In this piece, I explore the connections between interest and revulsion. I’m interested in the aesthetics of discomfort as a relevant conversation both in and outside of art. A recent study from the National Institute of Health revealed an odd lack within the act of care. There is a barely bridged gap between caregiving of wounds and feelings of disgust and revulsion. The research identified that both health-care professionals and patients can become distressed at the sight of wounds, yet there is little evidence that is available to guide people as to how to manage these feelings. The relevance of this topic extends far beyond the healthcare world and the treatments of wounds, into cognitive studies associated with disease-avoidance and revulsion in general. Complex emotions are associated with disgust such as guilt, shame, engrossment. With this piece, I aim to initiate a dialogue that covers these emotions and their mechanics. These generated images were coded in an application called Processing with Python. They were made to emulate wounds in a fashion that is both appealing and discomforting, similar to feelings stirred up by the sight of actual wounds. The mediation by technology creates an added layer of inherent interest with novelty and complexity.
“Discomfort, in all its forms, is what most effectively pulls us out of ourselves and forces us to see the world in a new light.” — Wheeler Winston Dixon, University of Nebraska, and author of A History of Horror and Black & White Cinema: A Short History