visual culture

Subversive Healing and the Empire of Science

Subversive Healing and The Empire of Science © 2009 by Samuel Cox

Subversive Healing and The Empire of Science

Aphotic PixelRaleigh, North Carolina

Scale inluences our thinking.

The impact

Visual Culture

Action!

Index

The Powers of 10

Subversive Healing: how 1-7 influence people’s lives.

6 important things about culture and our consumption of science.

A film to give people knowlege.

Give credit where credit is due.

DTC

The body as a visual obsession

The Reality of Nestle Chocolate

Scientific Looking, Looking at Science

Cultural Imperialism

Medicine is Business.

Scientists are Artists.

Some things that seem good are bad.

Images of science are ideologically influenced.

We consume what everyone else does.

1

2

3

4

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What To Expect.

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45

51

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Visual Culture6 important things about culture and our consumption of science.

Scale influences our thinking.

10

The Powers of 10In 1977 Charles and Ray Eames produced a film called “The Powers of Ten” that explores the scale of things from micro-scopic to the cosmic. The film shows the relations between a man sitting in the park, to his city, to the earth, to the inner planetary orbit, to an entire Milky Way, and back down to the make up and cells in his body. The images were taken with satellites and provide aerial views that zoom in and out from the location of the man. The film shows how the systems inside the man’s body work together, which reflects how his city works in the world, which relates to how the world works in the solar system and all of these things rely on one another to make a large pattern. It proves the earth is constantly in motion but also tightly linked together as it changes.

The perspectives of the movie reflect the Eames’ view that scale is a “valuable tool to give us a sense of place in the universe and expand our thinking in non-linear ways.” (Power of Ten) A knowledge of scale lets us relate the unknown with something familiar, like in geography we are able to locate a place because of something we can perceive around that location. In science class, when a teacher talks about the size of the atoms inside of the body, that size is just a number. But when a teacher gives a reference to something familiar that can be seen, the size of the atom can be understood. For example, there are 125 million of atoms in the period at the end of the sentence. The process of viewing has changed as technology advanced, and it allowed people to recognize scale, “seeing is believing.”

By Betsy Peters

11 Visual Culture ⁘ Samuel Cox

Spider skin

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Toucan eye

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Medicine is business.

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Direct-to-Consumer advertising approaches communication in a manner that provides a clear message while concealing less appealing aspects of the drug advertised. Thus, DTC advertise-ments employ language in a heavily crafted in skillful way in order to make side effects or vague statistics unnoticeable. The anomaly of DTC advertising is that it attempts to sell a product that is only available through the prescription of a doctor. Therefore, DTC ads are not speaking to consumers as though they are doctors, but rather they set low expectations for medical knowledge and use questions that cause the con-sumer doubt and fear. DTC ads also use the everyday tropes of healthy living to make their product seem relevant. Also, drugs from different manufacturers that treat the same conditions use language to set them apart from the similar drugs. In cases such as these, ads might venture into more esoteric medical terminology to make their product appear more sophisticated.

The Lipitor advertisements starring the inventor of the Jarvik-7 Artificial Heart, Robert Jarvik were so deceiving that they were investigated by two members of Congress, and the advertisements were eventually pulled off of the air. Although Dr. Jarvik has a Medical Doctorate (MD), he is not licensed to practice medicine; thus, he is not permitted to give medical advice. Jarvik begins the commercial by setting the premise that he is a practicing physician: “Just because I’m a doctor doesn’t mean I don’t worry about my cholesterol.” He says this in order to gain the trust of the viewer. Jarvik goes on

Language in Direct to Consumer Advertising By Jeremy

Purser


to illustrate the effectiveness of Lipitor with statistics and claims. However, he manages to be explicit when numbers do not mean anything; and vague when numbers would be perti-nent. “Lipitor lowers cholesterol by 39 to 60%.” What is that percentage? Is it relative or absolute? Of course the percentage means less if that only happened in someone with exception-ally high cholesterol. “Lipitor reduces the risk of heart attack. Lipitor reduces the risk of stroke.” Here is a case where num-bers are withheld. A case study shows that 3% of people taking a placebo had a heart attack compared to the 2% of people taking Lipitor that had heart attacks. Thus, 100 people have to take Lipitor in order for it to help one person. This mislead-ing language is compounded by false images. Robert Jarvik is shown performing activities in the commercial that he does not usually participate in. For example, he is shown rowing, when in fact it was not even Jarvik rowing in the commercial, it was a body double.

Vytorin is another cholesterol lowering prescription drug and it is an exemplar of setting oneself apart from the com-petition. Their advertisement campaign is based on margin-ally clever wordplay describing the two sources of cholester-ol: “Cholesterol, it can come from Fettuccini Alfredo or your grandpa Alfredo.” Through repetition Vytorin informs the audi-ence that cholesterol comes from two sources, food and family. Then the ad goes on to say that only Vytorin treats cholesterol from two sources. The ad goes yet even further to mention its competition by name: “Vytorin was also proven to lower cho-lesterol more than Lipitor alone.” Vytorin recognizes that Lip-itor is the popular brand for cholesterol lowering prescription drugs; therefore, Vytorin, is marketed as a more highly special-ized drug than Lipitor. In such cases, DTC ads venture into more medical sounding speech: “Only Vytorin helps block the

16The Empire of Science ⁘ Samuel Cox

absorption of cholesterol from food and reduces the choles-terol the body makes naturally based on family history.” This information is accompanied by an animation of the cholesterol in the intestines being blocked from absorption.” The scientif-ic explanation remains accessible, however, Vytorin takes the risk of alienating an audience because they are competing in a market that has been established by Lipitor.

In the cases of prescription drugs that treat depression and anxiety, the DTC ads are able to take even more leeway with language because of the lack of empiricism in research. For example, Zoloft’s ads speak in second-person as if they are narrating your life:

“You know when you feel the weight of sadness you may feel exhausted, hopeless, and anxious. What ever you do you feel lonely and don’t enjoy the things you once loved. Things just don’t feel like they used to. These are some symptoms of depression. A serious medical condition affecting over 20 million people.”

The ad itself speaks in a depressing tone. Often ads for antidepressants will only posit vague questions that attribute the normal wears and tears of everyday life to mental illness. Those commercials call for contemplation; whereas, Zoloft is dictating. The entirety of the Zoloft ad is telling you that you are depressed. It makes no discrimination in trying to target a specific audience. They are saying everyone is depressed, cit-ing that depression affects more than 20 million people. Yet the quotation of that statistic in the context of the advertise-ment leads one to believe that 20 million is a growing figure.

Despite its position in science and health the intention of Direct-to-Consumer advertising is never objectivity. It seems that treatment for illness should never require persuasion; how-ever, with the introduction of DTC advertising in 1997 that is exactly what has happened. The end of each DTC ad beckons


The ridged texture of a gomphotheres tooth

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The Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

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Scientists are artists.

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Human beings are naturally inquisitive and curious by nature, always wanting to get a closer look to find an answer. In par-ticular, humans over the centuries have showed this behavior in correlation with their fascination with human anatomy and death. Starting with the Renaissance, which brought together the ideas of science and art in ways that no one had ever recognized, and it gave way to this obsession with anatomy. Anatomy exploration was limited to dissection of animals, as well as humans, and it was also done publicly. The idea of anatomy theaters allowed for educated scholars, scientists, anatomists and even spectators to watch and get an up close look with the use of human dissections. The unknown world of the difference between life and death became less of a secret, it was seen as more entertaining to view the inside of a human body, than gruesome. As time progressed, this offbeat obses-sion with the dead has changed, but the true nature of the obsession remains the same.

Beginning with the Renaissance era in the late 15th cen-tury, Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the first people to explore the human body and its form. His depictions helped lead to further research and practice with the body, as well as open-ing the doors to envisioning the body through the inside. Early experiments of looking inside the body were done in public in places known as anatomy theaters. One of the most famous was the anatomy theater of Leiden in the Netherlands, which

Human Anatomy as a Visual Obsession By Betsy

Sheretz


was built in 1596, was essential for not only education and understanding, but for recreational purposes for spectators. It was a true beginning of us-ing the dissection of a human being to provide someone with an intriguing experience, rather than worry or horror. The idea is that many people would not feel much remorse as most of the dead cadavers came from criminals, and the power of their curiosity was too overwhelming.

The anatomy theaters themselves became more popular as time passed, and were not only about the cadavers anymore. As Jose von Dijck once not-ed, “it was the anatomist, rather than the cadaver, who was the actor and focal point of the anatomical theater.” The anatomist would often be more dramatic in the procedures he would perform to make it more compelling to watch for the viewers. The act of watching practices of anatomy like this, was starting to be about social relations that occurred around the cadaver. A famous painting that portrays this is Rembrandt’s, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp that was painted in 1632. The focus was not only on the dead body, but also on the tense expressions of the spectators of the dis-section. This starts exploring into television dramas that have emerged that cover a range of peoples’ experiences with death, such as in the hospital setting with Grey’s Anatomy or E.R. Not only has peoples’ interest in the



Secretory hairs of the olive-tree flower

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White water lilies

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Some things that seem good are bad.

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The Reality of Nestle Chocolate

Nestle is a company that produces a wide array of products, but its main attraction is its chocolate. Nestle chocolates bring out the kid in all of us. Think back to your childhood and Nestle was probably there. Whether your favorite candy was Crunch, Butterfinger, Oh Henry, Sno-Caps, Wonka, 100 Grand, or even Tollhouse chocolate-chip cookies, Nestle has always put a smile on children’s faces.

Nestle is a company committed to making your life bet-ter, which is shown through their slogan, “Good Food, Good Life”. They dub themselves a company founded on “principles of nutrition, health and wellness,” and they dedicate them-selves to producing good products that contribute to a good living. Nestle began in 1905 by selling infant formula, and then grew to sell many more products, one of their most popu-lar, of course, being chocolate. Because of its start in infant formula, and now its focus on chocolate, Nestle is a very child-oriented company. Children are very important to the company, and Nestle helps out in the community by employee volunteer-ing programs at schools, sponsorship of youth programs and partnerships with non-profit organizations to help youth across the nation.

But what about children outside of this nation? What about the children in Cote d’lvoire where Nestle imports its choco-late? This small country in West Africa is the source of 46% of

By Christine Fleming


the worlds cocoa supply. Here, it is estimated that 284,000 child laborers (aged 12-16) work on cocoa farms, and 12,000 are victims of slavery and human trafficking. These children were once orphans living on the streets begging for food, who are then lured away by plantation owners with prom-ises of food and money. Once at the cocoa plantation the children are then enslaved and forced to work in hazardous conditions with no pay, no rights, and no way out. The children are trapped on the farm and are forced to work up to 100 hours per week. If the children try to escape they are beaten, their feet are gashed open and then they are forced to continue working as their wounds heal. Protesters and human rights organizations have travelled to Cote d’lvoire to survey the conditions and found that the young children are forced to carry 14 lb sacks of cocoa over long distances, which resulted in large wounds all over their backs. The children are subject to abuse when-ever the leaders see fit.

Nestle has admitted to buying cocoa from these plantations. They have used commodity fetishism to fill their products with new meanings that are far different from the actual production and manufacturing process. Nestle advertises its chocolate products as fun and able to put a smile on any child’s face. They also dedicate a lot of their time and money to children’s organizations. But all this simply mystifies the product and hides the reality of the product. The reality is that the cocoa in that candy may have been pro-duced by a child laborer who was abducted off the street and forced to work 14-hour shifts everyday. Through their happy advertisements, fun packaging, and an audience geared towards children, the product is affixed with cultural meanings of happiness and freedom. Commodity fetishism is ignorant of its manufacturing process. The consumer has the right to know the manufactur-ing process behind their products.

For years protestors have boycotted Nestle chocolates and now legal mat-ters are being brought into the picture. Global Exchange, a non-profit group, and the International Labor Rights Fund are suing Nestle on behalf of a group of Malian children who were enslaved on a cocoa plantation. These children were forced to work 12-14 hours a day with no pay, little food and


sleep, and much abuse. They are suing through the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows victims of human rights abuse outside the U.S. to sue compa-nies for violations of international law. The suit also charges the company of making false claims to the public saying that the child slave labor problem on cocoa plantations was being resolved.

In July 2005, Nestle was peer-pressured (by its fellow chocolate com-panies who were participating) to sign an agreement promising to find a way to certify their cocoa was not manufactured by forced, underage labor. July 2005 came and went, and there is still no way to certify whether or not choc-olate is from under aged forced labor. The companies were given a three year extension, and after those three years, the agreement was still not met.

Nestle needs to step up and show the other chocolate companies that may also be buying cocoa from these enslavement plantations that this is immoral to do so and that it goes against everything a chocolate company should stand for. Chocolate is meant to be a pleasure, a happy moment when all your stress melts away, or for a child, a special treat that’s fun and makes you smile. Chocolate should not be produced in a way that sacrifices other children’s happiness just to make the children of a developed world that can afford the chocolate happy. All children have rights, and these children do not deserve to be treated as animals. But most importantly, companies like Nestle should not be allowed to get away with hiding their manufacturing process. All Nestle consumers need to know that Nestle buys cocoa from the Cote l’dvoire where plantations enslave children and force them to work long, tedious, physical work, to produce their chocolate. If more consumers begin to see the reality of the manufacturing process, then together we can boycott Nestle and make them either get a moral backbone and change, or go out of business.


The back of a katydid nymph

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An alpine slope

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Images of science are ideologically driven.

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Although scientific images are seen as objective and true, these images are very often culturally prescribed. In other words, they fulfill what we as a culture want at the expense of abso-lute truth. Since the beginning of scientific imaging, scientists and others have tried to “uncover the truth” and “dig beneath the surface.” It has been done so in the most literal fashion, actually cutting open the human body so as to understand how it works. Scientists have worked for hundreds of years to catalogue and segment the body, not only to understand how it works, but to create tangible and relevant images for lay people. The question that remains is why do we feel the need to perceive our body through culturally influenced images? We will look at three different scientific imaging techniques to try to discover why visuals hold so much power and how we cre-ate and support culturally influenced images. The first image type is the X-ray. X-rays are produced by “exposing the body to ionizing radiation and allowing the waves that pass through the body to register on a photographic plate” (Sturken and Cartwright 364). The X-ray was introduced in the 1890s and was met with the public’s mixed emotions. At first it was seen as an invasion of the body’s privacy, or as a reference to skele-tons and therefore death. As culture has changed, our opinions of X-rays have changed. They are not formidable or invasive, but informative and aesthetically pleasing. Some people even show them off as if to gain power from knowing more about the inside of their own body. This pursuit of knowledge seems to be most satiated by visual information. Brain scans are another type of scientific imaging technique that have been adjusted according to societal desires. If you look at a brain scan or

Imaging The Body By Courtney Johnson


any diagrammatic image of the brain, it is usually divided up into regions, color-coded, and smoothed. The temporal lobe could be a soft pink, and the frontal lobe a spring green. The brain’s true physicality is compromised in these images, perhaps because looking at a real brain is too grotesque.

When brain scans are shown to patients, they are often color coded to help the patient see the problem areas. Brain scans are actually less effec-tive in diagnosing a patient than a regular psychological exam (Sturken and Cartwright 372). They are however helpful to the patient in establishing what is wrong with their brain by demonstrating norms and abnormalities. Again, images prove to me more powerful and relatable than other techniques. The final imaging technique, the ultrasound, is possibly the most power-ful example of our implicit cultural needs in supposedly unbiased science. Sonography is “the process of imaging the internal structures of an object by measuring and recording the reflection of high-frequency sound waves that are passed through it” (Sturken and Cartwright 364). Ultrasounds were actu-ally first used by the military to measure distance and location of objects in the ocean. The information gathered was often structured in a graph, a chart, or a series of numbers. The information gained from doing an ultrasound on a baby could also be structured this way. But would a mother feel as con-nected to a graph of a child as she does to a sonogram? The answer is no, and so proven through our cultural practices. The sonogram image has been adapted from these measurements to look like a photograph or a video. The ultrasound has become a rite of passage for a woman. The scratchy, black and white, and sometimes hard to read image even goes so far as to establish personhood of the fetus to its family. This image is so powerful, that some states are requiring woman who want abortions to see the ultrasound of their child within one hour of the scheduled surgery (Jenkins). This is obviously in hopes of getting a woman to

feel connected to her child, to have a feeling that he/she is a real person. Scientifically, the ultrasounds provides few benefits for the doctor and are often trusted more than the feelings of the mother, proving that sonograms really are just a result of our cultural desires. As seen in the examples of the


X-rays, brain images, and ultrasounds, scientific images are clearly imbibed with cultural desires. Perhaps these images hold so much power because they allow us to see the unseen, uncover mysteries, and understand life’s complexities. Humans seem to connect more emotionally and physically

Carter, Rita. Mapping the Mind. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Herrlinger, Robert. History of Medical Illustration. Munchen: Heinz Moos Verlagsgesellchaft, 1998.

Jenkins, Ron. “Oklahoma Sued Over New Abortion Ultrasound Law.” the San Francisco Chronicle 11 Oct 2008

1. 19 Feb 2009 <http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/10/11-1>.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: an introduction to visual culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.


The interface of silicon crystals

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The upper Missouri Valley

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We consume what everyone else does.

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The Jonas Brothers seemed to spring into the mainstream media out of nowhere. At the beginning of 2008, very few Americans knew of them other than middle-school aged girls and or avid Disney Channel followers. By New Years 2009, they had become house-hold names. Whether or not this was completely by their own doing is doubtful. One must take into consideration that Disney is the principal owner of the Ameri-can Broadcast Company (ABC) which, coincidentally, televises “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”, the program on which the Jonas Brothers performed.

“What is wrong with the Jonas Brothers?” one might ask. Nothing. This is exactly the problem. The Jonas Brothers are three, squeaky clean, dark haired, clean shaven, well dressed, chaste, Christian boys. The total sense of purity attached to them is not only unrealistic but seemingly manufactured. By Disney marketing the Jonas Brothers to a target audience of eight to fourteen year old girls, they create an unreasonable sense of what to expect in a man in the minds of naive young women, just beginning to feel attractions towards the oppo-site sex. These expectations developed in youth can lead to a sort of dissatisfaction with life, the sort of unhappiness that spawns additional purchasing to soothe such feelings and re-establish new sense of identity.

The Jonas Brothers themselves could be said to represent the various aspects of the system that promotes them. Their black, Ray Ban sunglasses reflect the opacity by which huge companies do business behind closed doors. The fact that all three are white males parallels perfectly with the typical cor-porate power structure which, for years, has been primarily

Cultural Imperialism By Nick Romanos


comprised of individuals of similar gender and pigment. The rings they wear as a symbol of their devotion to God and their willingness to remain chaste until marriage reflect almost a sort of shackling, not necessarily to their reli-gious beliefs (which may or may not be another product of their rights-hold-ers) but rather, to the companies that, for lack of a better term, own them.

The average citizen can not see through most corporate marketing schemes. Rather than question the greater cultural implications of the Jonas Brothers, a father will purchase for his pleading daughter that ticket to go see the Jonas Brothers 3-D concert, or the Jonas Brothers fruit snacks she had seen advertised on TV and could care less as to what they tasted like. Why wouldn’t he? He wants his daughter to be interested in good, whole-some, well-to-do young men when she finally starts dating. This ought to be a good start.

Meanwhile all of the money being fed into the system by moms and dads across the country is being re-invested in new, fresh ways of manipulating culture domestically and abroad. As the currently cuddly Jonas Brothers ma-ture into men and edge away at their perfections as new temptations in life arise, another craze will already be brewing. When the Jonas Brothers begin losing momentum and the world no longer sees value in the entertainment they can provide, they will fall off the ledge, like so many other “boy-bands” before them. The system could care less; milk the cow for all it is worth until it sputters and goes off to die. Don’t even bother considering how this “cow” might affect the way people perceive the world that surrounds them as they too age. In the end, it will not matter who is performing on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve come 2010. Disney will be lighting their cigars regardless as the fireworks take to the sky. Just another year of making money.



Living room floor after hurricane Katrina, New Orleans

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Human Skin

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The ImpactSubversive Healing: how 1-7 change people’s lives.


Subversive HealingIn February of 2005 my father was diagnosed with pancre-atic cancer. It’s hard to imagine that a collection of some-one’s own cells are killing them because cancer takes place on a largely invisible level. Even when the disease is made visible, it’s represented in black and white scans that are only decipherable by highly trained technicians. The im-ages of cancer are decontexulized “landscapes” that bear no resemblance to the world or physical body which we experience on a daily basis. As a result, the cancer that in-dividuals experience isn’t a physical entity, but a concept associated with pain and death. Simply the word “cancer” conjures fear in people and this fear is only heightened by the fact that our body’s interior seems so distant, foreign, and intimidating.

Before my father’s diagnoses, my mom was interest-ed in natural medicine, and when faced with my father’s pancreatic cancer, she began self-educating herself about the disease and the effectiveness of natural cancer cures. I know it was a difficult and intimidating process to even begin researching into a subject that professionals have studied for years. Many people would think that it’s absurd to believe that one’s self education could provide anything to the sacred realm of specialized medicine. When my par-ents discussed my dad’s situation with an oncologist and voiced their concerns about chemotherapy, it’s inherent damage to the body, and the drug industry’s interwoven relationship to the treatments themselves, rather than ex-periencing a welcoming and supportive environment, the oncologist actually became upset and thought my mom was badly influencing my dad with her concerns! In a place that is supposed to be an objective and scientific provider

47 The Impact ⁘ Samuel Cox

of health, my parents experienced an enormous amount of pressure to unquestionably accept the oncologist’s pre-scription of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In fact, most doctors consider chemotherapy and radiation ther-apy to be the only viable treatment of cancer with little or no consideration of the numerous natural alternatives. In our society we expect objectivity from science, but far from objectivity, my parent’s meeting with the oncologist was charged with medical ideological assumptions and my parent’s dissenting opinions weren’t even entertained.

Eventually, my dad did undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy, largely because not doing so was por-trayed as suicide, but he also had regular appointments with a doctor who specialized in natural medicine. There were many people in our lives who thought this, and my mom’s self education into natural health, was ridiculous. The thought of questioning “real” doctors was absurd to them. Indeed, natural cures seem ridiculous to many doc-tors and people facing cancer. I myself was even a little skeptical of the validity of natural treatments after being steeped in a culture that is obsessed with chemicals, doc-tors, and drugs.

Unfortunately modern culture has embraced the idea that science is removed from assumptions and human perception and is the provider of truth and objectivity in a world poisoned by dogma and ideology. This cultural im-age is empowered by the fact that like cancer, modern sci-ence is largely “invisible” and far removed from the world we experience on a daily basis. In the past, artists like Leonardo DaVinci were preeminent scientists of their day and it was understood that perceptions, assumptions, and the means of representation were necessary and valuable parts of scientific investigation. However, neutron stars and quasars, genetics, and disease are hidden from our immediate perception and therefore we must trust the opinions of the scientific experts and we seldom consider, as my parents experienced, that scientific investigation is


driven by ideology today just as it was in centuries past.Because of our coded collective trust of science, it

seems as absurd to even question the opinions of doc-tors or refuse to fill your body with toxic chemicals when considering cancer treatment options. The fact that my parents received so much pressure for questioning main-stream medicine is not surprising because doing so is an assault on our culture. It makes people uncomfortable. To question “science” in a doctor’s office is seen as subversive, backwards and from the dark ages and is tantamount to wearing a sign reading “Jesus loves you” into an interna-tional Atheist conference. People need to put their faith in something and for many people science and the “objective disciplines” are what they can believe in. All of us want to trust the doctors and believe that medicine is going to make everything okay. It’s comforting and that’s exactly what people with cancer need. That’s why it’s so easy to unquestioningly listen to doctors and believe that the ex-perts are going to provide what is best for us. However, this may not always be the case as my parents discovered. It’s therefore imperative that individuals know it’s not insane to question mainstream medicine and drugs and it’s imperative for us to view mainstream cancer treat-ments as a merely a tool in a belt of effective weapons. People need to know the overwhelming evidence for the power and effectiveness of natural medicines and we need to encourage not deride individual’s self education. Our current situation is unacceptable and if we maintain our course we’ll continue to put our faith in the wrong places and stifle people’s ability to make effective decisions about their health.

49 The Impact ⁘ Samuel Cox

Action!A film to give people knowlege.Action!

The film would highlight individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer and have pursued natural cures and who remain healthy. The film would also address individual’s experiences with mainstream medicine and how the ef-fects of questioning the system. Doctors who prescribe to natural cures would be interviewed about how they moved into practice and their opinions on the state of cancer treatment. Interviews with oncologists prescribing to main-stream treatments could also be introduced to provide a differing perspective.

A film about,

Subversive Healing and The Empire of Science


The two-fold approach will address larger cultural issues, hopefully introducing healthy skepticism into our attitudes towards medicine and science, while specifically targeting those making decisions about cancer treatment by empowering them to think about alternatives to chemotherapy or radiation therapy and demonstrating that it’s accept-able to question mainstream medicine and science.

Raise questions about medicine and science in order to shift public perception.

The documentary would address the issues on different levels of specificity…

Provide thoes making decisions about cancer treatment with knowlege of alternatives and the courage to question doctors.

53 Action! ⁘ Samuel Cox

To promote the film, objects could be situated within contexts frequented by those concerned with, making decisions about, or experiencing cancer.

1) Hospital Waiting rooms:Pamphlets regarding the documentary film could be situated within hospital waiting areas. In addition to general promotions of the film, these artifacts could provide specific arguments and point to resources about natural healing and doctors who are favorable towards the practices.

2) Doctor’s offices: Promotions could be situated in the offices of doctors who are favorable towards natural medicine or practice natural medicine themselves.

3) Pharmacies: Chemotherapy patients are often prescribed anti-nausea and pain killers that are picked up at local pharmacies. Cancer pharmacies could be specifically targeted.

4) Cosmetic surgeons offices: Woman who have had their breasts removed may visit a cosmetic surgeon’s office.

5) Wig suppliers: Women whos hair has fallen out due to chemotherapy may visit wig suppliers.

6) Gyms and health centers: Those conscious about health would be inclined to consume information about health and medicine. Gyms like the Rex Wellness Center on Blue Ridge Road could be poten-tial specific sites for persuasive promotional material.

7) Grocery stores: Individuals undergoing chemotherapy are often instructed to consume “Ensure” and other similar products. Information about the film and/or resources about natural treatments could be situated near these produts or on the products themselves.


Some of the artifcats would contain signifacnt overlap such as those designed for the doctor’s office and hospital waiting rooms while other locations such as the grocery store would require taylored deigns.

7) Grocery stores

5) Wig Suppliers

4) Cosmetic Surgeon’s offices

3) Pharmacies

2) Doctor’s Offices

1) Hospital Waiting Rooms

6) Gyms and Health Centers

Documentary Film

55 Action! ⁘ Samuel Cox

Appendix

Essays• The Powers of Ten: An exerpt from Globalization by Betsy Peters

• Language in Direct to Consumer Advertising by Jeremy Purser

• Human Anatomy as a Visual Obsession by Betsy Sherertz

• The Reality of Nestle Chocolate by Christine Fleming

• Imaging the Body by Courtney Johnson

• Cultural Imperialism by Nick Romanos

Images• Images of Science: A History of Scientific Illustration by Brian J. Ford, 1993

• Super Vision by Ivan Amato, 2003

• Hidden Beauty: Microworlds Revealed by France Bourély, 2002

• Magnifications: Photography With the Scanning Electron Microscope by David

Scharf, 1942

• Mexican Nature Images Javier De La Maza E. et al, 1994

• Exploring America’s Valleys, Prepared by the Special Publications Division

National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 1986

• Nature’s World of Wonders, Prepared by the Special Publications Division

National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 1983

• America’s Magnificant Mountains, Prepared by the Special Publications Divi-

sion National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 1980

• Nature On The Rampage: Our Violent Earth, Prepared by the Special Publica-

tions Division National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 1986

• In Katrina’s Wake: Portraits of Loss From An Unnatural Disaster by Chris

Jordan, 2006

• Hospice: A Photographic Inquiry by Jim Goldberg et al, 1996

• Hospital Interior Architecture by Jain Malkin, 1991


A note:While I certainly have high regard for natural medicine I still respect and value “mainstream” medicine. It is a good thing and it makes our lives better. However, when we place all our trust in medicine, doctors, and science problems arise and people’s health is comprimised.

ColophonThis book was designed and typeset by Samuel Cox in 2009 and was printed and bound at the North Carolina State University College of Design.

The primary text face is 9 point on 12.5 point Trade Gothic LT Std designed by Jackson Burke and the secondary text face is 10 point on 12 point Chaparrel Pro designed by Carol Twombly.

The display face is Din 1451 Std designed by Linotype Design Studio.

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