t s Beall
I’m a socially-engaged artist and researcher, working with diverse communities on durational projects to recover marginalised histories. For the last decade I have developed projects in collaboration with under-represented communities across Scotland and internationally. My work spans printed media, live performance, and activism – but always pivots around shared goals and co-designed outcomes. I am often asking or responding to difficult questions.
The Writing is on the Wall
This work was performative and interactive. A series of handwritten quotes gathered from interviews with carers and NHS staff, alongside statistics about care/working in Scotland, were written on the wall of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Atrium Gallery, and then erased. Audience members and NHS staff were invited to help choose the words that comprised the artwork.
I spoke principally with domestic staff in the RAH and NHSGGC, alongside porters, ambulance drivers, ward nurses, administrators, and management. I conducted a series of short, off-the-record interviews and conversations which I transcribed, and then took back to those same staff (and/or others) to review. Staff chose quotes that resonated with them from this list, and wrote them out. Handwritten text was then projected onto the wall using OHPs (overhead projectors), and carefully traced. This iterative process created The Writing is on the Wall.
For more statistics on the state of care in Scotland and the UK, and quotes from care/workers (gathered as research for this work by t s Beall and the Woven in Renfrewshire team), have a look here.
t s Beall, “The Writing is on the Wall”, document of interactive performance at Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley
For more Woven in Renfrewshire, have a look at the online exhibition and the work of the other commissioned artists – t s Beall, Karen Herbison, Kayleigh Sarah McGuinness and Audrey O’Brien.