Abstract

It was a piercing shriek. A distress call alerting its inhabitant of an incoming struggle, a struggle so inevitable that it seems to return again and again, with no end in sight. Asthma is a chronic disease that hundreds of millions of people across the world suffer from. It is chronic, meaning that it can only be managed and controlled, never cured, and is a lifelong condition in those who are affected by it.

Is the sensation of asthma expressible? How can those who are not afflicted with the condition experience similar sensations and emotions to those suffering from an asthma attack? In “Developments in the Understanding of Bronchial Asthma and Contribution of Greeco-Arab Physicians”, Mohammad Saad A. Khan explores historical attempts to define the sensation of asthma. In doing so, he details how Hippocrates, in the period of 400 B.C., described asthma simply as panting, and how the Roman encyclopaedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus, in the first century BC, described asthma more specifically as the “inability to breathe without making noise and gasping”. (Khan 23)

According to Elaine Scarry, the sensation of physical pain is inexpressible, and thus, in extension, the pain felt by those who are having an asthma attack is difficult and problematic to represent simply through language. Why not express the pain and sensation of asthma via a medium other than language? How can the experience of asthma be described and defined to those who may be unable to perceive it visually – as described by Leona Godin?

Expressly, in my project, I aim to represent pain and sensation via the medium of sound and haptics, as asthma has its own special cacophony of chimes and whistles. And though the representation of sensation through sound may be atypical, the medium of audio allows for the portrayal of a vast array of frequencies and vibrations that elicit strikingly different emotions – all of which can be used to describe the rollercoaster of feelings associated with an asthma attack.

 

Audio Soundtrack:

Through audio and visual means, I aim to illustrate and translate the experience and progression of an asthma attack – a sudden inflammation of the airways that makes it more and more difficult for the one experiencing the flare-up to breathe as the attack progresses. The audio soundtrack begins with the experience of healthy breathing – but several shrill, piercing shrieks soon enter the auditory realm – a warning of the dangerous and panic-filled road that lies ahead. As the audio advances, so does the experience of the asthma attack, as we start to hear chains (a metaphor for the restrictions placed on someone by the health implications of an asthma attack) rattling, strangely out of tune wind chimes, and a persistent discordant mixture of various coughing sounds – the asthma attack is well underway, and it is beginning to affect the day to day life of the affected individual significantly. The individual coughs and coughs, trying to get some phlegm out of their inflamed airways, yet these attempts to do so have little benefit, and the situation seems direr as the seconds pass by. The inherent chaos of the audio piece crescendoes and eventually, the piece culminates in a series of alarm sounds. We hear that the individual can barely breathe and starting to feel faint and light-headed – a clear sign that they are reaching dangerous levels of oxygen in their body. At this point, we hear the individual grab their asthma inhaler, shake it, and take a quick puff. Immediately, the clash of sounds and chimes in the soundtrack comes to a standstill. Feelings of relaxation and zen surround the individual, and we hear birds chirping and ocean waves calmly crashing onto a beach shore, and they take a gasp of relief, grateful that they can finally breathe and think freely once again.

Visual Compilation (scroll through as you listen to the audio):

The Progression of an Asthma Attack:

 

 

 

References:

Audio attributed to:

freesound.org

zapsplat.com