Wellcome Collection Visit

On my visit to the Wellcome Collection I explored three exhibitions; Medicine Man, Medicine Now and Superhuman. The Medicine Man exhibition consisted of objects from Henry Wellcome’s original collection, more than 150 years after his birth in 1853, providing one with a very different perspective on some of our own obsessions with medicine and health. The Medicine Man exhibition however was all about how health, wellbeing and medicine has developed over the past seventy years, with medical exhibits and contemporary artworks, delivering new insights into current medical issues. Lastly the Superhuman exhibition was more about ones ‘obsession with being the best we can be’.

An object I found particularly interesting was a British 19^th Century painting of Daniel Lambert weighing almost 40stone, which I discovered in the Medicine Man exhibition. I found the history behind the painting very thought- provoking and fascinating. In 1804 Daniel Lambert already weighed over 49 stone; in addition during 1806 he toured around England so people could pay to see how large he was, as this was almost unheard of at the time. The standard admission to see him was one shilling (5p). He reached a weight of 52 stone when he died at the age of 39, where his size had caused considerable discomfort.  The painting is of Daniel Lambert sitting in an armchair, whilst on tour in London 1809.

 

One of the reasons why this painting interested me so much was because ‘obesity’ during the time Lambert was alive, was evidently very unusual; however at the present time obesity is a huge problem worldwide. The Independent newspaper reported that by 2030 there will be 26 million people in the UK who are obese - a rise of 73% from the current 15 million. In today’s society one can question is obesity almost seen as a ‘normal’ thing to be? When we walk down the street we expect to see overweight people, it has become ‘the norm’; however obese people are not equally represented in visual culture as it isn’t something our societies like to observe and ‘show off’ about. Evidently during the 19^th century being ‘obese’ was something that fascinated people as it wasn’t as common as today. The painting helps record the history of the disease ‘obesity’ during that time period.
In addition, this made me consider the factors of becoming obese. Factors influencing weight increase are genetics, environment and disease. Lambert claimed that he only drank water and ate in moderation, however according to modern doctors; he appeared to have primary obesity, which occurs without disease being present. This is all down to one’s lifestyle, environment and well-being.

 In the exhibition Medicine Now, the contemporary piece of artwork by Ellie Harrison ‘Eat 22, 11 March 2001- 11 March 2002’ explored the idea of one’s lifestyle and the food eaten in it. This piece of work was a digital animation comprising 1640 still images of what she ate every day for a year. It was a test of her own endurance and a way of finding out what she ate over the course of a year. But also a way of determining whether such a demanding task would be possible. I think this makes one think how much food does affect your weight as it’s a whole part of your lifestyle. The combination of a good diet and physical activity in my opinion is very important.

According to ‘A Life of Daniel’ published in 1809, Lambert was ‘healthy and athletic’ as a lad, and as an adult had a great reputation as a field sportsman, however his weight increase seemed to date from his move to a job in a prison which involved very little exercise. I feel that the history behind the painting is very significant to the present problem of obesity, and puts emphasis on how much of a problem it really has become. The subject also makes one consider the link between obesity and surgery. Do people let their bodies become overweight as they know the option of surgery is there if they need it? Is that the easy way out? I was reading an NHS leaflet on obesity and didn’t even feel that surprised at the staggering statistics about obesity today.

29^th October2012 ‘weight loss stomach surgery in England has risen by twelve per cent while report says around a quarter of adults remain obese’

‘1.7million prescription items for the treatment of obesity’

What has become normal in society today?