outsider art shrine - the lunatic manufacturing company ltd

outsider shrine -  artist vs lunatic

the bird head creatures who populate the shrine are modelled after the sketch book illustrations of hallucinations suffered by a patient suffering severe alcohol withdrawal

outsider art shrine displayed in the stove building 

the spirit of ray harryhausen infuses the shrine referencing myth and narrative
- the organ stops carry the names of patients

the patterns on the pedals come from stonework on the churches of dumfries - greyfriars in this case 
photo © colin tennant

the back and inside of the shrine references the torture machines of john gilmours deluded imagination

the moon is tired - a phrase lifted directly from john gilmours letters which drips in melancholy
photo © colin tennant

inspired by john gilmours drawings of ordinary objects transformed into infernal machines of torture and martyrdom

inset panels in side of the organ explore vulnerability and madness - photo © colin tennant

medical definitions all around the scroll work defining abnormal mental states. states which can seem very ordinary and conditions which i recognise in myself and many of my fellow artists lurk below the jargon. the phrase "to be continued - by whom not known" is how gilmour finishes one of his last documented letters.

spaceboy finds sanctuary - like gilmour "he now drifts among the incurables" - scroll work adapted from victorian organ music sheets found in saint michaels church

three dimensional spaceboy -the lunatic manufaturing company ltd - photo © colin tennant

the outsider shrine explores and celebrates outsider art and the holistic value of creativity. i began the research process of building this shrine by examining the rich archives of patient art from the Crichton psychiatric hospital which is housed in Dumfries. many patients, most untrained artists, proved to be fascinating and very well documented but it was the almost unknown yet utterly fantastic John Gilmour who with twelve surviving drawings of everyday torture machines and a handful of paranoid texts and letters provided the spark of inspiration. he provoked an illuminating reminder that the boundary between the “mad” outsider and the “normal” artist is paper thin and the definition of normality accepted by many people is questionable. his work can be seen in Dumfries archive centre by appointment and his sketchbooks are stored in the Lothian health archives, part of the university of Edinburgh. most of my imagery is inspired by patient texts, illustrations of halucinations and drawings of torments suffered by various patients in the art therapy program supported by textures and patterns drawn from the churches of dumfries. This aspect of Dumfries describes great compassion and forsite in the treatment of the patients who two centuries before were as likely to be burned as witches or exiled from the community. 

Elisabeth Crichton and her husband James founded the Crichton Royal Hospital intended to be the best in Europe, this was to prove a model for the care of psychiatric patients, who were housed in pavilions within a parkland setting, rather than the large anonymous asylums which were normal at the time. the Crichton soon became known for its enlightened treatment of its patients, with art, drama, and music therapy all instituted in the 1840s.