Egon Schiele’s Double Self Portraiture

With few visual precedents, Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was the first artist to systematically explore double self-portraiture’s potential to convey multiple meanings, by painting, drawing and collaboratively photographing thirteen works in the genre. In this dissertation, I argue that these works reflect Schiele’s interest in establishing a deep engagement with the viewer. I consider Schiele’s double self-portraiture in two distinct categories: as an original, intended group from 1910 and 1911 that, borrowing from two of the works’ titles, I call the Self-Seers, and as a sequence of unique, experimental works after 1913. While the Self-Seers paintings exhibit Schiele’s concern with the act of viewing, his subsequent works suggest double self-portraiture’s potential to be multivalent, engaging with the opposite qualities such as inner and outer, the spiritual and the mundane, and death and life in a highly experimental, yet strategic manner. To Schiele, the work of art is itself an animate being and art itself is eternal. His views on art’s eternal nature stand in stark contrast to the impermanence of selfhood that scholars agree was his deepest concern, as evinced by his serial self-portraits. While his double self-portraits evoke similar themes found in the Romantic Doppelgänger topos, Schiele’s interpretation of topics such as mirror images, shadows, and death are distinct from it because he does not depict his double as a threat. Instead, the doubles beseech the viewer to be understood differently, for their kinship with the metaphysical to be explored and even embraced. These singular works address Schiele’s creative concerns as well as the preoccupations of Viennese culture, and they display his capacity to create art that is thoughtful and thought provoking, presenting an unexamined facet of Expressionistic art

Egon Schiele’s Double Self Portraiture

With few visual precedents, Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was the first artist to systematically explore double self-portraiture’s potential to convey multiple meanings, by painting, drawing and collaboratively photographing thirteen works in the genre. In this dissertation, I argue that these works reflect Schiele’s interest in establishing a deep engagement with the viewer. I consider Schiele’s double self-portraiture in two distinct categories: as an original, intended group from 1910 and 1911 that, borrowing from two of the works’ titles, I call the Self-Seers, and as a sequence of unique, experimental works after 1913. While the Self-Seers paintings exhibit Schiele’s concern with the act of viewing, his subsequent works suggest double self-portraiture’s potential to be multivalent, engaging with the opposite qualities such as inner and outer, the spiritual and the mundane, and death and life in a highly experimental, yet strategic manner. To Schiele, the work of art is itself an animate being and art itself is eternal. His views on art’s eternal nature stand in stark contrast to the impermanence of selfhood that scholars agree was his deepest concern, as evinced by his serial self-portraits. While his double self-portraits evoke similar themes found in the Romantic Doppelgänger topos, Schiele’s interpretation of topics such as mirror images, shadows, and death are distinct from it because he does not depict his double as a threat. Instead, the doubles beseech the viewer to be understood differently, for their kinship with the metaphysical to be explored and even embraced. These singular works address Schiele’s creative concerns as well as the preoccupations of Viennese culture, and they display his capacity to create art that is thoughtful and thought provoking, presenting an unexamined facet of Expressionistic art

Rethinking risk: a narrative approach

Purpose The assessment and management of risk is central to contemporary mental health practice. The emergence of recovery has contributed to demands for more service user centered approaches to risk. This paper examines the potential of narrative as a framework for understanding risk and safety in mental health care. Design/methodology/approach Narrative theory is adopted to structure a debate examining the potential role of a narrative approach to risk assessment and inform future practice. Findings There is a danger that even within services, people with mental health problems are understood in terms of their riskiness perpetuating an image of service users as ‘dangerous others’. This is confounded by a disconnection with individual context in the risk assessment process. Narrative centralizes the persons’ subjective experience and provides a contemporaneous self-account of their identity. This situates risk within a context and creates possibility for greater understanding of coping, strengths and resilience. Originality/value There has been a call for new ways of working with risk in mental health which facilitate safety and recovery. There is limited examination of what this might actually look like. This paper presents narrative as an approach that may achieve these aims

'Psychiatry is a risk business': the construction of mental health service users as objects of risk: a multiple case study inquiry

The emergence of recovery as an important philosophy in contemporary mental health care, alongside increasing levels of coercion has drawn attention to the potential for conflicting influences in mental health practice. This thesis examines how such conflicts may be situated in the historical, legal and professional foundation of mental health services, presenting an argument to suggest this exposes mental health professionals to tensions in decision-making. Inspired by my own experiences as a mental health nurse, this qualitative interpretive inquiry employed multiple case studies to explore whether and how mental health practitioners perceive and experience potential tensions that may arise from delivering care and enforcing control. Data was collected using interviews with mental health professionals and observations in an acute in-patient ward and assertive outreach team. Data analysis using a theory building approach in case study research was adopted to develop an explanatory model which suggests service users are constructed as objects of risk. Hilgartner’s (1992) theory has been employed to support explanations that people with mental health problems are defined and treated in terms of risk. Such a process is enabled by a spatial, narrative and moral distance that is created between service users and professionals. The construction of service users as objects of risk is influenced by professional, organisational and social contexts. However, displacement from the status of risk object occurred when some professionals maintained proximity to service users’ subjective experiences. The study has underlined the importance of raising awareness that recovery values are not being realised in mental health practice. It has highlighted problems with the language of risk and proposed strategies that may enhance opportunities for professionals to remain connected to service users’ narratives through dialogue

'Psychiatry is a risk business': the construction of mental health service users as objects of risk: a multiple case study inquiry

The emergence of recovery as an important philosophy in contemporary mental health care, alongside increasing levels of coercion has drawn attention to the potential for conflicting influences in mental health practice. This thesis examines how such conflicts may be situated in the historical, legal and professional foundation of mental health services, presenting an argument to suggest this exposes mental health professionals to tensions in decision-making. Inspired by my own experiences as a mental health nurse, this qualitative interpretive inquiry employed multiple case studies to explore whether and how mental health practitioners perceive and experience potential tensions that may arise from delivering care and enforcing control. Data was collected using interviews with mental health professionals and observations in an acute in-patient ward and assertive outreach team. Data analysis using a theory building approach in case study research was adopted to develop an explanatory model which suggests service users are constructed as objects of risk. Hilgartner’s (1992) theory has been employed to support explanations that people with mental health problems are defined and treated in terms of risk. Such a process is enabled by a spatial, narrative and moral distance that is created between service users and professionals. The construction of service users as objects of risk is influenced by professional, organisational and social contexts. However, displacement from the status of risk object occurred when some professionals maintained proximity to service users’ subjective experiences. The study has underlined the importance of raising awareness that recovery values are not being realised in mental health practice. It has highlighted problems with the language of risk and proposed strategies that may enhance opportunities for professionals to remain connected to service users’ narratives through dialogue

Rethinking risk: a narrative approach

PurposeThe assessment and management of risk is central to contemporary mental health practice. The emergence of recovery has contributed to demands for more service user centered approaches to risk. This paper examines the potential of narrative as a framework for understanding risk and safety in mental health care. Design/methodology/approachNarrative theory is adopted to structure a debate examining the potential role of a narrative approach to risk assessment and inform future practice.Findings There is a danger that even within services, people with mental health problems are understood in terms of their riskiness perpetuating an image of service users as ‘dangerous others’. This is confounded by a disconnection with individual context in the risk assessment process. Narrative centralizes the persons’ subjective experience and provides a contemporaneous self-account of their identity. This situates risk within a context and creates possibility for greater understanding of coping, strengths and resilience. Originality/value There has been a call for new ways of working with risk in mental health which facilitate safety and recovery. There is limited examination of what this might actually look like. This paper presents narrative as an approach that may achieve these aims

Assembly of multicellular constructs and microarrays of cells using magnetic nanowires

An approach is described for controlling the spatial organization of mammalian cells using ferromagnetic nanowires in conjunction with patterned micromagnet arrays. The nanowires are fabricated by electrodeposition in nanoporous templates, which allows for precise control of their size and magnetic properties. The high aspect ratio and large remanent magnetization of the nanowires enable suspensions of cells bound to Ni nanowires to be controlled with low magnetic fields. This was used to produce one- and two-dimensional field-tuned patterning of suspended 3T3 mouse fibroblasts. Self-assembled one-dimensional chains of cells were obtained through manipulation of the wires\u27 dipolar interactions. Ordered patterns of individual cells in two dimensions were formed through trapping onto magnetic microarrays of ellipsoidal permalloy micromagnets. Cell chains were formed on the arrays by varying the spacing between the micromagnets or the strength of fluid flow over the arrays. The positioning of cells on the array was further controlled by varying the direction of an external magnetic field. These results demonstrate the possibility of using magnetic nanowires to organize cells

In vitro evaluation of sustained released matrix tablets containing ibuprofen: a model poorly water-soluble drug

A matrix system was developed that releases ibuprofen (IB) over a 12-hour period and the influence of the polymer type and concentration on the release rate of the drug was evaluated. Tablets containing different concentrations of Carbopol (CP), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), or ethyl cellulose (EC) were prepared using direct compression and the drug content, content uniformity, hardness, friability, dissolution performance, and in vitro release kinetics were examined. Formulated tablets were found to be within acceptable limits for physical and chemical parameters. The release kinetics of the Carbopol(r)971P 8% formulation showed the best linearity (r 2 =0.977) in fitting zero-order kinetics, suggesting the release rate was time independent. The drug release from tablets containing 8% CP was extended over approximately 18 hours and the release kinetics were nearly linear, suggesting that this system has the potential to maintain constant plasma drug concentrations over 12 hours, which could reduce the frequency of administration and the occurrence of adverse effects associated with repeated administration of conventional IB tablets

Informed, Involved and Influential: The 3 I's model of Shared Decision Making in Mental Health Care

Collaboration between service users and mental health professionals is at the heart of values based practice and shared decision making. However, there has been limited analysis of the implications of these approaches within a healthcare context that involves depriving service users of their freedom. This article proposes a framework that aims to promote shared decision making which acknowledges, all participants must be Informed, Involved and Influential in the decision-making process. However, these are fluid; they refer to a sliding scale of influence that moves between these different positions depending on context, capacity and desire to influence

A critical narrative analysis of shared decision-making in acute, inpatient mental health care

Shared decision-making (SDM) is a high priority in healthcare policy and is complementary to the recovery philosophy in mental health care. This agenda has been operationalised within the Values-Based Practice (VBP) framework, which offers a theoretical and practical model to promote democratic interprofessional approaches to decision-making. However, these are limited by a lack of recognition of the implications of power implicit within the mental health system. This study considers issues of power within the context of decision-making and examines to what extent decisions about patients? care on acute in-patient wards are perceived to be shared. Focus groups were conducted with 46 mental health professionals, service users, and carers. The data were analysed using the framework of critical narrative analysis (CNA). The findings of the study suggested each group constructed different identity positions, which placed them as inside or outside of the decision-making process. This reflected their view of themselves as best placed to influence a decision on behalf of the service user. In conclusion, the discourse of VBP and SDM needs to take account of how differentials of power and the positioning of speakers affect the context in which decisions take place