SEA OF LIES’ OR CREATIVE STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING AWARENESS OF TYPE 1 DIABETES' VISIBILITY, ARTISTIC POTENTIAL, AND CREATIVE PRACTICES

• Type: Summary of Presentation in an International Conference
• Date: 2023-05-05

Authors

Grécia Matos (Author) FBAUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: COMbART: Arte, artivismo e cidadania. Precariedades, resistências, existências: livro de resumos

Pages: 74-76

IV COMbART: Arte, artivismo e cidadania

Lisboa, 2023

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Humanities > Arts > Fine arts > Plastic arts > Sculpture

FOS: Humanities

Other information

Subject: Sculpture, diabetes type 1

Abstract (EN): The project explores how the experience of illness, in this case Type 1 Diabetes, can be interpreted and reinvented from a creative standpoint, reflecting on the "Articulations between youth activism and creative practices" axis. This process includes: 1) an exercise in reimagining the function of an object closely related to the universe of health and glucose control; and 2) the role of a young diabetic creator (Type 1 Diabetes) who sees their chronic condition as a starting point for the creation, awareness, and reduction of stigma associated with the sick body/diabetic body and its visibility in society. The research is being conducted as part of a doctorate in fine arts project that connects the body and matter deterioration. We are interested in crossing Arte Povera in the sense of removing barriers between art and society's daily life, using life as an inspiration to create. We will investigate how to make an object out of unusual materials in the field of sculpture through practice-based research. The proposal aims to create a form out of materials that have outlived their usefulness and poses the following questions: What are these objects' new lives? What new contexts and art directions can foster in artistic practice to raise awareness for the preservation of life? What is the significance of the self-referential or sharing factor? Blood glucose control strips are used as the materials. Blood glucose control strips are commonly used to inform the individual about their glucose level, which is monitored by a specific device and displayed in a graphic with a wave shape. It is intended to work with the wave metaphor as a cadence of the harmful food decisions we make if we do not exercise proper control and surveillance. "Sea of Lies" (2023) is an artistic project created entirely with blood glucose control strips that began with a personal chronical experience and progressed to an experience communicated to a general audience. The project aspires to be capable of touching and transforming various individuals in a cross-sectional manner. There will be discussions about DNA, work ethics, and the relationship between art and health, as well as art and science. It is intended to promote the concept of health education beginning with what is ingested; thus, health education begins with and in the mouth. Reuse issues will also be investigated, first in the blood glucose wave and then in the produced symbolic wave. We intend to study the wave's possible symbolism in the context of the visual arts for this purpose. We will do so by looking at Gary Hill's contributions to "Learning Curve" (1993), Jean Shin’s “Wave sound” (2007) and El Anatsui uses who uses resources typically discarded. Keywords | Palavras-chave: type 1 diabetes | artistic practice | activism | blood glucose control strips

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific