THIS FATAL SUBJECT

ABOUT THE PROJECT: In an age-shy but ageing society, death is a taboo subject, often regarded as a failure, by and of medical staff, and even the patient (who didn't 'fight' enough!). We want to open up new areas for debate by exploring the physical dying process down to cellular level and beyond. Our scientifically-informed works will offer the general public and the medical community valuable new insights into contemporary social and cultural attitudes. Post-Alderhay and post-Shipman, public mistrust has caused a severe shortage of organs for transplant (now an EU priority), and donated cadavers for dissection. As the 'moment of death' is constantly redefined, the public, and medical staff, have to make ethical life or death decisions for relatives and patients - to resuscitate / treat or not? Yet there is an overwhelming interest in pathology, cf. TV's CSI, Bones, and Gunter von Hagen. Phase One, currently underway as of January 5th 2008, is Research and Development, focusing on the body's journey from life to death with scientific accuracy.

HOW IT STARTED: Visual artist Susan Aldworth and writer Valerie Laws met through sci-art projects. Both of us survived near-death experiences. We began developing This Fatal Subject. Later meeting sculptor Eleanor Crook, we realised cross-disciplinary work could powerfully express the complexities of death. Visiting the Gordon Pathology Museum led to Keeper Bill Edwards giving us specially-created residencies; further, Professor Standring (Head of Department of Anatomy and Human Sciences) offered to act as our advisor, introducing us to specialist scientists at KCL. We met medical students, learning of a common reluctance to dissect or even see cadavers' faces, showing cultural and social issues where Humanities input might inform both sides. Today, the body is visually permeable as never before via cutting-edge medical technology inspiring many contemporary artists.

WE WILL:

  1. forge working partnerships with scientists, at KCL and elsewhere.
  2. explore a new kind of collaboration - rather than working intensively one-to-one, we will follow the journey of the dying body, alongside a chain of specialists willing to share findings.
  3. form truly collaborative partnerships with each other, creating multi-media pieces, as well as following our individual interests.
  4. develop techniques and gathering material for new forms of art, poetry, and anatomical modelling with animatronics.
  5. develop a strong body of material and knowledge with the potential to produce work for eventual public exhibitions.
  6. set up a two-way dialogue with medical staff and students, reach a clear understanding of their ethical, social and cultural issues and create a Special Study Module (SSM). We will listen and respond to scientists' and students' views about the social, cultural and ethical implications of their work. See our BLOG page to make comments and exchange views.
  7. finalise venues for public exhibitions, forging relationships with curators.

All three of us are very experienced at, and inspired by, working in medical and/or scientific environments. The strength of This Fatal Subject lies in bringing together three highly-skilled artists from three different disciplines to explore the process of dying. Our practices are wide-reaching, affording exciting collaborative possibilities with each other: writing, etching, film, digital print, light and sound installations, photography and anatomical sculpture. Our cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach offers the range of practice and form that this complicated subject needs.

Our initial/specific research interests:

  1. Writer Valerie Laws watched her parents die recently, one from dementia, one from aortic aneurysm: she is following the 'stories' of a slow, gradual death, and a sudden death, from specimens to scientific research input, in 'filmic' poetry sequences. She has a special interest in the Gordon Museum's 'malformed foetuses' and wishes to explore the concept of being born with a fatal syndrome. She intends to invent new physical forms of poetry using animation, sound, and 3-D pieces.
  2. Visual artist Susan Aldworth's special interest is in the interface between science and art in consciousness studies - the relationship between the physical brain (object) and our sense of self (subjective experience). She is investigating 'the death of the self' - the fragile interdependence of self on the physical brain challenged by strokes, tumours and Alzheimer's. Her research method starts with closely observing the brain - via specimens in the Gordon, dissections, post mortems and scans. She is recording these experiences and observations and, with philosophical and scientific (neuropsychological) research, identify and refine her subject.
  3. Anatomical sculptor Eleanor Crook works in wax and lifelike or biological materials. Her interest is in the moment or process of death which converts a person into a quantity of matter, which until recently was so configured as to support life. The corpse is an immediate, albeit temporary, effigy of the deceased. The moment of death is of interest to a maker of figures because it mirrors the moment of coming to life of the lump of dumb matter newly fangled into an apparently animate being. She is exploring techniques with electronics and animatronics.

After six months or so of Phase One, Phase Two's eventual public exhibitions will combine new technology with techniques developed in Phase One, comprising individual pieces (two- and three- dimensional art, text, sculpture, film, and sound) and collaborative works combining these forms. Our initial ideas are not proscriptive, and will change during our R&D, evolving freely in response to the medical science we encounter.We intend to develop new techniques in our artistic practice to express new material arising from Phase One and our collaboration.

Collaborating with students at KCL involves meeting students in the dissection rooms and through the Anatomical and Surgical Societies. KCL have asked us, as experienced lecturers, to develop an SSM to allow students to explore their issues through the arts. We will tackle issues, e.g. problems dissecting faces, and students' common 'first bereavement experience' of grandparents dying, and how it affects their work with cadavers, mostly of older donors. Our website with project blog welcomes feedback, and ideas for the SSM or any other issues that interest you.