"Medicine Now" Exhibition at Wellcome Trust.

The piece that I find most inspiring, intriguing and shocking from the Medicine Now exhibition at the Wellcome Trust collection is John Isaacs sculpture “I cant help the way I feel”.

Isaac’s creation is a tall sculpture of which depicts a clearly overweight set of legs which carry bulging bags of flesh, the piece has no identity, just a tumour like form. 

John Isaac created “I cant help the way I feel” in 2003, when the rise in obesity was becoming higher and higher. His work is created from a combination of wax, resin and polystyrene and stands alone in the gallery space as a very unusual and contemporary piece.

“I cant help the way I feel” doesn’t just represent obesity and gaining weight, it highlights the issues and harsh reality of what obesity is as the legs holding the rolls of fat up are covered in sores and almost looks like rot.

As soon as I spotted the piece I instantly became reminded of Jenny Savvile’s paintings as I felt the same way viewing some of her work to how I felt viewing this particular piece, I was very uncomfortable and unsettled.  It was a completely different feeling compared to looking at the other work in the gallery. I found myself going back to it repeatedly to stare at it, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t flesh I wanted to feel it to be sure it wasn’t.

The sculpture was situated very carefully next to “No consumption without documentation” by Ellie Harrison. This piece showed a series of photographs of Harrison eating food, I found this to be a very interesting link. As you were viewing “I cant help the way I feel” you couldn’t help but notice flipping photographs of a girl eating various food and vise versa when I was viewing Harrison’s book and video I felt Isaacs colossal sculpture behind me. 

I think Isaac’s purpose for creating “I cant help the way I feel” may be to open our eyes to obesity, to tackle it head on. 

Front photograph of John Isaac- “I cant help the way I feel” .

Standing in the Wellcome Trust Collection gallery. 

Back view of John Isaacs- “ I cant help the way I feel”.  

As the piece depicts a naked form, it almost feels like he has stripped away any shed of dignity from the unknown structure. I think he may of made the piece to shock and surprise his audience about a growing issue in society that some people find it uncomfortable to talk about. 

The structure it’s self is a metaphor, as the rise in obesity in the population connects with the bulging density of the structure. Isaac suggests that the piece shows the flesh growing, erupting and engulfs the body. This suggests that Isaac could of created the piece as a warning to his audience about what obesity could evolve into.

As soon as I spotted John Isaac’s creation I was instantly reminded of one of my favourite artists Ron Mueck of whom uses sculpture in a figurative and realist way. 

Ron Mueck- “Ghost”

Mueck’s work is very similar to John Isaac’s as he uses a similar process to create his sculptures. One particular piece sprang to mind when I viewed “I cant help the way I feel”, as it contrasts perfectly with Isaac’s sculpture. The name of Mueck’s work is “Ghost” and depicts an seven foot adolescent  skinny girl looking uncomfortable in a swimming costume. 

Alike John Isaac’s piece, Mueck’s “Ghost” shocked me as it had a lot of emotion and feeling to it, you could almost feel the awkwardness of the young girl as she stands high against the wall. It was like he took everything that she found uncomfortable and hated about herself then highlighted it. 

John Isaac.

It contrasts well with John Isaac’s work as “I cant help the way I feel” is all about the loss of control of the body and Ron Mueck’s “Ghost” is everything to do about control and anxiety of the body. Even the stance of both of the pieces are completely opposite, Isaac’s piece is standing almost proud and alone showing a naked and bare form. This compares to “Ghost” which Mueck has her standing against a wall looking for somewhere to hide her body, her head is looking to the ground like she is looking for people around to run from. I found her intense as she bellowed over me, feeling her intensity and worries. 

Ron Mueck.

The one thing that links the two pieces together is the way I felt about them. When viewing both pieces I was overcome with excitement and passion for the work, as I think both of the sculptures are highly talented pieces of work and I cant and couldn’t get my head over how real they look, it was enchanting. Both of the work made me feel tense when I was viewing both of them, but for completely different reasons.