I’ve been trying to design the perfect exhibition space for this project. I’ve even put work into it (or at least artists initials). There are still a couple of others who I would like to include, but these seem to be the essentials. I am not going to write the artist’s names because that seems to be making assumptions about the fact that they would say yes!!
I need to start considering budget lines very soon. Here is my dream shopping list…
Publication- containing blog, emails, research
Library section (with books)
1 artist’s commission including flights and research fee
x2 projectors
x1 TV
Marketing – leaflet for conf & exhibition
Conference inc speakers fees & accommodation
Video camera for documentation of conference
AV technician for exhibition installation
While I am on to making lists, here also is my list of people that I would like to speak at my conference.. totally fanciful but one has to start somewhere…..
Nick Carr http://www.roughtype.com/
HB
George Khut
Lizzie Muller
Kalle Lasn and Micah White
AB
This week I got an email from Hannah Hull www.hannahhull.co.uk about an event that she is running as part of her ongoing research into Art and Mental Health. It sounds interesting…..Its called “ART vs. REHAB: A seminar to explore and provoke new relationships between art and mental health
.”
She says that ‘the purpose of the evening is to discuss potential futures for rehabilitative arts projects.’ And that she is inviting arts professionals to openly interpret the theme. I’ve drafted the following proposal as a responce… A bit different to my Masters Proposal but something I would be interested to talk about none the less. I thought that this topic would be most interesting for anyone in the audience who may be looking for positive and practical ways to use the arts and technology in mental health in their day to day working lives……..
Group Therapy: Biopsychosocial perspectives on art and new technologies.
This presentation introduces the work of artists using new technologies to promote positive mental health through bodily awareness. Articulating from a biopsychosocial perspective, I advocate that social interaction and bodily experiences are vital constituents of mental wellbeing and that crosspollination between arts and technology can help to facilitate this holistic approach to health.
My case studies will include George Khut’s projects; The Heart Library and Thinking Through the Body and Tania Fox’s Posture Enhancers. I incorporate examples of these works exhibited in venues such as hospitals, in the hope that I might inspire healthcare professionals and artists to think about practical applications in their own work.
In order to strengthen my argument, I provide a context for the relationship between technology and mental health by introducing recent thinking on the hybridization of psychotherapy and technology from publications such as the Journal of Clinical Psychology, where Michelle G Newman has claimed that “when questioned about sensitive life issues such as criminal history and suicidality, clients will disclose more substantive information to a computer than a clinician.” I hope that this argument will affirm the potential of technology to make a positive impact on the ongoing discourse around the arts and mental health.
More Info on Case Studies:
George Khut http://georgekhut.com/heartlibrary
Thinking Through the Body Project http://thinkingthroughthebody.net/blog/
Tania Fox http://www.design-interactions.rca.ac.uk/tania-fox…
Speaker Biog
Vanessa Bartlett is an artist, writer and curator based in Liverpool, UK. She is currently performance programmer at the Bluecoat. Her blog Group Therapy documents her research on the relationship between psychology, the arts and technology.
Just under a week ago I attended a symposium at University of Bolton called “Performing Arts and Health.” The day long event celebrated a new research lab opening at the university which looks at the wider role of the arts in the the medical profession.
I met a lady called Jessica who works across theatre and health care and is writing a phd on (among other things) how theatre practice can release trauma stored in the body. http://www.jessicabockler.co.uk/. I must contact her soon and see if she wants to meet for a coffee.
During the afternoon I also took part in some workshops, when I made a collage and wrote a poem.
To complete the poem our workshop leader Jackie Hagan, who has been facilitating writing workshops in psychiatric hospitals for seven years, asked us to make a list of things that shine. Here’s what I put.
pennies
foil sweet wrappers
the sun
the eyes of a kind person
milk bottle tops
diamonds
polished silver
stars
the reflection of sunlight on water
glitter
fire
steel
Okay so the Internet isn’t morphing our brains into weird malfunctioning humanoid organs. Phew http://tiny.cc/6tyis
I’ve been feeling a bit shy about writing on here of late. Its because I know that I’m struggling a bit with my emotions at the moment and although this is supposed to be a blog where its okay for me to talk about the above, I really don’t want to constantly post big chunks of text featuring my melancholic self analysis. Its not that interesting! I guess I have to find a balance between honestly presenting myself as what I am (a depressive, introspective, obsessive) and also knowing that I have plenty more exciting, enlightening and rewarding things to write about!
ON THAT NOTE: next week Rachel and I are hosting Brian Catling http://www.briancatling.com/Site/INTRO.html at the Bluecoat. He’s doing a three day durational performance come installation for the opening of Liverpool Biennial. There is going to be so much going on in the city next week it’s mind blowing to think of. I’m actually really excited! I need to make sure that I don’t spend the whole time sat in my office and that I get out and see things across the city. I’m particularly looking forward to the Biennial conference which I hope will have some relevance to a few of my earlier posts on issues around trauma and embodiment http://www.biennial.com/articles/event/Touched%20C…
Also, after some encouraging words from Emily and Andrew who commented on my post from the 5th September I’ve managed to full my finger out this morning and piece together (another) MRes draft proposal. I’ve sent it off to Sid V for some stern critique. I’ve also sent it to my old dissertation tutor Ross Birrell who hopefully will see the connections with my undergrad work.
And just to prove that it really does exist and that I really am going to actually submit it this time….. I’ll post the synopsis as a sneaky preview….
Frankenstein’s Monster: Masculinities, mental health and new technologies
Synopsis
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein pioneered a literary archetype: a dangerous creature created as a result of reckless experimentation with new technology. Authored at the dawn of the industrial revolution, it warned against the dangers of replacing human workers with machines.
I propose to survey contemporary art and culture to identify 21st century Frankenstein’s monsters: archetypes that embody undercurrent fearfulness toward new technology. I expect that while some of these examples will be literary; most will not. The focus will be on the specter of Frankenstein haunting the popular imagination.
With Frankenstein as a model, my thesis will interrogate the present state of contemporary masculine archetypes and their relationship to new technologies. Within this I give particular attention to recent thinking on mental health of the male population and speculation that the overuse of technology may be changing human bodies and brains.
