An art collection created by the first machine affected with a human disease.

Client
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Industry
Health

Service

Parkinson’s was diagnosed over 200 years ago, and there is still no cure to this day. While most people think it’s just the “Shaking-disease”, it actually has more than 40 symptoms. And what’s worst: the lack of awareness leads to stigma and isolation.

To raise awareness and stress the importance of more research, we partnered Charité Berlin, one of Europe’s biggest university hospitals, and developed a project that would involve courageous patients, art and technology.

From the start, we knew we had to create something special in order to grab people’s attention. So,we 3D-printed the beloved objects of six patients while the printer was affected by their personal tremor data – visualising the impact Parkinson’s is having on their daily lives.

The collection was launched on World Brain Day and exhibited in Berlin. The vernissage event was visited by hundreds of people from different fields: from doctors to patients and art lovers.

Each object was connected to an emotional interview. It was important for us to not only show the challenges that come with Parkinson’s, but also the spirit of the patients to make the most of their lives.

The stories made a big impact. The exhibition was broadcasted on national television in Germany and spread on news, tech, art, and health websites all around the world. The collection was also exhibited at health conferences, reigniting a global debate on the importance of more understanding and research.

Most importantly, the stories were a true inspiration for other patients. Some of them already approached us to say that they would love to participate in our project. This proves that the project worked and helpedpatients to open up and break the stigma, one story at atime.

With a permanent exhibition in the Neurology Department at Charité, the collection will keep making an impact forever.

And of course, we couldn’t bring this project to life without great partners. Special thanks to our friends from MediaMonks for the digital production, Cosmopola for photo/video, Katja for the interviews and Christian Meyer for composing an amazing track.

Grand Prix Creative Data

“As a Jury we were moved by the visual interpretation of incredibly personal and personalised data to raise awareness of the experience of Parkinson’s Disease and the way they used data in such a creative way to express profound loss, while also sparking empathy and engagement.”
– Grace Francis Chief Experience Officer, Karmarama. President of the Jury Creative Data Eurobest 2020

Grand Prix Design

“We awarded Printed by Parkinson’s because it was a very unique, really original idea and used technology in a really creative and innovative way to communicate such an important and sensitive message.”
– Marta Swannie Senior Creative & Innovation Director, Superunion, President of the Jury Design Eurobest 2020