How do our understandings of time relate to our mental health? How do notions of recovery connect to ideas of productivity? How is our mental health supported within the workplace?
Organised in collaboration with Bethlem Gallery, this event features performances, interventions and conversations exploring resilience, care and survival in relation to mental health, questioning our conceptions of 鈥榬ecovery鈥.
Contributors include the artists Sarah Carpenter and the vacuum cleaner, alongside Bethlem Gallery Director Beth Elliot and co-curator Sam Curtis.
Programme
14.00-18.00: Participatory drawing-based activity led by Sarah Carpenter
16.00: Performance by the vacuum cleaner, introduced by Beth Elliot
16.30-17.30: Informal discussion with Sarah Carpenter, the vacuum cleaner, Sam Curtis and Beth Elliot
the vacuum cleaner
is an art and activism collective of one. Working across forms including performance, installation and film, the vacuum cleaner addresses challenging and taboo issues such as consumerism and mental health. From one man shows to large scale participatory actions, his approach is both subtle and extreme, but always candid, provocative and playful. the vacuum cleaner鈥檚 work has been exhibited throughout the UK, and recent major commissions include Wellcome Collection, Broadmoor Hospital and FACT. Recent international commissions include Festespiele/Gessnerallee (Zurich) and Vooruit/Dr Guislain Hospital Museum (Ghent).
Sarah Carpenter
is an artist, designer and photographer producing mixed-media work. With a Postgraduate Certificate in Design for Visual Communication from London College of Communication (part of University of the Arts London), recent projects include a commission inspired by the British Museum and work exhibited at Saatchi Gallery.
鈥淢y inspiration comes from my experience of mental illness. My methodology reflects how I process information; taking something, reimagining it, exploring its possibilities and making something new. Breaking things down, seeing them from a different perspective / in different contexts helps me find something I can relate to / understand. Play and experimentation aid my learning.鈥
Sam Curtis
Sam Curtis joined Bethlem Gallery in 2014 as co-curator. Sam is also a practising artist and graduated from Goldsmiths MFA Fine Art programme in 2008. He has exhibited across the UK, Europe and the USA and is represented by Division of Labour.
Bethlem Gallery
, established 1997, is situated on the grounds of The Bethlem Royal Hospital. Managed by a small, artist-led team, the gallery provides a professional space for high-quality artwork and fosters a supportive artist-focused environment. Exhibitions and events are programmed throughout the year presenting a wide range of mediums and contemporary practice. The gallery is an ideal platform for experimentation, collaboration and skills exchange. Collectively we strive to develop the careers, experience and expertise of the gallery artists by creating opportunities for professional development. Our successful artist-in-residence projects also work with patients and staff on site to improve people鈥檚 experience of the hospital environment.
If you鈥檙e interested in learning more, Sam and the vacuum cleaner recommend the following:
- Mark Fisher, , RS21, (27 April 2014)
- , an eBook made up of a series of blogs by practitioners and thinkers in the field of workplace relations to think about how to make friends and influence people in a context of precarious work
- , a project lead by the artists and based on their experience of mental health, and desire to find a positive space to experience mental distress and enlightenment