The Compromise

The Compromise presents an overwhelming visual field made up of printed patient information leaflets from a wide range of prescription medications. Every medication included is one I am currently taking—or have taken—within the last two months of making this work.

The installation unfolds as a barrage: dense blocks of text listing side effects, contraindications, dosage instructions, warnings, interactions, and an endless stream of “you must not”s. It is a flood of regulation and risk, a sterile language that maps the reality of medical compliance. Nothing has been embellished. Every word, every warning, is pulled directly from the source.

This is not a symbolic gesture. It is the real cost of functionality—a ceaseless negotiation between illness and treatment, survival and side effect. This is the compromise.