Three commentaries: Looking experiences at three exhibitions

Abstract

The following heuristic research account describes three exhibition visits:

1. Textures of Memory: The Poetics of Cloth, seen at Pitshanger Manor and Gallery, London;

2. Live in Your Head: Concept and Experiment in Britain, 1965-75, shown at Whitechapel Gallery, London;

3. We All Peel the Onions, shown at Camden Arts Centre, London.

Part of a larger study, the article represents the initial stages of an investigation into a new area. In order to give consideration to looking, experiences, visual impressions and thoughts are described in a narrative. In this way, the exhibition is explored as a means of studying associated artefacts, particularly with a view to considering how the issues raised might relate to the clinical setting. Also included is the interconnected account of a day conference, Art, the Stuff and the Dream, held at the Austrian Cultural Institute. As a result of the enquiry, basic assumptions about aspects of the art therapy process come to be questioned regarding choice, intention, making, looking