Living in Chronic Times

Living in Chronic Times began as curatorial research project in 2016. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary network of healthcare professionals and visual artists, the project responded to contemporary perspectives on death, dying and ends of life care and with a particular focus on what I identified as a ‘death anxious’ state present in Western European and American contexts. The project paid specific attention to the ongoing NHS crisis that has caused increased waiting times for the chronically-ill and raised questions around the ethics and treatment of terminally-ill patients. It also touched upon the growing digital death industry, and the speculative future and impact of avatar legacy services upon the human grieving process. Building on the idea that ‘death itself is natural but the death anxiety of modern culture is not,’ (Order of The Good Death, n.d.) Living in Chronic Times contributed to the growing death conscious movement, which aims to bring mortality back into everyday discourse. The events included in this curatorial project were centred around the normalisation of discussing our human rights before and after death, as well as bringing to the fore the question of how personal data might be used posthumously. Taking the form of live research, Lippett curated an events programme in July 2016 at the Chisenhale Art Place and Deptford Cinema (London), with support from the Goldsmiths, University of London, Chisenhale Art Place, Deptford Cinema and the South London Gallery (SLG). Contributors Rachel McRae and Sarah Derat continued their collaborative work and in 2017 produced the Arts Council England funded Augmented Reality artwork Digital&Dead. The work explored digital death and legacies; I curated its public presentation at the SLG in February 2018, as part of its public programme, and as final public component for the project.

This is a multi-component output comprising:
(1) Living In Chronic Times, Chisenhale Art Place and Deptford Cinema (London), July 2016
(2) Digital&Dead, South London Gallery (London), February 2018