Creepy heart art

OTTAWA - Works of art meant to hearten patients at a Canadian cardiac hospital as part of a study have been removed after complaints they made people feel tense and increased their blood pressure, a doctor told AFP.

"The idea was to try to brighten up the place and make it alive," said Robert Roberts, head of the Ottawa Heart Institute. "But our choice of austere paintings instead increased our patients' blood pressure slightly."

"Most people who have a heart attack come here to feel better. But, the paintings made people feel tense and nurses noticed patients were more agitated while waiting to have their blood pressure tested."

The paintings used in the art therapy experiment, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada, included five portraits by artist Shirley Brown called "The Queens".

Their "very piercing eyes were not necessarily the most pleasant thing to look at or cheer you up when you're in pain," Roberts said. They were removed.

Another piece by Paul Butler with the words "getting there is half the fun" splashed across the canvass was deemed a bad choice to greet patients heading into an operating room, he added.

A "shocker" painting of a gorilla was also moved from the lobby to a less prominent location near washrooms.

"Knowing what to put in and where is part of the experiment," Roberts explained. "So far, we've found that it's important to have colorful, cheerful paintings rather than serious content."

Art therapist Sharon Mintz told public broadcaster CBC that art in hospitals should be safe.

"No pussycats playing bridge, dogs playing poker or Elvis on velvet," she said. "But there are a lot more comfortable works of art, watercolors, softer pastels, something that will inspire relaxation in a situation like that."

Some 100 paintings from Canada's Art Bank were rented for the experiment.

The results of the study will be presented at the Society for the Arts in Healthcare conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in April.