Melancholy and Madness of Bethlem art exhibition goes vinyl – Inside Croydon

Bethlem Gallery, the art gallery located within the Royal Bethlem Hospital, has released a vinyl album as part of its Live Lounge exhibition program – a series of events exploring the links between music and mental health.

Slip disc: the experimental album, a limited edition, can be ordered now

The limited edition album – described as “experimental” – officially launches at Live Lounge Festival this Saturday, June 8.

It was produced by Brit Award ‘Trailblazer’ Gawain Hewitt and was the brainchild of Live Lounge exhibition curator The Artist Taxi Driver, also known as Mark McGowan.

Melancholy and madness was created in a process similar to the folk music collection, whereby McGowan, along with other members of the Bethlem Gallery team, visited wards and information centres, watched choir performances and facilitated workshops to find songs, poetry and music from Bethlem’s community.

Most were then recorded on site at the Bethlem Gallery.

Some of the pieces specifically explore mental illness, while others are broader art pieces that delve into a wide range of themes. Renowned musician Nitin Sawhney was also involved in the process to endorse and remix the songs.

“The album was made in real time, so you have 20 minutes on each side, created from a live image of me, spontaneously putting these collected fragments together with electronic sounds that I prepared, as well as live sound effects” , Hewitt said. .

“So it’s effectively a live performance, a collage of all these fantastic pieces, culled from the talent that thrives in the Bethlem community.”

Although Hewitt has worked extensively to make music with people accessing mental health services, he has never made a recording of it. “The vinyl album was Mark’s idea,” said Hewitt, “He was keen to add this other dimension to the project, something tangible in today’s digital age of streaming.”

As curator of Bethlem Gallery’s wider program of Live Lounge events, McGowan has created a ’90s-style ‘drop-in’ studio experience, giving visitors the chance to create their own music and art.

The Live Lounge Festival, which takes place in June, is an outdoor festival with music, food and an open mic stage.

Sophie Leighton, Director of Bethlem Gallery said: “We know that music and listening to music can have a positive impact on our mental health and can express our experiences of mental health and mental illness in new, often helpful ways.

Mixed experience: Award winner Gawain Hewitt produced the Bethlem LP

“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 create and capture the sound of our communities. The recordings produced will be an important and exciting legacy.”

McGowan was previously a patient at Bethlem, the oldest psychiatric institution in the world. During his time there, he became involved with the Gallery at its inception and has remained an important and valued contributor to its work ever since.

McGowan said: “Melancholy and madness it was designed to hold negative tropes and claim “madness” as a description of a state we can all experience at some point in our lives. It is not an identity, and the creation of a piece of music reflects the fluctuating nature of such an experience.

“The album is something that we hope everyone can relate to in some way. The idea that mental health only applies to people in hospital is untrue. Without underestimating the impact of mental illness, which I know from my own experience can be devastating, it’s true to say that we all have highs and lows, and exploring what that might sound like through music is a way to make us we think about these. stand in a different light.”

Bethlem Live Lounge is open to the public until 13 July at Bethlem Gallery on Monks Orchard Road (20 minutes from Croydon city center on the SL5 SuperLoop bus).

Inside Croydon – If you want real journalism, delivering real news, from a publication that is based in the borough, please consider paying for it. Sign up today: Click here for more details

• If you have a story about life in or around Croydon, or want to advertise your residents’ association or business, or have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@ btinternet.com

• As featured on Google News Showcase

• ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s most rotten boroughs for the seventh consecutive year in the annual summary of civic advertising in Private magazine