Hatton Gallery

‘Reassembling the Self’ is an exhibition on two sites, the Hatton Gallery and Vane, curated by artist Susan Aldworth. Centred in a study of the condition of schizophrenia, it weaves together art, science, psychiatry and individual histories in an extraordinary exploration of self, perception and the fragility of human identity.

Aldworth’s work, realised in a variety of media including print, film and installations, has long focussed on the relationship between the physical brain and the conscious mind. As artist in residence from 2010 to 2012 at the Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, she took schizophrenia as her theme, building on collaborations with neuroscientists, psychiatrists and patients to produce a series of remarkable lithographs that challenge the sense of identity through their radically dislocated imagery, emotionally charged colour and mysteriously ephemeral marks. These are dramatic, powerful works in which science, philosophy, physiology and imagination locate an essential human experience in schizophrenia. They immerse us in the fundamental, Sisyphean human activity of reassembling our fragmented selves.

Together with her film – based on a seminal text about schizophrenia, Daniel Paul Schreber’s Memoirs of My Nervous Illness – Aldworth’s work also stands in a suggestive dialogue with other works commissioned for the exhibition. Sarah Blood has produced a 12 foot neon angel (with its negative partner) exploring both the  positive and dark side of the condition.
 At Vane, Alessandro Altavilla’s sound installation explores the more beautiful aspects of auditory hallucination. At Hatton, artists and scientists have collaborated to create a giant dosage meter which will deliver 192,000 pills – a lifetime’s supply of anti-psychotic medication – over the course of the exhibition, to be recorded with time-lapse photography. This project has been supported by the North East Beacon and the Institute of Neuroscience. A programme of events surrounding issues in mental health will accompany the exhibition, coordinated by Newcastle University’s Public Engagement team.

The preview for this exhibition will be on Thursday 20 September, 6-8pm. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to: info@hattongallery.org.uk  

The exhibition will be on show at Vane from 20 September – 20 October 2012.