Enstranglements: performing within, and exiting from, the arts-in-health 'setting'

The following text explores performative art works commissioned within a specific ‘arts and health’ cultural setting, namely that of a medical school within a British university. It examines the degree to which the professional autonomy of the artists (and curator) were 'instrumentalized' and diminished as a result of having to fit into normative frames set by institutional agendas (in this case, that of ‘the neoliberal university’). We ask, to what extent do such 'entanglements', feel more like ‘enstranglements’, suffocating the artist's capacity to envision the world afresh or any differently? What kinds of pressures allow for certain kinds of ‘evidence’ to be read and made visible, (and not others)? Are You Feeling Better? was a 2016 programme curated by Frances Williams, challenging simplistic expectations that the arts hold any automatic power of their own to make ‘things better’ in healthcare. It included two performative projects – The Secret Society of Imperfect Nurses, by Anthony Schrag with student nurses at Kings College London, and Hiding in Plain Sight by Becky Shaw (plus film with Rose Butler) with doctoral researchers in nursing and midwifery. These projects were situated in a climate of UK National Health Service cuts and austerity measures where the advancement of social prescribing looks dangerously like the government abnegating responsibility and offering art as amelioration. The text therefore examines the critical ‘stage’ on which these arts-health projects were performed and the extent to which critical reflection is welcomed within institutional contexts, how learning is framed, expressed aesthetically, as well as understood as art practice (as much as ‘education’ or ‘learning’). It further examines how artistic projects might offer sites of resistance, rejection and mechanisms of support against constricting institutional norms and practices that seek to instrumentalize artistic works to their own ends

Chewing and pooing : the digestive system as a metaphor for practice-research in participatory contexts

The commonality between the panel leaders lies in our use of participatory art methods to explore particular contexts (e.g. hospitals, public galleries, call centres, local authorities) in order to explore the material processes and conditions of these places with the people who work in them. Hope will present Manual Labours: Building as Body taking Nottingham Contemporary as a case study, Schrag will present Fight Club: Physicality and Office Workers within Glasgow City Council and Shaw will present Hiding in Plain Sight: Moving between Care and Research at Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery. 34 We propose a panel in which we will each present our methodologies, making use of the metaphor of the digestive system to find out what is being ingested, masticated and digested, and by whom, and what is being excreted at the end of our research processes. We are interested in exploring the processes of exchange, interaction and co-production in the process of investigating the functions and malfunctions of organisations. What is it that is participatory about this practice-research? What are the intersubjective relations between artist-researchers and participants? How can the fleshy, pulsating, masticating, symbiotic aspects of the digestive system help and/or hinder doing practice-research in these settings? We will examine how the artist-researcher and participant fits within the metabolism of the body in which they work and how possible it is to challenge the relationships they have with the specific contexts they work in. We invite feedback and discussion on diverse methodologies which use participatory art methods to explore working environments, examining where the metaphor of digestion fails and where new metaphors, systems and imagery might be needed

Half-eaten: practice-research within organisations

WORKSHOP. The commonality between the workshop leaders lies in our use of art methods to explore particular contexts (e.g. hospitals, public galleries, call centres, local authorities) in order to explore the material processes and conditions of these places. Our workshop explores these methodologies by playing with the metaphor of the digestive system to find out what is being ingested, masticated and digested, by whom and what is being excreted at the end of this process? What is the impact of this shit? How is it distributed and made public? Playing with the conference theme of ‘eating’, this workshop extends the metaphor to ask what position the artist-researcher might hold within the digestive system, particularly when the artist-researcher is embedded within a particular organisation or environment in a residency-type situation. This workshop invites participants to explore how they fit within the metabolic system of the specific body/field in which they work, using the metaphor of the digestive system — particularly ingestion, secretion, mixing, digestion, absorption and excretion. It begins with a contextualisation from the facilitators, exploring what can be understood by viewing their individual projects at Nottingham Contemporary, Glasgow City Council and Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, through the digestion metaphor. It then invites participants to map their own artistic-research processes onto this digestive system to explore where their work is the most effective: i.e. are there processes and relationships that can be seen as choking hazards or constipation? Are they ‘masticators’, particularly adept at chewing, but paying little attention to excretion? We will collectively build up a picture of the digestive system metaphor in relation to the participants’ research experiences

Enstranglements: Undercover in Arts for Health

The UK arts for health movement is ensnared in a double bind of co-opted insider and critical outsider: on one hand seeking to be at the centre of government approved delivery of wellbeing (such as social prescribing) and on the other hand understanding its history as a force critical of dehumanizing clinical practices and environments. Champions of Arts for Health talk about how artists ‘make spaces’ that are an escape from ‘business as usual’ ‘a sanctuary or suspended, protected space, where new things are possible’ (Gould 2005; Kilroy et al. 2007; Putland 2008; Sixsmith & Kagan 2005; White, 2004). Any ‘under the radar’ spaces that are made by Arts for Health, however, still happen in UK health institutions: a context understood as collapsing under its own encluttered weight with conflicting policy, performances, practices, values and cultures. In the following we explore two live rtworks that work with and are formed by, this materially and politically ‘enstrangled’ environment. We explore the multiple and connected points where visibility and the covert already hover in the hospital and explore whether there are other material forms through which to consider being ‘undercover’ such as ‘burrowing’ , as a dark celebration of the material and social affordances of the hospital. Devised by artists Becky Shaw and Anthony Schrag, the two live artworks– Hiding in Plain Sight and The Secret Society for Imperfect Nurses – were part of an education programme for healthcare students developed at King’s College London (KCL), curated by Frances Williams for the ‘UTOPIA 2016’ London festival. We explore the conditions of the commissions and how the particular constraints, contradictions and affordances of the institution, germinated these respective live works. Ironically, the UTOPIA 2016 festival took place within a year of UK National Health Service cuts and austerity measures, precipitating highly visible NHS strikes and protests (that included some of our participants)

Enstranglements: Undercover in Arts for Health

pubhttps://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2021.208737526pub

Combined assessment of microvascular integrity and contractile reserve improves differentiation of stunning and necrosis after acute anterior wall myocardial infarction

AbstractObjectivesWe sought to determine the relative accuracy of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) and low-dose dobutamine echocardiography (LDDE) in predicting recovery of left ventricular (LV) function in patients with a recent anterior wall myocardial infarction (MI).BackgroundLeft ventricular dysfunction after acute MI may be secondary to myocardial stunning or necrosis. Myocardial contrast echocardiography allows real-time echocardiographic perfusion assessment from a venous injection of a fluorocarbon-based contrast agent. Although this technique is promising, it has not been compared with LDDE.MethodsForty-six patients underwent baseline wall motion assessment, MCE, and LDDE two days after admission, as well as follow-up echocardiography after a mean period of 53 days.ResultsPerfusion by MCE predicted recovery of segmental function with a sensitivity of 69%, specificity of 85%, positive predictive value of 74%, negative predictive value of 81%, and overall accuracy of 78%. Contractile reserve by LDDE predicted recovery of segmental function with a sensitivity of 50%, specificity of 88%, positive predictive value of 72%, negative predictive value of 73%, and overall accuracy of 73%. Concordant test results occurred in 74% of segments and further increased the overall accuracy to 85%. The mean wall motion score at follow-up was significantly better in perfused versus nonperfused segments (1.9 vs. 2.6, p < 0.0001) and in segments with contractile reserve, compared with segments lacking contractile reserve (1.9 vs. 2.5, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsMyocardial contrast echocardiography compares favorably with LDDE in predicting recovery of regional LV dysfunction after acute anterior wall MI. Concordant contractile reserve and myocardial perfusion results further enhance the diagnostic accuracy

Effects of planting density on the growth and forage yield of two varieties of millet (Pennisetum Typhoides Burm. f.) grown in Ekpoma, Nigeria

A field study was carried out during the 2016 cropping season to determine the effect of planting density on the growth and yield performance of two varieties of millet at Ekpoma. Gero Badeggi and Gero Bida varieties were sown at three densities (111,111, 222,222 and 333,333 plants ha-1). The experiment was a 2 x 3 factorial scheme laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The result shows that planting density had no significant effect on the growth parameters measured. However, Gero Badeggi planted at 111,111 plants ha-1 had the tallest plants, highest number of leaves/plant and stem girth while Gero Bida planted at 333,333 plants ha-1 gave the shortest plants, least number of leaves/plant and stem girth, respectively. There was no significant difference in flowering trait amongst densities, but the varieties differed markedly in days to 50% flowering. Increasing planting density significantly (P<0.05) increased the forage yield. However, crops sown at higher densities had higher forage yield than the low density. The differences observed between varieties were significant in some of the studied characters and thus millet sown at 111,111 and 333,333 plants/ha is recommended for millet production in the areaSe llevó a cabo un estudio de campo durante la temporada de cultivo de 2016 para determinar el efecto de la densidad de siembra en el crecimiento y el rendimiento del rendimiento de dos variedades de mijo en Ekpoma. Las variedades Gero Badeggi y Gero Bida se sembraron en tres densidades (111,111, 222,222 y 333,333 plantas ha-1). El experimento fue un esquema factorial 2 x 3 establecido en un diseño de bloques completos al azar (RCBD) con tres repeticiones. El resultado muestra que la densidad de siembra no tuvo un efecto significativo sobre los parámetros de crecimiento medidos. Sin embargo, Gero Badeggi sembrado en 111,111 plantas ha-1 tenía las plantas más altas, el mayor número de hojas / planta y circunferencia del tallo, mientras que Gero Bida sembró en 333,333 plantas ha-1 dio las plantas más cortas, el menor número de hojas / planta y circunferencia del tallo, respectivamente. . No hubo diferencias significativas en el rasgo de floración entre las densidades, pero las variedades diferían notablemente en días a 50% de floración. El aumento significativo de la densidad de siembra (P <0.05) aumentó el rendimiento del forraje. Sin embargo, los cultivos sembrados a densidades más altas tuvieron un mayor rendimiento de forraje que la baja densidad. Las diferencias observadas entre las variedades fueron significativas en algunos de los caracteres estudiados y, por lo tanto, el mijo sembrado en 111,111 y 333,333 plantas / ha se recomienda para la producción de mijo en el áre

Calving and rifting on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica

On 2 March 2016, several small en échelon tabular icebergs calved from the seaward front of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and a previously inactive rift widened and propagated by ~3 km, ~25% of its previous length, setting the stage for the future calving of a ~14 km2 iceberg. Within 24 h of these events, all remaining land-fast sea ice that had been stabilizing the ice shelf broke-up. The events were witnessed by time-lapse cameras at nearby Scott Base, and put into context using nearby seismic and automatic weather station data, satellite imagery and subsequent ground observation. Although the exact trigger of calving and rifting cannot be identified definitively, seismic records reveal superimposed sets of both long-period (>10 s) sea swell propagating into McMurdo Sound from storm sources beyond Antarctica, and high-energy, locally-sourced, short-period (<10 s) sea swell, in the 4 days before the fast ice break-up and associated ice-shelf calving and rifting. This suggests that sea swell should be studied further as a proximal cause of ice-shelf calving and rifting; if proven, it suggests that ice-shelf stability is tele-connected with far-field storm conditions at lower latitudes, adding a global dimension to the physics of ice-shelf break-up