Group Therapy

I was really thrilled when I received an email from Alexa Wright last month, introducing me to her current project: a photographic collection on the subject of mental health called A View From the Inside. Alexa stumbled across this blog online and noticed that I had written about her project Killers. She liked some of my references so she asked if I would be interested in meeting up for a chat.

A View From the Inside will be a series of eight large-scale digitally manipulated photographic portraits of people with short-term psychotic disorders or episodic conditions like schizophrenia. Alexa hopes that the images can readdress some of the common stigmas around mental health.

Interestingly she will use the symbolism and techniques of eighteenth-century portrait painting as a means of representing the psychotic experiences of her subjects. She will undertake a long period of consultation with each person, in order to create photographs that represent both outward appearance and their internal experience of what is ‘real’.

At first I found Alexa’s reference to portrait painting problematic, as these types of techniques would suggest that she intends to enter into an hierarchical relationship where the artist asserts a perspective on the subject which is definitive. But after talking with Alexa I see that her process is actually deeply discursive and very creative for the subject. One of her participants has written a blog post about her participation here http://fluffernutter.co.uk/?p=127 Alexa showed me some of the sketches and early mock ups of the images, which I think will be intensity detailed and rich portraits.

Alexa’s previous work has dealt with perceptions of ‘normality’ as a reoccurring theme. Having approached the stigma attached to physical disability, she now feels that mental health is the next taboo to be overcome.

Alexa is still searching for one or two new participants for the project and is particularly interested in hearing from men, older people or people from ethnic minorities with experience of conditions like schizophrenia or bi-polar that lead to an altered sense of reality. She can be contacted on [email protected] and her website gives more information about her previous projects http://bit.ly/iXI4PB

People really seem to be enjoying the two video posts. My favorite response on twitter was this one from Emily Speed:

“@VanessaBartlett I’ll tell you what’s intimate: being in bed & holding phone up to my shortsighted face and watching you talk/slurp wine.”

I guess this is the thing, the level of intimacy depends both on the person who is talking (me) and the viewer and how/where they are when they engage. Something to keep in mind I think.

I got an email yesterday with a video reply from Sid, the artist who I mentioned in my previous post. He’s changed his voice and his face in the first part, which raises interesting questions about self and identity and what individuals might chose to portray of themselves online or elsewhere.

I like that he is talking about wearing masks, as I think this is something that we all do in everyday life, but maybe particularly if we are put in front of a camera or a virtual audience. I get the sense that the internet affords lots of potential to manifest different versions of the self, creating the possibility to know people intimately at the same time as not knowing them at all.

Sid has a website here www.sidvolter.co.uk

Sid’s reply