National Migraine Art Competition

Derek Robinson's concept of Migraine Art can be traced back to his audiovisual programme 'In the Picture - A Personal View of Migraine' devised as a 'marketing exercise' in 1973, the introductory part of which is here reproduced together with the pictures accompanying the original presentation.

In the Picture - A Personal View of Migraine

By Derek Robinson

"I don't think in a straight line, through a logical progression of thought, I tend to start from a central point, or two or three points and then think outwards in a sort of network."

"It looks rather like a spider web, doesn't it? But as you see, the network connects up with other networks. I know that this is a long way around if I want to get to the point, and other people will get there much quicker than I do, but I believe they lose certain things on the way. With the approach of a migraine attack, that network is fragmented into meaningless bits that are no longer connected with anything else."

This as you will realise is a very personal view of migraine - the thoughts and the paintings of just one of the five million or so migraine sufferers in our population.

"Migraine is so often thought of as just pains in the head and nothing more. This is certainly not so in my case. I seem to get a general upset of sensation all over the body. I especially notice the prickling in the fingers."

"On the worst days however, the pain is concentrated in the head. First of all I sense a general soreness but then the pain seems to rise from inside my skull and force its way outside my head. Then I get a throbbing in my ears and where there was just prickling in my fingers, there's now a tingling sensation all over the place, even up my nose, as if I'd sniffed pepper or something like that."

"No two attacks are alike of course - sometimes the pain is like a tight band across the head, producing a general sort of ache, whereas other times I feel as if a spade blade of intense pain from above my eyes was cutting through to the back of my head, from where it sends shafts of pain downward to the base of my skull."

"Quite often there is a pain at the back of my neck where the muscles seem to be all tensed up, although on many occasions the main discomfort is concentrated just above and below my right eye."

"Like most other people suffering from migraine I get visual disturbances of course, and I've tried to depict these in my paintings, but it's a little difficult at times, as these patterns change in form; when you draw them you are really drawing only one form, or perhaps remembering them in a series that you put together."

"I've seen a flame like this on several occasions, it's usually leaping about all the time - contracting and expanding like a living thing - like a sea anemone in fact."

"If the colours are strong, they're superimposed and tend to blot out my field of vision. On the other hand, the wavering grey patterns - they're like shimmers of light criss-crossing and swirling round each other - you can be right in the midst of these but still see through them. Then there are cellophane patterns. It's like watching shallow waves rippling across the sand. The ripple is there yet you can see right through and below it. These moving shadows and lights can be quite beautiful in fact. I'd love to see the northern lights, I've an idea they might be similar."

"I think my work suffers to some extent because of my migraine. I have to go home occasionally and I probably have to miss a day every six weeks or so. Except for that I've almost learned to live with it."

"However, there have been times when I thought that my hands and arms were so enormous that they touched the floor and I had to keep looking at them to convince myself that they were the right size. I couldn't help wondering then if anyone else would notice - but I don't suppose they ever did. They probably noticed the problems I had with my speech though. I'd find myself using the wrong words - completely nonsensical words, and the fact that my speech was slurred, as if I was drunk didn't help matters. If they laughed at my mistakes the sounds seemed to impinge on my skin and I'd try to brush them off with my enormous hands."

Migraine Art: Macrosomatognosia. © 2004 Migraine Action Association and Boeheringer Ingelheim

"I'd say my biggest problem is that I'm terribly afraid of making social arrangements. I can't say that I'll go away for a weekend or anything like that because I might get an attack while I'm there. It's not just a matter of keeping a stiff upper lip because once an attack starts you disintegrate and you really don't want to see your friends when you're in that state."

A very personal view of migraine indeed - not all patients are able to describe their symptoms so picturesquely. However it's worth remembering that not all migraine patients consult their doctors, anyway.

References

Nicola U, Podoll K. L'aura di Giorgio de Chirico. Arte emicranica e pittura metafisica. Mimesis, Milano 2003.
Podoll K. Derek Robinson's audiovisual programme 'In the Picture - A Personal View of Migraine': The cradle of the Migraine Art concept. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2001; 9: 17-22.

Author: Klaus Podoll
Last modification of this page: Fri. May 21 2004

National Migraine Art Competition

Top of the page

Copyright © 2005 Migraine Aura Foundation, All rights reserved. Last modification of this site: August 25, 2006
Thanks to: RAFFELT MEDIENDESIGN and GNU software | webmaster@migraine-aura.org

http://migraine-aura.org/EN/In_the_Picture.html