Therapeutic art practice: how experimental art practice can radically inform the development of our therapeutic technologies

Abstract: Through this paper I will investigate the expansion of innovation when art practice approaches inform the development of therapeutic technologies. Within the context of this paper experimental art practice refers both to ways of making work and thinking about work. “Ways of making” encompasses such artistic methods as the generation of iterative models; material-led experimentation; hands-on brainstorming; problem solving through making prototypes; and trans-disciplinary approaches to making work. “Ways of thinking” focuses on the use of theoretical framing to drive the making of artwork. This framework includes issues such as considerations of empathy, sensory plasticity and codification of the jewellery artefact. The paper reports on two case studies which employ experimental art practice approaches to the development of therapeutics: the Seed Sensor and Diabetes Jewellery. Both are trans-disciplinary projects in which experimental art practice ways of making and thinking have led to radical innovation.