Picking up belatedly where I left off, at the overlap of art and science…
Index by Ariana Page Russell c. 2005
I came across this article about an artist who triggers an allergic reaction on her skin in different patterns, then photographs the resulting rash. Ariana Page Russell has dermatographia, which means her skin is highly sensitive to minor scratches. It doesn’t hurt, and the rash goes away within about 30 minutes for most people. Russell has extended the artwork to creating stencils, stickers, and repeat patterns for wallpaper by photocopying the rash on her skin. Very interesting stuff.
A quick search on Flickr turned up other people with dermatographia who use their skin to create ad hoc art.
[via The Telegraph]
Three months ago I found myself with a major crush on Panda Black Licorice Chews. I’m not a licorice eater, but there it was confronting me at the end of the cereal aisle–the pieces shaped like a Gatling gun aimed right at me–and, boy did it sound like a good idea to eat as much as I could.
Three months ago I was also 40 weeks pregnant, so the idea of eating anything in excess wasn’t strange, but why licorice? Four days and two boxes later,
I had my answer: licorice is associated with preterm birth, perhaps because it stimulates production of the hormone prostaglandin, which prepares the cervix for labor. For people who are full-term with their pregnancies, licorice may simply kick start what nature is about to do in the next few days. Somehow my body was smart enough to sniff out a natural and tasty labor stimulant.
After giving birth my craving subsided. Since then I learned that licorice has a dark side. Even a little bit eaten regularly—about the equivalent of one of my boxes each day for a week or two–can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, even liver toxicity. It’s also recently been shown to block the efficacy of a drug used by organ transplant patients so that their bodies don’t reject the organ.
Last week I remembered that I still have an unopened box in the glove compartment. Since I’m also an organ donor, maybe I should lay off…