C80 - The aesthetics of cancer?
We all know that there are invisible diseases that attack the human body with symptoms that are invisible from the outside. But these diseases, including cancer, are very visible to the layperson. Health professionals, looking at the cellular level, know the distinct visual aspects of our diseases. This duality is the starting point for the C80 project.
The exhibition
The exhibition C80 - The Aesthetics of Cancer? will open on 5 April 2024 at the Institute of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, and will be open until 31 May 2024, by appointment, during regular opening hours and during our related programmes. The exhibition will showcase new works of art, each of which takes a different approach to cancer, resulting from the last six months of collaboration. Adam Albert will create a video work based on the behaviour of cancer cells, which will be based on a factual but lyrical text about the disease. Emese Benczúr's installation uses storage cassettes of histological sections and draws attention to the factors of cancer and healthcare that are not known in layman's terms. Dániel Máté will also focus on an aspect that is invisible from the outside, the meticulous and systematic work of cancer diagnosticians, presented through symbolic photographs. The photo-based installation by Barnabás Neogrády-Kiss deals with the stigmatisation of cancer and the stylized and realistic representation of tumours. Dorottya Poór's comic book-like textile work explores the superstitions and misconceptions surrounding cancer. Zsuzsi Simon's video installation shows the everyday actions that have given women who have survived breast and cervical cancer a sense of support during their illness.
About the project
But what does the title mean? C80 is a BNO (International Classification of Diseases) code for malignant tumours without localisation. Rarely used on its own, the code is just right for the project: it expresses the presence of cancer, but also leaves room to deal with it in any way and by any type. The subtitle is a reference to Susan Sontag's The Disease as Metaphor, in which the author argues that it is inconceivable that cancer could ever be seen as aesthetic. The subtitle, phrased as a question, is not meant to argue with the statement, but to go around it. To examine cancer through the medium of visual art.
The aim of the programme is to break down taboos about the disease, and cancer in particular, and to exploit opportunities for mutual learning between patients, health professionals and visual artists to enhance visuality. Reducing misconceptions and fears around cancer is primarily possible through dialogue. To talk more openly about the issue, we are using visual arts: we hope that contemporary art can bring a different approach to help us start on the road to breaking down the taboos surrounding cancer.
Budapest
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