17 October 2008

A newly commissioned work by artist John Newling for Wellcome Collection, the ‘Make a Piano in Spain’ installation will be on display from 15 October to 14 November.

Between 6 and 10 May 2008, internationally recognised artist John Newling spoke to 500 passers-by between Euston and St Pancras stations in central London. Each of them was asked to produce a hand-written response to the question: ‘What do you do to make yourself feel better?’ The replies were both overwhelming and moving, from the obvious “sit in the sun and relax” to the more obscure “trampoline or pole vault”, revealing much about the way we live and how we see ourselves.

‘Make a Piano in Spain’ is a publication, installation and live event at Wellcome Collection on Euston Road that investigates, interprets and performs these responses. A listing of 50 situations constructed from the material is being shown as a large wall-based work, and at the ‘Out Loud’ event Newling will be giving a public reading of all 500 incidents. To coincide with the installation, an artist book has been published that demonstrates the investigations and transformations that he has pursued.

Make a Piano in Spain: 15 October-14 November 2008
Out Loud (public reading): Saturday 18 October, 12.00-17.00
Tickets: free of charge, no need to book.
Venue: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE.
Gallery opening times: Tues.-Wed., Fri.-Sat.: 10.00-18.00; Thurs.: 10.00-22.00; Sun.: 11.00-18.00. Closed Mon. (except bank holidays: 10.00-18.00).

Newling studied the 500 responses he received, highlighting all of the references to actions, places and objects, which allowed him to construct a series of events, sites and materials. As blocks of text the actions, places and objects appear as chants of what we do, where we go, and which objects we prefer - in our often repeated ways - expressed as needs to restore our sense of ourselves.

The most commonly used references were gathered from the texts, placed in numeric order of frequency and subsequently calculated as percentages. The percentages provided the listing from which Newling compiled the top 50 actions, places and objects. The listing became, in turn, the material from which he constructed the 50 situations.

“Listen to prayers on an iPod while eating cakes in a cake shop”, “Clean an area of Southbank and place a pot plant in it” and “Make a piano in Spain” are just a few examples of the constructed situations.

”Each situation becomes a potential event that makes for a very human kind of medicine: both a cartography of us and a conceivable territory to experience,” explains Newling. “They are a programme of possibilities and a series of dramas made possible from 500 people’s generous engagement.”

The first 500 copies of the publication are free to people visiting Wellcome Collection. This means that the generosity of the 500 public engagements is returned with 500 books that reflect the citations, investigations and transformations that constitute the project ‘Make a Piano in Spain.’

John Newling was assisted by Nicola Martin, Kerry Howarth, Oliver Wood and Jonathan Casciani.

Entry to the event at Wellcome Collection in central London is free. For more information please phone (0)20 7611 2222 or email:info@wellcomecollection.org.

Notes to editors

For further details, please contact:

Mike Findlay
Media Officer (Wellcome Collection)
T 020 7611 8612
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk

Out Loud
'Out Loud' is the first public reading by John Newling of the 500 texts collected in response to the question: “What do you do to make yourself feel better?” Saying something out loud is a particularly public action that seems to transform the materiality of the text. 'Out Loud' will be a reading of a very human diagnosis: funny, revealing and moving.

'Out Loud' is part of a free day of events at Wellcome Collection to celebrate the launch of 'Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures'.

John Newling
John Newling has an acclaimed international reputation creating projects and installing works across Europe, the Far East and the USA. His practice is part of a widening evolution of new strategies for arts production and dissemination that emerged in the mid-20th century and continues to create new knowledge and expressions in the 21st century. To this end Newling has innovated the possibilities and benefits for art in a renewed social and conceptual framework.

Newling has been commissioned by many national and international organisations including, in the last five years, Canterbury Cathedral, the Forestry Commission, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Henry Moore Trust, the Museum of Sacred Art (Kielce, Poland), the NHS, Royal Mail and the Wellcome Trust. He lives in Nottingham, where he is currently Professor of Installation Sculpture at Nottingham Trent University.

Further information can be found on John Newling’s website.

The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

Wellcome Collection
The Wellcome Trust's former headquarters, the Wellcome Building on London's Euston Road, has been redesigned by Hopkins Architects to become a new £30 million public venue. Free to all, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The building comprises three galleries, a public events space, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop, conference facilities and a members' club.