Placebo Shop | Linda Byrne at PS², Belfast

22 January – 10 February

The success of pharmaceuticals have normalised the swallowing, injecting and inhaling of chemicals to treat all human conditions. Against this, alternative therapies waned, as they appeared non-scientific, lacking that cool sterile professionalism associated with modern medicine. And yet folklore or traditional ‘cures’ remain, handed down through communities.

Along comes the MRI scanner and the IT industry. Research begins into the effectiveness of the Placebo Effect. Increasingly the evidence uncovers the ‘mind’, or the thought processes associated with imagination, can be utilised to physically effect and direct changes within the body. Using a placebo and even a known placebo can work. The brain believes and activates imagined outcomes.

More recently, areas of the mid brain have been linked to activating the body’s production of opiates. Scientists suggest we may be able to produce our own neuro-chemicals to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s and chronic pain. Imagine your very own internal pharmacy, activated through created belief, leading to expectation and an imagined outcome. Virtual reality, that had been utilised centuries ago for healing.

Placebo Shop, with the divine intervention of your imagination, will be treating common day ailments, using placebo treatments. It is a spatial installation and performance space for the brain to believe and activate imagined outcomes. An internal creative process.

PS²
11 North St, Belfast BT1 1NA
T: +44 28 9023 5912
E: pssquared@btconnect.com
W: pssquared.org

Placebo Shop | Linda Byrne at PS², Belfast