Corona Extra is part of Katharina Anna Sabernig's "Knitted Anatomy" project. The purpose of Knitted Anatomy is to visualize medical content and thereby promote understanding of a current situation. Sabernig's work starts with the realization that "the inside of the body is a sphere to which one normally has no direct sensory access in spite of the directly subjective feeling of it." To better explain medical conditions, healthcare professionals often use imagines that, patients "perceiv[e] as unpleasant and disturbing, if not disgusting." Sabernig uses knitting as a form of visual communication aiming to overcome that sense of disgust, making "the anatomy appears harmless, familiar and not threatening." Similarly, Corona Extra visualizes information on the COVID-19 pandemic in a familiar and accessible way. It is hoped that the form of presentation will help to reduce emotions such as fear, rejection or aggression and find a more sensuous access to the topic.
Sabernig's hypothesis is that the specific abstraction inherent in knitting as a form of representation will prevent the disgust reflex that normally occurs with other forms of representation of the interior body and disease. I believe that this can facilitate reflection on one's own condition. It is the aim of this project to open up access to medical information that would be uncomfortable and therefore difficult to perceive for a medically uneducated person if presented using purely scientific language and modes of demonstration.
Explore the Humanities pathways that led to this project
Wien, Austria