Bethlem Gallery, the art gallery set in the grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital, has released a vinyl album as part of its Live Lounge exhibition programme – a series of events exploring the links between music and mental health.
Slipped disc: the experimental album, a limited edition, is available to order now
The limited-edition album – it’s described as “experimental” – officially launches at the Live Lounge Festival this Saturday, June 8.
It has been 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 folk music collecting, whereby McGowan, along with other members of the Bethlem Gallery team, visited wards and outreach centres, watched choir performances and facilitated workshops to find songs, poetry and music from Bethlem’s community.
Most were then recorded on site at Bethlem Gallery.
Some of the pieces specifically explore mental illness, while others are broader artistic pieces delving into a wide range of themes. Acclaimed musician Nitin Sawhney was also involved in the process, to support and remix songs.
“The album was made in real time, so you’ve got 20 minutes on each side created from a live take of me spontaneously putting these collected fragments together with electronic sounds that I’d prepared as well as live audio effects,” Hewitt said.
“So, effectively, it’s a live performance, a collage of all these fantastic, fragmented pieces from the talent that thrives within the Bethlem community.”
While Hewitt has worked extensively to make music with people accessing mental health services, he has never made a record from it. “The vinyl album was Mark’s idea,” Hewitt said, “He was keen to add this other dimension to the project, something tangible in today’s digital age of streaming.”
As curator of the wider programme of Live Lounge events at Bethlem Gallery, McGowan has created a “drop-in” 90s-style studio experience offering visitors the chance to make their own music and art.
The Live Lounge Festival, taking place in June, is an outdoor festival featuring music, food and an open mic stage.
Sophie Leighton, Bethlem Gallery Director said: “We know that music-making and listening to music can positively impact our mental health and express our experiences of mental health and mental ill health in novel, 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 be creating and capturing the sound of our communities. The recordings produced will be an important and exciting legacy.”
McGowan has previously been a patient at Bethlem, the world’s oldest psychiatric institution. During his time there he engaged with the Gallery in its early days, and he has remained an important and valued contributor to its work ever since.
McGowan said: “Melancholy and Madness has been designed to own negative tropes and reclaim ‘madness’ as a description of a state that we can all experience at points in our lives. It is not an identity, and creating a piece of music reflects the fluctuating nature of such an experience.
“The album is something we hope that everyone can relate to in some way. The idea of mental health only applying to people in hospital is untrue. Without underestimating the impact of mental ill health, which I know from my own experience can be devastating, it is true to say that we all have highs and lows, and exploring how this might sound through music is a way to make us think about those states in a different light.”
Bethlem Live Lounge is open to the public until July 13 at the Bethlem Gallery on Monks Orchard Road (20minutes from central Croydon using the SL5 SuperLoop bus).
- To order a copy of the Melancholy and Madness album, visit https://bethlemgallery.com/shop/
- For more information visit www.BethlemGallery.com
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