Creepy art increases heart patients' blood pressure

Works of art meant to hearten patients at a Canadian cardiac hospital as part of a study have been removed after complaints they made people feel tense and increased their blood pressure, a doctor says.

"The idea was to try to brighten up the place and make it alive," Dr Robert Roberts said, head of the Ottawa Heart Institute.

"But our choice of austere paintings instead increased our patients' blood pressure slightly.

"Most people who have a heart attack come here to feel better but the paintings made people feel tense and nurses noticed patients were more agitated while waiting to have their blood pressure tested."

The paintings used in the art therapy experiment, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada, included five portraits by artist Shirley Brown called The Queens.

Their "very piercing eyes were not necessarily the most pleasant thing to look at or cheer you up when you're in pain," Dr Roberts said.

They were removed.

Another piece by Paul Butler with the words "getting there is half the fun" splashed across the canvass was deemed a bad choice to greet patients heading into an operating room, he says.

A "shocker" painting of a gorilla was also moved from the lobby to a less prominent location near washrooms.

"Knowing what to put in and where is part of the experiment," Dr Roberts said.

"So far, we've found that it's important to have colourful, cheerful paintings rather than serious content."

Art therapist Sharon Mintz told public broadcaster CBC that art in hospitals should be safe.

"No pussycats playing bridge, dogs playing poker or Elvis on velvet," she said.

"But there are a lot more comfortable works of art, watercolours, softer pastels, something that will inspire relaxation in a situation like that."

Some 100 paintings from Canada's Art Bank were rented for the experiment.

The results of the study will be presented at the Society for the Arts in Healthcare conference in Tennessee in the US in April.

- AFP

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Well looking at creepy pix gets my heart a pumping ..

This is the type of stuff Shirley Brown does, how could they think this kind of stuff would be soothing???

Its a cool picture, but not very calming.

^^ Yeah I think that's a dead bird. Yum.

Really? You don't say! I wonder how long it took them to figure that one out.

How about "Half a chance is better than no chance!" LOL

That sure would not help me feel better if i was in the hospital.

Nothing like pictures of dead birds to calm you down! =]]

lol thats a pretty cool pic

Perhaps something by Robert Mapplethorpe or HR Giger would help brighten up the place.