My body knows, and my body knows how to ask questions about that which it does not know. I can perform questions, and they may have resonance with others here [Speedy, Spry and Porter, 2015]
The project centres around using arts based inquiry to explore chronic physical pain through making, writing, performance and the exploration of an immersive installation. The embodied nature of pain, and our inarticulacy in relation to pain make it a valuable subject for exploration through art.
Pain is a totally immersive experience and is managed by diverting attention from it. Building on the work of Deborah Padfield, (who researched how co-created static, photographic images could expand a pain dialogue about facial pain in the consulting room) the project would build from each participant making a physical sculptural invocation of each individual’s pain and then starting to talk to and from that object, recording and documenting these conversations to craft into recorded performances. In turn to positively impact on conversations between patients and between patients and clinicians, which give back control and voice.
How can the themes and thoughts that emerge from the workshops/discussions and activities be expressed in the immersive digital space? What are the sensations of pain? What does pain look like? What does pain sound like? How do we hold it in the body? How do we release it? How can these words and questions translate into a fully immersive visual and sound experience?
Contact: davina.kirkpatrick@plymouth.ac.uk
Website: davinakirkpatrick.wordpress.com
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/130265747
