I suspect I will return to the discussion covered in my previous post many times during the course of this blog. Its important for me that the arts do not yield too readily to the language of abstraction, while ignoring the socio-economic back drop against which they rest. However its also really important to me that the arts should avoid didacticism or over simplification and should have the courage to challenge existing assumptions or social norms. Part of the curatorial task of this show is to strike the right balance of both understanding and challenging our existing perceptions of ‘metal health.’
Anyway my previous few entries have been very wordy and I’ve been thinking that it would probably be a relief for everyone if we have some new pictures to look at and a new artist to think about!!
I’ve been intending to mention a film by Harun Farocki called Immersion http://www.farocki-film.de/immerseg.htm for a little while now, having stumbled across it twice in the past few months: once at Raven Row Gallery and then again at FACT. The work is a collaboration between the artist and the Institute for Creative Technologies, a virtual reality research center which develops immersive therapy for war-veterans suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. It documents a group of ex soldiers as they relive their traumatic experiences suffered during the Iraq war, guided by a therapist who coaxes her subjects into retracing the specific emotional journey that gave rise to the original trauma. Its presented as a split screen installation, with once shot focusing on the virtual reality imagery and another taking in the exchange that occurs between the subject and the therapist. This method of display renders the title highly appropriate as it very much situates the viewer within the work and allows them also to observe the traumatic moment through the virtual reality simulation in tandem with the individual soldiers. The emotional journey of one particular solider had such intensity that I found myself shedding a few tears and mirroring his sensations of fear, helplessness and sadness as he experienced them.
The use of virtual reality for treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is becoming increasingly common in the USA, partially for soldiers returning from war. This seems to be because the time and money needed for intensive person to person therapy is often unavailable so the government employs technology as a substitute. This blog has some interesting discussion on the topic http://www.noahshachtman.com/archives/002189.html and outlines some very pertinent arguments about how technology can be a blessing or a burden when it interfaces with the human body. Thanks to Somaya Langley http://www.criticalsenses.com/ who originally pointed me toward this study.
