B-Wing has been an epic journey, an immersive art experience, extraordinary, and challenging. Held in Shepton Mallet Prison’s B Wing, a massive space spanning 3 floors, 8 of us installed site-responsive works throughout the building, some large-scale, others intimate, to be discovered. The exhibition was only open to the public for 16 days during Somerset Art Weeks Festival, packed with fully booked special events and over 1300 visitors. Community workshops were held prior to opening. Preparation has taken a year (with report writing and finances still to finish off :-/)
Two weeks ago I took down my last piece from Shepton Prison, feeling exhilarated and exhausted. The physical effort of making, installing and takedown was compounded by the amount of curatorial work I’ve invested in B-Wing over the past months/year. Huge thanks to Nick Weaver for his technical help during the making, installation, dismantling and transport stages. Each was a complex process with precarious moments - apt for my purposefully rickety Snakes and Ladders piece. The work entailed some intricate engineering, and construction of a makeshift storage space for my ladder sections. Thanks to Jason Nosworthy for also helping instal.
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Fiona Campbell, Snakes and Ladders, detail, found and recycled materials. Photo by Dave Cable
2nd October 2019: The first week of B-Wing! Fiona Campbell
After a week of hard work installing our exhibition in B Wing, Shepton Prison, we opened to the public on 21st September. Artworks and poetry span 3 floors, so it has been a challenge!
Since then B-Wing has been filled with a whirlwind of events. We have been overwhelmed by the level of feedback and engagement from visitors and participants to our exhibition, workshops, talks, tours, discussions and performances. There have been so many highlights over the past week, but most memorable so far has been our Special Events Day last weekend. John McCarthy opened the day with a heart warming, generous speech, followed by a range of activities led by the artists, in which visitors took part.
Visitors have been moved to tears of sadness, and laughter. Responses to the exhibition include:
'Powerful, disquieting, dark and fascinating. Not an easy show but I thoroughly recommend you get to it if you can,’
‘Incredibly sensitive use of space.’
'Absorbing, compelling, what an achievement.’
'A remarkable series of works to fit an extraordinary space.'
If you haven’t yet visited, please do! We run for a few more days until 6 October.
10th September 2019: B-Wing's community collaborative artworks Fiona Campbell
Community engagement and collaboration are key. We’ve been engaging community groups making work to be featured as part of our exhibition. I worked alongside a group of Year 9 students at Whitstone School, while Luminara worked with local Home Ed families, making small hand sized artworks.
'The number of hours an inmate takes to make an artwork contributes to its value... the greater the number of hours the more valuable the piece... participants exchange cartons and packs of cigarettes on these grounds. Art supplies are hard to get, so inmates scavenge for throwaways. Bones from birds and rats, peach pits, broken mirror pieces, cardboard, scrap metal, handkerchiefs and other materials become recycled into objects of love, affection and power. Artists who work from found objects are considered most creative and are said to be ‘trip’n’ - being freed up or engaged in the creative process. Because of size limitations for handicraft items, most art will fit comfortably in one’s hand. These satisfy departmental procedures but are also easily concealed and transported - often carried in a pocket for exchange & purchase.’ Tom Skelly, On the Yard
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2nd September 2019: Wallpaper, trauma, and porcelain paper clay Lucy Large
For the B-Wing project at Shepton Mallet Prison I am making two site responsive pieces. The first is a solo piece sited in cell 30 on the middle floor of the wing. The second piece is a contribution to a collaborative work with artists Luminara Star and Alice Maddicott. The solo work began as my response to the word “held”. When visiting the prison for the first time I was struck by the web of personal stories connected with the building and how those stories would involve prisoners held within the building as punishment, but also individuals and families of the prisoners and of victims affected by whatever crimes may have been committed. In this way, it felt that groups of disparate individuals might be “held” in the same moment of trauma but experience very different, unfolding narratives as a result.
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24th August 2019: Spell casting with embroidery and a cleansing ritual Luminara Star
The idea for the B-WING project was motivated by a common desire to bring contemporary art out of the traditional gallery space and into unusual, unexpected places. As co-curators, Fiona and I have held onto that vision as our relationship to the prison as an art venue has developed.
As the months pass and the project unfolds, my initial response of foreboding when entering B-Wing, has transformed into a sense of endearment for the place. One Sunday afternoon spent alone in the space, void of the visiting public, I found myself entering an almost meditative state. This surprised me, as up to that point I had felt nervous about being alone in a place infamously known for its paranormal happenings. Walking each level in preparation for my ritual performance I did, indeed, feel the sensation of not being alone, but it came with no sense of there being anything to fear. In its decay of peeling paint, rusting metals and mould covered cells, the building was accepting of my presence.
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18th August 2019: Poetry in prison and an anchorite cell Rosie Jackson
Lots of different aspects to my contribution. First of all writing a couple of new poems for Fiona and Luminara to print off and hang in the cells. Wanted to explore what it might be like for the mother of a serious offender, e.g. a murderer - surely much worse than being the mother of an innocent victim? Wrote about Eve, the first mother, whose first son Cain murdered her second son Abel. What a story; tried to make it lyrical, but it goes deep. Then another poem called Imaginary Prisons inspired by some of Fiona's sketches for her ‘ladders' installations.
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15th August 2019: Beauty in decay and sentient buildings Alice Maddicott
The first time I walked into B-Wing I was struck not so much with the horror of the human side of the building’s history, but by its potential beauty, both in terms of its architecture and the incidental details of decay since it has no longer been in operation as a working prison. At this moment I decided that I was going to take a deliberate approach in not learning more about the human history, as this trauma would cloud my view, but to get to know the building itself, as if it were sentient, and seek to excavate a sense of memory and aspiration of the building if it were devoid of the darkness put upon it by humans. In different circumstances what would the building have liked to be?
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5th August 2019: New Announcements
We have some excellent developments: We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a Somerset Skills and Learning grant! This means all workshops, talks and tours will be free to the public. In addition, participants to workshops will receive a free ‘get-into-prison’ ticket. We're hoping to attract those who can't normally benefit from these opportunities, particularly those who live in the Shepton Mallet area. Please pass this on to any individuals or groups to whom you feel this applies.
This has been supported by Somerset Art Works.
We are also delighted that John McCarthy, renowned writer and broadcaster, held hostage in Lebanon during the civil war, will be opening our Special Events Day on 28th September with an Introduction, Talk 10.30-11am.
Visit our Community Events page for further details.
June brought a stream of thrilling news. After months of what seemed like never-ending funding applications and a long waiting game to hear our results, B-Wing received several grants in succession. This will enable us to pay artists and engage the wider community in a series of special events including free workshops, talks and exhibition tours. We are so grateful to Arts Council England and The National Lottery for awarding B-Wing a project grant. We have also received match-funding from Somerset Community Foundation, Shepton Town Council and Cranmore Parish Council - huge thanks to them and to all our supporters (see here for a full list). It has been worth all the meetings and late nights at the computer. Now onto the next stages of curating and making.
All the B-Wing artists met together at Shepton Mallet prison recently to celebrate. Ideas are sparking between us and new collaborations brewing. I’ll be collaborating with Lou Baker and Scott Sandford on part of the installation.
B-Wing is fundraising! Would you help us achieve our funding target for the exciting arts event to be held in Shepton Mallet prison?
B-Wing is a multi-disciplinary arts project involving 6 artists and 2 writers making site-responsive artworks in the unique spaces of B-Wing, Shepton Mallet Prison for an exhibition and special events during Somerset Art Weeks Festival ’19 (21 Sept-6 Oct). Artworks across visual arts, performance & poetry will transform B-Wing, reflecting its history, & confronting political & environmental issues.
The project targets a wide range of art & non-art audiences. We will engage the local community including young people through workshops, participation in a collaborative piece, talks, readings and special events.
A warm sunny day in March with bright blue skies … where better to spend it than exploring a decommissioned prison? The imposing boundary walls topped with razor wire are just the beginning; as we stepped through the gateway, we stepped into another world. It was our first artists’ visit to B Wing!
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Some of the B- Wing artists. From left to right - Lucy Large, Scott Sandford, Luminara Star, Fiona Campbell, Lou Baker. The photo was taken by Geoff Dunlop