Louise Snowball, Room #237

1 IAMD-6001-001 Thesis Proposal Barbara Rauch 2420115 08/15/2018 Louise Snowball, Room #237 Thesis Proposal By Ellen Snowball

2 Abstract For my thesis project I will create an immersive installation that will seek to facilitate awareness for the quality of life of people with dementia who reside in long-term care facilities. My interest in issues surrounding dementia arose after my mother, Louise Snowball, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer s disease in 2012, and subsequently admitted to a long-term care facility until her death on February 3rd, 2017. During this time, I began to document my mother s experiences with dementia, as well as the emotional impact they had on me. My primary field of research draws upon research creation methodologies (specifically photography, videography, installation, and sound) to explore my personal experience with dementia. My secondary field of research examines the work of Michel Foucault (the medical gaze), Julia Kristeva (the abject) and Maurice Merleau-Ponty (phenomenology) to explore how a viewer can be positioned/activated within an immersive environment that mimics the interiors of long-term care facilities. Contents of the Thesis For my thesis project, I will create an immersive installation that will replicate the bedroom area of my mother s long time care facility. I will use authentic objects from long-term care facilities, such as a medical bed and privacy curtain, and alter them by incorporating traces of my mother s narrative, as well as my personal experience with her dementia. The viewer will be encouraged to explore and interact with these objects in order to reveal hidden messages that

3 allude to Louise s experiences. For example, I will use a medical emergency phone that will be configured to ring intermittently; when the viewer picks up the receiver, the phone will automatically begin to play an old audio track, recorded in 1978, of my mother singing a lullaby to my eldest sister. In this way, the mundane act of picking up the telephone becomes an affective experience that transports the viewer into the realm of memory. To achieve similar objectives, I will also use Louise s personal items, such as journal entries and photographs, as well as my own audio recordings and videos of her experience with dementia. I have booked my thesis exhibition to take place at 100 McCaul Street on the second floor Great Hall area, from April 7th - 20th. In this space, I will construct a rectangular room that will enclose the installation work. The written component of my thesis will address my theoretical framework and research into Michel Foucault s concept of the The Medical Gaze, and Julia Kristeva s theory of The 1 Abject. I will use these two concepts as a foundation to challenge biomedical models of caregiving that may be harmful to dementia patients. My thesis paper will also discuss the context of my research into dementia, including my mother s experiences with the disease, and describe how this close connection has informed my research questions, practice, and objectives. I will further address the formal qualities of the final body of work, and explain how they are linked to my conceptual and theoretical underpinnings. In addition, I will expand upon the research creation methodologies I will use to create my final work, and demonstrate how my art based research has contributed to expanding knowledge on dementia. 1 Engles, George L. The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine New York: Science, New Series, Vol. 196, No. 4286, (1977): 130.

4 Research Questions My Master s thesis will explore three primary research questions related to issues surrounding dementia. These questions have been informed by my theoretical research into the work of Michel Foucault, Julia Kristeva, Merleau-Ponty, as well as my own research and experiences with dementia. The following is a preliminary list of these questions and their theoretical basis: 1. According to Foucault s concept of the The Medical Gaze, medical practitioners and 2 nurses often separate their patient s body from that of their identity. How does the gaze position those with dementia as objects of their disease, rather than autonomous subjects? 2. In Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, Julia Kristeva uses the example of a corpse 3 to describe that the abject, at its very core, is a state of rejecting what is other to oneself. This experience of the abject evokes feelings of disgust, horror, and even fascination. How might the abject cause dementia patients to be positioned as other? Can the abject be experienced as a result of the sights, smells, and even objects, within long-term care facilities? 3. From a philosophical perspective, Merleau-Ponty argues that experiencing, moving, and thinking does not merely establish the experience of being, but are also modes of being 2 Foucault, Michel. The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perspective New York: Vintage Book Publishing, (1973): 08, 34. 3 Kristeva, Julia. Approaching Abjection Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, New York: Columbia University Press, (1982): 3.

5 4 within themselves. How can we renegotiate ideas of embodiment, identity, and selfhood, in response to the cognitive impairment experienced by dementia patients? How might immersive installation create a phenomenological experience for the viewer? Project Objectives The main objective for my final research project is aimed at creating an immersive installation that can facilitate awareness of people with dementia residing in long-term care facilities. My installation will include small, often hidden, clues into my mother s story with dementia that may require participation from the viewer in order to be revealed. To achieve this, I will be using a variety of approaches to incorporate my mother s narrative, as well as my personal experiences. For example, I will be incorporating a medical-grade privacy curtain into the final body of work, which I have laser cut my mother s handwritten passages into. The viewer will be encouraged to use a flashlight to project light through this curtain, casting handwritten shadows onto the wall. Also, I will use a media player and small television to loop video footage I have documented of my mother lying in a medical bed at her long-term care facility. The screen of the television not only alludes to the surveillance of The Medical Gaze but 5 also becomes metaphor for what Kate Mondloch refers to as windows onto other worlds, or a passageway to another time and place. I will also use projection and audio recordings as vehicles to transform the atmosphere of the installation spaces, evoking an emotional response in the viewer. 4 Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of Perception London: Routledge, (1958): 251. 5 Mondloch, Kate. Screens: Viewing Media Installation Art. University of Minnesota Press, (2010): 63.

6 I will build a rectangular structure that will function as a room for the installation work to be created in. Each structure will have a window and doorway built into one of the four walls. By including this, not only can the viewer enter and leave the installation at any time, but this also allows for an audience to observe the viewer from the outside. This is an important part of my final body of work, because it provides the outside observer with the power and opportunity to surveil or observe other participants in the installation, thus mimicking the relationship between caregivers and patients. By playing with the duality between public and private space, the outside audience embodies the gaze of the medical practitioner or nurse, while the inside viewer embodies the patient s experience of illness. In this way, my installation will allow the viewer to critically engage with the work on a interactive level, and it is my intent that this unique experience will foster insight into the world of dementia patients residing in long-term care. Theoretical Framework My theoretical framework will incorporate research from the fields of sociology, psychoanalysis, and philosophy, in order to form a perspective on dementia care. Michel Foucault s concept of The Medical Gaze and Julia Kristeva s theory of The Abject will be used as a foundation to argue that biomedical models of healthcare position people with dementia as objects of their disease, rather than autonomous subjects. According to George L. Engles, biomedical models of healthcare refer to biomedicine as a dominant model of disease. Biomedical models emphasize both biology and medicine to assume[s] disease to be fully

7 6 accounted for by deviations of the norm of measurable biological (somatic) variables. However, this scientific approach does not account for social, psychological, and behaviour dimensions of illness. Foucault s analysis of the origins of Western medicine in The Birth of the Clinic will be examined to consider dementia as a sociological construction. I will focus on addressing Foucault s argument that The Medical Gaze dehumanizes patients by viewing their 7 body as separate from their identity. I will use the concept of The Medical Gaze to inform how the viewer is positioned within my final body of work, such as allowing the outside observer to surveil the inside viewer through a window. Similarly, Kristeva s psychoanalytic theory of the abject will be examined within the context of caregiving to describe how dementia patients are othered, often unconsciously, by 8 medical practitioners, nurses, and even family members. Additionally, the research of David Holmes, Sylvie Lauzon, and Marilou Gagnon, will be used to discuss how dementia patients who evoke the abject are frequently treated negatively by their caregivers, which can lead to 9 behavioural problems, stigmatization, and even abuse. And in the work of Merleau-Ponty, I will consider a phenomenological perspective in order to identify issues related to autonomy, identity, and personhood, that surround dementia patients who suffer from severe cognitive impairment. The theories discussed by Julia Kristeva and Merleau-Ponty consider how phenomenon is experienced by the body through affect and emotion. This is important to my practice because my installation intends to position the viewer into an immersive environment in order to evoke a 6 130 7 08, 34. 8 Holmes, Dave, Lauzon, Sylvie, and Gagnon, Marilou, Encountering the Other: Nursing, Dementia Care, and the Self Abjectly Boundless : Boundaries, Bodies and Health Work. (2016): 247. 9 275, 276.

8 physical and emotional response. I will be exploring the implications of this through the interactive qualities of the installation work. Research Methodology In my final thesis project, I will be using research creation methodologies that emphasize installation practice, experimentation, and scholarly investigation. Through these methodologies, I will focus on my transition from photography, a two-dimensional practice that positions the viewer in a static location, to immersive installation, which encourages a more complex, three-dimensional, engagement. My research methods use a qualitative approach, that focus on personal narrative and reflexivity, in order to identify issues surrounding dementia. In my work, I have used my personal experiences with my mother s dementia as a case study, which I have documented through the use of photography, videography, audio recording, and interviews. In response to my research questions, my research methods have allowed me to form a perspective on dementia through incorporating my lived experience. In my final body of work, I will use the documentation I have gathered, as well as personal objects from my mother s life, such as journals and poems, in order to emphasize my mother s narrative. Inspired by Julia Kristeva s theory of The Abject, I will be using items I have collected from long-term care facilities and altering them by painting each item white and staining them with coffee grounds. By doing this, I am intending to evoke an abject response from the viewer by creating a ghostly homogeneity that refers to the liminality of these spaces, as well as implicating the absence of a human body through the appearance stains.

9 Michel Foucault s concept of The Medical Gaze has also inspired me to consider the positioning of the viewer inside and outside the installation space. In my thesis exhibition, I will be building three distinct installation rooms, each with a window, to allow my audience to observe the installation from the outside. This positioning is important because the outside observer has the power to surveil the inside viewer's experience of the installation. By playing with the duality between public and private space, the outside audience embodies the gaze of the medical practitioner or nurse, while the inside viewer embodies the patient s experience of illness. Inspired by Iris Häussler s The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach, as well as Janet Cardiff and George Burges Miller s Storm Room or Opera For Small Room, the objective of my installation is to create an immersive experience for the viewer in order to create awareness for people with dementia. Similarly to these artists, I am replicating spaces by using authentic 10 objects from long-term care facilities, and in this way I am engaging in a level of mimicry. The theme of mimesis is also expressed in my use of memory, as well as otherworldly presences and passageways, such as portals and dreams. In addition to using my mother s experiences in the work, I am interested in including my ongoing experiences, particularly those with dreaming about my mother. Since my mother s death on February 3rd, 2017, I have had violent, highly emotional dreams about saving my mother from illness, suicide, or fire. She often visits my dreams in various forms, such as a corpse, or ghost-like figure. I would like to explore how these dreams may be incorporated into the work through a series of drawings, which may be incorporated into my final body of work. 10 Boon, Marcus. In Praise of Copying Harvard University Press, (2010): 18, 121.

10 Resources and Facilities In preparation for my final thesis exhibition, I will require the assistance of a carpenter or contractor in order to build three installation rooms in 100 McCaul Street, on the second floor Great Hall space. I have booked this space from April 7th - 20th, 2019, so this construction should commence immediately on the 7th of April. I will be in contact with OCAD University s facilities department to discuss any special permissions that I should require for this construction. I have determined my budget for this additional expense to be anywhere from $500 - $1000, depending on the outsourced help. On the 20th of April, I will also need help dismantling these rooms, which may incur additional costs for cleanup. In addition to this, I will require access to at least two projectors, and two BrightSign synchronizers, and two speakers, for the duration of my exhibition show. I also will require a Uhaul truck to move my installation furniture to 100 McCaul, which should cost about $50 - $80. Potential Challenges A potential challenge for my final body of work will be determining how many installations I would like to accomplish. I have premeditated on completing three distinct installations that are replications of areas from my mother's long term care facility; the private room, the dining hall, and the communal area. However, this may prove to be too expensive and laborious to complete, and I may choose to focus on only one room: my mother s bedroom. My other concern for my thesis exhibition is arranging the appropriate help to construct the three installation spaces. I would like these rooms to be built economically, yet still fulfill my requirements for the exhibition. For example, I will need the walls to be built thick enough to

11 reduce noise, hang picture frames, and hold windows - but they also need to be light enough to move easily. In addition, I will require multiple power outlets or extension cords to be present within the space. The space will also require that the rooms have a ceiling, so that it is fully enclosed - the ceilings will need to have beams that extend across, so that I can safely attach ceiling projectors. Significance During my time at OCAD University, my research objectives have sought to challenge biomedical models of care that position people with dementia as objects of their disease, rather than autonomous subjects. Through the practice of immersive installation, I intent to build awareness of issues surrounding people with dementia. Inspired by my personal experiences with my mother s dementia, my goals have propelled me toward conducting research into the fields of sociology, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, in order to identify issues surrounding people with dementia. My Master s thesis project will use this scholarly research to create immersive installations that will situate the viewer into recreated environments of my mother s long-term care facility. By providing the viewer with an evocative, deeply personal, insight into the experience of dementia, it is my intention that the work will foster critical inquiry, and promote awareness for issues surrounding this illness. In this way, I believe that my final thesis project can make significant contributions to the fields of gerontology and sociology, particularly to that of dementia research.

12 Bibliography Beard, Renée. In Their Voices: Identity Preservation and Experiences of Alzheimer's Disease Journal of Aging Studies 18, no. 4 (2004): 415-428. Boon, Marcus. In Praise of Copying Harvard University Press, (2010): 50-121. Davis, Daniel. Dementia: Sociological and Philosophical Constructions Edinburgh: Social Science and Medicine, Vol 58, (2004): 369-378. Engles, George L. The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine New York: Science, New Series, Vol. 196, No. 4286, (1977): 129-136. Findlay, Deborah. The Medical Gaze: Medical Models, Power, and Women s Health Dalhousie University: Atlantis, Vol 18, No 1 & 2. (1996): 105-124. Foucault, Michel. The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perspective New York: Vintage Book Publishing, (1973): 3-20. Kristeva, Julia. Approaching Abjection Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, New York: Columbia University Press, (1982): 1-31; 211. McCabe, Janet, Holmes, Dave, Lauzon, Sylvie, and Gagnon, Marilou. Subjectivity and Embodiment: Acknowledging Abjection in Nursing and Encountering the Other: Nursing, Dementia Care, and the Self Abjectly Boundless : Boundaries, Bodies and Health Work. (2016): 251-283. Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of Perception London: Routledge, (1958): 235-403. Millet, Stephan. Self and Embodiment: a Bio-Phenomenological Approach to Dementia Perth: Dementia, (2011): 1-14. Mondloch, Kate. Screens: Viewing Media Installation Art. University of Minnesota Press, (2010): 60-75.

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