Both celebration and documentation, this film presents an insight into Linda Bell’s experiential artistic practice.
Through her multifaceted approach, Bell explores the sensory nature of materials such as foil, fabric and paper, inviting participants to transform the materials as they engage with them through movement, interaction and performance.
Composed of footage from live workshops at Share Garden in May 2022, the film explores the relationship between the artist, work, collaborator and viewer, inviting you to share in Bell’s playful approach to making.
The work emerged from a series of participatory, live art performances led by Bell on Springfield Hospital’s grounds, facilitated by Hospital Rooms and ActionSpace. This film captures the meditative, collaborative nature of Bell’s practice, and the sculptures and performances she created with the group.
This work will be on permanent display at Springfield University Hospital Tooting from January 2023 and was commissioned by Hospital Rooms and ActionSpace.
Linda Bell was born in London and has been a resident artist of ActionSpace’s supported studio at Studio Voltaire since 1999. Known for her large-scale, interactive installations, the sensory process of making and collaboration with viewers and participants is crucial to her practice.
ActionSpace is an exceptional visual arts development agency for learning disabled artists. They seek out and unlock talent, create opportunities and realise potential. They have big ambitions for all the artists they work with.
Hospital Rooms is an arts and mental health charity that commissions extraordinary artworks for NHS mental health inpatient units across the UK.
As part of the building of two new mental health facilities at the new Springfield University Hospital, Hospital Rooms commissioned twenty major artworks to transform how hospital wards are experienced by patients, service users and staff. The project enlisted an internationally acclaimed and diverse roster of artists, many of whom put vulnerable people at the centre of their work and specialise in participatory practice.
