Rekonstruktion - Psyket will be installed at BMC

Anna Odell was artist-in-residence at CMH in the autumn of 2023 and worked on the project “Rekonstruktion-Psyket” [Reconstruction - the Psychiatric ward/Psyche]. The project examines the dynamics of a staff group within psychiatric institutional care when complex social interactions between patient and caregiver arise. The exhibition consisted of a two-channel video installation and a number of photographs. The Public Art Agency Sweden purchased the video installation, with the desire to place it at Uppsala University.

Finding a suitable location for this type of installation is not easy, but now it has finally found its place - the Uppsala Biomedical Centre. Anna Odell is looking forward to the installation:

It feels fun and very honorable that Rekonstruktion - Psyket ends up at BMC among medical and nursing students.

It was not clear where at the university the video installation would end up. Pontus Aspenström, director of BMC, has had a key role in making the installation happen. He says that he was surprised when he received the question from the Public Art Agency Sweden, but that after thinking about it, he thought it was a very good idea:

At BMC there is already a set of displays where you can see skeletons and various organs. This material can be said to constitute the physical representation of human life. Anna Odell's artwork can be said to represent the psychological representation of the same.

The video work raises fundamental questions about the relationship between caregiver/doctor and patient, and how to think about ethically charged situations when the boundaries between patient and caregiver are crossed. It raises questions that are important to discuss for those who are training in the healthcare professions.

The work will be installed in a "pod", i.e. a room within a room, furnished with two screens for video and a sofa. It will be placed near the BMC-reception so that it will be easily accessible for students and staff. The installation will also be available to members of the public during office hours. The pod will be installed during March and April with an intended official opening in May.

In working on the project, Anna Odell's starting point was her own experiences of psychiatric care in the 1990s. During her last time in compulsory care she became pregnant by a caregiver. The video installation mixes interviews with hospital staff involved in Odell's case with excerpts from medical records and staged conversations with staff working in psychiatric care today. The exhibition, which was first shown at Cecilia Hillström Gallery in Stockholm And later at Uppsala Art Museum was critically acclaimed and resulted in a series of comments in media both about the role of art and psychiatry.