You are now in the fifth section of this exhibition.
On the wall to your right there is a very large print of a black-and-white photograph of Audrey Amiss at a demonstration in 2002. It is pasted to the wall like wallpaper and is about two metres tall and three metres wide, meaning the people in the scene appear almost life-size.
Amiss is to the right of the image, surrounded by fellow protestors, all of whom hold placards. She has short grey-white hair and is wearing a long white T-shirt. She is holding a sign in each hand: one reads “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and the other reads “live and let live”. There is a group of trees behind the protesters.
This demonstration was against a controversial mental health bill proposed by the government in 2002 that would have increased powers to treat people without their consent and detain people perceived to have certain so-called personality disorders. It was later dropped following intense public criticism.
Underneath the photograph of Amiss at this protest is a display case with material from the archive relating to her campaigning in the early 2000s: on the right is a scrapbook containing clippings from newsletters about mental health survivor demonstrations, meetings and events, and on the left are seven of Amiss’s graffiti signs, including one of those she’s holding in the photograph above. We believe these are similar in style to the missing works from her 1989 ‘Fireworks’ exhibition discussed in the last track.
In one of these graffiti works, in capital letters made with bold, black brushstrokes, Amiss has painted the words “Justice for Lunatics”.
The term ‘lunatics’ was used in medical and legal contexts until the 20th century. It is now considered offensive and commonly used to stigmatise mental health survivors. However, here Amiss is reclaiming the term as a survivor herself.
Each word is painted on a separate line – justice / for / lunatics – and the whole phrase is punctuated with a full stop.
Some letters are slightly translucent, as if made with watered-down ink. Others are more opaque, suggesting Amiss used a drier paint mix, leaving feathery edges from the individual bristles of her paintbrush. A tactile reproduction on an angled label rail in front of you can help you feel how the words are painted.
There are slight smudge marks on the bottom right of the paper, suggesting that as well as being an artwork, this was also used by Amiss at protests. This reflects her active involvement with what she called the mental health survivor movement. She wrote in 2002 ... “I now have contact with the Manic Depression Fellowship Self-Help Group, the Critical Mental Health Forum, Mad Pride, and LUV (Lambeth User Voice)”. She also engaged with Survivors Speak Out.
This is the end of track seven. The tactile path continues to your left to the final section of the exhibition.