Marking the end of her residency at Kentish Town Health Centre, Kentish Town Improvement Fund are pleased to present two new films by artist-in-residence Sybella Perry supported by Arts Council England.
Continuing an interest in the experience of landscape and architectural space through the moving image, the Sterling Prize shortlisted building was the starting point for Sybella Perry's research. Looking to other models that set to reform healthcare in Britain she drew parallels between the new Kentish Town Health Centre building, the holistic approach of the James Wigg practice and pre-NHS pioneering medical practices. Modernist in design, such buildings were also specifically engineered to allow in a maximum amount of sunlight and fresh air into the building. The use of glass and open planning allowed mutual observation between medical professionals and patients, whilst freeing space to facilitate group exercise activities for the local community. A strong emphasis was placed on living with a connection to nature, being outdoors and eating organically.
As a departure from her previous practice WORKSHOP I focuses on our physicality of feeling in the body as well as part of a larger body of people. It documents a collaboration initiated by the artist between two groups that use the Sun Room at KTHC for weekly classes and rehersals. This initial workshop was arranged as the first in a potential series of meetings with members from both groups joining together for the first time to combine voice with movement, led by Carol Grimes from Sing for Joy and Anna Gillespie, Musical Moving. Both groups were founded with the intention of using music alongside physical activity to help people with Parkinsons and similar conditions find strategies in managing their speech, breath and mobility.
WATERFALL I documents the artists exploration of the landscape surrounding the Falls of Clyde, a site which inspired J.M Turner and William Wordsworth. The film allows the viewer to indirectly experience the natural landscape through the familiar image of the waterfall, often used as a stock image of tranquility in relaxation media. The soundtrack is comprised of field recordings made on location, the white noise sound produced by the waterfall cascading fills the bandwith of all audible frequencies of vibration so other sounds are masked and inaudible. The electrical hums are the sound of the near by hydro-electric power station captured by a magnetic coil microphone which picks up the sounds of electrical fields.
Related reading and a sound recording made with Sing for Joy can be found in the FreeSpace Gallery, 1st Floor until May 2011, both films will be on permanent display in the ground floor reception from 1st April 2011.
