DISEASE AS ART Part Two
Here's more work from painter Daphne Hill who makes art about infectious diseases.
"Mark, Chloe, Chlamydia"
Julia, Junia, Chlamydia"
And more pin-ups beseiged by STD's
Condemned by the medical establishment, Andrew Wakefield still believes in a link between autism and vaccines.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/magazine/mag-24Autism-t.html
Cartoonist Dan Hipp has re-imagined several epic sci-fi films as Tintin covers – even changing the names to seem more Tintin-esque. Love the Alien in Tintin aesthetic and Snowy in Princess Leia braids. You can see more of Hipp’s Tintin series at his website.
Funnyman Actor Brian Morri recounts his experience of playing a heavy in Exposure:
I am a nice guy... I swear.
I have known Mia Trachinger for a long time now, and have worked with her on 3 films. I can without hesitation tell you that she is one of the sweetest, thoughtful, and most talented people out there. That said, what is her problem?! Why does she think I am so mean?
At the time ITVS asked me to submit an idea for a FUTURESTATES episode, news stories chronicling public fears of the H1-N1 vaccine were rippling across the media. Americans from across the political spectrum — from the left to the right — were skeptical about the government's motives for urging citizens to get the vaccine. This hesitation made me wonder about our nation's comfort with scientific research and our latest medical advances. I began to feel that the more we advance in science and medicine, the more we're afraid of its power and the less we seem to trust it. It seems our society is at a point where we view healthcare as both helpful and predatory. In Exposure, I'm imagining a near future where the relationship between medicine/science and society has broken down even further. — Mia Trachinger, Writer/Director
Production Designer Aiyana Trotter describes her process of designing the Virus Infiltration System in Exposure:
Here's the original concept drawing for the Contagion ventilator. It had to be revised when I realized that they were attached to a vent on the wall and we wanted the agents closer to the vent itself.
These are my research boards of air pumps, ventilation masks. Trying to figure out the look we wanted.
The Hunt: I spent many hours in hardware stores with my assistant Rafael Olavarrieta looking for the perfect parts to create the vents and masks.
We based the machine additionally off of vaccuum hoses, plastic plumbing parts, and vaccuform odds and ends provided to us by Marcelle Chamlee the costume designer. 
The final test: Once we solidified our location for the scene we had to tailor all the parts to look good for the shot. This photo is of Mia Trachinger doing a demo of the machine and vent before it was painted and finally assembled.
Mia Trachinger's ITVS sci-fi short EXPOSURE is live today. Check it out!
"In a world where people are employed as live body contagions to immunize urban populations, an unvaccinated man resists being inoculated."
See it at: http://futurestates.tv/episodes/exposure
When I was asked to audition for EXPOSURE I had a hair trigger reaction to the character of Roxanne as it pertained to the audition scene... someone who cared deeply about her job position, but who cared for the people and community she was instructed to inoculate. As actors we bring our whole selves to a project and with that experience comes cultural egocentricity; it is just part of who we are. I come from grandparents and parents who were raised in the segregated South. They were and are proud people who in the former generation feared the government and in the latter reaped benefits and became a part of it.
So the impression made by the character was personal and, in retrospect, I supposed it may have been one of the reasons that I was cast...
Roxanne is determined to complete the task of immunizing citizens against the virus and she is a woman on a mission, caring solely about the mission at hand.
From where I sat, government had been an asset to community-. Being a child of the post Civil Rights Era, it afforded me opportunities, it employed my Dad and a number of my relatives, and my knowledge of all the things put in place to aid mothers and children who were underinsured and under privileged was expanse... surely the federal government would look out for its constituents, right?
Interestingly enough though, during my Grandparents' era, the US Public Health Service ran syphilis experiments on African American men in Alabama under the guise of free health care. No wonder, sometimes they were reluctant to see a doctor even though they were insured. So? These are the questions that swirled inside of me as the script unfolded and we embarked upon the shoot and it brought me a great deal of joy to pose the questions with Mia.
In the recent wake of the H1N1 vaccines that year, I hadn't a second thought about getting one, but I had a number of friends who questioned the necessity for it...what was the fear and so forth. As I spoke to people it became clear to me that history, culture and ethnicity informed a lot of the answers to individual questions. Where people lived...how they are treated by government officials, what results do they get when requesting aid, was asking for help ever an issue in their lives all had something to do with their decisions.
I am excited that the dialogue about our commonality and different feelings about our government will be raised when people see the film and moreover, intrigued by what new ideas the film will spark as a result.
As a filmmaker interested in the intersection of disease and society I was excited to meet Daphne Hill - a painter who makes art about infectious diseases. Check out her paintings of pin-ups surrounded by STD’s.
Here's "August, 1951, Syphilis, Gonorrhea"
"November, Candida Albicans"
Daphne writes:
"My newest series, Venereal Narratives, came about after having the sex talk with my 11 year old son. After stressing the importance of safe sex, I started thinking more and more about STDs, the ones that have been around for centuries and the newer threats like HIV/AIDS. These mixed-media collages represent romantic couples where one or both participants have syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, etc. I provide the viewer with the names of the lovers and the disease, they provide the story."
Here's some couples romancin' surrounded by STD's -
"Peter, Vashti, HPV"
"Helen, Peresh, HPV"
"Trachinger herself kind of reminds me of a sci-fi Miranda July … very smart and passionate, with a particularly interesting and engaging way of looking at the world." Read the full article here!
