Building the pyramids: palliative care patients' perceptions of making art

Throughout history artists have spoken of the inherent value of art to humanity. This paper describes a study which was undertaken to ascertain the value of making sculpture, as opposed to diversional activity, for people with advanced cancer. Day-patients at a palliative care centre were invited to participate in the making of a sculpture and their reactions were gathered via semi-structured interviews. From the qualitative data generated it is apparent that the activity was valuable to the participants for a variety of reasons. The metaphor of 'building the pyramids', supplied by a patient, to describe the art-making, provided a useful framework in which to explore the patients' reasons for valuing the activity. Notions of scale, ambition, achievement, longevity and transcendence were also recorded.