THE BACK STORY chronicles my experience with persistent back pain. Undertaken as an MFA thesis project at MICA, it was presented in April of 2011 in the Meyerhoff Gallery. —Beth Taylor

How do we cope with chronic pain? What are the instigators? The cost? How do we understand the way chronic pain influences the lives of those around us?

The Back Story uses personal narrative, data, and humor to illustrate pain. It provides graphic commentary on the quantity, cost, and impact of medicating chronic pain. At once playful and deeply transparent, The Back Story speaks to anyone who is close to someone with a chronic illness. While we cannot explain every detail of what our bodies are going through, an immersion into the foes and follies of pain illuminates the reality of the everyday and encourages the healthy and the ill to laugh together.

The project draws from a personal experience with chronic back pain. Inspiration for this project comes from personal pain triggers, coping mechanisms, scientific understandings of pain, and the difficulties of navigating the health care industry.

Beth Taylor

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
GD MFA Thesis Project, April 2011
Ellen Lupton + Jennifer Cole Phillips, Advisors
Photos by Ann Liu
MICA GD MFA 2011 | thesis2011.micadesign.org
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