Printed by Parkinson’s

Background

Printed by Parkinson’s was a moving art collection made by the first machine affected with a human disease.

Idea

A project made by many talented hands at Innocean Berlin and MediaMonks for their partner Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. 6 real stories. 6 unique objects that would be sold to raise funds towards Parkinson’s research.

Watch film here: https://vimeo.com/349184530 Machine ‘affected’ by Parkinson’s Disease created unique art pieces. Kinetic and neurological data from Parkinson’s patients used to create distorted 3D-printed versions of beloved objects.?The art collection visualised the disease’s impact on patient’s lives. “Printed by Parkinson’s” was launched in July 2019, an emotionally moving art collection available exclusively at Berlin’s Alte Münze gallery (Molkenmarkt 2, 10179) from 26th to 28th of July. The art collection and docuseries created in association with Charité, Europe’s largest University Hospital, gave a unique insight into the lives of six Parkinson’s patients – increasing awareness and stressing the importance of finding a cure. Across the globe, more than 10 million people suffer from Parkinson’s Disease – the fastest growing neurological disorder worldwide – and its debilitating consequences. The fundraising art project centered around patients under the care of Prof. Dr. med. Andrea Kühn, Head of Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Section at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Each one shared their personal perspective and experiences living with the disease. Their daily lives aren’t just affected by tremors, but also by freezing and rigidity, making it difficult to work, exercise, carry out beloved hobbies or simply operate everyday objects.?As most patients socially isolate themselves at some point, it’s important to find innovative ways to open up the topic to a wide audience and create awareness around the fact that more research is urgently needed. To make their stories heard and their daily struggle tangible, the six patients were asked to name an object that became challenging to use due to Parkinson’s. Their kinetic and neurological data was recorded with EEG systems and accelerometers. This data was then used to affect a 3D printer and every object was printed according to the tremor data of each patient. The one of a kind collection of distorted art visualised the impact Parkinson’s had and gave a unique perspective on what it meant to live with this incurable disease every day. Medication, therapy, and surgical operations can help to control the symptoms for the time being. However, there is no treatment yet that stops the progression of the disease. Charité is taking a leading role in Parkinson’s research, but relies on financial donations to make progress. Prof. Dr. med. Andrea Kühn, Head of Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Section at Charité says: “It is always necessary that we have support for research and research can only work if you can continue to work very meticulously in one area. It never progresses in very big steps, but it’s always small partial successes that bring us further or lead us to the right way, so that hopefully in the end we can really establish improvements for patients in everyday life. All donations help us to make the next small steps forward. We are currently working on a project for adaptive stimulation and would like to conduct a study to see if this adaptive stimulation leads to an improvement in movement under laboratory conditions.” Torsten Römer, Parkinson’s Patient at Charité and contributor to the art collection says:?“I think such a graphical project, where you can actually touch something that has a story be- hind it, certainly gives insight.” The complete Printed by Parkinson’s collection officially launched on the 22nd of July, World Brain Day, at Berlin’s Alte Münze gallery (Molkenmarkt 2, 10179). All six 3D-printed art pieces would be available for sale on request. All proceeds would go to the Parkinson’s research of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The full collection and docuseries, created by INNOCEAN Worldwide Berlin and produced by MediaMonks and Cosmopola could also be found at www.printedbyparkinsons.com