Art in prisons and around penal reform is not new, and can range from installations presented in a gallery setting (FF Gaiden:Control) to more activist work such as ‘legislative art’ (art that engages government systems with the goal to accomplish concrete political change) such as Tamms Year Ten. Art in prisons often support the development of better relationships between prisoners, between prisoners and prison staff, and between prisoners and their families. It is suggested that arts interventions play an important role in improving self-esteem and self-confidence, in developing communication and social skills and in enabling people to work as part of a group. (McNeill et al 2011)


But the aim of this work is not only to effect change at an individual level, but to seek transformation at a systemic level too. Can art be a part of the systemic transformation process? How can the work be taken further to people who have the power to change the system? In attending to this question, it will be necessary to produce and execute a range of other happenings for Civil Servants - and ideally higher level members of this class of worker - and to trace the potential and actual impact of this work.


To this end, Hwa Young is developing a project with the Howard League to apply the same principles shaped during the production of Probationary to a different area of policy  to target and test out.  


Credits 🎲

Conclusion

Bibliography

Bishop, Claire (2006) The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents ARTFORUM 2006


Bishop, Claire (2012) Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship Verso Books


Huizinga, Johan (1955) Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Boston: The Beacon Press


Hayes, DJ (2015) The Impact of Supervision on the Pains of Community Punishment in England and Wales: An Exploratory Study. European Journal of Probation, 7 (2). pp. 85-102


Kaprow, Allan (1966) Assemblage, Environments & Happenings H.N. Abrams


McNeill, F., Anderson, K., Colvin, S., Overy, K., Sparks, R. and Tett, L. (2011) Inspiring Desistance? Arts projects and ‘what works? Justitiele Verkenningen, 37(5), pp. 80-101.