Talking Sense: The changing vocabulary of mind and brain

Fifty artists. Fifty minds. Fifty artworks in paint, film, sculpture and print.

The vocabulary we use to describe mental and emotional experience is changing. With attitudes shifting towards compassion in policy and treatment, terms such as wellbeing, recovery and mental health are being re-examined, and their connotations questioned. Words like neurodiversity have emerged to describe the world of mind and brain/thought and feeling in a less stigmatising way – but studying the neurological is just one part of developing our understanding. Societies are responsible for distress and disability, and our behaviours between each other shape our lives.

The standard guide for most psychologists, psychiatrists and services remains the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ – first published in 1952. In the exhibition ‘Talking Sense’, fifty artworks, are paired with fifty phrases created by jumbling the contents of this textbook’s most recent edition, whose terminology and methodology have been criticised by professionals and survivors of harmful treatments. By reorganising this language and juxtaposing it with eclectic artworks we hope to open up a space for helpful conversations around the future of care.

Whilst the venue is temporarily closed due to the Coronavirus situation, you can take a virtual ‘tour’ of the exhibition.