Becoming Probiotic:

Health, ecology and our second brain

From Planet 251

by Jane Fox

Artist Jane Fox draws on her many years working for the NHS to describe her extraordinary work with probiotic microbial cellulose, creating sculptures which explore the boundaries between ecology and health. How could this material be of use to an embattled health service?

This year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the NHS, which means that one man’s name will be regularly invoked: Aneurin Bevan. Bevan is admired as the founder of the NHS, while the service is often considered to be a Welsh invention. Bevan’s vision for the NHS was based on the principles of universalism, comprehensiveness and accessibility. He envisioned a system that would provide free healthcare to all citizens, regardless of their income, health or ability to pay.

About the author

Jane Fox has twenty-three years’ experience working for the NHS in Wales as a nurse, midwife and specialist public health practitioner. She studied sculpture to Masters level at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL and RCA in London and is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors.