cat in the bag
Paracetamol 500mg > 512 pills = 256.000mg
Amitriptyline 10mg > 333 pills = 3330mg
Acenocoumarol 1mg > 1406 pills = 1406mg
Haloperidol 1mg > 1246 pills = 1246mg
Broomhexine 8mg > 50 pills = 400mg
Lorazepam 1mg > 15 pills = 15mg
Levonorgestel 1,5mg > 1 = 1,5mg
Lormetazepam 2mg > 0 = 0
Cat in the Bag draws on the Dutch expression ¨kat in de zak¨, meaning "to be dealt a bad deal," and transforms it into a deeply personal exploration of chronic illness. Yelena, uses a year’s worth of medication packaging collected in a single plastic bag to reflect her experience of living with schizophrenia, a rare blood disorder, and the long-term effects of medical treatment. The bag, though incomplete since she started collecting mid-January, symbolizes the constant negotiations between her body, mind, and medical care. Each medication represents a deal made with her health—treatments that bring both relief and side effects. Haloperidol, essential for managing schizophrenia, has caused tardive dyskinesia, a permanent condition of involuntary movements. Acenocoumarol, crucial for her blood disorder, leaves her at heightened risk of bleeding. The bag itself embodies chaos and order, reflecting her compulsive personality and hoarding disorder while also documenting the relentless toll of chronic illness. By rooting the project in disability studies and crip theory, Yelena challenges societal views of disability. These frameworks reject the notion of "fixing" the disabled body, instead embracing it as a valid and complex way of being. Cat in the Bag critiques the imperfect bargains of medical care, showing how treatments often impose new constraints on autonomy. This work is both archive and defiance. It invites viewers to confront the reality of living with a body that is constantly negotiating bad deals, urging them to see chronic illness not as a solitary struggle but as a layered, human experience defined by resilience and complexity.
