“Feeble X”
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Medium: |
Acrylic, digital transfer, and encaustic over found presswood chalkboards |
| Height: |
30" |
| Width: |
60" |
| Depth: |
inches |
| Status: |
In progress. Piece is being re-created in a stable medium. |
| Comments: |
This is based on charts from Henry Herbert Goddard's famous socialogicial study, "The Kallikak Family: A Study In The Heredity Of Feeble-Mindedness (1912) and Feeble-Mindedness: Its Causes And Consequences" (1914). Dr. Goddard traced the transmission of "feeble-mindedness" through over six generations of the "Kallikak" family. The name "Kallikak" is actually a pseudonym created by Goddard from the Greek words Kallos (beauty) and Kakos (bad). Goddard's study was often cited (incorrectly) as a scientific proof of eugenics, and as a result, the practice of sterilization of the mentally retarded or impaired became commonplace in mental institutions in the middle of the twentieth century.
Modern scientific methods have called into question the validity of Goddard's conclusions. However, I believe that these amazing charts paint a vivid picture of the impact of poverty on families. Although the chart in this painting completely is my own creation in its layout, much of the text and imagery in this chart can be found among the original charts (there were more than ten charts total).
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