The Anti Cancer Survival Kit is a project developed collaboratively with recently deceased Beatriz da Costa, Robert Nideffer, Pamela Jane Mendoza, Johnny Lu, Frank Peter, Jamie Schulte, and Donald Daedalus. The Kit is designed for, in Beatriz’s words, «people living with cancer, their family and friends, and those who never wish to get cancer in the first place». The Kit seeks to expose hidden relationships between human subjects and the ‘medical industrial complex’. Beatriz began compiling a database of scientific research during her own personal struggle with cancer. She observed that significant funding for cancer research focuses on ‘early detection’, almost none on cancer prevention. As Beatriz stated herself: «Environmental conditions such as exposure to carcinogens and lifestyle are the leading factors in cancer development, yet very little is being done to change these conditions. Public education is practically non-existent on these issues, forcing citizens to protect themselves, and to resist societal pressures that lead towards unhealthy lifestyles». This impulse is at the crux of the Anti Cancer Survival Kit, understanding how cancer operates scientifically, socially, and how these discourses intersect in personal experience.
The kit was funded through RocketHub and was recently exhibited at Laguna Museum of Art. In reflection of the experience of working on an artists vision posthumously, I wrote an article for Art21’s blog: http://blog.art21.org/2013/06/12/art-in-the-after/
Text by Crys Moore (extrated from her web)