Art & Autism and the Triad of Impairments

There is a triad of impairments in autism. My idea is to create a piece of artwork for each of the triads.

A Thimble Full

Based on this triad of impairments I have already created one piece of art, A Thimble Full, which covers the social and emotional side of autism. For the flexibility of thought impairment I am looking at the mirror neuron theory. Mirror neurons are responsible for mirroring others expression, feelings and emotions. They are the link between action and observation. They may also contribute to the learning and evolution of language. Mirror neurons give us the ability to comprehend other peoples actions. They act as templates for understanding others behaviour by referring back to our own personal beliefs and experiences to form a guess as to what is going on in another persons mind. The theory is that people on the autistic spectrum have mirror neurons which are not as high functioning as those in non-autistics. Someone with autism may be able to imitate a facial expression, but with no emotional connection to it. This makes it difficult for them to relate to others. Mirror neurons are also said to connect to theory of mind. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro06/web3/bkeffala.html

Theory of mind is when we use our own personal experiences, thoughts and beliefs to think about someone elses thoughts and beliefs to comprehend what they are thinking. For the language and communication impairment I am looking at how people on the autistic spectrum think in pictures and might become confused with metaphors. A person with Aspergers syndrome may not have the flexibility of thought to understand an alternative meaning and relies on logic rather than symbolism, and the assumption that the other person is saying exactly what he or she means. (Attwood.T page 217)

Logic: 1. The study of the principles of reasoning, especially of the structure of propositions as distinguished from their content and of method and validity in deductive reasoning. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/logic
Many people on the autistic spectrum find verbal communication difficult. They may think and learn through pictures. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a way of communication using pictures in exchange for an object or action. The learner gives the teacher a picture of what s/he wants and in exchange the teacher gives the learner the object. After some research I decided to look at signs and symbols, starting with neon signs. Neon comes from the Greek word Neos which means the new gas. Neon is a rare gaseous element present in the air. It is taken out of the air by liquefaction and then separated from other gases by using fractional distillation. In 1898 William Ramsey and M. W. Travers were the first people to find neon gas. French inventor George Claude created the first neon lamp by passing an electrical discharge through a sealed glass tube filled with neon gas in 1910. By 1912 Claude was selling neon discharge tubes as advertising signs. http://inventors.about.com/od/qstartinventions/a/neon.htm

Neon is used as a way of advertising products or services such as car dealerships, bars, clubs, or CocaCola. Neon grabs peoples attention and is visible day and night. Advertising is a way of communicating to a target audience that they need a product, idea or service. I have come to the conclusion that trying to advertise the fact that people with autism think literally isnt quite right, so I want to look in more depth at the history of signs and symbols. Also neon is very expensive and I am unable to afford this. We use signs every day, to help us understand faster; they warn us and direct us, and can explain complex and abstract ideas. What if I create something which is a pictorial warning sign against the use of metaphors? Symbols were used before writing for example ancient Egyptians. Maybe I could have a series of symbols describing the metaphor? I want to create a piece of art which shows that people who are on the autistic spectrum think in pictures and become confused with metaphors because they take what people say literally. I chose to look at the metaphor raining cats and dogs. When I first heard this, I actually thought it was raining cats and dogs! It is like my brain just wont decode it as quickly as other people do. Decoding...interesting point maybe I should look at codes and secret messages. As someone with Aspergers it does feel like the world is full of codes that most people seem to have cracked but I do not. What is a code? A piece of information which has been converted into another form. I am thinking of looking at International Morse Code, to test an idea about making metaphors into a picture code to show how difficult it can be for an autistic person to decode what people are saying. Maybe I could make my own code? What is Morse code? A method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones lights or clicks. It can be understood by a trained listener. International Morse code encodes the Arabic numerals and the Roman alphabet. Each character is represented by a unique sequence of dots and dashes followed by a short silence, equal to the dot.

What does the metaphor mean? If it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining heavily. This is a rather oldfashioned expression, and you are probably more likely to read this metaphor in a book than to hear it said. Now, people are more likely to say, Its bucketing, to mean raining heavily, suggesting bucketfuls of water pouring down. Welton.J page 26 I need to understand what visual language is. This is a way of communicating using visual elements, such a pictures, maps, diagrams etc. Because people on the autistic spectrum think and learn through pictures, I need to understand how to communicate what I want to say by using pictures. I want to look at metaphors and how they appear as unsolved codes to people with Aspergers.

Morse code .-./.-/../-./../-./--.//-.-./.-/-/...//.-/-./-..//-../---/--./... Raining cats and dogs

Cipher code Kqofofu eqzl qfr rgul Raining cats and dogs Plaintext letter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Cipher text letter Q W E R T Y U I O P A S D F G H J K L Z X C V B N M Numbers stand for letters 18 1 9 14 9 14 7 3 1 20 19 1 14 4 4 15 7 19 Raining cats and dogs 1 stands for A 2 stands for B 3 stands for C Diagrammatic Cipher

After looking at different types of codes I like the Morse and the diagrammatic cipher code, because they dont use letters or numbers. I like the way it is made up of dots and dashes and diagrammatic codes use shapes. I dont want people to think those with autism cant spell. I will write a metaphor such as raining cats and dogs in black and white, because people on the autistic spectrum are often referred to as being black and white thinkers. Other metaphors I looked at include hit the nail on the head every cloud has a silver lining and storm in a tea cup From storm in a teacup I see a teacup and a big lightning bolt over it. How can I interpret this into a piece of art? My idea is to have a china tea cup then above the tea cup is a big lightning bolt made out of neon.

My next idea is every cloud has a silver lining thinking about having a cloud cast out of acrylic which then has been covered in silver leaf.

I then read the metaphor cant cut the mustard and I saw a knife trying to cut a jar of mustard.

I decided though to explore raining cats and dogs further. I like the simplicity of this piece and that it is black on white, to reflect black and white thinking in autism.

I have put together a sample of what I am visualising.

I really like the simplicity of this however I think some of the graphics are a bit too big and squashed together. Moving away from the neon idea, I am thinking of creating instead a kind of light box out of white or opal acrylic and then having the graphics in black.

Looking at ways of displaying the metaphors

I have started to look at ways of displaying the metaphor graphics.

I like the idea of acrylic cubes; I want them to be black and white to represent black and white thinking. I have worked with them before and I like the idea of displaying them on a floating shelf or book case, because you read metaphors in books and pictures are not usually displayed in book cases and this reinforces the fact that people with autism see metaphors as pictures and take them literally. I also like the idea of having acrylic light boxes made up with the graphic in black acrylic. I have put the ideas together by drawing a gallery space to put this into perspective.

I decided to make a test sample of what the cubes might look like on the floating shelf. I like the basic idea but the cubes need refining. I do also like the black outline on the cubes so I might do some more research into this idea. I am unsure as to whether to have the graphics on every side.

After making up the cubes I dont feel they work the white cubes are too busy and the black cubes look dull. So I have come up with another idea to only have one graphic on one side of the cubes. The graphic will be black on white background encased in a cube of black acrylic. See the pictures below. I think this is better because it is more focused on the graphics.

I have looked at floating shelves however they are too big and bulky for the cubes, therefore I would have a shelf made out of acrylic to the exact size of the cubes. Front Back Having decided that the two sample cubes dont work, I made a sample of my next idea which is to have the whole cube black with one panel of white with black graphics. My intention is to make the audience initially confused. They are then free to decode the metaphors by interacting whether that is walking around or touching the cubes. The audience then has a chance to work it out just like a person on the autistic spectrum hearing a metaphor and getting confused. I am confusing people who normally confuse me. I want people to think. I want the viewer to have a eureka moment when they realise what autism is about. This idea represents the notion that people with autism think differently to people who do not have autism. I decided to experiment and put one metaphor on one cube and another metaphor on a pyramid. I like how the cube has turned out but I am unsure if the pyramid works.

The cubes look like childrens playing blocks and this is where I am getting the idea of allowing the viewer to touch and move the cubes.

. I had an idea of three cubes with a metaphor on each displayed on an acrylic stand inspired by the one above. The stand will hold the cubes and the viewer may pick up the cubes and look at them.

Keywords
Theory of mind Mirror neurons Flexibility of thought Logic Black and white thinking Picture exchange Morse code Black and white thinking

Things to do Talk to Boris for 20cm vector drawings Displaying cubes, think about having the cubes on a table so that people can interact with them? Or have them hanging from the ceiling? Or three on a plinth with an acrylic stand that holds the cubes. Talk to Pete Whitehouse about laser cutter and vinyl cutter, look at casting the mirror neurons out of jelly like plastic, and ask how I can incorporate lights inside the mirror neurons. Also how can I display the mirror neurons? Look at displaying them in an acrylic tube floating in water or water like substance.

Think about maybe using UV light to reflect the mirror neurons. I could have a pump which pumps the water substance so that the mirror neuron float and move around like they would inside the brain. Always go back to brief and make sure that all the decisions are made with this in mind and look at the ascetics of the gallery space, how my work will look in a gallery setting. Look at how in will affect the viewer in the context of the gallery. Look at artists who look at how the brain works and disability art, try to understand how they use their opportunity in a gallery setting to show their work. Write an artists statement, talk about the triad of impairments, understanding what mirror neurons are and how they affect people with autism. Explain why I am using black and white and simple images. Include the relationship between autism and metaphors. Investigate a company called Polyfibre which specialists in jelly like plastics, maybe the mirror neurons should be like a glitter ball Since speaking to my lecturer I have split my project into two parts. The first is Metaphors which covers the language and communication side of the triad of impairment. The second is The Mirror Neuron Theory which covers the flexibility of thought side of the triad. It is believed that the mirror neurons in people who are on the autistic spectrum are not firing as they should therefore people find reading other peoples emotions very difficult. My idea is to cast mirror neurons out of a clear material such as silicone or resin and have LED lights set into the cast. I will have two sets of mirror neurons, one for nonautistics and one for people with autism. The LED lights in the mirror neurons for non-autistics will fire as they should, however for people with autism the LED lights will misfire showing that they are not working as they should. My ideas at first were to have the mirror neuron in a glass specimen jar like one in laboratory. However, this is quite a negative outlook on autism and I decided that whatever is going to encase the mirror neurons needs to be slick and modern and ascetically pleasing. I was inspired by the film WALL E in particular I really like the shape of the character Eva. I want to create a casing which looks egg shaped; most people associate eggs with new life and I want this idea to be a new way of thinking about autism; that a lot of positives can come out of it! I also had the idea to create a small book made of acrylic with the title Understanding Emotions, this is to show that although people with autism have misfiring mirror neurons we can still learn to understand peoples emotions. One day I was looking at the character Eva and turned her upside down there looking at me was how I was going to make an egg shape but with a base so that it does not fall over. Once I had removed her head and arms I then realised that I had a basic egg shape but with a flat bottom. I want the encasing to be made of white acrylic with a window in the middle made of clear acrylic. Inside the window you will be able to see the mirror neuron floating around. I am thinking of either having the inside of the egg in black which would show the LED lights better or having the inside mirrored so that when the viewer looks inside the they see lots of mirror neurons even though there are just three.

Idea for acrylic tubes with acrylic book next to the tube for mirror neurons for autistics

Eva shape 1

Eva shape turned upside down

Non-autistics

Autistics

Egg in-casing

Egg in-casing

Egg in-casing

Egg in-casing

Egg in-casing

Egg in-casing with mirror Neurons inside

I am now thinking of only having one egg shaped in-casing just for people who are on the autistic spectrum because my project is all about people who have autism so I dont feel that having an egg shaped in-casing for people without autism will help the project I believe it will be too literal. I am also concerned about costs as making two egg shaped in-casing will cost a lot of money. I am also unsure about having the inside of the egg mirrored as this will warp the shape of the mirror neurons so I think either having the inside white or black would be better. I am thinking black at the moment because the LED lights will show up a lot better in a blacked out surrounding.

Inspiration for acrylic book idea 1

Inspiration for acrylic book idea 2

Inspiration for acrylic book idea 3

I want to create a book entitled Understanding Emotions this is to show that people with autism can learn to understand other peoples emotions. I am thinking of having the front cover in mirrored acrylic standing next to the egg shaped in-casing with the mirror neurons inside. For the mirror neurons I need to work with LED lights which are programmable so that they flash on and off. I need them to look like this or something smaller but I can only find LED lights which are static so I might have to ask an electrician to make some bespoke lights.

LED Lights needs to look like this but needs to be programmable like lights below

Programmable LED string lights Artists who work with LED lights CO2LED was designed by artists Jack Sanders, Robert Gay and Butch Anthony, was designed with Arlingtons environmental initiative FreshAIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions) in mind.

Jenny Holzer uses writing as the basis of her practice she works with lights in the context of public spaces. I like her work however my work is more gallery based work and I want to look at more artists who use galleries as their main aim for their practice.

Cerith Wyn Evans is conceptual artists whose work is based in galleries his is very interested in the ascetics of his work and looks at language and perception. I like how his work fits perfectly into the gallery space. And from looking at his work I need to investigate how my own work will fit into a gallery space.

Sam Taylor-Wood use photography as a way of expressing the difference between being and appearance. I like her use of motion and the way she has used the space around her to create something ascetically pleasing to the eye.

I have started to look at Faberge eggs and love how intricately detailed they are, they are very ascetically pleasing to the eye and although my work is very different to these Faberge eggs I still want the audience to be captivated by the beauty of the egg shaped encasing that I am designing.