2015 / print, zine
Introduction to zine
Everyone feels pain. Even the seemingly happiest person in the world possesses moments of self-loathing, disdain, sorrow, and uncontrollable rage. We all express these emotions differently. For the creative person, the imaginative and subconscious realm are far more vast. One might say the creative thinker’s mind is quite the abyss. One can never truly know the capacity of the creative mind. If half of the possible projects are never realized, what might we be missing? The purpose of the following evaluations are attempts to explore the realms of the unreachable, unattainable, and unknowable. But in true Likert scale fashion and inspired by the research of Charles S. Cleeland, PhD, the following tools are ways of delving into the pain creative individuals must cope within our contemporary moment.
Given my penchant for text-based games, neuropsychology, critical theory, art criticism, and the perspectives I have gained from over 10 years of experience in clinical research, this project is an experimental piece of writing that incorporates what I have learned across these different fields. Part-parody, part-sentimental, and part-satirical, I hope this work serves as a quirky, tongue-in-cheek reflection of how pain and quality assessments in clinical research might serve as a meditation on one’s quality of(art) life. The creative prescriptions noted in the appendices should be handled with great care and prevent overdosing on self-loathing, wallowing in self-pity, and fears of failure.
PLEASE NOTE: This project is a thought experiment that is meant to subvert western modes of collecting data around physical and psychosomatic pain. It is meant as an art project and should not be used for actual data collection and incorporation into a clinical trial. The content has been modified for artistic purposes and SHOULD NOT be used to assess actual physical pain.
Dorothy R. Santos, Ph.D. 