Imminent demise is defined by the National Library of Medicine as a category of futility, describing an intervention in a patient who can be expected to die prior to hospital discharge. For example, an intervention on a patient with multi-system organ failure that may improve the function of one system can be considered futile if the patient is expected to die soon, regardless of the success of that intervention or the number of times it is applied.
Qualitative futility refers to an intervention that, even if successful, will result in an outcome of insufficient or unacceptable functional status.
Palliative, non-curative procedures can make a small extension of a limited lifetime more comfortable. Living beings/bodies and their diseases are complicated and exist in contexts of care, finance, time, legislation, and spirituality that further complicate them.
In the video piece, Imminent Demise, the artist performs palliative procedures on three terminal fruits.
This exhibition was made possible through generous ongoing funding from the University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative’s Creative Careers Fellowship.
insta: @kanosardeenz
web: leahcrosby.cargo.site
bio: Leah Crosby uses sound, performance, and objects to tell stories about caregiving and care-receiving, living, dying, power, and pleasure.