Scandinavian Housewife's Disease
2010 (w. Sébastien Berthier)
Double-sided light box, duratrans prints, color
47 x 47 cm
Diphyllobothrium is a broad tapeworm that causes Diphyllobothriasis infection in human intestines and is transmitted by the habit of eating raw fish. The common name for this infection is “The Scandinavian Housewife’s Disease” as it was introduced to America by the flow of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants in the late 1800 and the early 1900.
The stranger within the human body–the supposedly coherent material demonstration of the self–is emphasized in this work by reproduction of two images: one of the Diphyllobothrium parasite photographed by an anonymous medical researcher and the other of the human embryo on day 24 from the celebrated photo series “Life” by Lennart Nilsson, the Swedish photographer best known for his macro photography.
© 2007-2011 Shirin Sabahi
