The Social Environment

Kirsten Lloyd in her essay Uncommon Ground makes so much sense.   After reading the Scotsman It would appear that people feel more comfortable putting others into pigeonhole’s.  But do they really need to do that?            

For people with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), the COVID-19 pandemic saw a traumatic loss of routine, activities and contact with family and carers that was hard to understand and to cope with. In addition, the increased risk of dying from the disease is significant for people with IDD, compared to the general population. … Continue reading Health Inequalities: Learning Disabilities and COVID-19

The last two years have been beyond eventful. We haven’t added to this blog. where do you start? We will be updating in the coming weeks.

‘A person who committed no crime has been detained on their own for almost 10 years, with fewer human rights than a child killer’. See article [display-posts category=”politics”]

SCAN launches the Art in Action campaign this week to champion the valuable role visual art plays within communities across Scotland – and to call for stronger recognition of this value when it comes to decision-making. Over the summer recess MSPs will be invited to see for themselves the positive impact of visual art in their … Continue reading Art in Action

Contact calls for DWP to drop its pursuit of overpayment of Carer’s Allowance and focus on sorting out the earnings threshold in line with the National Living Wage Wednesday 15th May 2019 Today MPs on the Work and Pensions select committee are investigating the Department for Work and Pensions’ decision to recover £150 million in … Continue reading Caring?

article taken from Guardian – read full article here Illustrated by Eva Bee Illustration In 2016 the Observer revealed through freedom of information requests that out of a million alleged cases of benefit fraud put forward by the public between 2010 and 2015, a staggering 85% were completely unsubstantiated. Last month the Independent reported there … Continue reading Is this truly Britain – a land that spies on sick and poor by Francis Ryan

People with PMLD are some of the most marginalised within society. Unless we change the lens through which we understand them, they will continue to be seen as passive and non- communicative, with the risk that current social care practice will persist in reproducing the status quo. The collaborative work between Artlink, Cherry Road Centre, … Continue reading New understanding

The Ripple Effect Report by Dundee University evidences innovative and collaborative work between Artlink and Cherry Road, presenting an alternative vision and future for people with profound learning disabilities. The key themes emerging from the data are Art, Relationships, Time and Learning.  Through integrating art into social care, new ways of working are leading to … Continue reading THE RIPPLE EFFECT

In a guest blog for Nuffield Trust, Jan Tregelles, Chief Executive of Mencap, discusses the issue of payments for ‘sleep-in’ care and says that not reaching an equitable solution on it leaves the sector facing an impossible quandary The first week in November saw fireworks of a different kind for the learning disability sector. After … Continue reading HANGING BY A THREAD

For those of us working in social care, the last couple of years have been the toughest in living memory. From reports revealing the underfunding of services through to deepening staff shortages, it’s hard to see where any help and relief for the sector will come from. Particularly as there’s no end in sight to … Continue reading A COMMUNITY CENTRED REVOLUTION – PAUL ALLEN

Benefit sanctions are punishing disabled people for the sake of it by Frances Ryan The government’s cruel rhetoric is that with enough ‘tough love’, people too ill to get out of bed can hold down a job. Sanctions don’t work Four years ago, I wrote about the death of David Clapson. Clapson – a former … Continue reading BENEFIT SANCTIONS

Frances Ryan in the Guardian Dec 2017  ‘The Conservatives have repeatedly promised and failed to drive down unemployment figures while tightening eligibility and making cuts to out of work sickness benefits.’ Look closely enough and recent announcements reveal the two faces of Conservative disability policy. At the end of last month, Penny Mordaunt, the former … Continue reading NOT A DRAIN ON THE TAX PAYER

As Scotland’s contemporary music ensemble, Red Note is renowned not only for its virtuosity but also for its voracious enthusiasm for challenging work. As part of its quest to reach underserved audiences, Red Note recently collaborated with Artlink, Edinburgh’s ongoing programme ‘The Ideas Team’, established in 2005.
The Ideas Team projects support unique arts practices shaped … Continue reading RETHINKING AUDIENCES

Something to think about?! Listen to? Listen here http://mixlr.com/weather-for-the-blind Find out more here http://weatherfortheblind.org/ singing house ………

In a meeting today with artists Laura Aldridge and Laura Spring we looked at the work they are currently undertaking and where emphasis lies in their current approach. ‘We are focusing on our activities within the workshops and how we work with particular individuals. through the materials we use and the experiences we have we … Continue reading FLEETING MOMENTS

Staff at cherry road brainstorm for the artlink room: Interactive environment James Morrow/Sonos Costumes Projectors/Planetarium Interesting/ stimulating smells Bubble machine Velcro walls weightlessness seasonal affected disorder Colour therapy lights trampoline levels hammock control heat/cold Mylife tech smart board wind machine maze – inflatable theatre stage liquid mirror climbing frame water bed mirrored wall distorted Mirror … Continue reading We asked care staff what sorts of environment the people they worked with needed..and their answers were….

The following is a presentation given in response to an essay/talk by Jessica Gogan, artist & curator living in Rio.   Gogans’ essay is about a medicinal plant project which took place in Brazil. At first glance it has nothing to do with people with learning disabilities but don’t let that confuse you.  Her descriptions … Continue reading EXCHANGE OF METHOD

On The Ideas Team creative approaches and their impact on service users and staff Cherry road day centre provides day service for people with Complex support needs (relating to Autism, and behavioural, social and emotional support needs) or individual with Profound and Multiple Learning Disability & physical disabilities. Three years ago it adopted approaches as … Continue reading  LIZ DAVIDSON

Miriam Walsh is the artist behind the work of Red Note Ensemble in Cherry Road Day Centre, preparing the ground for the musicians, making sure that everyone involved has a part to play.  This is her feedback on the sessions.      What happens when we slow down? Over the course of the last few months … Continue reading WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SLOW DOWN TIME

You are invited to ‘It’s all in the detail’: A seminar with Disability Research Edinburgh Thursday 5th November, 4-5.30pm Room LG.09 in the David Hume Tower, Edinburgh University, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JX The talk will look at some of Artlink’s Ideas Team approaches emerging from one to one work with people with profound learning … Continue reading IT IS ALL IN THE DETAIL SEMINAR

This morning I received an essay by Jessica Gogan in my email. Jessica is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at the University of Pittsburgh and independent curator and educator working in the US and Brazil. The essay is about a medicinal plant project which took place in Brazil. It has nothing to do with … Continue reading Informing the Symposium on the 18th November

People with complex learning disabilities are marginalised, their voices overshadowed by their level of disability and the complexity of the care they require. In addition, for those who care, the low status afforded their vocation often results in poor pay and stressful working conditions. In this section we will explore the positive and negative influences … Continue reading INFLUENCES

Just before Xmas in 2014 we commissioned writer & curator, Kirsten Lloyd to write an essay about The Ideas Team. It’s a smart essay in that it describes (and questions) ‘care’ within contemporary arts practice and its impact on artists practice. It’s an extremely clever essay in that it places these arguments within an alternate … Continue reading A LEARNING CURVE

Sound Perception Workshop The staff training workshop was really strange, random but really powerful.  Staff found it initially confusing, embarrassing and Jim really pushed them to think differently and lose some of their inhibitions.   On reflection everyone experienced something really positive from the workshop and it was a great team building experience.  It was truly memorable!!!! … Continue reading CARE STAFF TRAINING WORKSHOP

 Representatives from Red Note Ensemble met with Cherry Road day centre management and Artlink to begin planning for performative  work based on the idiosyncratic sound preferences of five young men.  All respond to sound, either through using internal sound to pacify or as a way of understanding routine.  We want , with this work to … Continue reading It’s all in the detail – starting a new project with Red Note Ensemble

SOUND/PERCEPTION WORKSHOP     Open to all care staff Thursday 13th August 9am – 10am Observation This workshop is about encouraging you to think about the space you work in, to take the time to listen to what is around you and look more closely at the detail.   It’s all about sound, how we … Continue reading Care Staff Training workshop.

FROM THE BRITISH WELFARE STATE TO ANOTHER AMERICAN STATE By Mo Stewart Her writing is ahead of its time. She tells it like it is. http://www.researchgate.net/publication/263673310_FROM_THE_BRITISH_WELFARE_STATE_TO_ANOTHER_AMERICAN_STATE To find out more go to https://www.mostewartresearch.co.uk/introduction/

As preparation for Kelly Dobson’s ‘Slowing Down Time’ project we organised a workshop for care staff at Cherry Road day centre.  As part of the prep work we asked artist Miriam Walsh to interview care staff and family members of one particular individual. Each of  the individual perspectives was turned into a poster and used in … Continue reading Staff Training for Slowing Down Time

LAURA  SPRING: Artlink  has  brought  so  many  beneficial  elements  to  my  work  and  myself  as  a  person  over  the seven  years  I  have  worked  for  them.  Many  of  these  I  never  expected  and  I  think  says  a  lot  about  the  unique approach  Artlink  has  to  working  with  people.  Freedom,  room  for  experimentation,  meeting  and  working … Continue reading WHAT HAS WORKING WITH ARTLINK BROUGHT TO YOUR PRACTICE?

LAURA  ALDRIDGE:    It  has  enabled  me  to  work  in  a  way  to  fits  my  ideas  and  thinking  –  i  struggled  for  years  as an  art  student,  unable  to  make  work  that  spoke  or  sang  even.  Its  made  me  free  in  the  way  that  I  approach  art making  –  I  think,  when  making  art,  so … Continue reading What has working with Artlink brought to your practice? 

We need to get closer, slow down time in order that we can better understand the ways in which people with profound learning disabilities communicate with us. When we do, we enter a world in which colour becomes sound and sound becomes colour, where light becomes an object to be touched, where simple vibration and … Continue reading What happens when you slow down time?

We will soon be posting details of our plans for the coming year, as well as our long term plans for the ideas team.  Watch this space…..it’s going to be good!!

Thursday: I was in a round table discussion about knowledge and social justice with academics, some of whom who research the sociological impact of governmental silence, gender influenced sectarianism and digital knowledge consumerism.. You wouldn’t assume a thread to these seemingly disparate things, but the commonality occurred to me during an event we were invited … Continue reading ….and the point is?

The group at Maklab also came up with the idea for a more portable kit.  A glove which care workers could use.  By touching the fingers of the glove , specific sounds would be omitted.   Example of how this would work are in the attached film. It was an interesting visit in that it … Continue reading …….and another thing! Updated.

Very early stage design.  Working on the prototype. We create a big wooden floor/stage. On the floor there are lots of simple shapes made out of conductive aluminium tape (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-Silver-Foil-Tape-Self-adhesive-Heat-reflecting-Insulation-5m-x-50mem-/170847802942) There is one conductive beacon on the platform (a waist height conductive shape) that acts as the start of the interaction. Basically any number of … Continue reading Maklab – what sort of happened?

A few weeks ago we set Maklab a challenge.   They were to come up with ideas in response to a ‘problem’ we identified. Tomorrow we get to work with them and ThingkIng (South Africa) on the solution…….we will keep you posted.   For now, here is the challenge we set them……. Problem: A lack of adaptable … Continue reading Working with Maklab and Thingking

Caring for an adult relative with severe learning difficulties is hard at the best of times. You deal with sleepless nights, challenging and sometimes aggressive behaviour, anxiety and loneliness, often behind closed doors and with little support. In times of austerity, however, it is even harder. Life is made all the more distressing when you … Continue reading Who will listen now if you care for an adult with learning disabilities? Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Kara Christine & Alison Stirling met with Sarah Keer-Keer to talk about setting up an Ideas Team event as part of the Midlothian Science Festival.  They got talking about Wendy Jacobs work on the Sound project and ways of receiving sounds.  Sarah decided to illustrate a simple activity which they have used at science festival … Continue reading Initial meeting to set up midlothian science festival event

Sound of Light, by Marco Barotti and Marco Canevacci is a synesthetic sculpture which interprets and dynamically transforms sunlight into audio frequencies. It is a site specific installation designed for the former music pavilion in Hamm, Germany, which was built in 1912. Cameras film the sky and sunlight, dividing it into six colours – RGB … Continue reading Everyday listening

 ​Steve Hollingsworth works closely with the individual, watching their ​smallest response as a way of informing his artworks. He enters a world ​in which colour becomes sound and sound becomes colour, where light ​becomes an object to be touched, where simple vibration and sound are ​all consuming, where seemingly routine events become fascinating. ​These observations … Continue reading Accumulating the detail

Pierre Huyghe Goes Deep Inside the artist’s show at Hauser & Wirth in London. September 16, 2014 4:51 PM | by Skye Sherwin Anticipation ran high before the opening of Pierre Huyghe’s first London show since his acclaimed Tate Modern exhibition of 2006. Famed for art that literally has a life of its own—be that … Continue reading Artists that inspire us – Pierre Huyghe

“What seems so important is to feel you are on some kind of equal level with the person you are working with, that you are listening to each other through a specific artistic approach, and actually finding a new language by which to communicate.” Claire Barclay

  I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to Uncommon Ground, but I’ve just been reading and enjoying (and understanding quite a lot..). I’ve recommended to staff here, and a couple of people outside our walls too. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this as a piece of critical thinking and … Continue reading Feedback on Uncommon Ground

Distinguishing herself from the touchy, humanistic tone of Post-Minimalist light art experimenters is Gunda Foerster, who has been building installations with tubular light bulbs since the mid-1990s. Her work TUNNEL, below, emphasizes the more alien qualities of florescent light bulbs, their straightness, their neon coloring, and their typical right-angled arrangements.

Download this essay on artistic approaches within the Ideas Team, their relevance to contemporary art and to the people and care structures we work within. http://issuu.com/artlinkedinburgh/docs/artlink-annual-review-2014-v9-webup

Liz Davidson, Manager, Cherry Road Day Centre   The ideas team changes the way people think. It allows staff to be imaginative and creative, to think outside the box, to look at the people they work with differently. For me, its about motivating and inspiring my staff to do meaningful things with people. The ideas … Continue reading A managers view

Questions arising from our work are …if you make an artwork how do you ensure its use? How do you know its of continued relevance? What can you learn about the person through its use?  How do you ensure that care staff use it?  In other words how do you avoid creating an artwork that … Continue reading Sustaining involvement

In Laura Aldridge and Laura Springs workshops, the artists use materials to enable alternative ways of communicating through light, sound, colour and touch. This involves making accessories that are visual, tactile and functional.  Each toy/accessory is designed around a particular individual.  Some reflect light, make a noise, hide obhpjects and others feel comforting.

On a large table sits a collection of bare speakers of all shapes and sizes. Light sensors are inlaid into the edge of the table and as the viewers move around the room, their shadows cause the various sound and instrumental tracks to fade up and overlap, mingle and fade down. Numerous viewers in the … Continue reading Cardiff & Miller (artists we are inspired by and would like to work with)

We were interested in ways of involving staff at the centre. The notes below are Laura Aldridges’ attempts to task staff, asking them to carry on with an activity, extending the work outside of the workshops. F was weaving and wrapping objects within her workshops but the artists wanted to get her involved in making … Continue reading HOW DO WE INVOLVE STAFF?

I’ve just been to Richard Telles Fine Art in Los Angeles, it’s a nice commercial Gallery that my friend works in. I saw the work of an amazing artist called Judith Scott, have you heard of her? She is quite well know in the states, she is a fibre artist, and was born profoundly deaf, … Continue reading JUDITH SCOTT

  1st July 2011 – It’s time to prioritise social care, says Anthea Sully, Director of the Learning Disability Coalition For most of the past year we at the Learning Disability Coalition have closely following the work of the Dilnot Commission who have been looking at the funding of care and support. Although social care … Continue reading LEARNING DISABILITY COALITION

Harry Partch was an american composer and instrument creator. The regular notes in an ordinary insturment didnt cut it for him, so he invented his own insturments and wrote music for them. He was Interested in the potential musicality of speech, and felt that regular musical tuning didn’t reflect the subtle melodic contours of dramatic … Continue reading HARRY PARTCH AND THEN SOME

We’ve been working on a series of hoods and headdresses to use as part of our sensory workshops on a Wednesday. They’re made from a variety of materials with different textures and finishes so they’re exciting to see and touch. Costumes are an integral part of our workshops as they allow you to mentally and … Continue reading SHhhhhh…..I AM IN DISGUISE!

a nightclub or something like that – with lights music dancing sociable for people with high support needs.  could we intensify some of the sounds, lights etc http://www.heartnsoul.co.uk/squidznext.html Heart and soul established some of the first nightclubs for people with learning disabilities in the uk.  the graphics are cheesy but the idea is pretty good  … Continue reading an idea

I saw this at the weekend and it was a sound and visual delight! The colours, costumes, music, lighting, choreography and dancers were amazing! I loved this piece in the photo in particular….I think it was to David Bowie’s Jean Genie if my memory serves me right? Anyway, it made me want to dance…and fill … Continue reading Michael Clark

You can download this.  All you need is a computer with a  webcam.  If you have a projector then you can project it around the room.  Movement makes the picture, so the images change all the time. Small movements causing intense light. These  images are  from our workshops, which used Glowdoodle with a sound addition … Continue reading Glowdoodle by Eric Rosenbaum

A very nice example of team working.   http://quiltyquilts.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.yvonnemullock.co.uk/

This goes along with Laura Aldridges idea of galvanising skills towards a set outcome. http://www.allisonsmithstudio.com/pages.php?content=gallery.php&navGallID=22

http://www.ago.net/janet-cardiff-whispering-room I have a picture in my head of one of the people we work with walking through and knocking down all the speakers in the installation.  Its not the actual work but the idea behind the work, the idea that someone moving through a space can trigger sounds, that the room is full of … Continue reading The Whispering Room

trawl through this site.  They have open source so you can get ideas for simple and not so simple things to do.https://highlowtech.org/?cat=5

Imagine for a moment a long song. One which has good-quality instruments and takes you through some nice memories as you hear it. In fact, the song is one of your favorites, so good you can listen to it a dozen times before it gets repetitive. Eventually, though, like most, it does wear out for … Continue reading Noah Vawter

A way of being with people……………. http://www.mugsy.org/connor68.htm http://www.bild.org.uk/humanrights/docs/seldom_heard/section_3/3_1/Resource%20one-%20meaningful%20information%20article.pdf http://drmarkbarber.co.uk/creatingculturesintensiveinteractionaustralasianspecialschools.pdf

The website that someone posted with the directory of music/sounds  is pretty amazing.  People could plunder that site – creating sound environments for people. In response I want to offer up a whole load of sound websites which might be of interest.  Oh and they are free http://sampleswap.org/ http://www.freesound.org/

click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wh83QviDBQ – it will take you to you-tube where you can watch Peyote queen,  a film by Storm De Hirsch.

The budget focused heavily on the Chancellor’s plans for growing the economy and job creation, but there was very little which acknowledged the deepening crisis in social care support.  The Learning Disability Coalition, formed in 2007 to fight against the cuts in social care, has often found that in times of crisis, it is the … Continue reading BUDGET IMPACT

                                  Have you ever heard of THE INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING? – it’s an organization dedicated to the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts. They have an ongoing project called “The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” … Continue reading THE HYPERBOLIC CROCHET CORAL REEF

UBUWEB is a multi-disciplinary, ever mutating platform for all things deranged, delirious, dangerous and downright dubious! But it is also a vast resource just waiting to be plundered for ideas . . . Here is Henri Chopin making some strange sounds: http://www.ubu.com/film/chopin_undated.html http://ubu.com/

Laura Cummings The Observer, Sunday 20 June 2010 Down the Thames at the Hayward Gallery, the Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto has installed what can be truthfully described as a swimming pool on the roof. A plush pink bubble that undulates when you nudge it, filled with warm blue water, and available (pre-booked) to 16 people … Continue reading THE EDGES OF THE WORLD

I love the work of Lygia Clark, its brilliant – and so relevant when i think about what we do in the sensory workshops at Artlink. Lygia, born in 1920, was a Brazilian best known for her painting and installation work. She co-founded the Neo-Concretist art movement – they believed that art ought to be … Continue reading LYGIA FOREVER

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12747582

THERAPEUTIC COATS Children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) often encounter high-stress situations in which they need to reduce noise and apply pressure to their bodies. The SQUEASE jacket is made for just that. It isn’t a clunky technological beast but a modern fashionable jacket that is geared toward providing comfort in difficult situations while dealing … Continue reading Squease Jacket

EMOTION SENSITIVE APPAREL Philips has developed new emotion sensitive apparel, called SKIN.  The far-out-future-fabric actually adjusts color and form, meaning that you can essentially communicate with your clothes. http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/emotion-sensitive-apparel-philips-skin-and-the-digital-future

I was looking through some innovation sites and came across this persons work.  http://pipmothersill.com/index.php?/recent/test-2/ I will post more info on light as a way of communicating mood.

Touching Stories This unique program brings mutli-sensory stories to developmentally disabled children and adults in libraries, schools, and day programs.  These stories are specifically developed for these special audiences, and Story Sense presentations include trainings on how to tell these tales for the professionals who work with them. Our Story Kits: Each Touching Stories kit … Continue reading Sensory Storytelling

This design was made in response to the lack of respect eperienced by a carer at a meeting to decide a family members care. It could perhaps be used by others at times when they felt they were being unfairly disregarded.

Medical Predictions for 1999 (made in 1955) Dr. Lowry H. McDaniel of Tyronza, Ark., was a very optimistic doctor, though his ideas were certainly in line with medical futurists’ thinking of that era.  The June 9, 1955 Charleston Gazette (Charleston, WV) lays out his vision of the year 1999, which includes a 150 year life … Continue reading Predictions from the 1950’s – if only

http://www.litill.com/ Could we create a world in a bottle, which catches the light and allows patterns to dance around the room?  The terrarium triggers point to other potential ideas.  What if  we placed something inside the terrarium which catches the light and reflects its patterns  around the room.  Does anyone have any information on projects … Continue reading Terrariums

Mood indicating earphones.  What if the earphones you wore, indicated through coloured lights, what sort of mood you were in?  Would the music you listened to mellow your mood?

On 16 February 2011 the Welfare Reform Bill iwas introduced to  the House of Commons. The Bill proposes the replacement of DLA with the Personal Independence Payment and further changes to the welfare benefits system, including a household benefit cap and the introduction of a Universal Credit……….   For more information go to http://www.enable.org.uk/blogs/news_blog/?tag=dla-reform