'Can I stroke the tongues?' Parnyan, our first Mediator, on her stint at Terminal Sulcus
Third year dental student Parnyan Ashtari was the first person employed as a Science Gallery London Mediator. Here she writes about her experience invigilating Beatrice Haines' installation Terminal Sulcus, shedding light on the artwork in unexpected ways and sparking surprising conversations.
Can you stick it out? Can you now move it to the left? Can you move it to the right? Finally, could you please touch your palate? On a daily basis, these are the four questions I churn out to examine the muscular organ that is firmly anchored amongst the webs of tough tissue and moist mucosa that is buried deep amongst bundles of blood vessels in our mouth, the TONGUE.
As a dental student, the tongue for me is a diagnostic device used to detect abnormalities whether it be sinister lumps and bumps, subtle side effects of medication or signs of dawn or dusk grinding amongst others. But what about you? What is the role of the tongue to you? Is it your partner in crime to remove any evidence of that scrumptious meal by licking the porcelain plate bone dry? Do you dictate to it your emotions of frustration or folly and henceforth force it to abide to your instructions to protrude out of your mouth? A fashion statement to pierce and prod and adorn with rusty metals studs? Or quite simply could it be that you have never given its function a second thought for it just sits in the black hole that is your mouth?
Recently, I had the joyous task of the first mediator for artist Beatrice Haines’ Terminal Sulcus installation at the Oral Emporium based at Guy’s Campus. The inspiration for Bea’s artwork was a childhood experience with a (s)ham sandwich. What Bea had believed to be mouth-watering, palate-satisfying, finger-licking ham turned out to be bovine tongue. The bizarre sensation of tasting another animal's tongue with her own stayed sharp in Bea’s memory.
Fast forward a decade and half later to the artwork Terminal Sulcus: 700 wax human cast tongues adorned a box room. With tongues spilling out of the interior of a grumbling fridge and lining a sinisterly revolving, somewhat hypnotic microwave, the display made the ‘House of Horrors’ seem like a Disney movie in comparison!
As members of the public went upon their daily tasks in the September sunshine, I made a ‘bea-line’ for them, ushering them up the tongue-shaped red carpet covering the steps to enter the exhibition. The experiences, thoughts and questions flowed. ‘Can I stroke the tongues?’, ‘Do we really have that many taste buds?’, ‘Can the tongue be different colours?’ with my personal favourite ‘Are these real?’ which before I had a chance to answer was followed with the worrysome ‘Can I take one home?’
It was interesting to learn that many had not thought about their tongue before, as when probed, the tongue opened up a cascade of conversation. I noticed that listening to people’s perspective in an artistic rather than clinical context, there was no fear and, instead, sensory language flowed. This opened countless opportunities to bud off pieces of my knowledge and impart them on to the exhibitors, uniquely amalgamating Bea’s artwork with my science. Some arrived thinking nothing much of the tongue and its functions, and left the exhibition feeling the tongue was ‘an unsung hero’, the taste buds an army working to detect poisons, gone-off foods and protect our body. The hours straining through the microscope lens examining specimens of taste-buds during laboratory sessions and gathering knowledge on the uncelebrated cynosure, had come into use! My most interesting interaction by far was with a lady who valued her tongue immensely. Up until recently she had been tongue-tied and never had experienced her tongue touching her palate- something the majority of us take for granted.
Bea’s exhibition opened people’s eyes and made them think a bit deeper about their mouth, its function and its value to us. The day was one of a kind and I feel honoured to have been part of MOUTHY: INTO THE ORIFICE, and to be Science Gallery London’s first student mediator.
As Science Gallery London’s first mediator I think it’s pretty fitting that I got to talk about the tongue; the single muscular organ with a primary function of aiding speech…
If you are interested in becoming a Science Gallery London mediator in 2017 please contact us at hello@london.sciencegallery.com.
November 28, 2016