GALERY A: OVERVIEW: CHAT + DRINKS + ART
Mind wandering refers to the engagement in self-generated thoughts unrelated to the external environment. While a universal human experience (everyone daydreams or gets distracted), a view from the field of Psychiatry is that excessive mind wandering may be a key feature of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). At the same time, there are strong traditions in the arts for people to use mind wandering (whether the term is activated or not) as part of the creative process. Think stream of consciousness, collage, dérive for instance. It is no wonder that comedian Rory Bremner, seen in 2017 on the controversial BBC Horizon’s ADHD and Me (2017) refers to ADHD is his ‘worst enemy and best friend’.
Mind Wandering: Worst Enemy or Best Friend?, was a lively evening of chat, drinks, art and interdisciplinary productive antagonisms that took place on 24 October 2017 18:30-20:30 at the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP), Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. The intention of the evening was to open up and challenge our respective understanding of how the mind works, with particular attention paid to ADHD, and more generally, the boundaries between wellness and illness and how the arts can contribute to and complicate this discourse. Happily, there were clashes and sparks, zones of contact and zones of conflict - and our minds wandered, our journeys augmented. This post presents eight galleries documenting the evening, and invites further comments, reflections and participation. The programme, also framed as an Open Studio, was a part of, and enacts artist Dr Kai Syng Tan's #MagicCarpet, a 1.5 year art practice-related interdisciplinary collaboration by Kai (Biennale of Sydney, Artangle Open 100, RUN! RUN! RUN! ) with the world-leading expert on adult ADHD Professor of Psychiatry Philip Asherson (SGDP). At its heart is a 2.9mX1.45m tapestry artwork which people can 'activate' by sitting on it to make small talk and drawings about their mind wandering and, extending from that, related issues like neurodiversity, social versus medical models of health (and the 50 shades of grey in between), what it means to have a 'disorder', wellness versus illness and more generally, the body-mind-world dynamics for self and others. The work aims to open up a critical and poetic space of 'productive antagonisms': people from all walks sit on the tapestry-cum-carpet-cum-mat and make drawings and small talk about their (different/conflicting perspectives) of mind wandering. Free Eventbrite tickets were sold out within 3 days of release, and again when the capacity was doubled. 50 colleagues and friends from diverse sectors ranging from biomedical science, art and design, disability arts and services as well as students and researchers from Higher Education institutions made drawings of their mind wandering, voted for or against the motion, and engaged in a discussion by Professor Asherson with guest speakers Natali Bozhilova (PhD researcher, SGDP), Dr David Grant (Educational Psychologist), Dr Laura Malacart (Visual Artist and Researcher, Visiting Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL). The chair was #MagicCarpet artist/Principal Investigator Dr Kai Syng Tan, and the respondent was Professor Helen Chatterjee MBE (Founder and Co-Director National Alliance for Museums, Health and Wellbeing, University College London). A range of artistic outputs by Kai and attendees that may become the foundational elements of the tapestry art were also shared. See article published on A-N blogs 5 February 2018 on the event. |
SELECTED FEEDBACK: Fantastic to be involved #MagicCarpet @wesatonamat discussing mind wandering & ADHD. Great wandering art&gibbons – Professor Helen Chatterjee MBE (guest respondent) Kai, thank you it was a great evening, a massive well done to you! I chatted to some thought provoked people on the train platform, that is a sign that it went really well! -- Dr Laura Malacart (Guest speaker) Please keep creating awareness! -- Anusha (Attendee) I liked the individual presentation, debate in the end of the evening, inspiring creativity. -- Anonymous (Attendee) Artwork was very interesting. Speakers on ADHD + educational psychiatrist were very interesting. I liked the concept of ‘mind-wandering’ - first time I had heard about it. -- Eliza (Attendee) Thank you so much for yesterday. That was fun. — Iullia Rakitina (BSc psychology student and Volunteer) Thanks so much for inviting me yesterday it was a real pleasure to be part of the event! Please do let me know if there is any way I could be involved and could help in the future! — Peter Reid (Volunteer) |
Photographer for the Open Studio: Enamul Hoque unless otherwise stated. Photo Credit: Mind Wandering: Worst Enemy Or Best Friend 2017 October 24 by Kai Syng Tan #MagicCarpet 2017 (Photographer: Enamul Hoque, Alessandra Cianetti or Kai Syng Tan) @wesatonamat, www.wesatonamat.weebly.com The minimum credit is: #MagicCarpet 2017 @wesatonamat
GALLERY B: PREMIERE: IPAD SKETCHES FOR TAPESTRY
L-R: The Mind Excessively Wandering (Red Herring) Scale. Kai Syng Tan 2017. 420X594 mm. iPad, marker pen. // Gibbon Mind Donkey Will. Kai Syng Tan 2017. Psychiageographies [detournement] [exquisite corpse] [parenthesis]. Kai Syng Tan 2017. 420X594 mm. iPad, marker pen. //Psychogeographies [detournement] [exquisite corpse] [parenthesis]. Kai Syng Tan 2017. 420X594 mm. iPad, marker pen.
Each of these images consists of yet more images, layers and references. The titles point to yet other/more references and red herrings, rather than clarify/enlighten. Please click for details and to sense/read/interpret the images. The drawings have been created on iPad. This is the first time Kai is using iPad to draw. The programme that she is learning to use is Procreate. Taking a cue from Hockney’s iPad drawings, this allows her to reconnect with her first contact with art, ie drawing, a language that many acquire before verbal language., albeit now mediated via a new technology. These sketches will become the building blocks for Kai's tapestry design. The sketches themselves have been formed and informed by the images and text from GALLERIES C-E. These images, plus inspiration from crowd-sourced images from GALLERY E, may become foundational components for the tapestry design.
GALERY C: PREMIERE: BADGE-WEARING MIND WANDERER IN ACTION (M.I.A) photo essay tableu.
Series title: BADGE-WEARING MIND WANDERER IN ACTION (M.I.A) by Kai Syng Tan 2017. C-Type gloss, 596X347mm, mounted on 3mm Forex (Photographer: Enamul Hoque.) // Clockwise from top: Come Ride With Me on My Magic Carpet (V&A Tapestry Room). // ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! (Portals and Potterings). // Making Mind wandering Visible (Photobombed). // ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! (Let’s Feel Good). // Mind in (com)motion in a world in (com)motion (London 7 October 2017 incident) // Mind Wanderer OverBoard/Overbored (An Eye for An Eye).
See article published on Disability Arts Online in 19 February 2018 on the thinking behind this work. The following text is from Kai’s script performed at PsychART, 2017 November 3, which explains the thinking behind this body of work. The first part of the text on the badges premiered on 22 September, when Kai introduced comedian Rory Bremner and theatre group Art with Heart at the UK Adult ADHD Network 2017 Congress ‘ADHD in the Mainstream’.
‘Have you seen the ‘Baby on Board’ badges? Those are badges that people -- usually women -- wear to declare that they are pregnant when the bump doesn’t show yet – so that they get offered a seat on the tube. If they are lucky - we know how Londoners are like. I wear a badge too. I know I don’t look don’t look pregnant. That’s because I’m not. My badge says ‘Mind Wanderer Overboard’. And since I love overdoing things, I don’t just have one badge. I’ve got five: ROAM ROAM ROAM; Come Ride with Me on my Magic Carpet; Mind Wanderer in Action and Making Mind wandering Visible. The badges are part of my effort to make ADHD visible: and by that I mean more seen, more heard, more talked about, not avoided, not dismissed, not spoken about in hushed tones, not just a specialist subject. These badges out myself as a mind wanderer, so that they become starting points for discussion (and disagreements) about mind wandering and how it transports and/or impairs you. Perhaps when more badge-wearing mind wanderers wander about, not just in the underground but above ground, in the streets, society can be infected with conversations about ADHD.
I made this series of photographs on 7 October 2017. The photographer was Enamul Hoque. It is as much a portrait of self as it is of my place/city, i.e. London, and (my) ADHD. They feature one badge-wearing mind wanderer roaming through London interacting with human beings and non human beings (I think that swan is a mind wanderer. Look, he’s gone. Look at that droopy neck.) I’m embodying and giving form to my mind wandering. With these photographs I also wanted to contribute to introducing new imagery and imagination about/of/by ADHD. When I received my diagnosis, which was just 2 years ago I googled ‘ADHD’ and the images that popped up were quite unimaginative: they were sad, ugly, lazy word-art type graphics or photos depicting a child - usually a boy, or a male criminal, or a boy who will grow up to become a male criminal — in a state of confusion, chaos. Where are the women, you ask. Oh, here they are. They are the concerned teacher/parent comforting or looking after these disturbed boys/men. We all know how women are very caring. I’m exceptionally caring.
So this set of photographs are an intervention to and critique of the existing, limited and limiting popular consciousness about ADHD. Celebratory and unapologetic, they present a different narrative on ADHD and difference. With high-end production values, I want the photographs to say: ‘pay attention. Look at this. Look at ADHD anew.’ They are everyday, yet stylised. There was even an unplanned image - that of me amidst a police crowd. That was the day when a car rammed into crowds outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. At that point it wasn’t clear if this was another terrorist attack (it turned out that it was a traffic), but like many Londoners I was angry, shocked, upset, and perplexed. We debated about about using the photograph. But this is the reality today. A mind in motion and commotion, in a world in motion and commotion. So here it is.
‘Have you seen the ‘Baby on Board’ badges? Those are badges that people -- usually women -- wear to declare that they are pregnant when the bump doesn’t show yet – so that they get offered a seat on the tube. If they are lucky - we know how Londoners are like. I wear a badge too. I know I don’t look don’t look pregnant. That’s because I’m not. My badge says ‘Mind Wanderer Overboard’. And since I love overdoing things, I don’t just have one badge. I’ve got five: ROAM ROAM ROAM; Come Ride with Me on my Magic Carpet; Mind Wanderer in Action and Making Mind wandering Visible. The badges are part of my effort to make ADHD visible: and by that I mean more seen, more heard, more talked about, not avoided, not dismissed, not spoken about in hushed tones, not just a specialist subject. These badges out myself as a mind wanderer, so that they become starting points for discussion (and disagreements) about mind wandering and how it transports and/or impairs you. Perhaps when more badge-wearing mind wanderers wander about, not just in the underground but above ground, in the streets, society can be infected with conversations about ADHD.
I made this series of photographs on 7 October 2017. The photographer was Enamul Hoque. It is as much a portrait of self as it is of my place/city, i.e. London, and (my) ADHD. They feature one badge-wearing mind wanderer roaming through London interacting with human beings and non human beings (I think that swan is a mind wanderer. Look, he’s gone. Look at that droopy neck.) I’m embodying and giving form to my mind wandering. With these photographs I also wanted to contribute to introducing new imagery and imagination about/of/by ADHD. When I received my diagnosis, which was just 2 years ago I googled ‘ADHD’ and the images that popped up were quite unimaginative: they were sad, ugly, lazy word-art type graphics or photos depicting a child - usually a boy, or a male criminal, or a boy who will grow up to become a male criminal — in a state of confusion, chaos. Where are the women, you ask. Oh, here they are. They are the concerned teacher/parent comforting or looking after these disturbed boys/men. We all know how women are very caring. I’m exceptionally caring.
So this set of photographs are an intervention to and critique of the existing, limited and limiting popular consciousness about ADHD. Celebratory and unapologetic, they present a different narrative on ADHD and difference. With high-end production values, I want the photographs to say: ‘pay attention. Look at this. Look at ADHD anew.’ They are everyday, yet stylised. There was even an unplanned image - that of me amidst a police crowd. That was the day when a car rammed into crowds outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. At that point it wasn’t clear if this was another terrorist attack (it turned out that it was a traffic), but like many Londoners I was angry, shocked, upset, and perplexed. We debated about about using the photograph. But this is the reality today. A mind in motion and commotion, in a world in motion and commotion. So here it is.
GALLERY D: MAPPINGS OF WHAT KAI IS LEARNING/QUESTIONING ABOUT MIND WANDERING+ADHD FROM HER INFILTRATION INTO THE WORLD OF PSYCHIATRY
Mapping (mind mapping/concept mapping/diagramming/juxtaposing image and text in 2D/3D/filmic space) is a key way for Kai to process information/knowledge/the world around her. Shared this evening were some of the 60-70 maps from the month leading to the Open Studio, that Kai had been creating since beginning her residency at the SGDP on 18 September. For current/more maps, follow the #MagicCarpet blog.
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GALLERY E: MAKING MIND WANDERING VISIBLE: drawings by attendees
There will be more of these crowd-sourced images on mind wandering when the tapestry is constructed and tours the UK. Yet #MagicCarpet has already been running workshops and collecting drawings since the commission began. Apart from being tools for public engagement, they are helping Kai build up her visual vocabulary to make visible and visualise something invisible (mind wandering).
During the Open Studio, #MagicCarpet gathered around 30 images and imaginations of mind wandering. The repertoire of animals, landscapes, colours, shapes and formations to present/re-present mind wandering was astounding, and the quality of the images was sky-high. As a significant percentage of attendees included scientific researchers and colleagues from SGDP and the neighbouring hospitals, this proved that artistic skills and imagination aren’t, obviously, confined to the ‘professionals’ (we have all encountered poor/lazy art by 'A listers').
During the Open Studio, #MagicCarpet gathered around 30 images and imaginations of mind wandering. The repertoire of animals, landscapes, colours, shapes and formations to present/re-present mind wandering was astounding, and the quality of the images was sky-high. As a significant percentage of attendees included scientific researchers and colleagues from SGDP and the neighbouring hospitals, this proved that artistic skills and imagination aren’t, obviously, confined to the ‘professionals’ (we have all encountered poor/lazy art by 'A listers').
GALLERY F: MAKING SMALL TALK: DISCUSSION WITH GUEST SPEAKERS
The speakers for the evening were: Dr Kai Syng Tan (Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow, SGDP – chair); Professor Philip Asherson (Professor of Molecular Psychiatry, SGDP); Natali Bozhilova (PhD researcher, SGDP); Dr David Grant (Educational Psychologist); Dr Laura Malacart (Visual Artist and Researcher, Visiting Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL) and Professor Helen Chatterjee MBE (Founder and Co-Director National Alliance for Museums, Health and Wellbeing, University College London - respondent).
Each speaker had 8 minutes to present their cases. Just when people were sufficiently warmed up the discussion was over. #MagicCarpet is keen to continue these discussion in the next sharing sessions - and we will ensure that the everyone gets into the ring, while keeping the programme lively and snappy. When short video clips of the discussion are ready they will be shared, so watch this space.
Each speaker had 8 minutes to present their cases. Just when people were sufficiently warmed up the discussion was over. #MagicCarpet is keen to continue these discussion in the next sharing sessions - and we will ensure that the everyone gets into the ring, while keeping the programme lively and snappy. When short video clips of the discussion are ready they will be shared, so watch this space.
GALLERY G: MAKING SMALL TALK: MIND WANDERING PLAYGROUND
For one evening, the SGDP was transformed - by way of colourful floor tape, busy display boards and maps and drawings seen in Galleries B-E - into a playground for the wandering mind. The SGDP is not a white-cube gallery space, so the Open Studio did not pretend that it was. The colourful marker pens, pictures by people of their non-concentrating mind which were themselves pictures of concentration (!), drinks, crisps, small talk, distractions, directions and mis-directions ensured that play was the governing word for the evening (and for Kai’s ongoing adventure in the academy and art world).
GALLERY H: CREDITS
The evening would have not happened without the #MagicCarpet team as well as a dedicated team of volunteers-cum-roving-mind-wanderers, who each comes with their own fascinating stories, research and perspectives on mind wandering. They include two MSc students, a BSc Psychology student, and an 18 year old newly-arrived Londoner. The evening was led by #MagicCarpet's magical Arts Production Manager Alessandra Cianetti, and photographed by Enamul Hoque. Additional videography was carried out by Gemma from Cultural Programming, and additional photography and videography were done by Alessandra. The spellbinding roving mind-wanderers were: Iuliia Rakitina, Jessye Maxwell, Dario Leonetti, Kai Xiang Lim, Burcu Kuter and Peter Reid. Special thanks goes to Professor Francesca Happe, Lena Johansson and Chris Parsons of SGDP. Additional thanks goes to Jane Sedgewick who will write a review of the evening,. Jane is a PhD Candidate at SGDP under Philip's supervision, and is also a Senior Teaching Fellow & Programme Lead BSc Mental Health Nursing. Funding for the evening and the commission are from Unlimited and Cultural Programming.
Thank you all, so much.
Thank you all, so much.
Background image: drawing by Mind Wandering: Worst Enemy or Best Friend? (24 October 2017) participant