"Sacred Cow" painting session 9: TEDMED Day

This was the ninth time I began to paint in the simulcast Hub Room.  Suddenly, the signal was cut and we heard an ominous announcement that everyone must head to the Opera House to see the final session.  I looked at my assistant Kait B. Roe in shock as we threw wet brushes and paints into a bag and I began to limp as fast as possible to the backstage area.   I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I had been painting while standing on a probable stress fracture in my foot as I created the previous eight works.

Out of breath once I arrived, I set up my canvas on the floor five feet away from Billie Jean King and Katie Couric and began to paint.

Once again Steve Connell and Sekou Andrews treated us to a spoken word composition that told us to go find “the cows” and that command influenced this piece I entitled “Sacred Cow.” They were commanding us to apply our new knowledge as we leave TEDMED and think in new ways.

Next I painted a book within the painting. The book is entitled “The Never Trials” in honor of Ben Goldacre, MD the author of Bad Science.  He spoke of the danger in our publication system that publishes positive findings while ignoring negative ones.  His statistics were terrifying. Over 90 of articles published in the biomedical publishing industry were reporting positive results.  Or to put that another way, for every 7 failed studies that proved a drug did not work as hoped, they would print the one that showed positive results.

John Wesley Harding, singer, songwriter and author famous for such postmodern hits as “There is a Starbucks where the Starbucks Used to Be” treated us to his dystopian scientific ballad: “Calling Off the Experiment.”

Jay Walker then amazed the crowd with another piece of medical ephemera: The Bills of Mortality recorded by the Church.  Considered by some to be the first public health data collected, it included death records that showed a seasonal spike in plague deaths. So, I painted the Bill of Mortality in what was rapidly becoming a sacred blue stained glass window image.

Next wearing a traditional suit, rather than a farmer’s outfit, organic farmer Joel Salatin crossed the stage.  He said he was wearing a power suit to be taken seriously, as the founder of the Walking Gallery that is a sentiment I really understand.  Then he launched a diatribe against the horribly bad food we eat in America.  He spoke out that instead of feeding cows to cows, we should embrace the very nature of the cow.  Then a cow’s head entered the painting tagged on one ear 73 and a shaft of wheat appeared at the top of the image.

Next Billie Jean King and Katie Couric began to interview each other. Katie spoke of her husband death from cancer and it was revealed that her wiliness to undergo a colonoscopy on television led to a spike in that procedure.  This was called the Katie effect. 

Katie also spoke of discrimination against women in the workplace saying that when she went into this business, “Harass was two words.”

Billie Jean King spoke of her long-term support of women’s rights to equal education funding.  She spoke of the importance of playground tennis and easy access to sports in neighborhoods and schools.  She spoke of her worries that we are fighting the same battles we fought 30 years before.  So within the painting I placed a young Billie Jean standing in for all of the patients with a tennis racket at her side.

Then Jill Souble and her mother sang us into the night to come…

This painting was given to SIEMENS for their sponsorship and dedication to TEDMED.

"The Unmentionables" painting session 8: TEDMED Day 3

At the start of this session I had three unfinished paintings stacked beside me and I was beginning an 8th.  Feeling that I was running out of time, I began painting before Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern even began her speech.  I had no idea what topic she would speak on, so I began creating two large swirls in the sky.  The spiral is a symbol of life, so I often like to include them in my paintings. 

Then Gail began to talk about her two battles with breast cancer and her very different approaches each time. I realized I was not painting two swirls in a blue sky. I was painting two breasts.  






Gail told us the first time she had cancer she told almost no one.  She felt kind of proud and smug when acquaintances would complain of headaches.  In her mind she said, “Ha, I am fighting CANCER!”  She felt very right in her decision to tell virtually no one, when the folks she did tell would look at her with “Cancer Eyes.”

Cancer Eyes.  I am very familiar with that look.  That is the look that many people give you before making a hasty departure to the other side of the room. It is the look of fear.  Perhaps if they think if they do not talk with us their family won’t catch cancer.

Then after Gail became Red Cross president, her cancer reoccurred.  She wanted to be private once again, but her advisors told her she could not be while in such a public role.  So she came out with her disease and instead of meeting Cancer Eyes she was embraced.  She received letter after letter of support and even a call from the president.  It was a completely different and empowering experience.

Fresh from this deep testament, the audience was treated to a performance by

Choreographer Stephen Petronio.  Stephen is an amazing modern dancer and as he began telling his tale of censorship and freedom Dr. Jacob Scott came to the stage and prepared to place an IV in Stephen’s arm.  I began to, depending upon your perspective, paint two hills or two hips within the painting.  Stephen told us about his arrest and trial due to wearing a drawing on his shirt that depicted sex.  Then he danced an interpretive dance of freedom attached to an IV line whilst I painted him on one hill/hip.

Jonathan Glass, MD director of the Emory ALS Center and Nick Boulis, MD and founder of the Boulis Laboratory, spoke of the horrific progression of ALS.  They spoke of the desperation of patients to be part of clinical trials as this disease is fatal. Then they began to perform, acting out a theatre of the absurd as they unspooled the verbal red tape that often stands between these patients and the help they need.  As I painted I thought of Jamie Heywood and his brother; I thought of that picture of Jamie’s often shows of his brother floating in a swimming pool as the sun sparkles on his flesh.  I thought of warm bodies cold too soon. I thought of all those that suffer so, then I painted a lovely dancer being reeled into a wheel chair using FDA red tape.

 


Otis Brawley, MD the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, spoke once again of Cancer Eyes.  So I began to paint a strategically placed Tree of Life and paint leaves upon it that were Cancer Eyes.  Otis talked of the poor lifestyle decisions that could lead to cancer and spoke about the dangers over screening and over treatment.

Jon Cohen, MD from QUEST was next and he talked about money, money, money.  So I painted angry bills within our “tree.”  He spoke of patients as incompetent players in a system where payment is blind.  He again and again spoke of patients as being uneducated in health and poor decision makers.  He used his own father as an example, who would pick a doctor based on donuts instead of getting advice from his physician son.  Now, some folks say I use religious imagery within my art and they are often correct.  Here is a Tree of Life, the life that comes from Woman known by Man.  Here is the first covenant, and we have had many more.  And one covenant asks us to honor our father and mother…

Next Alex Drane, of Eliza, Engage with Grace, and Seduce Health, strode upon the stage and I cheered her from the hub tent.  She was wonderful as she began to interview Gabby Reece and Laird Hamilton a couple who are professional athletes.  They were beautiful too, but oh, so very real.  Before they spoke at this session, Alex Introduced them at my easel.  Gabby spoke with great poise and warmth when I met her and when I shook Lairds hand I felt the calluses of a hard life filled with work.  They talked about the challenges of healthy living and even spoke of a lack of spontaneous sex when you must plan around the schedules of children.

Then I named this painting “The Unmentionables” for Alex Drane and for the topics that were discussed within this session that are often not discussed at all.  I stepped back and looked up this controversial canvas so happy that it was going to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation who supports open dialogue in medicine.  Paul Tarini accepted this painting upon the stage for RWJF and did not settle for the handshake of thanks, we hugged instead. 

"Feelings" Isaac Holliday's Jacket

(This jacket was designed by six year old artist Isaac Holliday.  He worked mostly by drawing in paint markers and had a little help with the background painting from his mom Regina.)

(Content is completely his own.)

This jacket is named Feelings.

My jacket is about happiness, pain and death.

Somebody is painting an eye. Somebody is an eye-doctor. They are happy

Somebody gets stabbed with a sharp thing and he has surgery. He has blood coming off of his bed.

This is Isaac’s Jacket.

"Drones" painting session 7: TEDMED Day 3

Hiep Nguyen, Director of Robotic Surgery, Research and Training Center and the Pediatric TeleUrology Service at Children's Hospital Boston presented his speech from his office in Germany via a robot.  His speech was entitled "What if R2D2 were your doctor?" As I watched the rolling bot "pace" upon the TEDMED stage I began to paint a small droid upon the canvas.

 


Next up was Mary "Missy" Cummings who was a one of the first female fighter pilots in the Navy and is now Director, MIT Humans and Automation Library.  As I listened her speak about the power of unmanned aerial vehicles, I decided to paint the word the she was not using.  I painted three drone bees flying into darkness.  I was also amazed by a slide within her presentation.  In a room field with the most up to date technology was a cowbell.  She explained, in an emergency it was the only way to capture everyone’s attention.  So I gave R2D2 a cowbell and hope he uses it when needed.

Ed Gavagan, Co-founder of Design Starts Here and speaker at The Moth was next upon the stage.  He was the patient on the panel. He began speaking about elaborate knots and then proceeded to tie up our feeling and emotions within in his tale.  He was stabbed as a result of a gang initiation ritual and came very close to dying.  One of his wounds was to the inferior vena cava and this is usually fatal.  He spoke of his gratitude at being saved, but also spoke of his discomfort. After surgery Ed’s doctor proudly showed off his work to a group of other medical professionals.  His work was Ed’s skin.  During his speech he told us the doctor said the hospital had not cut his long hair so he would have the strength of Samson.  But as he wrapped up his speech, he answered Jay Walker’s questions and revealed the true reason.  His doctor had not cut his hair as he wanted Ed to look nice for his funeral.  I painted Ed in the alley he almost died in.

Robert Gupta then soothed our souls once again with his violin.

Sandeep Kishore, MD, PhD Student, Co-chair, Young Professional Chronic Disease Network took us on impassioned journey that leveraged lateral thinking and trans-disciplinary approaches.  He wanted us to remove the silos between us.  So the painting now had a silo that balanced out R2D2.  And I depicted a young doctor standing upon a tractor and looking within.
  

Todd Park spoke once again and focused on the Health Data Palooza to be held in June with his usual relish. I added a blue button to our silo for Todd’s support of open data.

Then I stepped back and stared at this powerful painting called “Drones.”


 


In honor of their sponsorship of TEDMED, Booz Allen Hamilton was given this painting.

"Fire:" painting session 6, TEDMED Day 3

The speeches were scheduled to begin promptly at 8:45 in the morning but then the Kennedy Center caught on fire.

Literally.

I guess we are a passionate bunch. The firetrucks descended upon the building as the attendees streamed outside to wait where they were told to wait.  Many delegates told me afterwards that it was very frustrating, as they were not even allowed to walk over to the social hub tent. I smiled a half smile and said perhaps the experience was designed to better remind folks how patients feel.

So this painting began with flames and I called it "Fire."

At about 9:15 am the day began with singer, songwriter Jonathan Mann singing a song about the 51 Great Challenges.  It was super cool and I began paint musical notes in the flames.

Next Frances Arnold, PhD professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry, California Institute of Technology, spoke about evolution of biological molecules and making molecules have sex.  The speech wandered back and forth from the technical to the humorous.  So within the fire a sinuous mother Eve was born. 
 


Next the amazing Jonathan Eisen bounded across the stage.  I had the pleasure of his acquaintance two days before.  We were both fans of the Giant Microbe toy company and the artist Michele Banks or @Artologica on twitter. He began to speak about microbes all over our body and said that they should be viewed as another vital organ. So upon our Mother Nature microbes began to sprout and blossom. There are 51 microbes for the 51 Great Challenges.  He then told us about the restorative power of poo tea so the figure now holds a cup of this substance within her hand.

 


E.O. Wilson, Honorary Curator in Entomology and University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University gave us a heartfelt speech based on his writing  "Letter to A Young Scientist."  The part I took to heart was his reminding us that many of us may be bad at math, but that is no reason to give up on science.  As an adult who was awarded best science student in 6th grade but left science behind due to fear of the higher math’s, this comment touched me deeply.  So I tattooed a lovely equation on the leg of our mother nature.  E.O. Wilson received to standing ovations during his speech.




Next Andrew Read, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State University took to the stage.  He broached some very controversial topics as he asked us if in our pursuit of attacking viruses and bacteria were we not waging war against Mother Nature herself. Then he pointed out in this type of battle evolution usually wins. I began to paint series of the letter A and a series of bees flying up the painting. We should not shun the controversial scientist as they give warning, we should not turn our heads away as the bees are dying.

 


PHILIPS was given this painting as a thank you for their help and dedication to TEDMED.

"Spit" TEDMED DAY 2: session 5

(“SPIT” painting is described in spoken word in honor of Sekou Andrews and Steve Connell)

"Spit"

Please shut your mouth in the social hub. 
That is Regina B. upon the stage,
she is our Surgeon General.
I can't hear her!

Now, she's gone, not in the painting.

See those dudes upon the stage, the actors, the poets,
Steve and Sekou waking you up,
Keeping it real,
Hell no, making it real.

Do you see outrage?

I paint it with my brush, by the simulcast screen in the spinning Hub
while oh; so many texts and tweets expand

upon the OUTRAGE.
Those that sit in the sweet seats, center stage,
do you feel the rain?
As @TiffanyandLupus gasps in pain 
upon her bed and tweets till she can tweet no more.

That is spit.

Did you think
Steve and Sekou would let you go so gently in that dark night?
Just two fellows on the stage
Here for your entertainment
to wrap this final session?

No, they YELL at you.

 


They throw their words upon the stage
like fists through walls,
they show us all
the split,
THE SPIT,
between us.
The great chasm of pain
between those here who talk of tech and the patient ones
following the tweet stream while dying.

And you know,
as sure as paint falls upon the canvas,
as their words pound at you,
as our tweets # you,
Twitter can set us free.

I scream, the stream #TEDMED

Mop up the stage of sweat and spit,
Gregory and Reisa has come to avail us,
as Alzheimer's begins to assail us,
300 million time bombs passing by TSA,
every day,
terrorist cells exist inside our minds,
and what can be done to save us?
tweet out
@TEDMED,
iceberg ahead!

 


Then the mother walks upon the stage,
her blue dress cannot contain,
the pain,
her slumping shoulders say more than her lips,
as Virginia Breen,
talks of a girl who is seen,
and not heard.
WHY CAN'T THEY HEAR HER?

See the little girl.
See her little curls.
See her giggles stop.

See the iPad FREE her.

Then Miss Bonker takes stage.
Think the age that passed,
under lights too bright and noise too vast,
to finally see the port within the storm:
The iPad lay in Jay Walker's hand,
her voice on glass, taken away
As the show must go on,
and no way for her to say
I AM IN HERE.

 


#Autism
#Ageism
Tag you're it!
Can you tweet while crying?
My tears fall upon he canvas.

My eyes spit.

Then Robert Gupta plays his violin
upon this Titanic struggle,
bringing the sweet street,
to the c suite,
as we talk about
WHO is really mental?
My friends who sit within the grit
outside this very venue?
Or anyone in here who is not crying?

Miguel leads us to the end,
as he asks us to look within.
The universe
between our ears
and see and hear the storm of reason,
for we must understand this astronomy of thought,
the white noise
of our great gray processor,
before we talk about the treason of our cells.

Then Traces play upon the stage,
they contort their bodies,
as we contort our thoughts
the lights go down,
the feed goes up
and now we tweet a new tomorrow. 

We scream, the stream #TEDMED

(This painting was given to The Cleveland Clinic for their support of TEDMED.)

TEDMED Day 2: "Death" Painting Sesssion 4

TEDMED Session four was after lunch, so perhaps in a desire to wake people up it was quite provocative.

The company of dancer-illusionists entitled MOMIX began the session. The stage was dark and suddenly glow-in-the dark patterned limbs began gyrating in amazing disembodied symmetry.  Limbs appeared and disappeared while the audience watched in awe.  When the lights came up we saw the dancers dressed in black stretch velvet.  I was very inspired by the dancer's passionate movement so I began to paint a red dancer across the canvas and then created a background of riotous color.

Next Albert-Laszlo-Barabasi, Distinguished Professor of Northeastern University and Director of the Center for Complex Network Research came to the stage.  He began describing human genome research using the analogy of a map of Manhattan.  He talked about the different districts of the city, like the financial or theatre district, but now they were the cancer district or heart disease district.  He showed us that our mapping is incomplete and whole sections were missing.  He talked about a future where doctors operated as network experts. And so within the painting our dancing figure is gracefully draped with a blank map pressed upon her lithe body by the winds of change. Her one arm is encased within a swirling double helix.

 


Seth Cooper, Creative Director for Game Science from the University of Washington was up next and he sang the praises of gamification as they apply to scientific research.  I have been to many speeches where speakers talk about gamification in the personal application of weight loss and healthy living, but this was super cool.  Seth created FoldIt, a protein folding game that made headlines a while back. A large group of amateur folders from every walk of life managed to complete a folding exercise within weeks that flummoxed scientists for 15 years.  The best folder to the surprise of the TEDMED audience joined him; this unassuming female lab assistant is a preeminent protein folder and proves the power to harness the untapped resource of the citizen or patient.

 


Marc Triola, Associate Dean for Educational Informatics, NYU School of Medicine spoke next and gave this painting its title.  He spoke of the time when doctors are in medical school and they have access to the sacred cadaver.  Then I realized our dancer was dead.  Kait B. Roe my art assistant at TEDMED said she knew this all along, she thought of the figure within the metaphor of a lobster:  red is dead.  So the painting was entitled “Death.”

Marc followed this comment about access to the sacred cadaver with his frustration that as students leave school and this access is no longer available, they cease to actively learn about anatomy and things can be forgotten, so he and John Qualter, Co-Founder, Director of Media, BioDigital Systems and Research, Asst. Professor of Educational Informatics, NYU School of Medicine embarked on the creation of a 3D human body interactive program that will allow students, doctors and even patients to study human anatomy from a basic understanding to a detailed presentation of pathology. 
 

The next speaker was the amazing visual artist Lisa Nilsson.  She explained the art of paper quilling to the crowd of medical professionals.  Quilling is a very time intensive art form.  The artist must coil thin strips of paper around a quilling tool and place in compositional frame. Hundreds or thousands of these small coils make up an image.  Most quilling artists create elaborate flower arrangements using this technique.  Lisa creates cross sections of the human body. So within the painting our dancer’s skull is open and we can see her spiraling brain.

Next TEDMED’s Jay Walker treated us once again to a voyage through history.  He showed us some very old bibles handwritten in ink as well as a page from the Gutenberg Bible.  As I often use the historic example of the Reformation when explaining Meaningful Use and patient engagement, I was quite excited at this point.  Jay went on to show an e-reader and stated that our generation may be the last to depend upon using ink on paper.  At this point I painted a book upon the foot of the dancer.  Its title is INK.

David Icke, CEO of MC10, then wowed the audience with his flexible circuits that apply like a band-aid and look like a geeky tattoo.  He gave an inspiring explanation of these devices.  People are bendy and curvy just like this lovely dancer, and the devices we place upon them or within them should be bendy and curvy as well.  I can hardly wait for David’s work to go beyond its current use in the sports community and join us in the world of medicine.

Next up was the speaker who blew up the twitter stream.  I have not seen so many penis references since Xeni’s tweets about the #ghostpenis in December.  Diane Kelly is a wonderfully hilarious and genuine Senior Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  She spoke about her foray into researching the human penis and her special interest in erection.  Now at this point, I am staring at the simulcast screen trying to think of a way to incorporate this talk.  Diane saves the day by using a slide image comparison of an earthworm.  I twine the earthworm strategically around her leg as I chortle at Diane’s delightfully funny scientific speech.

 Traces, the Urban Acrobats, finished off the session with another amazing dancing experience, and so the session began as it started in a wild rush of athleticism and grace as I added the final brushstrokes to our dancer.

In honor of their support of TEDMED and scholarship funding this painting was bestowed to Xerox at the close of TEDMED 2012.