China Mills gives a provocative insight for us to consider how drugs might shape our identity. What do you think? Listen to the provocation and express your thoughts…. #cmxd. Come down to Contact for the identity Remixed workshop and hear China live at Contact, 5.30pm tomorrow. 

China Mills is a PhD student at the Education and Social Research Institute, at Manchester Metropolitan University. China researches alongside survivor and user-led organisations within mental health and disability, in the UK and in India. She is particularly interested in the representation of people with mental health problems within pharmaceutical advertising, and in the role of the pharmaceutical industry in regulating and medicalising personhood; setting limits on who counts as a person and what counts as a life. She is currently doing some work around the production and clinical trialling of psychiatricdrugs in India, and has previously done research exploring alternative approaches to working with children and adults who hear voices.

Steve delivering his provocation at the Beeb

This afternoon we met up with Geography Lecturer, Dr Steve Millington and PhD student, China Mills at the BBC to film their provocations for Comixed this coming Saturday. It was fun shooting in the BBC Design Den which backs onto the very busy BBC Radio Manchester studio.

China Mills delivering her provocation

As BBC staff made tea, chatted on the phone and did live radio type stuff – China and Steve – academics at Manchester Metropolitan, gave us the lowdown on how drugs shape identity and how monster christmas lights are an act of social (yes those lights that get strung up outside people’s house and on their roof tops) … we’re now busy subtitling and uploading the videos but here’s some pics from our afternoon shoot… with the lights, steve’s furry rabbit hat and the snow outside… there’s only one thing for it… Simply having a wonderful… ITSSSSSSS CHRISTMMMMMMMASSSSSSSS!!!  ….and cut…!

Baba Israel, Artistic Director at Contact introduces the next Comixed event happening this Saturday 4th December 2010. Check out Baba’s intro vid to find out how to get involved in exploring ‘Identities’. This time conversations and stories will be remixed live by Contact Playback, DJ Jomo and VJ Richard Ramchurn of Albinomosquito.

Comixed Playback: Identities is part of Play Space, a free day where art & technology collide plus Unconference, Art, Music, Dance, Games and more. Play Space is organised by Contact in partnership with Manchester Digital Development Agency, Manchester City Council, BBC Connect & Create, Manchester Beacon, MadLab and G-Kut.

The day runs from at 11.30h til 23.00h. For full schedule and registration go here.

See you there… and in the meantime feel free to leave comments and tweet your thoughts using the hashtag #cmxd.

Get involved ahead of the live event at the Identity Remixed Installation led by Richard Ramchurn of Albinomosquito which kicks off 14.00h til 16.00h to have your say. Content from the Installation will feed into the live Comixed Playback performance 17.30 – 19.30h.

Let the conversation begin

During the FutureEverything Festival on the 15th May 2010. Comixed: Enhanced took place at the Contact Theatre as part of the PlayEverything event.

A cyber-scientist, a cosmologist and a futurologist all put forward provocations to stimulate the audience into a conversation around issues revolving around the enhancement of our bodies. The debates where captured by a variety of means, video, photography and using social media.

We invite you to explore the debates and join in the conversation. If you would also like to produce further content, tweet, or remix what is found here feel free and tag it with the #cmxd hashtag.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.