Swab Drawing Videos 2004

Video sequences on DVD. Length variable.

The Swab Drawing Videos document British surgeon, Francis Wells, as he draws using a swab of patient’s blood during open heart surgery. The drawings recall, diagrammatically, mitral valve repair procedures. Here one appears, fresco-like, projected directly onto the flaking wall of the The Belfry, an art space in a functioning church design by Sir John Soane, in London, UK.

It is important to understand the context in which these drawings were made. The surgeon had regularly made sch drawings and all of them were thrown away, as surgical waste. Few people knew about this drawing process, but I observed it and wanted to document it. The drawing is a diagram made to explain a complex procedure to a visiting surgeon, in this case the visiting surgeon did not speak good English but wanted to learn about the very effective new mitral valve repair technique Mr Wells has developed. The drawing activity takes place while the patient is being cared for by a full surgical team. This is a brief time at the end of the procedure when the act of surgery has ended, the surgeon has no active role to play for a few minutes. Rather than interrupt the surgery to answer questions, he has waited until the end to answer them, using the drawing as a diagram. The use of drawing is particularly useful in cross language barriers, as Mr Wells explains the process he has just finished, he draws each significant step. The use of materials (blood and surgical paper) is not so strange when we consider that there are sterile and ‘everyday’ in the environment of the operating theatre. For a more complete discussion of this please see my lecture on Vimeo, Everyday Creativity.

<span style=”color: #888888;”><strong>CREDITS</strong></span> Curated by Ami Clark. Photographs by Bill Jackson