Inside the Anti-Depression Chamber
At ARTsPLACE Artist-run Centre in
Annapolis Royal, NS, go inside the “Anti-Depression Chamber,” an exhibition
created by architectural designer-installation artist Julie Adamson Miller (JAM
Community Art) and textile designer-visual artist Barry Roode (Mushaboom
Design).
“My art practice investigates shelter, it is the forum from which
I investigate and discuss issues of societal importance, and the …
Anti-depression Chamber (Happiness Shelter) [is] the vehicle utilized to
explore issues surrounding depression,” states Miller’s artist statement. “When
discussing the idea of creating a shelter for depression with friends and
colleagues their immediate response was one of delight and then relief, the
hope expressed was the installation and its accompanying documentation may further
the dialogue around depression in the public realm.”
Although depression is the most prevalent of mental illnesses in
the western world (and it’s predicted to be the second most disabling condition
by the year 2020), there is still stigma associated with the psychological
disorder. Miller and Roode’s design seeks to raise awareness while creating a
therapeutic and interactive—even a “mood-altering”—experience.
“It’s mostly joy seeing and being in the
Anti-depression Chamber, especially when [participants] dance in the interior chamber.”
Miller tells AE via e-mail. “The interactive component where
one answers the question, ‘What is your antidote to depression?’ is a public
forum on depression and those who participate are happy to share their
thoughts, and are interested in others' responses.”
Those who enter the chamber (shaped like a curve inspired by
natural elements) can read the thoughts and feelings of previous visitors, put
on headsets to listen to tunes that spans the last 50 years and interact
in other ways, all the while marveling at Roode’s brush strokes.
“I asked Barry if he would work
with me on this shelter after I saw some of the drawings he made from Taylor
Head Park where we live,” says Miller. “They were fantastic, so I asked him if
he wanted to make a 50 foot painting which became the walls of the Anti-depression
Chamber.”
Before arriving at ARTsPLACE,
the Anti-Depression Chamber had been exhibited at the Craig Gallery in Dartmouth, the Georgian College
Campus Gallery in Ontario, and the Tupper Building at Dalhousie’s Medical
School. Miller says they may exhibit their installation at a healthcare centre
next.
Miller has also been facilitating numerous community
and healthcare art programs in both rural and urban locales, including at the
Veteran’s Mermorial Hospital in Halifax, the Oyster
Pond Academy in Jeddore and the IWK Health Care Centre. “Making things is a way to enter into a state where
pain, anxiety and discomfort are replaced by concentration, contentment,
fulfillment, meaning, even joy,” she says. ~AE
You can visit the Anti-Depression Chamber at ARTsPLACE
until June 16.
More on Julie Adamson Miller: http://jamcommunityart.com/
More on Barry Roode: http://www.mushaboomdesign.com/
