Medical Correspondance

 

Exhibition #19 had a medical focused theme, bringing together Joseph Cotgrave’s film 'Elite Controller 1.5', which considers the stigmas surrounding HIV being circulated through ‘meaningless hook-ups’ encouraged by gay dating apps, and Kate Frances Lingard’s series of films titled ‘DOSAGE ONE-FOUR’ that responds to hallucinations suffered by patients in Intensive Care Units when put under prolonged medical sedation. In these ICU’s, due to the amount of time that the human brain is effectively ‘shut off’, patients are known to suffer from PTSD and depression after their treatment; with the doctors focusing on “saving the physical but not considering the mental”. This links into the emphasis of Cotgrave’s piece; educating young people about the potential risks of HIV and safe sex, thinking with your mind rather than your body. The soundscape created by all four of Lingard’s videos provides a rather evocative accompaniment to Elite Controller, with snatches of speech reinterpreted in the context of the male body parts serving to sexualise both works, in a slightly problematic way.

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​​Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight