The Dance of the Luna - Teaching Art and Health ULRICH TEUCHER Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan - University of Calgary

The Dance of the Luna
Moth:
Teaching Art and Health

Health Humanities Symposium, Cummings School of Medicine,
26   Oct   2018

ULRICH TEUCHER
Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan

The Question
Are art and health enemies,
friends, or distractors?

Possible Positions
•   “friends”:
     • “the arts can contribute to a more caring and empathic
         approach to medicine” (Cheryl McLean, 2014)
     •   “this experience helped me to explore the emotional aspects of
         medicine . . . let my feelings guide me and think outside the
         box, rather than bottling them up. . . . will help me in my
         future career” (Peterkin & Brett-MacLean, 2016)
•   “distractors, enemies”: “[art can be] too much fluff . . . not enough
    yield” (selected student feedback in M&S 112)
•   “enemies, friends, and/or distractors”: Depends on one’s
    perspective(s) (my argument)

The Example:
A One Health Problem

Insect Armaggedon
•   An “Insect Armaggedon” may be under way - a massive decline in
    insect numbers that could have significant consequences for envi-
    ronmental and human health. Pollution, increasing artificial night
    light, overuse of pesticides, habitat changes, and global warming
    have been diminishing our insect life, with negative consequences
    for insect plant pollination, fertility of soil, waste degradation, or-
    ganic nutrient recycling, and
    control of other insects (e.g.,
    aphids). Humans depend for
    their very survival on insects
    (e.g., McKie 2018; Knop et al.,
    2017; Sorg et al, 2013; Meyer
    2007).

The Class:
HlSt 310 Theory and Practice

•   This class is part of an interdisciplinary undergrad Program in
    Health Studies (BA&Sc). HlSt 310 builds on three modules of
    four class meetings each. Each module has a health theme,
    with four guest lecturers from different disciplines, from
    university and the community.
•   Module 1 One Health. Four Guest Lecturers:
     • Shannon Litzenberger Contemporary Dance, Toronto
        Dance of the Luna Moth
    •   Dr. Boyd Mori, Entomologist, UofS
        Insect Chemical Ecology & Integrated Pest Management
    •   Dr. Mary Jeanne Barrett, Environmental Studies, UofS
        Intuitive Interspecies Communication & Orientations to
        the Natural World
    •   Dr. Jack Gray, Biology, UofS
        Effects of Pesticides on Insect Brains

The Book
Module 1, One Health
•   The first module, on One Health, begins with a presentation of the
    Dance of the Luna Moth, as one example of a nocturnal insect that
    is affected by artificial night light. The dance is based on the book
    Acquainted with the Night (Dewdney 2004).
•   If there are artificial lights nearby, most
    nocturnal insects will head straight for them.
    The main reason is the moon. On clear nights,
    flying insects steer by the moon. The moon is a
    good navigation point since it is . . . far enough
    away to act as a landmark . . . Because insects
    are mostly “hardwired” they cannot learn that
    a streetlight or porch light is not the moon.
    (Dewdney, 2004, p.64)

The Dance
Shannon Litzenberger Contemporary Dance

•   Luna Moth (dancer Kathia Wittenborn; part of SLCD Production
    World at Dark, Toronto, Harbourfront Center, 6-9 Mar 2019):
    •   Symbol of the night, the unknown, incomprehensible,
        feminine, beauty, intuition, emotion
    •   Male observer, curious, respectful, awed, entranced
    •   Coming out of chrysalis: much struggle (studied movements
        with an entomologist) – to fly off into a streetlight
    •   Anthropomorphizing - or “Othering” the Luna Moth?

Friends, Enemies and
Distractors
Discussion: How can the health problem illustrated by the Dance of
the Luna Moth be perceived? (Selected positions)
•   Viewers may appreciate the struggle of the insect, coming out of
    chrysalis, to then fly into an artificial light and die (“art as friend”)
•   Viewers may feel pity for the insect and regret its death but may
    defend the necessity of human progress (“art can elicit pity – but
    ultimately it is a distractor”)
•   Viewers may see insects as potentially harmful to human
    interests, e.g., as destroying plants that serve as human foods
    (“subjective art as enemy to food security”).
•   Since antiquity, insects (e.g., ants) have been anthropomorphized,
    invested by some with altruistic, by others with totalitarian
    intentions. Accordingly, this dance can be seen as friend, enemy,
    and distractor to health education (Werber, 2013).

Conclusion

•   It is difficult to think Art and Health apart. Medicine is often seen
    as both Art and Science. Physicians choose art as a means to
    illustrate the experience of health (e.g., UofS Surgical Humanities;
    UofC Health Humanities). Patients use the arts of storytelling,
    writing, graphic novels, dance, painting, sculpture, etc., to give
    form and voice to health.
•   Whether we view the relationship between Art and Health as
    friends, enemies, and/or distractors, can illustrate important
    anthropological, sociological, or psychological points. Our answers
    reveal differences in what we believe is human, how we imagine
    the society and environment in which we live, and how we
    envision health – our health and/or the health of those around us.
•   Art and Health: they can indeed be enemies, friends, and
    distractors.

Sources
•   Blenkinsop, S., & Piersol, L. (2013). Listening to the literal: Towards how
    nature communicates, Phenomenology & Practice, 7(2), 41-60.
•   Guardian, The (2018).
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/17/where-have-insects-
    gone-climate-change-population-decline
•   Knop et al. (2017). Artificial light at night as a new threat to pollination.
    Nature, 548, 206-209.
•    McLean, C. (2014). Creative Arts in Human Medicine, p. xv. N.p.: Brush
     Education.
•    Parkinson, R., Little, J., & Gray, J. (2017). A sublethal dose of a neonicotinoid
     insecticide disrupts visual processing and collision avoidance behaviour in
     Locusta migratoria. Scientific Reports, 7: 936, 1-13.
•    Peterkin, A., & Brett-MacLean, P. (2016), Keeping Reflection Fresh: A practical
     guide for clinical educators. p. xvii. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.
•    Meyer, 2007. https://projects.ncsu.edu/cals/course/ent425/text01/impact1.html
•    Sorg et al. (2013). Mitteilungen aus dem Entomologischen Verein Krefeld, 1, 1-
     5. [Decline in Insect Biomass, 1989 - 2013]
•    Werber, N. (2013). Ant societies: a fascinating history [Ameisengesellschaften:
     Eine fascinationsgeschichte. Frankfurt/Mn, GER: S. Fisher Verlag.
•   Witzgall et al. (2010), Sex pheromones and their impact on pest management. J
    Chem Ecol 36: 80-100.