Flipping the Switch || Margate Mercury

“Mental health struggles cannot be solved by art alone,” says James Leadbitter AKA Vacuum Cleaner, “rather, it is about using every tool in the box”.

In spite of this, there’s a lot that art can do. And he should know. A one-man collective who works at the junction of art and activism, James has been using creativity in a variety of settings to challenge our perception of what mental health treatment can look like. In his ongoing project Madlove, for example, he has been bringing people together to discuss how we can make our environments conducive to positive mental health. In short: what would be the idyllic environment to go mad in?

“In a way society’s attitude towards mental health has already changed a lot,” he concedes. “And yes, there has been a shift towards looking at social causes, as opposed to purely biomedical ones. But discussions around things like medication, rehabilitation, and post-Covid trauma are still pretty polarised. What I want to explore is how we can create safe places for people experiencing mental distress. If you could design your own asylum, what would it look like?”

Read the full article, including the interview with artist James Leadbitter AKA Vacuum Cleaner here.

Image courtesy of Stephen King.