Alison Matthews David

Employing the Arts in Research as an Analytical Tool and Dissemination Method: Interpreting Experience Through the Aesthetic

The process to knowing entails perpetual curiosity as well as wearied surrender in which one’s understandings transform. This philosophy describes the approach that our team took to research, interpret and exhibit patients’ narratives of open-heart surgery in “The 7,024th Patient” project – an arts-informed, narrative study that resulted in an installation that is 1,739 square feet in area and over 9 feet in height. With the intention to physically and emotionally engage viewers, patients’ stories were aesthetically translated into an installation of poetry and photography that was configured as a winding, labryinth-like path. In this article, we recount the journey of creating “The 7,024th Patient” exhibition illustrating the employment of the arts as a tool in research for acquiring understanding. In order to vividly highlight our journey, poetic excerpts and photographic images from the installation are embedded.

Arts-Informed Research Dissemination in the Health Sciences

Arts-informed dissemination of health care research is an emerging field of scholarship. Our team chose to use the arts as a means to disseminate findings from a study about patients’ experiences of open-heart surgery and recovery. We transformed patients’ stories, gathered through interviews and journal writings, into poetry and photographic imagery and displayed this within a 1,739 ft2 art installation titled “The 7,024th Patient.” Our intention was to use the arts as dissemination method that could convey the sentiments and perspectives of patients. To evaluate this novel method of dissemination in the health sciences, we conducted a study to analyze its effect on viewers. We used a narrative methodology with a multimodal theoretical lens. Thirty-four individuals participated in either an individual interview or a focus group. In addition, more than 200 anonymous, written comments were generated at research stations placed throughout the installation. In this article, we present the findings. Participants found this art installation of poetry and imagery to be a valid, meaningful, and authentic representation of patients’ experiences. They also described being immersed into patients’ journeys and evoking self-reflection. Based on this research, arts-informed dissemination is a powerful medium to report findings. Our work provides empirical evidence that expands the different ways to distribute research in the health and social sciences.

Exhibition Review: Reveal or Conceal?

Alison Matthews David is Assistant Professor in the School of Fashion, Ryerson University. Her publications include articles on riding habits, military uniforms, and the founding of Vogue magazine. She is working on a book entitled Fashion Victims (Berg Publishers) about clothing causing bodily harm to its makers and wearers. amdavid@gwemail.ryerson.ca McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal, Canada, February 21, 2008–January 18, 2009