The Materiality of Invisibility
The Materiality of Invisibility is the first exhibition of The Lyme Museum, focused on our flat lay objects, lived experience narratives and artworks from around the world.
Flat lays
WE ARE MAKING FLAT LAYS WITH OUR EVERYDAY OBJECTS. WHY?
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Since 2020, The Lyme Museum has been collecting flay lays as photographic representations of the lived experience of invisible illnesses and disabilities. What are flat lays? A flat lay is simply a photograph of objects laid flat, taken from from above.
Artwork
BORRELIA BY LÉNA
My work is called Borrelia. Borrelia is the lyme disease bacterium that I have been carrying in my body for three years. I printed out the words corresponding to my daily symptoms of the disease becoming chronic using buffers that I engraved in linoleum (fatigue, hypersensitivity, confusion, pain).This garment is made of tea bag paper that I drank and glued together.
First person narrative
In this exhibition, I shared personal stories of journeying through chronic illness and disability, through everyday objects, photographs, and storytelling.
What is a museum?
Traditionally, a museum is a place where things and bodies are collected, studied, displayed and looked after. But a museum is more than just stuff. It is a place that decides what matters, what is represented, who is represented and how these things, people, cultures and meanings are organised. A museum defines a set of categories, and those define the
world we live in. That's why a museum is not a neutral place
and can be a place of trauma and misrepresentation. It can also be a place of story-telling.
WHAT IS REPRESENTATION AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Illnesses and disabilities can be completely invisible on the outside; that does not mean they do not matter but it does mean they are often unrepresented in society. From diagnosis to accessibility in every day life,individuals with invisible illnesses and disabilities often feel misrepresented or that their whole existence is denied; that they are made to be invisible.
Representation matters: from places of leadership, to every day accessibility to museums, the world will not be inclusive if representation does not exist.
WHAT IS A DISABILITY?
Disability is a term that refers to any physical or mental condition that limits a person's movement, activities or senses. A disability can be visible or invisible; you might not be able to tell if someone is disabled, because they might not use any assistive aid like a wheelchair, or because their aid is not visible on the outside. It does not matter, outside visibility or the use of mobility aids, do not define a person's disability.
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What does materiality mean?
Material culture, or materiality, are terms that refer to physical objects (and also architecture) that represent our lived experience of an environment. Material culture has often been described as any object or beliefs systems that help humans live and represent their identity - this is what we are looking at with this exhibition. In museums, material culture is the stuff that goes on display; often this stuff serves a narrative and that narrative tells a story about people and places.
WHAT IS AN INVISIBLE ILLNESS?
An invisible illness is an illness that affects an individual's body and lifestyle, that might not be easily noticable on a person (to you, they might look 'healthy' or 'full of energy'); but it is also, and often, an illness that is hard to diagnose or cure. For example, Lyme Disease, which gave its name to this museum, is an
invisible illness; many individuals do not 'look sick' and their illness might not show on blood tests for example. It does not have a cure. Of course, the idea that one must 'look sick' to be sick is a societal problem that relates to ableism.
What is representation and why does it matter?
Illnesses and disabilities can be completely invisible on the outside; that does not mean they do not matter but it does mean they are often unrepresented in society. From diagnosis to accessibility in every day life,individuals with invisible illnesses and disabilities often feel misrepresented or that their whole existence is denied; that they are made to be invisible.
Representation matters: from places of leadership, to every day accessibility to museums, the world will not be inclusive if representation does not exist.
