West Cork artist capturing the experience of dementia on film

West Cork artist Marie Brett hopes the time she spent with patients exploring their mental deterioration will give the rest of us a better understanding of their predicament, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

TOWARDS the start of E.gress, a short film about the experience of dementia, there is an audio recording of an elderly man in a care centre grasping for a memory. His voice is soft and warm, inflected with a Cork accent.

“That’s annoying,” he says. “I thought I had it there now. What’s that his name was again? He’s a beautiful singer, beautiful. Blast it, I can’t think. ’Tis the head, it’s a curse; ’tis very hard. Oh, God, what’s that his name is? Good God, and he’s a local or a man that was popular there lately. I can’t think of his name, now; I can’t even think of his songs. I’m all uptight. I can’t relax.”