Text Collage in progress: Bringing the text to life

On Saturday 27th January we worked with the Eczema Outreach Support Youth Panel on a 2 day in person workshop in Edinburgh. The event was led by theatre education company 3T Theatre and researcher Alison Mayne, giving the Youth Panel the chance to respond to the in-progress text collage produced by artists Beverley Hood and Catherine Street. The aim was to ensure that people living with eczema feel their voices and experiences are accurately represented in the final Surface Echoes artwork, and that it caters to the people who need to know some of the struggles and frustrations that come with living with eczema.

We asked the participants to say who this artwork needs to reach. GPs, teachers, policy makers, employers, family and the general public were amongst the suggestions. We also asked what potential barriers they thought these people may encounter that might limit their ability to understand or give people living with eczema the care they need.

Using quotes from people living with eczema from previous workshops, academic articles and an interview with a specialist dermatology nurse, the participants first made their own text collages by redacting, highlighting and selecting parts of the quotes that resonated with them. As a group, we then experimented with different ways of reading the quotes out loud and helping the reader pay attention. Does taking long pauses between sentences make the words more impactful? Whispering? Moving when reading? Marking up the grammar? Does this affect the message of the text?

The participants then extended their original collages, mixing material from different sources. We then brought their individual elements together to create a large collective text collage. This was pieced together by thinking about the order of the quotes and how switching the order of the quotes could change the tone and meaning. We are particularly interested in using this feedback to ensure the artwork is produced and delivered in such a way that it captures and maintains someone’s attention and achieves genuine understanding of what life can be like when living with eczema.

Participants were then given the opportunity to create their own “future islands” which had thoughts about what would make living with eczema a little easier. Some of these ideas included; “Serenity lake”, a non-salty ocean and a moisturising bath so that being in water didn’t sting and that you wouldn’t need to moisturise afterwards; all pets being hypoallergenic; a “perfect climate” (somewhere between 18-22 degrees – opinions varied!); access to a variety of different creams and treatments; and a general sense of empathy and kindness from strangers.

The second day included a visit to the ASCUS Lab where the group had the opportunity to look at their own skin cells under the microscope and to chat to Prof. Sara Brown about her research.