RPHC4001 Object & Body Unit - Elizabeta Mikelsone

8/13/2019 RPHC4001 Object & Body Unit - Elizabeta Mikelsone

1/33

RPHC4001 Object & Body Unit

PresentationElizabeta Mikelsone


2/33

Object

The theme of my object project is eatingdisorders. I have chosen tocreate work about eating disorders because it is a huge topic all overthe world. These disorders affect billions of people all over the world.In my research I have included brief information about variousdifferent eating disorders, but I have concentrated on the Anorexia as I

think it is the most common in women my age.

The issue with food and body image is affecting many people. I havefound out that the biggest influence for eating disorders is fashion

magazines, TV shows, advertisements etc., because most of thempromote beauty of overly skinny women.

My aim was to create a body of work to bring awareness of thisdisorder.


3/33

Research

Eating disorder - An abnormal pattern of food consumption leading to

a range of physical and psychological problems. Anorexia and bulimiaare the two most prevalent forms of eating disorder

Anorexia - absence of desire for food. In infants it is the failure tothrive. Anorexia nervosa is a feeding disorder, predominantly of

females, that starts typically in adolescence and is associated withamenorrhea and regression of secondary sexual characteristicscommon in hypothalamic dysfunction.

Pro Ana pro ana is an organisation or a group of individuals that

practise anorexia as a diet plan, instead of calling it a disorder. Most ofthese individuals are obsessed with the thought of being very skinnyand light.


4/33

Diet tips from ProAna website Lemonade diet (250cal) 3litres homemade lemonade a day: lemons, maple syrup, and

cayenne pepper Sayno(1500cal)no sugar, no alcohol, no carbs after dinner plus exercise burning 1000

calories Detox diet3 juices, 1 bowl of broth a day, 2 colonic per week Watercress soup3 bowls of soup a day Raw foodvegetable, fruit and nuts in small portions 6x a day.

Day one 275cal Breakfastherbal tea Lunchbanana and workout Snackapple Dinner2oz boiled chicken (chopped)

with can mix vegetable,topped off with Alfredo sauce

Day two300 cal Breakfastherbal tea Lunchbanana and workout Snackapple Dinnerpork with with lightly

steamed baby carrots

Day three - 200 Breakfastherbal tea Lunchbanana and workout Snackapple Dinnersalad with balsamic dressing (low

calorie)


5/33

Practise shoot

This shoot was inspired by the research I have gathered. The set is a dinner tableset for two anorexics. The meal consists of a diet pill and watershowing that

anorexics do not want to eat food and drink sugar and calorie rich drinks.


6/33

Artist research

Sophie Calle


7/33

Sophie Calle - The Chromatic Diet

For six days Calle consumed a diet of a single food colour. This work is not the

only piece in which she has created a script in which involves her. She evokesto me a very powerful character in much of her work, yes there is aphotograph where the food is the same colour of the plate but the meaning is

much more. Her meanings, representations and background of the image iswhat makes it her hallmark. There is much more than what the eye sees.

These images seemed very eye-catching as I have never seen anything similarbefore. After looking at them properly I thought they express the idea of

eating disorder eg. anorexia. The reasons why I though these artworks wereabout anorexia:

* the food- meals are very organised* mostly contains mainly vegetables and fruit - low calorie food

* shows self control and obsessive meal planning


8/33

Juan Sanchez Cotn

Still life with Quince, Cabbage, Melonand Cucumber. 1602

Still Life with Game Fowl,Vegetables and Fruits

Characteristically, he depicts a few simple fruits or vegetables, some of which hang from a finestring at different levels while others sit on a ledge or window. The forms stand out with an

almost geometric clarity against a dark background. This orchestration of still life in direct sunlight againstimpenetrable darkness is the hallmark of early Spanish still life painting. Each form is scrutinized with suchintensity that the pictures take on a mystical quality, and the reality of things is intensified to a degree that noother seventeenth-century painter would surpass.

I find Cotn's work very interesting. I had never though of hanging vegetable and fruit for a still life.It is a unique idea. I will try using this technique to create a still life about anorexia. The hanging vegetables andfruit will help me create an idea of the fruit and vegetable being very light; symbolizing the lightness of theanorexia sufferers.


9/33

Cotnsinspired shootlarge format test shoot

I really liked working with Cotnstechnique. After this practiseshoot I decided to undertakeanother shoot, but this time withthe theme of anorexia.


10/33

This is myinterpretation ofanorexia in hanging stilllife. I had planned thedetails carefully:

Dark backdrop- thedark backdropsymbolizes the darkemotions anorexicsexperience (anorexia isusually alsoaccompanied bydepression andanxiety)

Thin slices- I had cutthe fruit and vegetablein small, thin slices in

order to show the purpose of anorexia - wishing to be thin. It

also shows that anorexics eat tiny portions in order to remain orloose weight.

Diognally aligned- the fruit and vegetables are aligned verticallyfrom the bottom right to left. This has been done for tworeason: 1 - it symbolizes how planned and constructed areanorexic's meals are, and 2 - it makes it look like the food isflying away from the plate...meaning that they reduce their mealsizes drastically all the time because they feel fat.

I had also experimented with changing theset up by placing the fruit and vegetablesdifferently. I think that this image does notwork as good as the first one, as it does notsymbolize any obsessive planning etc.


11/33

Because anorexia often is caused by wanting to have a "perfect" body image, I though that using amannequin would be a good idea to represent this. Almost all manikin sizes are set, as if almost it was the"perfect body". I had also attached notes of what most anorexics think about their bodies; fat, not goodenough, ugly etc.

I feel that this is a better way to show anorexia, because it looks more human-like...almost like a portrait of

an anorexic's mind.


12/33

Jerome Abramovitch

Jerome's photos are very disturbing and unusual. The figures in the images are montages of mannequins andreal humans.I found this work very inspiring because it shows a real connection between the fashion 'world',body image and eating and mental disorders.


13/33

Idea for the final shootAfter continuing research on the pro ana websites, I had found out that anorexics are often obsessedwith measuring and weighing their bodies. They usually measure once or more times a day using ameasuring tape. They measure the wight of their hips, waist, bust, bottom and even arms.This hasinspired me to set up a still life using a mannequin and measuring tape. These two objects willsymbolize the human body and obsessive measuring, control, body image managing etc.


14/33

How are mannequins and anorexia related

I had noticed a story about mannequins on a news website. It was talking about how mannequins affect ourthinking about our bodies. Often mannequins we see in shops are very skinny, some even look very unnatural.

But Swedish store called hlns had decided to change that up a little and use mannequins that look morenatural and realistic.


15/33

Final Shoot


16/33

Final Images


17/33

Body

The theme of my project is health care. The subject interests me themost is Mental Health Care. This topic has always interested mebecause I have had mental health problems in the past. Also I havemet people who work as mental health carers and people who

experience mental health problems.

My aim was to create a body of work about the mental health carers. Ifeel that it is a very difficult job and is very necessary.


18/33

What are mental health services

Many people underestimate the impact that mental health

conditions can have on individuals, their families, and society as awhole. In the UK, mental illness accounts for a third of all illnessesand, at any given time, one person in six experiences anxiety ordepression.

In England, mental health conditions cost approximately 105billion a year, due to loss of earnings and associated treatment and

welfare costs. The cost to an individual with a mental health illnesscan also be high because left untreated, such conditions can resultin unemployment, homelessness, the break-up of families, andsuicide.


19/33

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION mental health carer

(The main reason for the position, in what context and what is the overall end result)

The Mental Health Worker is responsible for administering and delivering mental health servicesto individuals and families.

SCOPE

(The way that the position contributes to and impacts on the organization)

The Mental Health Worker reports to the Senior Administrative Officer and is responsible toprovide counselling and support services to individuals and families experiencing mental healthissues. This may include confidential individual, family or group counselling, support forfamilies dealing with mental health issues or referrals to treatment for individuals.The Mental Health Worker will provide education to individuals and groups in the communitywith a focus on high-risk populations including youth. The Mental Health Worker will befamiliar with other services and resources in the community and work closely with them to

provide information and support when required.


20/33

Interview with Pagoda worker - Medway

What is it that you do in Pagoda?

Rachel:"I work at the Pagoda which is an access team.We enable access to the mental health servicesand signpost to other agencies, we support people with mental health issues to recover. We also assesspeople under the mental health act to ensure their safety and the safety of others if they are mentallyunwell and need the law to protect them. We are NHS (national health service) and KCC (Kent countycouncil).

What are your daily duties?Rachel: "My main duties include - answering phone calls, assessments, going on home visits,supporting with court and family meetings, contacting police and hospital if needed etc."7

Is it difficult to remain calm and mentally healthy when working with people who are experiencingemotional difficulties?

Rachel: "Yes, sometimes it is very difficult to not let things get to you. But I have to remind myself that it

is not me in a bad situation but them, and I have to help them in any way I can."


21/33

John William Keedy


22/33

John William Keedy

Over the past nine years Keedy has had a personal battle with anxiety, sohe decided to vent his problems by creating photographs that display hisaffiliation as well as other neuroses. It explores the difficulty someindividuals have with their sense of normal as well as our interpretation ofabnormal behavior. The presentation of the issue is interesting, givingpeople who otherwise aren't faced with mental illness a look into theaffliction. As you can see below, there are examples of implied mental

illness. A mountain of clocks indicates a person with anxiety over being upon time. An obsessive-compulsive person can't floss enough. Anotherperson has agoraphobia and can't even pick up the many packagesaccumulating at the front door. The images are sad in a way, revealing thestruggle and torment that is a reality for some people.

The series sheds light on individuals who face these problems every day. Italso presents the question of what the true definition of "normal" is andwhose right is it to claim theirs as universal. Keedy asks, "Is it possible for asociety to have a commonly held idea of what is normal, when fewindividuals in that society actually meet the criteria for normalcy?"


23/33

Jenn Ackerman


24/33

Jenn Ackerman spent months photographing mentally ill inmates at thethe Kentucky State Reformatory in 2008. Her pictures show the extrememental health issues plaguing many of those incarcerated in the prisonsystem and exposes the raw reality of those conditions. The collectionof black and white photographs in her album, Trapped, are haunting. Theyshow inmates assaulting correctional officers and threatening their care

providers but also injuring themselves and crying out for help.

'I wanted to show weakness, despair, hostility and vulnerability that I sawwhen I was there. I left the prison everyday wanting to help these menthat have nowhere else to go,' the photographer said. 'For most of thesemen, they have been outcasts of society and rarely heard. So they had a

chance to share their story and have someone listen that actually cared tolisten not just focused on treatment or safety.'

Ackerman has used her photos to increase awareness of mental healthcare in prisons and has also produced a documentary on the subject

Jenn Ackerman


25/33

Dorothea Lange


26/33

The photograph that has become known as "Migrant Mother" is one of a series ofphotographs that Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and herchildren in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California. Lange was concludinga month's trip photographing migratory farm labor around the state for what wasthen the Resettlement Administration. In 1960, Lange gave this account of theexperience:

I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet.I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I doremember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer andcloser from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told meher age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozenvegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She hadjust sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent withher children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help

her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it. (From: PopularPhotography, Feb. 1960).These images were taken during the Great Depression. Even though it does notstate this anywhere, I beieve that the the mother was mentally unwell - depressedand anxious because she could not provide for her children.


27/33

Positives of mental illness on artistic expression

"Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel ofdestruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling," said Madeleine

L'Engle. "Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you thatyou have one," said Stella Adler. "The urge to destroy is also a creativeurge," said Pablo Picasso. Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity, saidT.S. Eliot. One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to adancing star, said Friedrich Nietzsche.

Anecdotal evidence has it that mood disorders, including depression andanxiety, can inspire artistic talent. It's not at all clear why this should be so.According to Washington University psychiatry professor Yvette Sheline,depression coincides with a smaller hippocampus, a brain region crucialfor memory and learning. Sheline and colleagues scanned the brains of 48women with a history of clinical depression. They found that the size ofthe hippocampus was inversely related to the number of bouts of

depression. Other scientists have found a correlation between depressionand decreased activity in brain areas associated with excitability, reactiontime, reward and memory.


28/33

Test shoot


29/33

Rosie Hardy


30/33


31/33

All these images appeared very interesting to me becausethese photographer's have used shadows to portray

emotions. The shadows in these images show variousdifferent emotions such as, fear, bad mood, wishing to bestrong etc.

I will experiment with this photographing technique as I thinkit is very relevant for my theme. I think it would be a good way

to show the "heavy weight" that a health carer has to carrywithin. I feel that it would be a good way to show that caretakers can be very happy people, but they still have to thinkabout these dark emotions that their patients have talked to

them about.


32/33

Test shoot 2


33/33

Final shoot

Documents

RPHC4001 Object & Body Unit - Elizabeta Mikelsone