Artist and scientist paint picture of depression in stop-motion film

An artist has teamed up with a scientist to create a short film revealing the brain chemistry behind depression – and it has already racked up 1.5 million hits online.

Emma Allen, a body art and stop-motion animation expert, and Daisy Thompson-Lake, a neuroscience PhD candidate at Queen Mary University of London, spent four years creating Adam, a minute-long film using varying painted images on the surface of a human head to explore the mental illness and its associated emotions.

Frames range from a person holding their head in their hands in despair to PET scans of various spheres of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which is ignited or dulled by the illness. The pair, who met on holiday, aim to promote awareness of depression as a medical condition and not a choice.

Ms Allen said: “Presenting science as an art piece puts it in another context and makes it more accessible.

“We are working in an interesting time because with videos on social media, we have a bite-sized way of getting information across which can also be art pieces.

“We didn’t put audio and subtitles over it as it would ruin the art side, but we put explanatory notes below the video online so that people can learn more if they want to.”

The artwork, named Adam after a friend of Ms Thompson-Lake’s who took his own life in 2010, is part of their planned series called GreyMatters, supported through crowdfunding on Indiegogo and grants from Queen Mary and Artichoke arts group. It aims to remove the social stigma that accompanies mental health.

Their next film will focus on addiction, which is “far more difficult” due to the range of addictive behaviours and their different appearance in the brain.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in