Artist – Sarah Ruttle
Blossoming Beyond the Darkness
Schull Community Hospital & Bantry General Hospital, St. Joseph’s Unit
Over the last two years, Arts for Health visual artist Sarah Ruttle has been researching and exploring new creative approaches for working with people with visual impairments.
The first iteration of her research and development project was Beyond the Darkness. This work resulted in the creation of sensory pieces inspired by the West Cork islands. The tactile artworks were accompanied by an audio piece. This allowed participants to imagine the sights and sounds of the islands, and the feeling of being part of that landscape. The connection achieved through audio as a medium inspired Sarah to further explore the inclusion of music and sound into her research work. This formed the basis of her latest research project, Blossoming Beyond the Darkness.
Starting her research by looking into e-textiles and smart textiles, Sarah quickly established that these advanced technologies could have benefit in the arts and health space. However, she felt that the first course of action was to assess participants’ responses to interactive sensory textiles resources which she could make herself.
Sarah’s research led her to the LAUGH project. This is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Technology Sydney and Coventry University, led by Professor Cathy Treadaway from CARIAD, Cardiff Metropolitan University. The international team developed a toolkit which aimed to help designers understand how to create for advanced dementia. They did this by using a Compassionate Design approach. Their work highlights three key themes; Personalised, Sensory, and Connecting. Taking inspiration from the LAUGH project, Sarah began to consider how she could make pieces with specific participants in mind.
The Artworks
Sarah launched into the practical side of her Blossoming Beyond the Darkness research. She sourced sound pieces from an inclusive technology supplier. These would be incorporated into the hand-made textile resources. The series of works was made up of a musical house apron, a jewellery box, and a folding blanket.
Collaboration is highly valued amongst the Arts for Health team, and any opportunity to work together is warmly welcomed. Sarah invited Arts for Health multi-instrumentalist Kate Liddell to compose and record a piece of music for two of the three textile pieces. Kate composed a piece on the fiddle which was incorporated into the musical apron. She also wrote and recorded a piece on the kalimba. This became part of the jewellery box through a musical dance card which plays while participants explore the tactile jewellery inside. The third artwork, a folding blanket, has a sound button sewn inside. This contains a recording of the dawn chorus which can be heard when unfolding and refolding the blanket.
In Practice
Sarah brought the textile works into Schull Community Hospital and St. Joseph’s Unit in Bantry General Hospital for participants to use and explore. She collected feedback from participants through verbal constructive feedback, as well as observing people’s engagement with the artworks over a series of sessions. The positive response has led to discussions about where the work will lead next. Sarah noted, ‘Inspired by both healthcare staff’s creative curiosity and participant’s knowledge and experience, we aim to develop a new collaborative project during 2025, putting learning from this research into practice in both Schull Community Hospital and St. Joseph’s Unit, Bantry General Hospital.’
Timeframe
October 2024 to January 2025.
Credit: Images by Sarah Ruttle.
This research project was funded by the Arts for Health Partnership Programme, Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre.