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Our lives are spent avoiding emotional and physical pain. Often as humans our experiences of this primal function are our most powerful, our reactions our most volatile and automatic. But what exactly is pain and how is it we've developed such varied interpretations to feel it? Join us for an evening of science and art collaborations which attempt to understand the phenomenon of pain.
Pains, Brains and Bodies
Professor Tony Dickenson
(Professor of Neuropharmacology at University College London)
Like many living things, people have developed systems which can warn them of potential or actual damage to their bodies so that they can move away from painful stimuli. Some of these work by telling you where the pain is and how bad it is, while others activate muscles to enable you to move away from it. There are also further systems that are responsible for the emotional aspects of pain – anxiety, fear or anger. Come and hear about the science behind pain and explore what pain does to our body and minds.
Body suspension
Ben Bodecker
(Artist)
The epitome of mixing pain and joy is body suspension. Large metal hooks that pierce the skin and then lift the whole body into the air fully suspended is a highly emotional experience - and one that people engage with for different reasons, the adrenaline or euphoric rush, spiritual practice or simply to face fear. Ben Bodecker will showcase full body suspension and explain his own experiences with pain.
Communicating pain through art
K G S French
(Artist)
K G S French is a London based artist who graduated from London College of Fashion in 2013. She is currently in the process of setting up her own fashion label and is also applying to study for a masters degree in Painting.
The art of designing pain
Tom Maryniak
(Artist & Designer)
With a background in woodblock relief printing, Tom is treading the line between interior design and Fine‐Art printmaking. Tom has been designing wallpapers and patterned prints in an attempt to re‐negotiate the role of wallpaper within an interior, as a piece of artwork in its own right. With broad themes ranging from the political, historical to the cultural, Tom would argue that all of the designs are fundamentally playful, but perhaps with a mildly facetious undertone.
Poetry
Francis Byrne
(Poet)
Since completing his Masters in chemistry, Francis has taken to writing science poetry. He does things like trying to get two nerve cells to fall in love or uses the process of DNA replication to create a strange new nonsense language. Francis transforms obscure scientific concepts and vocabulary into playful, funny and thought-provoking poetry and will be collaborating with Professor Dickenson of UCL on a poem about the pharmacology of pain. Francis has worked with ITV, Creative Reactions, The Huffington Post, and runs his own poetry night in London called Frogs & Jays.
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