In 2023 I was commissioned by Kings College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience to make work for a new website around Advance Choice Documents. The website is designed to give information to people with bipolar and other mental illnesses to help them plan ahead for future crises. Read more here. I was also interviewed for the project about my work and how it relates to my mental health, which can be seen here (my section beginning at 46 seconds).
I created a temporary sculpture in the woods at Bethlem Royal Hospital, making connections between the trees with string. The process of going back and forth between the branches was like living through many recurring days, the lines like well-trodden neural pathways and repetitive thoughts. Tension and balance were key to making the sculpture, it was not secured. This method of binding is a way to take hollow, vacant space and demarcate that absence.
I created a temporary sculpture in the woods at Bethlem Royal Hospital, making connections between the trees with string. The process of going back and forth between the branches was like living through many recurring days, the lines like well-trodden neural pathways and repetitive thoughts. Tension and balance were key to making the sculpture, it was not secured. This method of binding is a way to take hollow, vacant space and demarcate that absence.
Working within the hospital grounds came with some restrictions. The sculpture couldn’t be left unattended, and had to go up and come down in one day. This was a way to protect the patients, as the string was a ligature risk. I cut the string down when it began to rain heavily.
I have been using the binding process in my practice since 2019, beginning with binding light bulbs for Art and Value at Bethlem Gallery, progressing to Ulysses Pact which was shown at Manchester Contemporary and Making Investigations, a toolkit designed for people to create during lockdown. I also made a binding sculpture in my dad’s garage during lockdown, in a sense a portrait of him using objects and space that was exclusively his.
Advance Choice is funded by Kings College London, Wellcome and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). With thanks to Bethlem Gallery who have worked with me on this commission and created the film.
Working within the hospital grounds came with some restrictions. The sculpture couldn’t be left unattended, and had to go up and come down in one day. This was a way to protect the patients, as the string was a ligature risk. I cut the string down when it began to rain heavily.
I have been using the binding process in my practice since 2019, beginning with binding light bulbs for Art and Value at Bethlem Gallery, progressing to Ulysses Pact which was shown at Manchester Contemporary and Making Investigations, a toolkit designed for people to create during lockdown. I also made a binding sculpture in my dad’s garage during lockdown, in a sense a portrait of him using objects and space that was exclusively his.
Advance Choice is funded by Kings College London, Wellcome and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). With thanks to Bethlem Gallery who have worked with me on this commission and created the film.
