Heart at The Belfry

with 'Swab Drawings' video work in collaboration with
cardiothoracic surgeon Francis Wells

         

Photographs by Bill Jackson 

In the Swab Drawing videos, we are privy to an intimate moment as cardiothoracic surgeon Francis Wells uses a swab of the patient’s blood, during open heart surgery, to recall diagrammatically the operating procedure.  One is projected directly onto the flaking wall in the belfry, appearing fresco-like. A second  drawing is shown on tiny screen positioned between archways. We look on as voyeurs as the surgeon prepares  himself for surgery, ritualising his preparatory hand scrubbing.  Surgeons can see this washing  as a way of necessarily disassociating themselves from the personal in order to temporarily see the patient "as metal, or stone, or wood," and to view the body "like a mechanical device that needs repair".  We can peer into the open cavity of the chest and witness the pumping of the repaired heart,  maintaining the same distance as the surgeon from the anonymous patient; the framing of the surgical sheet obscuring any defining features. Extract of text from The Belfry.

Heart in the belfry  1,  2

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