Keep on dwelling after all.

Dwell on the Past. 

Dwell upon. 

Dwell on the future.  

We keep on dwelling after all. 

 

“Keep on dwelling after all” is a project for people who suffer from dementia and live in the mostly distant and impersonal environments of nursing homes. Doing field research in those homes showed that making everyday objects with the inhabitants seemed to be important for this group of people to get a bond with that object. Using an accustomed and low-tech production method, the artist proposed to co-create a personalized door handle together with the demented people. Sensory incentives, the contact with unfamiliar materials, the appropriation and co-ownership of the object has shown to be stimulating the brain and to be provoking recognition of the object in the brain of the demented. The door handles have an important side effect: they are providing additional physical recognition points in nursing homes.

 

 

The installation shows a few examples of door handles and personal 'portraits' of the co-creators of the door handles. A specific working cabinet shows the process of the intuitive way of working the artist experienced while working with the people that suffer from dementia. It reveals the working method of the project.