07:00 Wake up
08:00 Gymnastics, tests on an empty stomach
09:00–10:00 Breakfast
10:00–11:00 Doctors’ round
11:00–12:00 Medication, treatment
12:00–13:00 Rest
13:00–14:00 Lunch
14:30–15:00 Medication
15:00–16:00 Silent hour
16:00–18:00 Rest, treatment
18:00–18:30 Dinner
18:30–19:00 Medication
19:00–20:30 Television, board games, free time
20:30–21:00 Gymnastics
21:00 To bed
The project examines the life in a mental hospital like a structural element, typical for many isolated communities, for the art community in particular.
People who are far from being normal, who have lost the ability to imitate, to pretend to be a part of the society, find themselves in the mental hospital. The daily routine is the basis of existence in the psychiatric facility. It is a system of repetitive actions, which are under constant surveillance. The person is integrated in the structure, which he is not often aware of, but continues to exist in it, doing it through inertia. The patient’s daily routine in the project by Maria Safronova becomes a symbolic reproduction of the life model, conditionally accepted in the big world of art.
As soon as the person starts to position himself as an artist, he finds himself in the framework of the system of art institutions and art markets, where everyone operates according to the established rules. Some artists desire to get into this very close community; others oppose themselves to the system, choosing anti-institutional forms of art, but are often involved in the general artistic context.
1. Are you often in a happy and carefree mood?
2. Are you sensitive to humiliation?
3. Do you always try to keep everything in order?
4. When you’re doing something, do you doubt that you’re doing it correctly, and do you worry about this until you have made sure once and for all that everything was done right?
5. Do you sometimes feel like crying in the cinema, in the theatre, in the middle of a conversation etc.?
6. As a child, were you as brave and reckless as all the other children?
7. Do you often experience sharp mood swings, from boundless enthusiasm to disgust about life, about yourself?
8. Are you sometimes in such an inexplicably sour mood that it’s best not to speak to you?
9. Are you a serious person?
10. Are you often the centre of attention in society or in a group?
11. Are you capable of enthusiasm or delight about things?
12. Are you adventurous?
13. Do you easily forget an insult?
14. Are you always trying to be one of the best among your colleagues?
15. When you post a letter, do you check, by running your hand across the slit in the post box, if the letter really fell into the box?
16. Are you merciful?
17. As a child, were you often afraid of thunderstorms or when you met an unknown dog?
18. Do your moods depend on external circumstances?
19. Do you often experience a feeling of strong panic, of possible disaster or trouble ahead?
20. Do you often feel somewhat depressed?
21. Are your acquaintances fond of you?
22. Did you at some point have a fit of hysteria or go through a nervous breakdown?
23. Is it difficult for you to sit still in one place for a long time?
24. If someone behaves unjustly towards you, do you vigorously defend your interests?
25. Do you prefer work that must be done fast, but without high expectations of quality?
26. Does it irritate you if a curtain or table cloth at home is not straight, and do you immediately attempt to straighten it?
27. Could you kill a hen or a sheep?
28. As a child, were you afraid of being home alone?
29. Does your mood often change for no reason?
30. Do you often get angry or have fits of rage?
31. Can you be absolutely happy and carefree?
32. Are you always trying to be sufficiently good in your profession?
33. Do you sometimes experience complete happiness?
34. What do you think, could you me the master of ceremonies at a comedy event?
35. Do you often tell others your opinion openly, directly and unambiguously?
36. Do you often come to the rescue when other people are being unfairly treated?
37. Do you like work that requires a lot of personal responsibility?
38. Is it hard for you see blood? Does it make you feel bad?
39. Are you afraid and reluctant to go into a dark cellar?
40. Are you sociable?
41. Did you run away from home as a child?
42. Do you think life is hard?
43. Did you like to read poetry at school as a child?
44. Does it happen that you are so upset after a conflict or an insult that going back to work seems almost intolerable?
45. Can you say that you don’t lose your sense of humour when things go wrong?
46. Do you take the first steps towards reconciliation if someone has hurt you?
47. Are you careful with keeping your things at home in exactly the same place every day?
48. Do you return to make sure that you left your home or workplace in such a state that nothing might happen there?
49. Do you like animals very much?
50. Are you sometimes persecuted by vague thoughts that horrible things might happen to you and your family?
51. Do you think your mood is very unstable?
52. Are you capable of hitting someone who hurts and insults you?
53. Do you need other people’s company very much?
54. Is it hard for you to speak (to be on stage) before a large audience?
55. Can you relate to falling into a state of deep despair after a disappointment?
56. Do you like work that requires vigorous organisational activity?
57. Do you consistently push for your designated goals if you must deal with many obstacles on the way?
58. Did you sometimes help your classmates at school or allow them to copy your notes?
59. Do you often have difficulty falling asleep, because the problems of the past day or the future keep turning in your head?
60. Can you be so affected by a tragic film that you start crying?
61. Do you have to harness all your will power to walk by a cemetery at night?
62. Do you often have headaches?
63. Do you often laugh?
64. Do you easily adapt to new situations?
65. Can you easily communicate also with people whom you obviously dislike, or even despise?
66. Are you a flexible person?
67. Do difficulties affect you very badly?
68. When you leave your home or when you go to sleep, do you check that the gas and light are switched off and that the door is locked?
69. Do you sometimes, when you stand in front of a window in a tall building, take care not to fall out of the window?
70. Does your mood change when you drink alcohol?
71. Do you have a pessimistic view of life, with no expectation of happiness?
72. Do you often want to travel?
73. Is it easy for you to understand how your friends and colleagues are feeling?
74. Does it take long for you to recover from a humiliation?
75. Does it take long for you to recover from other people’s bitterness?
76. Do you often have nightmares?
77. Do you become less reserved and feel freer when you drink alcohol?
78. If you had to act on stage, would you be able to enter your role so well that you forget it’s a game?