Following Peter’s Emergency story, here is my own.
(Rest assured, we aren’t all as accident-prone at Art in Site as Peter and I might suggest!)
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My day starts in the studio. I’m printmaking, prepping a plate by cutting it down to size so it matches the drawing I’m working from. To do this I’m using a very sharp blade and despite having done this countless times before, today I slip and suddenly my finger isn’t as happy as it once was. I’m lucky though, it’s a minor injury. I find the first aid box, call 111, and am booked in to the urgent treatment center.
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I’m oddly brought back to the “Hostile Environment Awareness Training” (HEAT) I did when I was working in humanitarian aid. In HEAT training you’d be put under fake dangerous scenarios (think buildings collapsing, getting caught in the crossfire, or doing first aid after stepping on a land mine), simulations to teach you about your reactions and responses. You know it’s fake, at times even laughably so (like the heavy metal music played during my fake abduction), but your body knows differently and your stress response is still triggered, your hands still tremble, your mind races, your heart rate rises.
Likewise, even though my injury was minor, my body still thought “danger!”. When I got to the hospital and my body saw the stark white, the bright lights, and the sterile decor, it panicked. intellectually I knew that I would be fine, but my senses were triggered and I experienced a perfect flight, fight or freeze moment. I am a big fan of freeze. I had a lovely porter showing me the way but somehow I still got lost. I couldn’t hear him above my overwhelm. I wasn’t fit for conversation and I couldn’t take it in.
The only thing I wanted was something to follow that let me process at the speed I could handle. Good wayfinding, whether following paths, colours, or landmarks, means you can go at your own pace. It grants someone a moment to absorb and pause and think and remember that they are following the yellow brick road and it is all going to be okay.
Just like HEAT training is considered useful because it forces you to experience part of the sensation before you meet the real thing, my minor injury was a reminder of the world of overwhelm our bodies can so quickly thrust on us. Now with my finger safely dressed it’s time for me to get my mind and body to de-stress. What better way than with some relaxing printmaking?
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