Tools which track or monitor vitals, or help manage some bodily functions can often be expensive, use an unnecesary amount of resources, or are difficult to maintain or repair because they are proprietary. In this session, we will look into DIY methods of making such tools more accessible, demystify the way they work, make it easy to repair and source materials and keep track of data for personal use. We want to create documentation for such tools and maintain a network of people interested in these topics. Together with artist Pernilla Philip, we will learn from our varied experiences and get new insights into the world of DIY healthcare.

This session is organised by Yoana Buzova and Alice Strete.

Pernilla Manjula Philip explores questions around chronic illness in relation to the medical industry. Her work, rooted in lived experience, serves as a testbed for exploring vulnerabilities and strengths of the collective strengths of do-it-yourself (DIY) and open-source approaches to medical management. She aims to raise questions about who gets to shape medical knowledge, and the diverse perspectives on safety.

Updates from the session

During the session we went in depth into our experiences within medical services, both those considered ‘conventional’ and ‘alternative’ by mainstream medicine in Western Europe. Together, we then worked on our own custom blister packs, a wonderful intervention on the topic of scalability of DIY medicinal practices. We used Pernilla’s DIY blister making device, together with a vacuum cleaner, heat gun, old device plastic packaging and aluminium foil used for hair dyeing. Below you can also see the publications that contain our research for this session. The publications are unfinished, and have space for additional entries throughout the year.

Date: Sunday, 18 May 2025
Start: 11:00h CET
Duration: +/- 3.5 hours with a small lunch break
Participation: Free (please register via: info@varia.zone) using [self-medicated practices] in the subject line.
Location: Varia, Gouwstraat 3 (3082 BA Rotterdam)

This project is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.