Ethics in art

This is something I've had to consider over the past few weeks, as I've been working on projects surrounding delicate issues. As an artist, ethics need to be considered as insensitivity can easily cause offence. Or maybe thats the intent, and I'm all for stepping on peoples toes a little, but I'm sure we can agree people can go a little too far. Aslong as the work is thought provoking opposed to hurtful, I'm all for it. Bullying just gets everybody nowhere fast. And a closed mind shouldn't be opened with a sledgehammer..

I've been illustrating around the subjects of Parkinson's disease and the Ebola outbreak, so looking at those affected, the individuals with the disease themselves and those surrounding them, ranging from their loved ones, to healthcare staff and then stretching to the media. Just to educate myself and see which angle I would like to pursue the projects from.

With a healthcare background it felt pretty natural to look at how it would feel to care for people with these illnesses. When taking ethics in consideration I didn't want to pretend I knew what it felt like to have Ebola or Parkinson's disease. I was too worried about coming across as presumptuous, naive or insulting to those who are genuinely going through it. And even reading other peoples experiences, taking those and making them my own just didn't feel right. So I decided to take these projects on as an observer, empathising with the individual and trying to understand, because in reality I will never truly know how they feel, nobody ever can.

'Artists are conditioned by their context'

     -The Philosophy Book