EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY FOR TOMORROW YOU WON'T DIE

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Be Merry for You Won't Die", 60x45cm copyright 2012 

It's time to publicize my recent piece in the series "Project X". I expect to use the cross in all images as the leading thread. Here, I ideas related to fibromyalgia developed. When your tender points are being tested and you're given a diagnosis, very often the doctor will tell you that you have very little to worry about since you won't die from it (the papers have "it won't kill you" spelled onto them). This is a stupid cliche that should be banned. What someone afflicted with this condition has in front of them is a life time of pain, fatigue, insomnia and a general insecurity about the future and how they will be able to cope with life's challenges. Initially, it was going to be a piece about the fallacy of excess positive thinking but this is what evolved instead. Your life, your future, is crossed out, you may try and take a positive stand (and of course you should try your best in this regard) but you are still going to remain in the realm of the unknown and stand on unstable ground, sometimes flattened by the weight of your ailment. 

Medicine, symbolized by serpents, is of no use, of course. One serpent is dead and the other is an imaginary sea creature, perhaps also a symbol of the unconscious and the realm of emotions. Flies and mosquitoes symbolize the irritation and being kept awake that is connected to insomnia. In the early days of the discovery of this condition and others such as ME, people were often told it was only in their head - and of course this happens still today, especially in regards to insomnia. 

The row of black windows indicate the people who don't look, don't see, and don't understand. Black lace could be a sign of mourning but also that the ugly truth is often covered up with a nicer idea of reality.