SURGE

digital scientific illustration of a void — **OpUS - Priya Odedra (UAL and Dr Richard Colchester (UCL)**

SURGE is a cross-disciplinary project born from the collaboration between the Post-Grad Community at University of the Arts London (UAL), the University College of London (UCL) and their Wellcome /EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS).

Created in 2020, SURGE brought together postgraduate artists at UAL and healthcare technology researchers at UCL to create new spaces of consideration for the role of data in health, as well as for the public, ethical and societal effects of surgical technologies. In procuring the creation of new and inclusive work, the artists and researchers actively engaged with members of the public throughout, an important barrier to overcome in light of the COVID 19 pandemic at the time. Since its initiation, it has become an annual collaborative opportunity.

Watch this space for the 2024-2025 SURGE IV call out for applications!

REHAP - Janet Choi (UAL) and Dr Tijana Vojinovic (UCL)

SURGE I

The outcomes produced as part of the SURGE I project included 3D prototypes, speculative research into innovation in assistive rehabilitation alternatives for stroke patients, inclusivity in healthcare services, creative support platforms and immersive virtual experiences, evidencing the strength and urgency of collaboration between the creative and the scientific field.
Image: Catriona Mahmoud

SURGE II

Over the course of SURGE II, each artist collaboratively produced creative works to communicate workshop findings, piecing together the artistic, scientific, public and patient perspectives, and shared learning. The groups included patients with heart disease, carers for and patients with Parkinson’s disease, and LGBTQ+ couples engaging with assisted reproduction technologies.
SURGE III, 2024, Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins | Photograph: Christopher Bellamy

SURGE III

The third instalment of this project looked to interrogate the intricate relationships between healthcare technologies and the patient experience. Topics included Hyperemesis Gravidarum, an extreme form of sickness during pregnancy, connecting lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the power of aesthetic patterns. And the contemplation of advanced prosthetic limbs, considering the physical and psychological points prosthetics need to connect with.