The Art Fund - What's On

Art & Medicine: Can Design Save Your Life?

Achievements and innovation in design are changing, improving and challenging the worlds of medicine, health and well-being. the debate explored the ways in which the design and medical worlds intersect and asked whether design really can save your life?

Journalist, author, and curator Henrietta Thompson, chaired the debate with panellists Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes for Wellcome Collection, who has commissioned displays from some of the best young british designers; Jim Dawton, Director of Pearson Matthews, known for the innovation and development of breakthrough healthcare products; rising star designer, Sally Halls; and Sunand Prasad, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and senior partner at leading healthcare architecture firm, Penoyre & Prasad.

This event was held in conjunction with museum and galleries month, the uk-wide celebration of museums and galleries which takes place in may, and whose theme this year was 'ideas and innovation'.

	Ken Arnold has worked in a variety of museums on both sides of the Atlantic. He joined the Wellcome Trust in 1992 after completing his Ph.D. on the history of museums. He now heads the Trust’s Public Programmes department, which runs a variety of events and exhibitions in Wellcome Collection, a new venue that explores the links between medicine, life and art, and has commissioned displays from the best young British designers for the windows of the Wellcome Trust's headquarters at 215 Euston Road. He regularly writes and lectures on museums and on contemporary relations between the arts and sciences. His has published much including Cabinets for the Curious (2006). He is married and lives in London with his wife and two sons.
	Jim Dawton, Director of Pearson Matthews, known for their innovation and development of breakthrough healthcare products, from a portable, lightweight case for osteoporosis drug to smaller, faster, more accurate blood glucose meters to one-handed plaster applicators.
	Co-founder of Penoyre & Prasad in 1988, Sunand has played a central role in the design and delivery of the practice’s 300 plus projects. He is closely involved in guiding the design philosophy of the practice and the design development of projects. His experience encompasses education, healthcare, housing, the arts, commercial development, sustainable design and masterplanning. Sunand is currently President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), previously the Vice President for Policy and Strategy, chair of the Climate Change Board and founder of Constructive Change. He is a trustee of Architects-for-Aid and a member of the Mayor of London’s 4th Plinth Commissioning Group.
	Sally Halls developed an interest in medical design at the Royal College of Art, whilst working on her award winning graduation project which looked at how incubators could be humanised to allow more contact between mother and child. Sally now works at the Helen Hamlyn Centre where her portfolio includes product, service & communication design as well as the development of design strategy in the health sector. She was part of a team that redesigned the resus:station , a resuscitation trolley which went on to receive two Medical Futures Innovation Awards: Best Medical Device, and Overall Winner in the Anaesthesia and Critical Care category. She has since worked with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) to produce industry wide guidelines on the design of injectable medicines, and is currently improving the design of infusion devices.

Doshi Levian, Stethoscope 2004 Museums and Galleries Month 1-31 May 2008

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Can Design Change The World?
10 March 2008, Design Museum, Shad Thames, SE1

Design Museum

"This is a call to action to anyone committed to building a better world.”
Cameron Sinclair, author of Design Like You Give a Damn

Design no longer means just colour schemes and corporate logos. Avant-garde and forward thinking designers are setting their sights no lower than changing the world. From eco-fashion and ‘green’ interior design to architectural solutions to humanitarian crises, today's designers are looking to change the way we think about design solutions for our future.

Journalist, author, and curator Henrietta Thompson will chair this debate that brings together designers committed to building a better world to discuss their work and the issues they face. Panel members include maverick designer Ross Lovegrove known for his design of the first Sony Walkman, ecological fashion expert Orsola de Castro, Chris Medland, from Architecture for Humanity UK and rising star designers &Made.

Ross Lovegrove, internationally recognized industrial designer, who employs manufacturing innovations that make products more environmentally friendly, whilst maintaining a sleek and organic aesthetic. He is both a pragmatic designer, known for his design of the first Sony Walkman and the Louvre’s sanitary facilities, and also a bit of an idealistic maverick, envisioning solar powered cars that park in the air and double as street lamps.www.rosslovegrove.com

Orsola de Castro, is Creative Director of From Somewhere,one of the first labels to address waste within the fashion industry, whose instantly recognisable patchwork and panel designs utilise cut-offs, pre-consumer surplus, end of roll and damaged fabrics to create an uncompromising balance between a contemporary approach to fashion design and a poetic and ethical solution to borrowing from past treasures for our modern needs. Orsola also curates the Esthetica initiative of London Fashion Week, designed to showcase ethical fashion and designs/collections founded on ecological and organic principles. www.fromsomewhere.co.uk

Architect Chris Medland is representing Architecture for Humanity UK, a charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need. AfH-UK believes that – where resources and expertise are scarce – innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference. Through the power of professional design, AfH-UK builds safer, more sustainable and highly innovative structures – structures that become assets to their communities and ongoing symbols of the ability of people to come together to envision a better future. www.afhuk.org

Rising Star Designer, &Made were selected as one of the Design Museum’s Best Emerging Designers of 2007. Their ‘Lost & Found' collection highlight issues of waste and excess by imbuing new life and meaning into salvaged furniture sections with reclaimed timber. “Climatised Objects” address climate change, by crafting a sturdy but buoyant dining table with removable legs which convert into oars in the event of a flash flood. In earthquake scenarios, an unassuming vase switches to an emergency torch on impact if knocked from its ledge, while a series of picture frames convert to flashing navigational aids, much like floor-based emergency lighting on airplanes, at the first instance of a tremor. www.and-made.com

Journalist, author, curator and editor Henrietta Thompson writes regularly about architecture, design and technology for Arena, Business Life, the Independent on Sunday, Monocle, Wallpaper*, the Guardian and the Architects Journal. Henrietta is author of Phone Book, the first book to be published internationally about mobile phone culture and design, and Simply Contemporary.

As a curator, Henrietta's exhibitions include the annual 100% Norway, and Hearwear (V&A 2005) among others. She is currently writing a series of books about new resourceful design with Thames & Hudson.

Design Museum

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All Modern Art is Left Wing- Discuss

All Modern Art is Left Wing: Discuss
14 November 2007, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank

20th-century art and art literature is often concerned with the rebellious, the underdog and people on the fringes of society championed by Liberal Left politics. But with the rise of a powerful neo-conservative force led by George W Bush in America and the backlash against New Labour in the UK, why aren’t the artists of the 21st century creating work that supports powerful right-wing ideals? Have Conservatism - radical or otherwise - and art ever gone hand in hand?

Join Turner Prize winning artist Grayson Perry, Conservative Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey, Tim Marlow, Director of Exhibitions, White Cube, cultural commentator Munira Mirza and rising artist Jonathan Yeo for what we expect to be a heated debate.

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Renegade Art: Street Art vs. Fine Art
Tuesday 23 October 2007, Westbourne Studios

The Streetscape has been overwhelmed by a new wave of artists, creating interactive 3D works that shock and entertain the public realm.

Can Street Art be considered as fine art? What defines it, and can it translate successfully to a gallery context? Join Ossian Ward and Francesca Gavin as they discuss and explore the art produced by contemporary artists who use the city streets as their exhibition spaces, and examine their contribution to the realm of contemporary fine art.

Francesca Gavin is a freelance features writer, critic and editor. Her recent book Street Renegades - New Underground Art, profiles the work of 30 international street artists. She is currently art director at Dazed and Confused, associate editor at Marmalade and guest editor of Into the Storm. She has written features and reviews for Blueprint, i-D, Art Review, The Big Issue, Citizen K, Intersection, Soma, The Times, Time Out, Upstreet and Wonderland. She also contributes to a large number of websites including BBC collective, The Guardian online and Artkrush.

Ossian Ward is editor of The Artists’ Yearbook 2008/9, the current visual arts editor at Time Out, and previously editor at ArtReview.

Pure Evil is a graffiti artist who has spent several years living in California where he made electronic music and experimented with printing. The west coast skateboard and graffiti culture of Twist inspired his return to London, when he began to spray paint his surroundings. His work asks questions such as ‘why do humans seem to like conflict and explosions?' and 'what does evil look like?' Pure Evil has a new gallery space at 108 Leonard Street in Shoreditch. For more info go to http://www.pureevil.eu

Part2ism is a British born graffiti pioneer & music producer who practices the concept ‘Part2ism’ which he realized and continues to develop. His work concentrates on disposable graffiti interventions which are constructed from discarded pieces of cardboard repossessed from the streets. They are designed to modify our city environments & daytime pedestrian streets to create the original shock value. He has a 22 year history painting large scale graffiti productions worldwide.

Indian Art Today: An Exploration of Contemporary Art in India
Tuesday, 4 September 2007, Royal College of Art

Join historian and author Professor Partha Mitter, Barbican curator Francesco Manacorda and leading young artists from India - Sharmi Chowdhury, Shibu Arakkal, Apurva Desai and Laxman Aelay - for a discussion exploring the emerging trends and new directions in contemporary Indian art. Leading the debate will be curator and writer Gilane Tawadros, founding Director of inIVA (Institute of International Visual Arts).

The evening will include a private view of specially commissioned works by Pooja Iranna, Apoorva Desai, Farhad Hussain, Sanjeev Sonpimpare, Sharmi Chowdhury, Shibu Arakkal, Apurva Desai, Laxman Aelay and others.

Special thanks to SA Fine Arts and Art Alive Gallery.

Guest speaker: Francesco Manacorda
	Francesco is curator at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, and Tutor in the Department of Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art.

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The Art of Medicine: where contemporary culture and the medical world collide
Thursday, 17th May, 2007, The Forum, Wellcome Collection

Some of today's most inventive artists are turning to modern medical practice and its innovative technologies for inspiration.

Artists have long looked to the body as a source of ideas; now, they are able to use the most advanced biomedical technology and scientific methods of research to discover new ways of expressing truths about the nature of being human. What are we finding out about ourselves as a result? And are these artists helping to push the boundaries of what can be achieved with these technologies, giving something back to the medical world that nurtured them?

In a collaboration between The Art Fund and Wellcome Collection, our panel of speakers will debate the place of art in the medical world and the place of medicine in artistic practice.

The debate will take place at Wellcome Collection: a vibrant new £30m public venue on Euston Road, set to open to the public in the Summer of 2007, and designed to explore what connects medicine, life and art, rooting scientific issues in the broad context of health and well-being. A new gallery will host a programme of special exhibitions, while two additional gallery spaces will house permanent exhibitions; a version of the hugely successful Medicine Man exhibition first shown at the British Museum in 2003; and Medicine Now, an exploration of contemporary medical topics through the eyes of scientists, artists and popular culture.

Join our speakers - neurophysiologist, Dr. Mark Lythgoe; University Hospital's Arts Curator Guy Noble; artist and Turner Prize nominee Christine Borland and Art and Science author and our moderator, Siân Ede - for a debate on The Art of Medicine and a preview of this exciting new London attraction.

Siân Ede
	Siân Ede (Chair) is Arts Director for the UK branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. She initiated the first Arts and Science programme to be run by an arts funder, to encourage artists from across art forms to engage with new thinking and practice in science and technology. Siân is adviser to the Wellcome Trust, the Royal Society and the Arts & Humanities Research Council and frequently advises, writes, speaks and chairs debates on Art and Science in Britain and internationally. She is the author of Art and Science (I B Tauris, 2005) and editor/co-author of Strange and Charmed: Science and the Contemporary Visual Arts (Gulbenkian, 2000). Link: www.gulbenkian.org.uk
Christine Borland
	Artist Christine Borland, a short-listed artist for the 1997 Turner prize, explores the arena of medical practise as part of a broader interest in the systems and processes that shape our society. Through her sculptures, videos and installations she finds ways to cross the imaginary line dividing the body from the self, the specimen from the individual, and the doctor from the patient, in an attempt to recuperate something of the essence of being human. Link(s): www.fruitmarket.co.uk, www.lissongallery.com, www.skny.com, www.tonitapies.com
Dr. Mark Lythgoe
	Dr. Mark Lythgoe is both scientist and artist: a neurophysiologist and Director of the Biomedical Imaging Centre at University College London, he has worked extensively with a range of artists including Andrew Kotting, Annie Cattrel and Richard Wentworth. Utilising MRI technology he has explored the bridge between what we see and the way we see it and worked on a range of projects including sculptures from patterns of thought to the film “Mapping Perception.” He has also extensively researched the place of medical imagery in art, and the cognitive difference between artists and scientists. This year Mark will present a series ‘The new two cultures’ for BBC Radio 4. Link: www.mlythgoe.com
Guy Noble
	Guy Noble, the newly appointed art curator at University College Hospital Trust, has already sparked debate over the sculpture resembling a large boulder, specifically commissioned for the Hospital collection and positioned at the UCH's main entrance. He is responsible for a changing programme of exhibitions and artists residencies, art and music workshops for both staff and patients, and the commissioning of site specific art work for the Hospital. Link: www.lahf.org.uk

London vs. The Suburbs: Where does inspiration come from?
Tuesday 14 November 2006, Museum of London, London Wall

Photos from the event: click on a thumbnail below to enlarge photo.

Is London a hotbed for inspiration, the cultural heartbeat of Britain? Or a sucking maw, luring creative talent, and spitting the husks back out? Are the suburbs a failed attempt at utopia, a cultural wasteland, full of bored and boring good-lifers and wife-swappers? Or the next creative frontier?

This discussion was led by acclaimed musician Billy Bragg, cult author Iain Sinclair and his close collaborator, artist/designer Susanna Edwards, celebrated artist Richard Wentworth, and award-winning poet Tobias Hill, who have found nothing less than the lifeblood of their work on the streets of inner London and among the hinterlands of suburbia.

The debate was chaired by Joe Kerr, tutor in architectural history at the Royal College of Art and author of the book London from Punk to Blair.

Known as ‘The Bard of Barking’, and described by The Times as a ‘national treasure’, Billy Bragg is one of the UK’s most successful and critically lauded singer/songwriters. His debut book, The Progressive Patriot was recently published by Bantam Press. He has released ten albums, the most recent being England, Half English.
Author Iain Sinclair has been a force in British literature since the 60's, and is one of the most well-known explorers of London’s historical, literary, political and spiritual
landscape.

Susanna Edwards’ images and illustrations take off where Sinclair’s writing ends and visually explore the ideas of people, places, buildings, objects, memories, quotes and actions.

Tobias Hill is one of the leading British writers of his generation, and his poetry brings to the forefront the psychic and surreal of his native North London.
Read a review of his current work .

Richard Wentworth has emerged as one of the key figures on the British contemporary art scene. Shunning the monumental gesture, Wentworth finds his materials in the everyday world, a world of things and thoughts already made. He lives in London, and the urban environment has presented for many years a rich vein for him to mine.

Following the discussion, Billy Bragg, Iain Sinclair and Tobias Hill signed copies of their recently published books.

Nordic Art and Design
Sunday 29 October 2006, Christie's, King St

The talk provided an inside view on works by leading artists and designers from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark including Asger Jorn, Olafur Eliasson, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Alvar Aalto, Ola Kolehmainen and Georg Jensen.

Nordic Art and Design

See more images from this event here