come support a fellow gold coast artist :)
MEDIA RELEASE
The doctor’s gaze. The patient’s gaze. The trigger, perhaps of a white coat or the presence of medicine. The discomfort (or dis-ease) of a patient. The suggestion of illness. The determination to self-diagnose. To reverse the stethoscope. To yearn for validation.
These notions are all addressed in Mariam Ella Arcilla’s video installation and photography exhibition Sneezing with the Room, which opens 13 October at Circle Gallery, Brisbane.
The Gold Coast emerging artist performed as both doctor and patient in her video and photography works to highlight the interdependent relationship between the doctor and patient, as well as the role of ‘power of suggestion’ in determining diagnosis.
Arcilla is fascinated with the change in patient-behaviour that has led to more patients leaving their doctors office with new illnesses. She says, “Because modern medicine has instilled in us that normal traits or discomforts such as shyness, restlessness nervousness or headaches are disorders, we have in a way become really delicate towards our interpretations of what illness should look like.”
In her works, Arcilla displays suggestive behaviour and language and uses stethoscopes and other medical instruments and costumes to highlight the anxieties experienced by a patient within the doctor-patient conversation. The project is based on her observation of doctors and patients through documentation, interviews and personal accounts.
The artist will also be discussing her works on 4ZZZ 102.1 FM’s show Art to Lunch on 8th October at 1pm.
Sneezing with the Room is produced by Arcilla as a final requirement to complete her BA Honours degree at the School of Arts, Griffith University, Gold Coast. She currently holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts degree from Griffith University, where she received the Patience Thoms Honours Scholarship in 2005. Arcilla lives and works on the Gold Coast, and has exhibited in galleries and festivals in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Newcastle, including Metro Arts Gallery, Electrofringe New Media Festival and Robina Art Gallery.
For more information: planocebo@gmail.com