SURGE III Partnerships Announced
- Written byPost-Grad Community
- Published date 23 August 2023
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We're pleased to announce the 3 successfully commissioned proposals for SURGE III, the third instalment of UAL's Post-Grad Community and UCL's WEISS Centre collaborative programme that brings together scientists, artists and the public to explore the complexities and application of technology in surgery.
Over the next 6 months, the 3 commissioned projects, each led by a UAL artist and UCL researcher, will harnesses art and design as the medium to communicate patient-led findings in technological healthcare, cumulating in an exhibition at Central Saint Martins' Window Galleries.
An overview of the proposals:
Sarah Dixon (MA Performance: Society, Central Saint Martins) and Ryman Hashem (Senior Research Fellow in Medical Robotics, UCL)
Sarah and Ryman's project intends to explore the experiences and impact of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) (extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy).
HG was historically a leading cause of death in early pregnancy, through dehydration and starvation. Now treatable, it still causes significant discomfort, distress and other issues, partly due to how it is perceived by others. HG can lead sufferers to terminate pregnancy, or to decide not to have another child.
Sarah and Ryman intend to connect with those who have suffered with HG during pregnancy and offer creative activities for participants to use whilst reflecting upon and sharing experiences of HG. Out of this they will craft stomach-like soft sculptures and use audio and stop motion to make a moving image expression of their stories and our learning.
Kate Kelly (MA Fine Art: Painting, Camberwell College of Arts) and Robert Stafford Williams (PhD in Medical Physics, UCL)
Kate and Robert's project aims to link their two practises by exploring Lung Cancer (LC) and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) through sound, pattern and portraits.
They will meet with people affected by LC and CVD, asking questions and collecting data based on their answers. Kate will photograph the participants, which will be used later to paint portraits inspired by the colour schemes from Robert's data collection used to display Ultrasounds.
Kate and Robert will also host painting and collaging workshops for those affected by LC and CVD. The portraits created by the patients during these sessions will be displayed in the exhibition alongside Kate's portraits, sound pieces, and murals at the SURGE III exhibition in 2024.
Natalia Mesa (MA Art and Science, Central Saint Martins) and Reni Magbagbeola (Post-Grad in Robotics, UCL)
Natalia and Reni will be producing artwork based on Reni's research on robotic prosthetic limbs.
A crucial part of helping the brain accept a prosthetic limb is making the brain’s
expectations of sensation match up with the simulated reality. Timing and accuracy can “trick” the brain into perceiving the texture on the fingertips of the prosthetic, instead of the where vibration motor has been placed on the body.
Throughout the process of interacting with patients and doctors, they want to focus on the positives and possibilities of prosthetics with self-adapting vibrational feedback, and then emulate this with the final artworks.
The physical artistic output would be a series of layered engravings of the prosthetic chosen and/or imagined by the patients. These engravings would depict their prosthetic doing the thing the patient finds the most important, for example, picking flowers, or holding their child’s hand.
Related links
- Wellcome / EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS)
- UAL Post-Grad Community
- SURGE I exhibition walkthrough
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