"The Aesthetics of Data: Type One Diabetes"

"The Aesthetics of Data: Type One Diabetes"

Acrylic Paint on MDF Board / Test Strips and Acrylic Gloss Medium on Plexiglass

2019

There are two parts to this project:

Part 1- Test Strips and Acrylic Gloss Medium on Plexiglass

Part 2- Red, Green and Blue Acrylic Paint Charts Applied on MDF Board with date stamp

together these two parts visually present a type one diabetic’s daily ritual of blood sugar monitoring.

Part 1 consists of test strips applied to clear acrylic panels and then covered with a light layer of clear acrylic medium. I am repeating these layers, with each obtaining slightly different numbers of test strips that I would utilize on various days. Some layers have as many as 20, and some layers as few as 8. This variation is to illustrate the inconsistent practice of a diabetic testing their blood sugar. The layering is to show the daily separation, the clear opacity of the layers is so the viewer can see the impact of these test strips over approximately a month and a half. The slow process of this course has given me time to really reflect on how I assemble these panels. The clear acrylic medium when layered obtains clear bubbles, that can be connected to the dry blood inside of each test strip as the deoxygenated blood turns a subtle brown color once drying inside its plastic strip. This acrylic medium also dries unevenly, and this is reflective to how diabetics feel their blood sugars are constantly uneven, aiming for this perfection that at times feels completely impossible.

Part 2 consists of MDF board panels that were separated in 14 days (2 rows of 7). Each day is then separated into the amount of times I tested my blood sugar for the day. For example March 4th 2019 I tested 5 times that day. So that day’s section is divided up into 5 smaller sections within. Each of those 5 sections are then color coded based upon my blood sugar that was recorded each time I tested that day. Bright red indicates a HIGH blood sugar (~200+), green indicates a median healthy blood sugar (~100), and blue indicates LOW blood sugar (~80-).

Part 2 Visual explanation below.