Constellations

When Art Hx started in 2020 we focused primarily on researching the entanglement of medical knowledge, colonial expansion and the production and circulation of visual culture. Our research was guided by three frameworks, Pathologies of Difference, Medicalized Space and Cultivating Care. We used the term constellation to describe a practice of unraveling the different modes by which visual imagery and medical history have in combination been accessory to racist and imperial endeavors. We invited writers from different research specialties to use various materials and methods to bring images together to envisage their often elided or undetectable thematic, visual, and material networks and their importance for contemporary experiences of health.

Controlled Vocabulary

Along with constellations, Art Hx researchers also developed a set of themes through which to map the connections we were exploring. Themes are key concepts that enhance our study of selected images. Conceptualized by graduate student team members, these 35 themes draw from vocabularies like MeSH (National Library of Medicine), LCSH (Library of Congress), and Getty Vocabularies. They underpin the organization of the constellations, highlighting the topics that drive our research and providing clarity on our questions, interests, and terminology.

On this page constellations can be viewed in multiple ways. Browse them according to your interests, or search by themes and frameworks to reveal interconnected pathways through related content.

Please read and share what you find here. Feel free to email us with your thoughts. We periodically look for contributors to this constellation gallery. Information about upcoming opportunities will be published on our Instagram and on this website.