Curated by internationally renowned British performance artist Mark McGowan, aka The Artist Taxi Driver, Bethlem Live Lounge is a 90s-style studio experience offering few exhibits, instead giving visitors the chance to make their own art.
With the gallery transformed into the ‘live lounge’, visitors will enter an extraordinary space filled with wall hangings, sofas, rugs, a piano, drums, digital musical equipment and a wardrobe transformed into a giant speaker. They will be able to browse reimagined vintage rock t-shirts, an original album covers display and a vinyl record exchange library, as well as being able to mix or make music and visuals thanks to an immersive recording studio, a DJ booth, projections, and an array of musical instruments. The exhibition will open on 8 May.
As well as being able to drop by anytime during gallery opening hours, there will also be a series of workshops visitors can book onto, scheduled performances and a Bethlem Live Lounge festival that will take place on 8 June.
Sophie Leighton, Bethlem Gallery Director said: “We know through previous projects and via our academic lead on this project, Professor Sally Marlow at King’s College London, that music-making and listening to music can positively impact our mental health and express our experiences of mental health and mental ill health in novel, often helpful ways. Mark’s idea of a Live Lounge – inviting visitors to perform in the space – brings these ideas to life and in doing so we will be creating and capturing the sound of our communities. The recordings produced will be an important and exciting legacy.”
The art will be live and evolving but also captured in the form of an album as well as music tracks featured on Bethlem Gallery’s website. The vinyl album entitled Melancholy and Madness, is a collaboration between The Artist Taxi Driver, producer Gawain Hewitt (recently named a Mastercard ‘Music Trailblazer’ ahead of this year’s Brit Awards), internationally-acclaimed musician Nitin Sawhney and Bethlem artists and choir members – whose voices will feature on the album. Melancholy and Madness will be released as a limited-edition vinyl album.
Mark McGowan has previously been a patient in Bethlem Royal Hospital, the home turf of Bethlem Gallery and the world’s oldest psychiatric institution. During his time there he engaged with the Gallery in its early days, and he has remained an important and valued contributor to its work ever since. As a performance artist and protester, his work provokes discussion and debate, and this is why he chose the controversial title for the collaborative album.
Mark McGowan said: “Melancholy and Madness has been designed to own negative tropes and reclaim ‘madness’ as a description of a state that we can all experience at points in our lives. It is not an identity, and creating a piece of music reflects the fluctuating nature of such an experience.
“The album is something we hope that everyone can relate to in some way. The idea of mental health only applying to people in hospital is untrue. Without underestimating the impact of mental ill health, which I know from my own experience can be devastating, it is true to say that we all have highs and lows, and exploring how this might sound through music is a way to make us think about those states in a different light.”
Other music tracks, which will be available digitally, will be recorded at various points during the exhibition and accompanying workshops, capturing sound, songs and lyrics made by participants and visitors.
Additional participatory opportunities for those who are eager to develop visual and design skills include a t-shirt making workshop led by legendary artist and designer Julie Verhoeven, where attendees will have the chance to create reimagined vintage rock t-shirts.
Bethlem Live Lounge is curated by The Artist Taxi Driver, with the involvement and support of artists including: Barrington G., Finn, Halimah Zakiuddin, Joanne Barrett aka Wen Frank, Jonas Tiknius, Kim, Leon Clowes, Nidhi Ashiwal, Nitin Sawhney, Siobhan Cawson Mooney, Susan Noonan, Susannah Oliver, Tom Newlands, the Mind and Soul Community Choir, Peter Harris, Warren from Meatraffle and Julie Verhoeven.
It has been developed in collaboration with Professor Sally Marlow and with the support of the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London.
‘Bethlem Live Lounge’ is open to the public from 8 May to 13 July 2024 at Bethlem Gallery in Beckenham, London.
For more information visit www.BethlemGallery.com
