Installation in public spaces
March 30th to April 30th, 2017
– Library of Plateau-Mont-Royal, 465 Mont-Royal ave E
– Cinema Du Parc, 3575 Parc ave
– Never Apart, 7049 St Urbain st.
– Warren G Flowers Art Gallery, Dawson College 4001 De Maisonneuve blvd. W – 2E
Opening : Thursday March 30th, 2017, 5PM
Studio XX 4001 Berri #201
Capturing the medicinal regimens of 100 young women living in urban capitals, Regimen (2015—2017) reflects on a general pressure in Western society for people, notably women, to outperform their natural dispositions. The project reflects on processes and outcomes of diagnosis and normalizing perceptions of health. It asks: what is natural? Who and what can we trust with our health? These questions are explored through the medicinal regimens of these women— specifically, the motivations behind their often-changing consumption of or abstention from pharmaceuticals, supplements, vitamins, and recreational drugs.
The project is comprised of photographic portraits of each woman, still lifes of the medicines they each consume (if any), and written/audio testimonies explaining their respective motivations.
The project focuses on the medicine consumption of women because this is an area where they face special pressures, particularly around reproductive health and body image. Crucially, the project came into being in urban centers — New York, Amsterdam, London, Montreal and Los Angeles, from late 2014 through 2015 — where young professionals are subject to high productivity standards. For as much as Regimen is a project about young women, it reflects on a general pressure in ultra-competitive societies for people to outperform their natural dispositions. It also captures people approaching health care like online research—synthesizing diverse, sometimes contradictory, sources into a health care philosophy.
From March 30th through April 30th 2017, the subjects’ testimonies will be heard in public restrooms across the city of Montreal. At once common and private, this environment recalls rituals of care— a space where one is confronted with the self and the limitations of the body.
Studio XX would like to thank Raphaël Demers and Fab lab du PEC for their support in this activity.