In the opening scene, a group of medical professionals discuss the patient, a twenty-year-old in-hospital woman diagnosed with schizophrenia who has begun a relationship with her caretaker.
Later we learn that the woman who was Anna Odell became pregnant. The film is the first part of the video work, and a staging of what the conversation might have looked like 30 years ago.
"I'm trying to find out what happened, what happened in the staff group. I play with the image of myself. Who you are in psychiatry and who has the right to define who you are," says Anna Odell.
"Grateful"
With the exhibition "Reconstruction – The Psyche", Anna Odell explores her own experiences from psychiatry. The exhibition consists of video that mixes interviews with healthcare professionals who were present when Odell was hospitalized in the 90s, with excerpts from medical records.
In Anna Odell's case, the incident between her and the attendant was never reported. But Anna Odell is careful to emphasize that she doesn't hold any grudges against anyone involved – and she doesn't want the audience to do that either.
"I'm grateful that they've talked to me. I tell them about something that is at the mercy of both me and those I talk to.
Made her breakthrough with another work on mental health care
Anna Odell's breakthrough came in 2009 with the controversial performance piece "Unknown Woman", in which she played the mentally ill and was forcibly taken into care by mental health services. She has also directed the films "The Reunion" and "X & Y".
Watch the interview in the clip above.