the hand painted book plates. The Surgeon's attitude about death and what lies after, seemed to thumb a nose at a spiritual passage, and he asks specifically for his name to sink into oblivion. But the grotesque figures in the book plates look to me to be roguish Spirits who have not only kept the Surgeon alive in the archive, but let his personal story mutate into a fable. I used his own words, excerpted from his will, but I alternate them with my imagined puppet play. The Spirits form the book plate seemed vaguely Balinese to me, and drawing from my knowledge and love of puppet making, I fabricated a small shadow theater featuring the Spirits and my re-imagined Surgeon.
I have read that brain surgeons are often seen as "playing God," and if that is true, artist do it as well. I have taken information from the OHSU library, and shaped into a narrative of my own device, and to serve my own purpose.
Curator's Note:
This shadow puppet play was softly lit from the inside but yet showed the Surgeon in his true vocation. I am ever amazed at the artists in my life.... Jessie Benenson also grew and had a baby during the making of this piece. I want to thank her and her wonderful husband Ian for support and advising this project when itself was in utero to its fruition.
Object interpreted and Statement by: Jessie Benenson
"The McLean Prospected Fund Memorial Scholarship Trust"
The OHSU Archive is haunted by traces of the lives of medical practitioners, researchers and patients. A medical archive is filled primarily by the words and materials of dead men and women. Doctors and Institutions leave their papers to an archive in the hopes that their lives and sacrifices were important enough to be maintained and preserved. It is interesting to wonder at what is saved and even more intriguing to speculate what is not included; what stories are lost.
There is no way to catalog a life and even if there were, there is no way to control the way information is disseminated after you are gone. A brilliant and arrogant brain Surgeon donated his book collection to the archives perhaps in the anticipation they would be useful in the future.
My "object" in the scavenger hunt were the hand painted book plates. The Surgeon's attitude about death and what lies after, seemed to thumb a nose at a spiritual passage, and he asks specifically for his name to sink into oblivion. But the grotesque figures in the book plates look to me to be roguish Spirits who have not only kept the Surgeon alive in the archive, but let his personal story mutate into a fable. I used his own words, excerpted from his will, but I alternate them with my imagined puppet play. The Spirits form the book plate seemed vaguely Balinese to me, and drawing from my knowledge and love of puppet making, I fabricated a small shadow theater featuring the Spirits and my re-imagined Surgeon.
I have read that brain surgeons are often seen as "playing God," and if that is true, artist do it as well. I have taken information from the OHSU library, and shaped into a narrative of my own device, and to serve my own purpose.
Curator's Note:
This shadow puppet play was softly lit from the inside but yet showed the Surgeon in his true vocation. I am ever amazed at the artists in my life.... Jessie Benenson also grew and had a baby during the making of this piece. I want to thank her and her wonderful husband Ian for support and advising this project when itself was in utero to its fruition.
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