1-month

One month of life represented in still photographs juxtaposed by an intravenous medication occurring once every four weeks.

1-month, dual screen video, 3 minutes and 2 seconds, May 2018

 This project developed after I began filming the various stages of my recurring intravenous medication. I noticed a single bubble usually appears towards the beginning of the treatment, making its way out of the pumping machine and traveling through the long tube before being broken apart by the filter attached to the needle. Watching this bubble move up and down and around the loops of the tubing was hypnotizing. On rare occasion, more than one bubble would appear in a session.

Receiving IV medication is a blessing and a curse. The drugs work better than anything I have ever been on in terms of slowing down the disease’s destructive path, but there is a discipline in the treatment plan. You must report to the hospital monthly (in my case). I have heard of others who require weekly or even daily treatments. You are tethered to the schedule. You can’t make plans until you check the calendar to see when your next appointment is. I get disgusted by the idyllic beach photographs that hang on the walls of the patient rooms, as they are not a calming image, rather, they are a constant reminder of the freedom sick people don’t have.

To show this segment of time passing, I paired images that occurred within a one-month period (April 2018) contrasted by the path of the bubble in the tubing. The dichotomy between the two moving graphics is intended to draw attention to the reality of the life we have and the life we desire.