Emma Callicutt

ARED 3070

Dr. Kallio Tavin

4/25/2022

Visual Culture Intervention With Athen’s Recovery Dharma

What Happened

For my visual culture intervention, I developed a relationship with Athen’s Addiction Recovery

Dharma group and created flyers for/with them. The significance of this project lies not only within the

element of providing publicization to a small, community-based mental/physical health organization but

as well within general theory in regards to visual culture itself.

When I initially met up with the leader of the organization, Jennifer Bray, my overarching goal

was to communicate with her most about what the group could gain from my action within it. Because of

this, I didn’t enter the meeting with a rigid list of questions or ideas about what I was going to do. Her

most notable iteration was that Athens Recovery Dharma was still quite small and that attendance had not

been strong. As a recovered Athens local herself, she did not seem to believe that low attendance at the

meetings stemmed from the absence of a root problem. Addiction across America as a whole has

statistically worsened since the coronavirus, “from April 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. saw over 100,000

fatal overdoses… the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a single year.” And in the state

of Georgia, heroin (which is a drug I'm noting for exemplary purposes) overdoses increased from 40 to

263 between 2012 and 2015.

Jennifer informed me that creating a website for the group had marginally increased attendance

and that flyers seemed like a natural “next step,” especially considering the locality of the group and the

popularity of flyer publicity throughout Athens. Having taken into account what was most important for

her group helped initiate the development of the flyer.

Before the meeting, I had studied the website's design, so I wanted to make the flyer harmonious

with ARD’s original aesthetic while also considering visual culture themes. Therefore, I asked Jennifer

follow up questions about why she had chosen a particular layout and visual theme for the website, which

consists largely of photos from nature walks, natural colors, minimalistic relationships between designs,

etc. she explained the design element’s connections to the compatibility between addiction recovery and

meditation/Buddhist dharma, referencing the higher self, Buddhist symbolism, and “a pathway.” the basic
premise behind addressing addiction with Buddhism revolves around Buddhist practices’ goals towards

nirvana or “a lack of desire.” Many Buddhists, or Buddhist practitioners, believe that meditation works to

replace the power of a conscious inner-monologue “type” thought process with that of “the higher self” or

“true human nature.” it is a way of cleansing the compulsive, erratic mind and re-igniting a connection to

oneself. This process deeply involves the body, which is inherently a part of nature and therefore is

reflected through the website’s imagery. The minimalistic appearance of the online platform embodies a

lack of visual over-stimulus, which further reflects Buddhist themes of quieting the conscious mind and

becoming more mindful and considerate. Jennifer most emphasized “the path” depicted in many of the

photos, which she sees as symbolic of the recovery process. She said that the path is not straightforward

and it’s difficult to know where it will go/what barriers one will encounter along the way. The logo for

Athens recovery dharma, “The Wheel of Law '' is used throughout dharma groups across the country, and

represents different facets of Buddhist rhetoric. Most notably, The rim of the wheel represents meditative

concentration and mindfulness, which hold practice together.

Taking this information into account guided my process in making the flyer. I made an effort to

incorporate nature, a pathway, minimalism, and dharmic symbolism into my finished product. To achieve

these goals, I used simple, lowercase, monochromatic text. I also used the wheel of law (/the logo), and a

picture I took on campus to remind viewers that the group is local to Athens. I framed the website QR

code with a mandala, which has been historically used to represent, generally, a journey through one’s

consciousness. I used a paint filter over the flyer’s background photo to additionally allude to the elusive

and dreamlike essence of the subconscious. With these features combined, my goal was to create a sense

of peacefulness that would radiate from the flyer and emotively convey the nature of ARD.

To complete the process of intervention, I formatted the flyer so that it could be printed and emailed the

finished product to Jennifer. I also printed some of my own flyers and hung them up around downtown.

To respect the privacy of the attendees, I did not go to any meetings. I did, however, make a point to

finish the flyer before last week's meeting so that I could gauge its reception through Jennifer's

redeliverance.
Why It Worked

Only time will tell the true effectiveness of the flyers given that a meeting has not occurred since

their implementation. However, Jennifer and the last meeting’s attendees seemed to be very excited about

the qualities of the flyers as well as the future possibilities they hold. Feedback from the members, “a,”

and Jennifer, “b,” best represent the project’s current success.

a.

Attendee 1: “The colors and font were pleasing to the eye. The arrangement was symmetrical, all

the information was represented as needed. It is really quite good!”

Attendee 2: “There are hopeful symbols that represent the journey of recovery. We follow steps

leading us up out of the darkness of addiction toward the light and a brighter future. I think the painterly

quality vs photographic is perfect because each person must find their own path, what works for them

which at times is not clear. The image has all the information needed and, I hope, the QR code will spread

the word!”

b.

Jennifer: “I was thrilled when Emma reached out to our group about this project! We met and she

listened to me talk about our needs and what sort of aesthetic we might like to have come through. She

was respectful and asked a lot of good questions and communicated well with me throughout the process.

She listened and made adjustments to the piece until I was happy with it. I can't wait to have the flyers up

all over town! I think they will help us spread the word about our program. They are very eye-catching

and pleasing to look at and have all the important information. I love the end result!”

Upon reflection, I feel as though the most successful aspect of this project overall was that I

collaborated with Jennifer in order to complete it. Listening to her made it so that I could create the flyer

with the group’s most prominent needs/themes in mind.

What Didn't Work

The original group I intended to do this project with, UGA's Collegiate Recovery Committee,

never responded to any of my emails and was not open when I dropped by. Given that I had originally

planned on addressing young people with my intervention, this was cause for a rushed reorganization of

my project. If I were to do this assignment again, I’d start it earlier with a backup group in mind.

I also was not able to fully meet the entire group in order to protect their privacy. While this is

completely understandable, I’d be curious to collaborate on a project like this with people who are still in

the process of recovery and get their input on how relevant how a visual could draw them towards “the

path” or the process.

Key Principles and Theory

Ideology

In his article concerning the seven principles for visual culture education, Paul Duncum notes that

ideology within visual culture does not represent an incontestable truth, but rather individual viewpoints.

Imagery, regardless of bias, is often inherently subjective. Members within similar ideological groups

may still interpret the same image with key differences (Duncum, 2010). Furthermore, he notes that

what’s taken as true is not necessarily true. Even with documentation mediums like photography, a

massive illusion among viewers can still be established. So, even though Jennifer and I based ideas for the

flyer on ideology in addressing addiction recovery, I still found that the members interpreted it in ways

that broke a somewhat binary way of thinking that I had formed around the visual. For example, when

member b noted, “Each person must find their own path, what works for them which at times is not

clear,” it prompted me to reconsider how imagery can be subjective even within while embedded

symbology, ideology, etc. is very obviously delivered to those who would recognize it. I found it
interesting that member b applied this individualism to both the ideology and imagery themselves. It is a

theme that re-establishes the individual and what works best for them within public spaces, public

ideologies, and public imagery.

Power

Duncum additionally notes in his article that “mainstream forms of cultural production typically

carry ideologies consistent with the interests of those in power”(Duncum, 2010). This principle is woven

into almost every facet of both this project and culture/its history as a whole. In a modern context, visual

culture and media are in a constant state of over-stimulus. A great majority of these stimuli are either

filtered by or created by corporations. Ideology fronted by ARD, mindfulness, I feel is essential when it

comes to addressing and living in the echo chamber of visuals that society has created for itself. A

mindful approach to visual culture essentially takes power away from the infiltrator because it inherently

puts every image in equilibrium instead of blindly gravitating towards the most popularized, widespread,

contextualized, or vouched-for images. Mindfulness in terms of image approach, however, is impossible

to apply to images unseen. I feel as though increasing the prevalence of non-corporate filtered imagery,

such as the flyer, could actually improve mindfulness among our culture as image-viewers by exhibiting

diversity and therefore dismantling bias about where from/how public images are produced.

Visual Documentation
 Flyer hanging at

Athens Addiction Recovery Center

Flyer
Buddhist symbols incorporated into the flyer.

Flyer hanging at Athens Addiction Recovery Center

Collaborative text exchange with Jennifer

Original photo for flyer taken on UGA’s campus.

Future Intentions

I believe that infiltrating an organization’s goals/philosophies into themes of visual culture

through collaboration is an interesting topic to expand upon. Therefore, following up with ARD about the

relevance and relevant “success” of the flyer, and perhaps even expanding on their publicity, would be

considerable for the future. Furthermore, collaboration with other ideological groups working towards

social/cultural benefit could not only continue to help the community but also the study of visual culture.

The subjectivity of imagery, based on my observation in regards to this project, creates a blurred line

between the basic goal of helping a social organization and considering the philosophies of said

organization in the context of visual culture principles. Therein future possibilities also include the

application of collaborative style to different local groups.

 Sources

Duncum, P. (2010). Seven principles for visual culture education. Art Education, 63(1), 6–10.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2010.11519047

James West. (2021). Using Image and Narrative in Therapy for Trauma, Addiction and Recovery.

Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Addiction is a public health crisis. Addiction Is a Public Health Crisis. (n.d.). Retrieved March

23, 2022, from https://www.shatterproof.org/learn/addiction-basics/addiction-in-

america#:~:text=Addiction%20is%20a%20public%20health%20crisis.%20The%20addiction,

%231%20cause%20of%20accidental%20death%20in%20our%20country.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff. (2021, April 26). Addiction statistics in the

United States 2021. Addiction Resource. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from

https://www.addictionresource.net/2021-addiction-statistics/#overdose-death-statistics

Giacomucci, S. (2020). Addiction, traumatic loss, and guilt: A case study resolving grief through

psychodrama and sociometric connections. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 67.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2019.101627

Wang, V., & Stone, B. M. (2022). Buddhism in addiction recovery. Encyclopedia, 2(1), 530–537.

https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia2010035

Athens GA Sangha. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.athensrecoverydharma.org/