Visitors to Scarborough’s Woodend Gallery are all ears at a new, free exhibition which investigates the challenges of both sound and silence.
A celebration of work and creativity from over 40 project participants, Sounds Better, a Scarborough Museums and Galleries (SMG) exhibition in partnership with Crescent Arts, has been created by patients, staff and volunteers from Scarborough’s Cross Lane Hospital, local artists and mentors and young people from the Personalised Learning College.
The exhibition has been part-funded by our Trust.
Exhibits include a wall of clay ears, driftwood chimes and a TV corner where people can remember the BBC test card – literally a card placed in front of a TV camera to enable adjustments of picture quality. The BBC test card is iconic for many generations of viewers.
The project was formed by listening to people’s lived experience of the impact of sound, the journey it takes us on, how it interacts with mental health conditions and neurodiversity. The project team investigated if sound could help people with mental illness to access new or challenging spaces, and explore how it might de-escalate stressful situations and enhance creativity.
Lucy McGuire, activity co-ordinator at TEWV, said: “This was an exciting project to be a part of, for both our patients and colleagues at Cross Lane Hospital.
“It was interesting to explore sound and how every person experiences it differently, and also how it can benefit our mental health.
“We developed a toolkit full of different sounds and soundscapes that has been produced by a sound artist. We also created pieces of art and sculptures alongside our artist mentor.”
The sound toolkit was created by patients, volunteers and staff from Cross Lane Hospital, the Personalised Learning College and SMG’s community advisors and artists in collaboration with sound artist Tom Sharkett and artist mentor Liz Boag. It will be available from the Sounds Better website www.sounds-better.co.uk
Sounds have been created by people with lived experience of mental illness to help other people in their recovery. Students from the Personalised Learning College have also made a track to support young people with their wellbeing, with the hope of creating positive sensory experiences.
SMG’s Community Engagement Officer Jayne Shipley says: “It’s been great to work alongside our friends from Yorkshire Coast Sight Support, the Personalised Learning College, Mencap and Blueberry Academy to widen our understanding of some of the challenges of both sound and silence, especially in the context of sound being heard in isolation and without context.”
Visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to think about their own relationship with sound, to have autonomy and make decisions about which sounds they interact with as well as considering their own self-care and the possible impact on others in the space.
Woodend Gallery is free to enter, and is open from 9am to 5pm, Mondays to Saturdays.
