Look on me and be renewed (2018) by Mark King in collaboration with Dr John Marsden and Changing 7. Presented as part of the HOOKED exhibition at Science Gallery London, this multifaceted artwork included a site-specific installation alongside digital manifestations created between the artist and members of the public via Instagram.
Look on me and be renewed invites us to reflect on the interplay between human beings, objects and environments, highlighting how visual prompts from our surroundings are connected to the behavioural patterns and rhythms that govern or determine our decisions and experiences.
Devised by artist Mark King in collaboration with Dr John Marsden, Professor of Addiction Psychology at King’s College London and Changing 7, a group of people with lived experience of treatment and recovery from substance use, Look on me and be renewed was developed through a series of process-led workshops where the group explored the presence of visible and invisible patterns in our daily lives. The workshop sessions included garment customization, a photography field day in London Bridge and an analysis session that considered the cognitive impact of the built environment.
The methodology behind Look on me and be renewed comes from a clinical approach used by Dr Marsden that enables his patients to gain better control over their cravings and desires by identifying visual triggers in their local environment. Mirroring Dr Marsden’s approach, each member of Changing 7 photographed the London Bridge area using disposable cameras, limited to only 27 film exposures. From those photographs, Mark King extracted and reconfigured specific shapes and colours to create a series of vibrant patterns that are infused with a memory of the places or objects that inspired them. By reintroducing these site-specific patterns across the gallery, the public realm and digital domain, the artwork amplified the repetitive interplay between people and their surroundings.
In the digital domain, King invited local, national and international audiences to pay more attention to their own surroundings and contribute photographs to an expanding archive on Instagram with #lomabr. From the uploaded images the artist created a limited series of bespoke patterns that were posted on Instagram @L_O_M_A_B_R throughout the course of the exhibition. As part of the exhibition, artist Abigail Hunt led a workshop that questioned how do patterns in our every day environment affect our moods, behaviour and thinking. The resulting workshop allowed participants to explore and create sculptures from Hunt's activity that she designed and created.
Commissioned by UP Projects in partnership with Science Gallery at King’s College London and Team London Bridge. Supported by Turning Point and Lorraine Hewitt House. Funded by Wellcome.
About Mark King
Mark King (b.1983) is an interdisciplinary visual artist, living and working in Barbados, whose work encompasses photography, installation, textile surface design and public art. Inspired by behavioural psychology, technology, and neuroscience, King’s artwork draws attention to the interplay between the human mind and the objects that surround it.
Look on me and be renewed draws on King’s previous collaborative project Enclothed Cognition (2018) created in partnership with fashion designer Bregje Cox. Enclothed Cognition explores the psychological impact of specific garments on the wearer.
Mark King's work has been exhibited in Aruba, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. Look on me and be renewed was the artist’s first major commission in London.
About Dr John Marsden
John Marsden (PhD, PgDip CBT) is Professor of Addiction Psychology at the National Addictions Centre (NAC), Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London. He is a senior member of the National Addiction Centre, the Addictions Clinical Academic Group, with an honorary appointment at South London & Maudsley Mental Health Foundation Trust. John is a clinical research psychologist and cognitive behavioural psychotherapist with a special interest in the development and evaluation of experimental psychological therapeutics. His work explores the correlation between visual imagery and addiction recovery, particularly focusing on how to identify and recalibrate our relationship to trigger images that catalyse addictive behaviour patterns. He is a Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the academic journal ADDICTION.
About Changing 7
Changing 7 is a group of people with lived experience of treatment and recovery from substance use. The name Changing 7 was chosen by the group during the three-day workshop sessions with the artist. With special thanks to Turning Point and Lorraine Hewitt House.
