Maggie - Materialistic

3/23/2026

Update: 

What Changed This Week and Why: Over spring break, I made a lot of progress on my installation. All of my supplies that were ordered came in, so I got to work on filling my IV bags with water and the fluorescent powder.  I had to figure out how to fill the IV bags with the provided plastic oral syringes, and put on the clips. Once I made the first 25, it was really easy putting my boyfriend to work filling bags with me. We got the other 75 filled this weekend.

The first image was just charged up under my kitchen lights, and then I turned off the lights to get the picture. It looks better when it is charged up with the black lights, but my phone camera really did it justice. I think this installation will photograph really well. 

The next picture shows the first 25 bags charged up under a blacklight. They glow really well, and I am happy with the color. 

I discovered that the powder settles in water. I ended up ordering myself a gallon of glycerin to try to make the suspension thicker. I definitely underestimated how much glycerol I needed though, so the bags have an uneven mixture. However, I think the powder settles in an interesting way so it works out. The picture below shows the mixture once it is settled, and the first labels that I put on the bags. 

What I Still Need to Do: I have other labels that just came in that I still need to put on the bags. I also need to map out how I will hang the bags on the grid on the ceiling. I am inspired by the shape of chandeliers, and I would like to try to emulate  that with how I hang the bags. I also still need to get my sound recording, and create a container for the isopropyl alcohol. The final thing I am going to do to prep is cut my black butcher paper into squares to line the walls. 

3/6/2026

This week I didn't focus on my installation at all because I was busy helping the other students with their installations, which seemed like a priority. I don't have any progress or any component of my installation.

2/19/2026

"This" Installation (March 29 - April 11)

Idea: Chemotherapy 

Over the past 5 years, 4 of my family members have been diagnosed with cancer - my mom (uterine), my aunt (breast), and my cousins Dave (thyroid) and Julee (breast). Before that, the only member of my family who lost their battle to cancer was Dave's brother, Jim. He had this ultra-rare form of melanoma that grew in his sinuses. He died when I was around 8.

It's been really hard for me as I watch the people I love fall ill, and then be injected with a poison to help them get better. My aunt was just recently switched from a chemo pill to an IV drip form of chemo because she was having such bad allergic reactions to the pill. She just had all her hair shaved off on the 3rd of February. 

I have mixed feelings toward chemotherapy, because on one hand, it is literally poison, and on the other hand, it's the only thing to kill the cancer. I'm overwhelmed by it all, and that's what I want to portray in this installation. 

Sketches: 

Materials: 

-  IV bags in bulk. There are fake IV blood bags being sold on Amazon, and I can remove the labels. 

IV bags link (100 count ~ $86)

- Chemotherapy Labels.

Stickers link 1 (100 count ~ $51)

Stickers link 2

Stickers link 3

Stickers link 4

- Something to hang the bags from the ceiling.

- Blue Fluorescent Powder

- Blacklights.

- Something black to cover the walls. (Black Fabric) (Or I can just paint butcher paper black and hang that on the walls)

- Isopropyl alcohol (for scent).

- Something to play the sound of beeping monitors. 

Artist Inspiration: 

For this sculpture, I am inspired by Keith Sonnier and Adela Andena because of their use of light. 

Keith Sonnier

Adela Andena

Unresolved Questions: 

- I am thinking about the possibility of putting a hospital chair in the corner of the room. My hesitation is both access to one and the price. I think it would really tie in with the room though. Thoughts? 

- I am still unsure if I want to write on the wall. I wanted to call the cancer center in Cheyenne (where both my mom and Aunt are receiving their treatment) and see if the nurses had any suggestions to add, and if they had any extra chemo safety bags that they could donate. Apparently when my aunt was getting her last infusion, she asked for a ice pack for the neuralgia. The nurses gave her ice in a chemo safety bag, so they might have extras. 

This is a big shift for you, Maggie. The conceptual maturity here is real. You are not aestheticizing trauma; you are wrestling with contradiction. That’s strong.

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Conceptual Strength

The core tension is excellent:

Chemotherapy as poison / Chemotherapy as salvation.

That duality is installation-ready.

It’s not just grief.
It’s moral ambiguity.
It’s dependency on toxicity.

That’s compelling.

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Visual & Spatial Potential

Hanging IV bags from the ceiling has immediate installation strength.

It:

• Activates vertical space.

• Creates obstruction.

• References vulnerability.

• Makes the viewer navigate a medicalized environment.

If multiplied densely enough, it could feel:

• Clinical.

• Overwhelming.

• Suspended between life and harm.

That’s powerful.

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Artists Referenced

You cites:

• Keith Sonnier

• Adela Andea

This makes sense formally — light, glow, fluorescent presence — but your concept is stronger than a light aesthetic. You should make sure light serves meaning, not spectacle.

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1. Avoid Halloween / Gimmick

Fluorescent liquid + blacklights + glowing bags could tip into theatrical if not controlled.

Ask:

• Is the glow subtle and clinical?

• Or is it neon spectacle?

Chemotherapy rooms are harsh, sterile, fluorescent — not nightclub blacklight.

You might consider:

• Cold white light instead of UV.

• Clinical overhead hum rather than dramatic color.

Restraint will make it heavier.

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2. Density Is Everything

Ten IV bags = craft project.
Fifty = suggestion.
One hundred+ = installation.

If you commit, you need volume.

The power will come from repetition.

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3. The Hospital Chair Question

A hospital infusion chair could:

• Anchor the space.

• Provide scale.

• Ground the abstraction.

But it also risks becoming literal and illustrative.

Is the work about the patient or about the system?

If it’s about emotional overwhelm and contradiction, the chair may not be necessary.

If  you include it, it should:

• Sit slightly off-center.

• Possibly be empty.

• Possibly be under the densest cluster.

But you should not build the entire piece around sourcing one.

Do not let logistics dictate concept.

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4. Writing on the Wall

Be careful here.

Too much explanatory text will flatten the experience.

If you include text, it should be minimal:

• “Poison.”

• “Treatment.”

• “Approved.”

• “Dosage.”

• “Side Effects.”

• “Hope.”

Short. Clinical. Sparse.

No paragraph narratives.

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5. Calling the Cancer Center

This is sensitive territory.

If you reach out, it should be:

• Respectful.

• Clear that this is a student artwork.

• Not asking for restricted medical materials.

But ethically:
Using authentic chemo safety bags would increase impact.

However — you must avoid implying this is real chemotherapy.

No misleading realism.

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6. Scent (Isopropyl Alcohol)

This is smart.

Hospital smell is visceral.

But:

• Don’t oversaturate.

• Keep subtle.

• Make sure ventilation allows it.

A faint antiseptic smell could push the immersion without spectacle.

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7. Sound

Beeping monitors are powerful.

But looped loudly = cliché.

Maybe:

• Distant irregular beeping.

• Slightly too slow.

• Slightly too long between beeps.

Let silence do some work.

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What Makes This Strong

This proposal has:

• Clear emotional anchor.

• Specific imagery.

• Repetition.

• Vertical activation.

• Conceptual contradiction.

You are not scattered.
You are focused. Love it. 

Maggie, this is a strong and clear concept. The tension between poison and healing is powerful, and the IV bags are spatially appropriate. What will determine whether this succeeds is restraint.

Be careful of turning this into spectacle with glow sticks and heavy blacklight. Clinical coldness might be stronger than theatrical glow.

Density will matter. Ten bags will not fill the room — you need repetition to create overwhelm.

If you include a hospital chair, it should serve the installation, not become the installation. Don’t let sourcing it dictate your direction.

Minimal text, if any. Let the room do the talking.

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