Phineas Gage World's Wonder
by Lisa Redfern
Title
Phineas Gage World's Wonder
Artist
Lisa Redfern
Medium
Digital Art - Mixed Media Digital Collage
Description
This art piece is based on the book Phases of Gage: After the Accident Years, by Lisa Redfern [available on Amazon].
One of the ‘great’ medical curiosities of all time, Phineas’s head injury in 1849 may have been the first case to link brain studies with human personality.
In the novella, Phineas, his sister, and her husband share their experiences during the years after Phineas's accident. Their stories tell: how the family coped with Phineas’s head injury, the challenges of traveling to California with him, and how his skull and tamping iron came to be on display in a Harvard Museum.
Based on a true story and known facts (at the time of writing), this work of fiction brings contemporary emotional qualities to the people who experienced a family tragedy that became a historic event.
The Case of Phineas Gage is still commonly studied by neurology and psychology students today.
For a short time after his accident, Phineas displayed himself at P.T. Barnum's American Museum in New York. P.T. Barnum is thought to be the father of modern-day marketing. During the 19th century, he created a successful commercial business based on biological, and in Phineas's case, accidental curiosities, aka the 'Freak Show.'
The layout mimics a P.T. Barnum poster; however, instead of making outlandish claims it includes the inscription Phineas commissioned for his tamping iron (minus the misspellings) and accurate information about the accident.
The poster also provides the ticket price attendees paid to see Phineas, a link to the modern-day Barnum Museum plus references to current book titles that reference Phineas Gage and his life story.
The portrait of Phineas combines a daguerreotype of with an image of his skull in a style representative of Dia De Los Muertos.
My goal, with the book and art projects, is a reminder. Beyond being a curious medical case that has been freakified, Phineas Gage was a real person who figured out how to live his life after experiencing a traumatic brain injury.
Uploaded
October 11th, 2017
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