Shifting Perception: A Turn Around

Photo: Alexander Hayes - ‘Damien ‘Task’ Seary - 2002, Guildford Grammar
Anglican School, Perth Western Australia

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Title

Shifting Perception: A Turn Around

Date/s

2002

Location

Tasmania, Australia

Discipline/s

Art

Author/s

Zoy Crizzle, Alexander Hayes & Damien Seary

Abstract

Personal creative expression provides new possibilities for those subject to the brutal, banal, and demeaning effects of imprisonment. Equipped with incarceration language, prisons re-define their existence, yet art becomes a focal point for departure from the boundaries of their confinement. Unraveling these personal experiences often results in wild and explosive forms of expression where 'escape' is by virtue courting disassociation from the savage homogenization of these environments. Liberation takes form across many genres, imbued with symbols and codes, often embedded with strong emotional discourse. The notion of 'escape' according to Damien ‘Task’ Seery (2002) is fully expedited when the cathartic separation of ‘prison’ through ‘art’ allows an inmate to flee from their predicament, build bridges over seemingly bottomless social and cultural divides, command feedback and foster self-respect. Walls, cells, roll-calls, musters, and lockdowns fade into obscurity as new realities are privileged those willing to explore and investigate justice and equity through art.

Keywords

incarceration, imprisonment, justice, equity, art, law, society, equity, culture, expression

Citation

Crizzle, Z., Hayes, A. & Seary, D. (2002) Shifting Perception: A Turn Around. Presentation: International Centre for Convict Studies. Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16726249.v1

Links

Figshare - https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16726249.v1

Artmaking In Prison - https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/4859/the-idea-of-redemption-artmaking-in-prison/