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Thesis Info
- LABS ID
- 00710
- Thesis Title
- Cell Portraits: recognising the body through representations of cancer cells in the public domain.
- Author
- Julie Light
- E-mail
- julielight AT lowglow.net
- 2nd Author
- 3rd Author
- Degree
- MA in Art & Science
- Year
- 2018
- Number of Pages
- 43
- University
- University of the Arts, London
- Thesis Supervisor
- Supervisor e-mail
- Other Supervisor(s)
- Language(s) of Thesis
- English
- Department / Discipline
- Copyright Ownership
- Languages Familiar to Author
- URL where full thesis can be found
- Keywords
- Abstract: 200-500 words
- This paper uses artists’ portrayals of cancer and cancer cells to challenge media stereotypes in images representing the disease. The paper examines the types of cancer cell images used to accompany reportage online and suggests that, not only are these images rarely directly related to the stories they accompany, they also frequently contain metaphors of war and alien invasion embedded within them. The paper looks at how metaphors of cell images affect the visualization of the body and the impact of alienating and hostile imagery. It goes on to consider representations with the portrayal of cancer cells in selected artwork and, examining pieces by Charlotte Jarvis and Simeon Nelson, discusses the wider range of metaphors in play in the artists’ work. Contrasting these approaches with the dominant representations in the media, it is possible to identify a more explicit engagement with the emotion and progression of the disease, it finds within artistic expression a far broader and more nuanced approach to representing the relationship between the cellular and the self.