Cancer incidence among visual artists: 45 years of follow-up in four Nordic countries.

INTRODUCTION: Professional visual artists constitute a heterogeneous vocational group, including, but not limited to painters, photographers, textile artists, and sculptors who may face exposure to workplace hazardous substances and lifestyle factors that may contribute to the development of selected cancers. The objective of this registry-based cohort study was to assess the cancer incidence among Nordic visual artists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is based on data from the Nordic Occupational Cancer (NOCCA) project that combines census data of 15 million people from all Nordic countries and cancer registries from 1961 to 2005. For the present study we selected a cohort of visual artists from Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) analyses were conducted with the cancer incidence rates for the entire national study populations used as reference rates. RESULTS: In male visual artists, there were statistically significant excesses in cancers of the tongue (SIR 2.91, 95% confidence interval 1.74-4.55), oral cavity (2.09, 1.26-3.27), pharynx (2.18, 1.45--3.15), testis (1.91, 1.11-3.05), renal pelvis (2.48, 1.42-4.03) and bladder (1.33, 1.14-1.55). The risk was significantly decreased for cancers of the lip (0.45, 0.18-0.93) and stomach (0.65, 0.50-0.84). In female visual artists, the only significantly increased risk was observed for breast cancer (1.29, 1.13-1.48) and the only significantly decreased risk for stomach cancer (0.43, 0.17-0.88). The incidence of lung cancer was close to the population average in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: The non-elevated incidence of lung cancer suggests a similar prevalence of smoking between visual artists and the general population, while the elevated risk of cancers of mouth and pharynx among male visual artists is suggestive of more widespread alcohol drinking. The excess risk of urogenital cancers might be associated with exposure to solvents.

The exposure of visual artists to carcinogens remains unstudied and equivocal. The current study suggests that visual artists carry an overall cancer risk that is slightly above the risk among the general population of the four Nordic countries. We observed in men over two-fold excess risks of cancers of the tongue, oral cavity, pharynx, and renal pelvis, and also a significant risk of testis and bladder cancers.

Casulos: sobre os segredos de Judith Scott / Cocoons: about the secrets of Judith Scott

O presente trabalho pretende propor uma reflexão sobre a experiência estética na feitura e na leitura das obras de Judith Scott, artista considerada outsider ou bruta. Seu fazer é marginal. É um fazer livre e anárquico, cujo projeto espontâneo e descompromissado resiste ao assujeitamento normativo. A artista coloca em situação um vivido encoberto ou segredado por fios. Seus objetos demandam um perfazer artístico que supra a completude e a indeterminação suscitadas pela infinita capacidade de mobilização a que essa obra nos desafia. Assim, interpretar o acervo é se implicar nas suas tramas tecidas. O exercício de reflexão solicitado por essa obra é importante instrumento de entendimento não só da experiência estética aludida pelo fazer bruto, mas também do olhar crítico, que nos requisita sobre determinados critérios organizadores de conteúdos dentro de um sistema de artes. As obras de Judith Scott convidam a esse esforço de reflexão.

This paper proposes a reflection about an aesthetic experience in the process of making and the interpretation of the Judith Scott's work. She is an artist considered outsider or brut. Her work is marginal. It's a free and anarchic work, whose spontaneous and disengaged process resist to a normative submission. The artist brings up a life experience through her threads hidden or whispered by wires, that is, kept in secret. Her objects require an artistic making up that meets the completeness and indeterminacy claimed by it, which is able to attend the infinite capacity of mobilization that this work challenges us. Thus, interpreting this collection is engaged with their woven webs. The reflective exercise requested by this work is an important knowledge tool and it does not only allude the aesthetics experience of the outsider artistic work, but also of the critical examination which is required to us about certain criteria that containts inside the art system. The Judith Scott's work invited us to this careful reflection.

Meaning, meaningfulness, and tensions in artistic work / Significado, sentido e tensões no trabalho artístico

Research about the meaning of work faces theoretical and practical challenges, such as empirically distinguishing between the meaning and meaningfulness of work. This study aims to explore the similarities and distinctions between the two concepts and how these reflect on the perception of tensions in the performance of one's professional activities. The study is based on in-depth interviews with 26 individuals working in creative industries in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. We analyzed the data through thematic categorization. We found that meaningfulness in artistic work is related, for example, to the social impacts of this form of activity. For the meaning of work, three central representations emerged: work as flow, as creation, and as a calling. Finally, related tensions emerged, such as those arising from the interconnection of art and business.

Pesquisas sobre significado do trabalho enfrentam desafios teóricos e práticos, como a diferenciação empírica entre significado do e sentido no trabalho. Objetiva-se explorar as complementaridades e diferenças entre ambos e seus reflexos na percepção de tensões no exercício da atividade profissional. Baseia-se em entrevistas em profundidade com 26 profissionais atuando em setores das indústrias criativas no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Os dados foram analisados por meio de categorização temática. Encontrou-se que o sentido no trabalho artístico está relacionado, por exemplo, aos impactos sociais desse tipo de atividade. Quanto ao significado do trabalho, três representações foram identificadas: o trabalho como fluxo, criação e como vocação. Finalmente, discutem-se as tensões relacionadas a esse trabalho, como a tensão entre arte e negócio.

Investigaciones sobre el significado del trabajo enfrentan desafíos teóricos y prácticos, como la diferenciación empírica entre el significado y el sentido del trabajo. El objetivo de este estudio es explorar las complementariedades y las diferencias entre ambos y sus reflejos en la percepción de las tensiones en el ejercicio de la actividad profesional. Se sustenta en entrevistas en profundidad con 26 profesionales que actúan en los sectores de las industrias creativas en el Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Los datos fueron analizados por medio de categorización temática. Se encontró que el sentido en el trabajo artístico está relacionado, por ejemplo, con el impacto social de este tipo de actividad. Cuanto al significado del trabajo, tres representaciones fueron identificadas: el trabajo como flujo, como creación y como vocación. Finalmente, se discuten las tensiones relacionadas con este tipo de trabajo, como la tensión entre el arte y los negocios.