The Waiting Game: (n.) The amount of time it takes between a person’s initial steps in seeking out health care for a specific concern and the point at which they receive treatment that satisfies their needs. This process can take anywhere between weeks to years
The Waiting Game is an interactive installation piece that examines the emotional effects of the amount of waiting involved in seeking out healthcare for chronic health conditions and disabilities. As part of this project I am sharing other people’s experiences with The Waiting Game along with my own as I’ve been seeking medical treatment for my own chronic pain for the past 7 years. The installation intentionally mimics the aesthetics of a medical waiting room based on my own experiences with them.
In addition to this installation discussing the ways in which the process of seeking out medical care and/or a diagnosis affects people emotionally, I am also examining how the lines between the clinical and the personal blur and often overlap during this process and how this obfuscation can add to the emotional impacts. There is also an overarching theme about control in how the Waiting Game often takes away people’s agency and how people have dealt with and counteracted that by re-taking control

Note I am a dual degree Visual Studies/Critical Studies so my written thesis for Critical Studies is not connected to my Visual Studies thesis