MADELEINE BARRATT

Originally my work was always silent. I briefly turned away from this, thinking that perhaps sound would add something more. I recorded myself breathing and played this over the videos, however instead of adding to the work I felt that it in fact detracted, turning the work into something more falsely dramatic and sensual (something I don’t want to emphasise more)

Since I first encountered the leeches, the way I feel towards them has changed dramatically. What was once just excitement and interest has surprisingly turned into a real attachment, as if they were pets or even friends. This was perhaps unexpected but further adds to the benefit that I have gained through this project.

Allergic reaction around the site of the leech bite, again highlighting the long standing affects of the leech to my body, even when it is not present 

- Psychic Envelope

Bleeding to health was modelled on the process of menstruation. Hippocrates believed that menstruation purged women of their bad humours. 

Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970′s - Photographers Gallery

    - Clare Hansen

- non-labouring 

Inside Out

Also known as a leech barometer, the tempest prognosticator was a device in which 12 leeches were kept in small bottles inside a large jar. When the leeches became agitated they started to move around, triggering a hammer attached to a bell. Th amount the bell was rung indicated how likely it was that there was going to be a storm.

Mould grown with my saliva

Off-White

A series of 69 photographs that document her increasingly excruciating climb up a specially fabricated “ladder” with steel razor blades on the widely spaced rungs. Beside it is the actual ladder which she climbed. We can see the projecting blades on the rungs which cut her feet and hands as she climbed, we feel her pain viscerally as we look at this physical artifact. This communication of pain is something I wish to emulate in my work.

Shrouds have traditionally symbolised death and rebirth. By making this artefact I aimed to highlight the transfer between me and the leeches, and show the effects to my body after the leeches have detached. 

Helena Goldwater - Hairline 

Helena Goldwater and Manuel Vason