The Factory alternative art school
I co-created The Factory alternative art school with 200 neuro and mobility diverse looked-after children, young people and adults. from 2019- 2020.
Although inspired by Basic Design, The Factory curriculum differed by foregrounding social relationships, experimental processes and material encounters. The Factory drew on diverse educational philosophies and approaches and were informed by social art forms.
The Workhouse and The Factory
The Factory sought to disrupt the internalised manner by which power was encoded into social practices and human behaviour by The Workhouse routines in the past.
Institutional Biopower and The Factory
By breaking from the Foucaultian idea of Biopower, The Factory shed light on how these ideological legacies and practices influence social structures in the present.
The Factory and Do It Different
I brought in a range of collaborative creatives to work on 3 Do It Different projects. The Do It Different exhibition, website, arts trail and film (Casual Terms).
I also negotiated a permanent artist residency for an artist from Mencap who worked every weekend at The Factory. Click here for more info.
Do it Different
As 2019- 20 National Trust Creative Fellow at The Workhouse, Southwell I devised and ran a year-long commission in collaboration with over 200 neuro and mobility diverse children, young people and adults.
The Factory alternative art school
I built the Factory alternative art school at The Workhouse, which evolved co-creatively over the course of 12 months. The school existed across 4 sites (inside two children’s homes, at Nottingham Mencap and at The Workhouse).
Everyone involved shaped the structure, process and outcomes as both a tutor and creative collaborator.
Do It Different curriculum and work
The Do It Different curriculum responded to the unique sensory, communication and movement styles of everyone involved and was characterised by free imaginative exploration. It informed three Do It Different Projects that explored movement, sound and textiles and also shaped The Factory space which housed paintings, sculptures textiles work and performances.
The title, Do It Different, was coined by one of the tutor/collaborators.
The school and projects evolved into the Do It Different exhibition, Do It Different website, Do It Different arts trail and Casual Terms film.
The Workhouse context
By foregrounding and developing collaborative structures that challenged conformity and hierarchy, the art school intentionally broke the rules and routines of The Workhouse past.
Do It Different in the future
By highlighting and breaking from historic structures and practices that inform our educational, creative and social care institutions today, Do It Different also asks us to consider how these institutions can evolve more progressively in the future.
