IDEM Festival. “Esclimética” exhibition

Esclimética [Asclimethics] is a neologism invented by the artist and medical doctor Rafael Díaz(Santa Ana, El Salvador, 1972), who used other languages to combine interrelated terms and names such as Asclepius, clinic, medical and ethics. His work explores themes like palliative care, memory loss, faith vs science, AIDS and its connection to the pharmaceutical industry, and addiction. In Plus II, he reflects on the question of dignity in the transition and change of state that takes place between life and death. The work Once upon a time... shows a method that detects cognitive deterioration in patients and makes us share the emotions of his experience as a physician, caring for his most vulnerable patients as they struggle to live without memories. Lux speaks of the power of human thought as a generator of light, using a set of brain scans to form a medieval rose window. The Antirretrovirales [Antiretroviral Drugs] work offers a reflection on the limited availability of medical treatment and the devastating consequences for those who are denied access. The Pantone codes on drug packaging are used to illustrate the existing ethical dilemma, following a colour-based distribution scheme that ranges from cheapest to most expensive.

Finally, the Dual diptych illustrates a pathology in which the line between drug-induced mental illnesses and pre-existing conditions is blurred, leaving patients in a labyrinth with no way out.

Rafael Díaz has developed a special awareness of the different channels of communication established between doctor and patient. In his approach, scientific knowledge and artistic practice interact to construct a hybrid visual language in which patients are also co-authors. Together they create visually striking scientific documents with information related to diagnoses and treatments, or draw a critical line of thought between illness, ethics and society, where human nature is revealed at its most vulnerable.