Master Thesis | Rea Designer

The topic of translation from the imagery to image is an important matter in the discipline of communication design. This matter has indeed delicate but deep interconnections among several disciplines out of the design field, like psychology, semiotics, and sociology. The project presents an experimental methodology and a unique audiovisual translation of a guided mental imagery, which has been originated from a meditation-based psychotherapeutic process. This one is called Simonton Method, a supportive Mindfulness technique for cancer patients. The final outcome is intended to be an objective translation of Caterina’s imagery, who practiced the Simonton Method. Around this experimental video, the next goal is to create a documentary on Mindfulness-based practices for medical treatments, the Simonton Method and a more holistic approach to the traditional medicine.

01. Research - Simonton Method: a Mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic practice to let cancer patients be active part to the healing.

The project is composed by two parts of research and the project itself. The research covers two parts of the final thesis because was developed in two different moments. The first part was preparatory to the actual project by exploring and mapping the topic of mindfulness as a therapeutical treatment. I touched many sides of this matter, starting from the definition and subdivision of all the Mindfulness-based treatments and practices to the social need of personal wellbeing and attention to mental health, presenting also the debate inside the academical world in medice. This part of the research ended up in the explanation of the Method Simonton, a Mindfulness-based practice for cancer patience, which stands as the core of this project. Inevitably by mapping the matter in the way I did, it is then clear why this is a delicate problem on a social, scientific and ethical level, warning me to proceed with the project very carefully.

The project started when I first met Caterina Vitali, who, at the time, was practicing the Simonton Method with the support of a therapist during the chemo treatments. The first meeting I listened to her story, how she was coping with the cancer and how the method really helped her on the healing process. The Simonton Method believes in the patience’s participation in the healing process, which is intended to be a psychological supportive practice to the traditional treatments, such as the chemo-therapy or surgery. By creating a pleasant story in mind, that represents metaphorically the fight against cancer, the patience becomes part of the healing process. Caterina uses this method to turn the chemo infusions into a glad moment to stay just with herself and relax.

02. Storytelling & Concept

The story is set in the Apennines, where a group of cyclists ride up to the top of a mountain. When they arrive up there they stop and rest, while enjoying the view. They jump on the saddle and go down the slope, which leads them to a wide clearing among the mountains. Left the bikes behind, they run towards a big blue concretion, made by many little blue spheres. From those many beautiful and colourful flowers bloom when hit by the cyclists with their helmets. Some of them keep hitting the concretion, while others run forward. They arrive to a field with tall grass, which hides many little spheres on the ground. The cyclists hit once again the spheres with the helmet on their knees, in order to make them bloom in flowers. The third and last challenge is a tree, which hides in its branches many other tiny blue spheres. With care the cyclists, once again, try to hit the blue matter. At the end of their duties they relax on the clearing, laying down and partying all around.

The story, contextualised for the purpose of the Simonton Method, conceals many metaphors linked to Caterina’s best memories and passions. She loves cycling and travels with her bike together with her husband and the holiday spent in the Apennines was one of her best memory.Combined to her personal background, she had to create and mixed meanings and shapes, in order to accomplish the “fight story” against the tumor. In this way she came up with the concretions made by little blue spheres, which symbolise the cancer in three locations: the thigh, the pelvis and the kidney. The cyclists are the heroes of this story and they are metaphor of the chemicals injected in the veins during the chemo therapy.

Inspiration, art, science and the role of the designer in translating the imagery into image

The third part of this project aims to understand how to develop the final outcome and to examine the role of the designer in the translation from imagery to image. Mental imagery could be intended also as a dream, so I tried to collect the most interesting case studies from the art and the media. Starting point of this research was Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams” and the born of psychoanalysis. From here I considered the surrealism as the first try of translating the mental imagery into art and media. I jumped to movies (great example and inspiration was “Bis ans Ende der Welt” by Wim Wenders) and to science and artificial intelligence (to be mentioned the Deep Image Reconstruction Machine by Yukiyasu Kamitani). All the examples I found presented a glitch in the final image, both in fiction and science. We’re still far away to get a final precise image, video or sound out of our minds, so the glitch is the main visual element that can express the undefined process and outcome.