DISTRACTION
A photographic exploration of the medical industry’s use of décor.
Somewhere in the world there must be a store that sells interior design decorations to all 2-star hotels and medical facilities. In a hospital or doctor’s office, these routine decorative elements are primarily intended to help us feel more at home, but does this really work?
Charlotte Shuber explores this subject in her upcoming thesis exhibition: DISTRACTION.
Shuber, an M.F.A. candidate in photography with the Savannah College of Art & Design, presents an unusual, intimate view of medical facilities–their walls, floors and furnishings–and compels the viewer to take a closer look at the environments surrounding suffering. Shuber examines what patients habitually stare at in these situations but perhaps never fully see–décor that is often uninspired and even unintentionally humorous–and yet distracts us from states of pain, fear and anxiety.
The showcase (which features many local medical settings) asks us to consider why we as patients and visitors allow ourselves to be so easily distracted from our suffering by futile decoration. How much should the medical industry invest in ambiance? Is the use of commonplace décor as distraction enough or should the decoration be designed to more positively enhance our (often traumatic) experiences?
Join us September 3-6, 2010 from 11:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. at Oglethorpe Gallery, located at 406 East Oglethorpe Avenue in Savannah. Opening Reception is Friday, September 3, 2010 from 6:00 o 9:00p.m.
If you’d like more information about this topic or would like to schedule an interview with photographer Charlotte Shuber, please call 330-618-7636 or email cjshuber@gmail.com.
