ICU Art so bad I wanted to cover it with a towel

Click Image to see a larger view of what Vaughn saw from his bed in the ICU

My good friend and fellow photographer Vaughn Wascovich was hospitalized this week. I wanted to get his perspective on what the art experience was like as he lay there in his ICU bed for two days. He was in a brand new ICU room in a hospital close to Dallas.

What art did you see, what was it like?

I was really disturbed by the art. There was only one black-and-white print, a studio shot of a flower. Where I lay in bed I had no choice but to look at it. It was so bad I wanted to cover it with a towel.

Why did it bother you so much?

The flower was obviously a studio shot with a white background. It seemed anemic; like me. It seemed disconnected and since I felt disconnected, that was bad.  I care about home and place and this picture did not put me there, it bothered me.

You mentioned that it was black-and-white, do you think that made it worse for you?

I can't say, normally I love black-and-white photography. But in this setting it seemed dated, disconnected and not organic. Nothing around me was organic, even my limited view out the window was a parking lot.

When I was in bed I had very few options about what to look at; it's the clock, the TV or the art. The TV just made me feel worse. All the ads seemed to be about food. Since I couldn't eat that was very stress inducing. A Wendy's hamburger never looked so good...

I should have brought my iPod, that would have helped a lot, I could have closed my eyes and listened to music.

What art would you have liked?

Well, I'm drawn to landscapes, but not one by that Painter-of-Light guy, what's his name... (Thomas Kinkade). His pictures show beauty as a fantasy, they are not real. I wanted to be connected to the real world.

What was it like when you got out?

I went to a local garden and that helped tremendously. I touched and smelled the plants. It really felt good.

Vaughn Wascovich teaches photography at Texas A&M. You can see his work at: www.wascovich.com Below is a close up of the picture that was on his wall:

Comments

[John Storjohann]

It's not just the art that's present..it's the lack of virtually anything that is not starkly clinical. The room is so incredibly institutional; it has always amazed me that birthing rooms have been made to seem more family-like or family-oriented, but rooms for adults that are ill enough to be hospitalized remain boring and mundane. White walls, large-numeraled, black-rimmed analog clocks, single-tiered laminated shelves, and often the lone, sun-bleached, uninspired print. Enviromentally uninspiring for anyone that is there for treatment, and it has to be depressing for those that work there daily.

[Cassie]

I spent a week in the hospital recently, and every day I thought of you and your blog, Henry, because of the photograph in my room there. It was a bleak landscape with fog or mist in the background that obscured everything. The colors were dark blues and browns, and I found it depressing. I wish I could have had one of your bright and cheery images to look at instead!

The view out the window was of another building, but I could see a small patch of sky, and that was my saving grace.

When I was discharged and went outside for the first time in a week, everything seemed too bright and too colorful. It was overwhelming, and I almost had to close my eyes. I guess it was from a week of sensory deprivation. I had never experienced that before, and was surprised by it.

[Henry Domke]

Thanks for letting us know about your experience.
Your real world experience (and Vaughn's) supports my belief that patients have special needs for what they are given to see.
The value of the proper art, a view to nature and daylight are all meaningful.

[Kim Reiss]

You know, I had a breast cancer scare a few weeks ago and spent several (tense) hours at the Barnes Center for Advanced Medicine. I've always had a great experience with their breast health set up there -- runs very smoothly and the people are friendly, etc. -- but in the hall and rooms you go to for further testing (regular mammogram goers walk through the left door -- actually nice art in that room -- and those with "issues" walk through the door on the right), the art was ATROCIOUS! And I really noticed it because I kept going back in for mammograms, then they'd make me sit in a waiting area with really dreadful pictures on the wall -- one was a landscape winter image -- especially bleak. The only really great piece there was a mosaic done by breast cancer survivors, which was really creative and heart-warming. But even in the exam rooms they had, like, blurry pictures of dandelions. BAD. At first I was assuming that I'm just hyper-sensitive to the art issue, but I have to believe other women havie the same reaction.

I mean, it was this very scary, kind of surreal experience, and the art made it *worse*!! You're in a waiting room or exam room, with your thoughts going wild, with nothing to look at but old magazines -- it's a recipe for disaster.

Anyway, turns out it was just a cyst, so I can't really complain. But geez!!