Touch: The Point of Pain

The Point of Pain

    "Acute pain- a ripped ligament, a burn-hurts son badly that we'll immobilize part of the body long enough for it to heal. A prick of the skin may not hurt the most, but it hurts the fastest, the signal traveling to the brain at ninety-eight feet per second...We pay no attention to our internal workings unless something goes wrong, when we might feel hunger pangs, or headaches, or thirst." 

Diane Ackerman (A Natural History of The Senses)

Statement: Pain takes the form of various physical sensations. Pain can be sharp and quick. It can also be extensive and excruciating. It can be accompanied by the stubbing of one's toe, or the slicing of one's skin against a bade or sharp object. As exhibited by the section entitled "The Point of Pain" within Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of The Senses, pain is often an experience that people only experience during moments of error. As such, the sensation has a negative connotation, as it is perceived to solely an aftereffect of human error. Within our daily lives, we often strive to avoid making mistakes ( and in extension experiencing pain) during basic activities.

                     The image located above was inspired by the "Point of Pain" section with the "Touch" chapter of Diane Ackerman's book. I created an outline of my left hand with tape and used an Exacto knife to replicate the shape and markings of the appendage. The template was then the placed on top of a cutting board and surrounded with various tape scrapes and art supplies. These supplies include a ruler, a pair of scissors, and an Exacto Knife. I took a picture of this display and applied a black and white filter to the image in Adobe PhotoShop. I also utilized the Color Replacement Tool in the program to make the hand template appear red.

                      The intention of this piece was to exemplify the lengths to which people attempt to avoid sensations of pain. This piece exhibits the process of art as such an attempt. Depending on the tools utilized, creating a piece of art can result in injuries ranging from minor cuts and to concerning moments of blood loss. This piece specifically exemplifies my efforts of an artist; as a Graphic Design major, my skill most revolves around digital art. As such, I struggle while developing pieces of fine art. The Masking Tape Shoes assignment is a prime example of my lack of skill with regards to the fine arts, as I would often unintentionally injure my hands with an Exacto knife while attempting to create near-perfect replicas of shoes by using primarily tape, scissors, a ruler, and Exacto knife. The hand template in the piece above exemplifies such moments of pain, as it was created solely with tape and Exacto knife. The contrast between the hand and the rest of the piece through the Color Replacement Tool illustrates the sharp pain that I experienced as I bled during the process of completing the first project of this course. The inclusion of the tools used in the implementation of this project further illustrates the minor pain that has been present in this course thus far.