Circulation: The Double Pump
Introduction to the heart and some basics on circulation.
Artist Statement:
The two videos and songs edited together here are an exploration of one of thousands of aspects in the human body. The focus of circulation is one that is important for all humans to understand- to know how one crucial part of our functioning and existence actually operates. Remixing black and white medical videos, from circa 1920’s to the 1940’s, when these visual medical guides were first being produced, was an attempt to combine ideas aimed to simply communicate something much more complex. Piecing together these simple stages for this larger narrative shows how a few of the major physiological processes of blood circulation occurs within the human body. It is a focus on learning- an educationally guided piece.
Ennio Morricone was a prolific and incredible composer, who was born in 1928 and was creating music until he passed in 2020. The instrumentation and narration of his music was not only a personal choice, but an addition that is a subtle composition to this journey.
Artist statement:
This found advertisement from back in the early 1940’s, was from the Doughnut Corporation of America- the biggest doughnut maker of the time. In an attempt to sell nutrition by way of a not so nutritious food product, the idea fell flat as the doughnuts were made with enriched white flour, therefore the actual doughnut was not enriched with vitamins. For this piece, it was stated that the Ad was selling “Vitamin Donuts” and the text title was changed to Thiamine. Thiamine is vitamin B1, and to reflect this fact the name was better suited as it gave edge and a stronger message that these questionable, most likely synthetic ingredients, misrepresent what the “vitamin” doughnut is made of. The “Pep and vigor” tag is emulated through the eyes of the children as thiamine is said to play a role in the nervous systems’ health. It has involvement with promoting muscle contraction and transmission of nerve signals.