Final Year Research project - Mental health and Art: October 2016

Friday, 28 October 2016

Tutorial talk with Kieran - new brief for experiments.

Yesterday I had a talk with my tutor, Kieran Phelps and he suggested as my work so far has been looking into the visualization of mental disorders; that I have a look at creating my own designs. What I plan to do is a thorough experiment which will become six separate experiments on this subject. I am going to start by drawing my interpretation of each mental illness/disorder. Then I will ask people who suffer from said illness/disorder to brief me on what they think it should look like.

For instance a lot of artists who draw mental illnesses often draw them from what they interpret them to be. However in these experiments, I will have the people who actually have to live with these things tell me how they should look - i.e. bigger teeth, smaller, bigger, scales, posture, color ect. In doing so they will brief me on what they feel it should look like and I will draw another creature. then I will take that creature to the next person with anxiety, depression, ADHD ect, and ask if it represents what they have. Then they will ask me to tweak and change bits, which I will do again to create a whole new character. I plan to go to five or six different people for each disorder.

Hopefully this experiment will show me how different people who are going through the same things see their problem as different entities. It will show me development , teach me to work to a brief and to match exactly what people tell me to do and see in their heads. It will also be concept art, in a way. At the end of the experiment for each one I will record the changes I had to make and why and what the people said, also I will record how each experience made me feel; whether I have a better understanding of the disorder now or not.

So - six disorders, five or six people for each - so that's five or six drawings for each. I will make a new page for each set of developing experiences.

Friday, 21 October 2016

Mental health illustrations further visual research by Shawn Coss

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References:

(1)http://educateinspirechange.org/inspirational/art/illustrated-mental-illness-disorders-inktober/

Wednesday, 12 October 2016

NEXT STEP -MORE IDEAS FOR EXPERIEMENTS

Ok first of all - Artshape never got back to me so that idea is out of the window.

How visual stimuli effects moods;
show people different images with different colours and record how it makes them feel. Visual triggers?
Guy does self portrait every year as his Alzheimer's gets worse? How it started normal and ended really surreal.
Self-portraits on different kind of drugs? vaguely relates to mental health I suppose. Get flatmates drunk and get them to draw themselves? Before and after?
Synaesthesia - seeing words as colour. colour relates to a sense. Sound, sight, smell, ect. (I know someone with this whom I could interview)
There's a guy who makes images out of numbers - maths. He turns equations and numbers into art.

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

ArtShape

http://www.artshape.co.uk/

(1)

Mark told me about this project Artshape which is to help people suffering from things such as abusive relationships, racism victims, over 50's ,people with mental health and disabilities, learning and physical, and Homeless and unemployed people. This is a perfect thing for me to look into. They help people with mental health issues through art. their slogan is 'Enhancing people's lives through access to the arts'.

(1)

I would love the chance to go and talk to these people and see how they work with people and study their processes. Their aim is to motivate people and build their confidence. To build strong relationship skills too.They thrive with volunteer work. (2)They work with individuals as well as group-work. I have sent them an email and eagerly await their response. I would love the chance to sit in on one of their sessions and see how they use art to help people.

References