Rites and Passages

Timberlake, Sarah M.

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Rites and Passages Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/3t945r85z

Abstract

Diabetes is a disease of control. Of ritual. Of measurement and limitations. Of repetition. Of unconscious results of conscious decision. Of trying to find freedom within the perimeters of disease and treatment. I have lived battling it all my life. It influences all that I do. Living with it is like walking a tightrope. Either side is death: too much or too little. One can never leave it. Yet to stay on it is so hard. Perfection is expected. Perfection is never achieved. Diabetics tend to die at an early age.

My work is influenced by this fact of my life, and at times addresses it directly. Both the book Existence and the sculpture Diabetes: Path of Least Resistance speak of just a small part of being a diabetic. The book is a journal of one month of blood tests and insulin dosages, and the resultant blood sugar levels throughout the day. One schooled in diabetes understands the rituals the book portrays. One unfamiliar with the disease sees a record of the ritual of my daily existence; an obsessive repetition, like a heartbeat, only conscious. Dealt with daily it becomes a fact of life, almost unconscious, and thus a ritual of security as well as survival. One identifies with the disease and its daily care. The sculpture is confrontational: it forces the viewer to confront it, as a diabetic, or anyone with a chronic disease, must confront that disease every day of their lives. One cannot move across the gallery without either stepping over the piece or moving around it; a diabetic cannot face a moment without having to cope with the disease. The sculpture is made of three balancing beams, symbols of the "tightrope of control" one must walk as a diabetic. The urine testing cups full of sugar on one side of the beams refer to the effects of being "out of control," having too much sugar in the bloodstream(which then "spills" into a diabetics urine, filling it with sugar), a sure means of death to a diabetic. The cups with the ashes in them refer to the opposite effect, that of having too little sugar in the bloodstream, another sure means of death to one with the disease. The beams are 1 O" high, an uncomfortable height to step over, as diabetes is often an uncomfortable disease to live with. They act as a barrier in the gallery, as diabetes is often a barrier to certain aspects of life. Following along the piece, walking down its length, is therefore the "path of least resistance," a difficult and limiting path to walk, but actually the one that is the easiest to follow.

Creator

Timberlake, Sarah M.

Date Issued

1990-01-16

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Academic Affiliation