DIS·EASE
A COLLABORATION WITH THE |
museum of
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This semester students explored public health, activism, bioethics, stigma, and the politics of disease. We began with Frankenstein, then students individually researched strategies artists used to work with these themes and topics. We then looked into the politics and social constructions of different diseases, the work of ACT UP, the Los Angeles Poverty Department, Tania Bruguera’s Immigrant Movement International. Students visited the museum three times in the semester and created contemporary art works that illustrated knowledge and interpretation of these complex subjects.
Students exhibited their work at MCASD, May 17th, 2018 during the Downtown at Sundown event.
Students exhibited their work at MCASD, May 17th, 2018 during the Downtown at Sundown event.
EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHS
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Project Highlights
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YOU LOOK FINE
Corbyn Archuleta Maelee McCarron Yulianna Izaguirre Belen Castro In this work we created an illusion with the individual symptoms of lupus. We were inspired by Sadie Barnette's art piece “Dear 1968”. The pop of her bright colors and repetitiveness is what we chose to reinterpret within our own piece. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that attacks an individual's own internal organs. These symptoms are not usually seen by others. In our work, we hope to reveal the symptoms of lupus through the allusion of a color blind test. This color blind test represents that the disease is hard to see and hard to diagnose. |
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BREATHE Gabe Gonzalez Erik Port Josue Solano Romero Gisella Dircio In this artwork, we created photographs to show the causes and symptoms of lung cancer and also work with the stigma attached to it. Other factors that cause lung cancer are air pollution and genetics. Our images depict the symptoms, environmental factors, and stigmas of lung cancer. Even high doses of vitamin B-12 can feed lung cancer cells on the tumors. Tala Madani’s “Head in the Oven” inspired our work. Madani showed an alternate side of depression and suicide through suffocation. We reinterpreted this piece to work with lung cancer, breath, and suffocation. We also created a cigarette box art piece to again highlight that smoking is not always the cause of lung cancer. The “B-12” on the box is a literal representation of the vitamin, which in high doses, can contribute to the growth of lung cancer tumors. |
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THE PLAGUE
Nayeli Torres Andrea Felipe The plague, known as the Black Death or the Black Plague, was a horrifying disease that caused mass hysteria around the world during the mid-1300s and on. In this piece, we were inspired by Marnie Weber’s “Mr. White Bear”. We wanted to work with sculpture and the human body and created a mannequin out of tape dressed as the plague doctor. The plague doctors in Europe wore this outfit to protect themselves from the disease. This outfit was an ankle length overcoat and a bird mask with a very long beak. The mask was filled with sweet or strong smelling substances, (usually lavender), along with gloves, boots, a wide brim hat, and an outer garment. The purpose of the mask was to not only to keep away the smell of decaying bodies, but doctors believed that the herbs would help counter the “evils” of the plague and prevent infection. The disease was in fact caused by a bacteria called Yersinia Pestis that circulates among wild rodents. The fleas of these rodents spread the disease to humans. We chose black rats in our piece because they were the “house rats” or “ship rats” of the time that spread the infection. |
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