Acts of Observation was a group show by artists and writers Ana García Jácome, Jeda Pearl, Abi Palmer and Simon Yuill. The exhibition spanned our entire site and was presented as a series of solo presentations, or ‘acts’, throughout our different buildings, spaces, and online.
Dynamic in form and content, the artists brought together present a diverse range of works including film, interactive installation, writing and architectural interventions. Acts of Observation directly questions, contextualises and challenges how we negotiate institutional language and spaces, and how disability is represented. The participating artists articulated and politicised notions of recovery and offer visions of positive, inclusive futures.
For Acts of Observation, Simon produced two new works which he has developed from the text Recovery Time is Labour Time originally produced for the artist manifesto Not Going Back to Normal, a project curated by Sasha Saben Callaghan and Harry Josephine Giles.
Stimwork accompanied a new edition of Recovery Time is Labour Time. These were available for visitors to take away as an A2 poster. The text, part manifesto, part essay, expands on Simon’s work and research in relation to the politics and culture of autism and neurodiversity. Drawing on personal experience and family history, this essay focuses on ‘stimming’ - the sensory pattern-making that autistic people use for emotional regulation, recovery and interaction with the world. You can read an online version of Simon's text here.
The second work was a site-specific wall painting rendered on the central pillar of the Observatory. A circular loop of the words ‘Recovery Time is Labour Time’ highlighted the repetitive, ongoing and urgent need for rest as an imperative part of disabled life whilst also gesturing towards the lack of understanding that surrounds this.
Simon Yuille is an artist, researcher, and writer based in Glasgow whose work includes the use of interview and research processes, film, publishing and custom software systems.