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On October 31, 1994, the artist collaboration Margaret Crane/Jon Winet opened alt.society.mental-health as an interdisciplinary forum for a discussion of the state of mental health and mental health care delivery systems in our society, and the larger social and existential issues raised by these topics.
We invite and encourage mental health and public policy professionals, consumers, social workers, theorists working in and outside of academia, students, artists, reserachers, scientists, and the interested general public to contribute to a wide range of related topics including (but not limited to) legal and legislative issues, advancements in neuro-chemistry, the DSM-IV (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition), violence and mental health, economic issues, the role of family in mental health and mental illness, feminist theory and practice within the culture of mental health, current research on the 'mapping' of the brain, psychopharmacology and issues raised by the use of SSRI's (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors)-Prozac, Zoloft, etc., public policy and practice in mental health care, and issues of advocacy.
alt.society.mental-health compliments existing related groups such as alt.psychology.personality and alt.psychology.support which have a more specific psychological and therapeutic approach to the topics.
This newsgroup is created in conjunction with "General Hospital," a public art project produced by Margaret Crane/Jon Winet and Capp Street Project, a San Francisco artists' organization, and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, San Francisco. Technology support is provided support through PAIR, Xerox PARC's Artists in Residence Program, working with PARC Researchers Dale MacDonald and Scott Minneman.
One issue which we hope to explore in "General Hospital" is ways which art and technology can address social issues, particularly with regards to the growing public forum of the Internet. With that in mind, we have organized the following projects:
% In conjunction with "ColLAborations," an exhibition at the Pasadena Armory Center for the Arts, part of LAX: The Los Angeles Exhibition, a computer terminal was placed in the gallery as part of a mixed media installation. exhibition. Visitors to the space, assisted by an "Internet Facilitator," were invited to review and contribute items to alt.society.mental-health.
% A related project was presented at SFCamerawork in San Francisco this spring, as part of the exhibition "Moving the Message: Artists' Social Actions/From Private to Public." During that time, a number of posts were generated by people new to the newsgroup and the Internet. A focus group of women also met to discuss issues of mental health and technology.
% As we develop and explore the culture of alt.society.mental-health, we hope to develop additional temporary 'off-site, on the road' connection points as well-including clinics, self-help centers, and schools- as a way of providing people who might normally not have access, an opportunity access to the to be part of the discussion, and as a way to keep the discussion of mental-health active, positive and public.
We hope alt.society.mental-health will make a positive contribution to the discussion of these topics. We welcome your comments and participation.
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Margaret Crane/Jon Winet
jawinet@ucdavis.edu
crane@igc.apc.org
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(end of charter post)
updated: August 9, 1995
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