ROOM 6. STRANGER (drop in during the following time windows) (one person at time) ... on to the receiver or if you know
EXPERIMENTS IN HAPPINESS
The installations and encounters you’re about to experience are part of a Research & Development project led by artist Amy Lord, they are not fully finished realised ideas - all around 70% finished in terms of resources. Each piece is a different strand into the research on happiness. We’re testing lots of different ideas to see what’s most interesting or has potential to be developed more fully in the future – we’d really appreciate your thoughts and responses, these will be collected in Room 3.
HOW IT WORKS This is a live art exhibition you can wander round at your leisure, in any order, with some live activities happening at certain times detailed in this programme. Some are suitable for small groups and others might be one person at a time. All the pieces have full descriptions to let you know. There are also experiences which need you to sign up for a time slot. You sign up by going outside the room it’s due to take place in and find the clipboard near that room. There will be a person there to help you sign up. In the programme you’ll find a brief synopsis of each room. We’ve displayed some of Amy’s research that has led to particular ideas in corridors and ‘inbetween’ spaces, to give you an insight into the making process. We would recommend grabbing a drink, plonking down in the seated area of the bar and deciding what you’d like to see. We’ve left the back page of this booklet blank for you to design your own journey around the space. Please sign up for the activities you wish to take part in, to ensure we run to time, please arrive 1 minute early for any time slots. If you are more than 2 minutes late you may miss your slot. Some rooms have more than one activity going on over the weekend so please check the specific time slots for that piece, they will also be on the wall outside each space. There are event assistants dotted around each floor (wearing all black with badges) please ask for help or directions at any point.
KEY PLACES AND MAP
BAR – FLOOR 1 EXIT STAIRS – FLOOR 1 GENTS – FLOOR 2 LADIES/GENDER NEUTRAL – FLOOR 3
SHORTCUT ROOM DIRECTORY
1 – BAR 2 – CRECHE + CONFESSION 3 – FEEDBACK 4 – BASECAMP 5 – PAST + DARKNESS 6 – STRANGER + MUSIC 7 – NATURE 8 – FLOW 9 – BREATHE + PALETTE CLEANSER 10 – HEDONISM 11 – GRATITUDE 12 – LIZZIE + PHYSICAL 13 – FUN
FIRST FLOOR
FIRST FLOOR The ground floor has been designed in collaboration with Northumbria Architecture MA students Joe, Liz and Katy. (Please see end for full credit details).
ROOM 1 BAR (drinks designed by MEL MACDONALD) Order cocktails that have been specially designed with mood in mind, some with active ingredients that research has proven have effects on the brain via the gut. Full details and prices in the bar. Snacks inspired by the idea of the ‘polymeal’.
MUSIC REQUEST SERVICE POSTBOX (AMY LORD) Which songs never fail to perk you up or make the difference between you staying in or going out? Write down your song choice on one of the song cards dotted about the ground floor and post in the red postbox. Songs will be collected and played during the event in the bar. All moods welcome.
THE SILENT BAR (JOE CHANDLER) The "Silent Bar" evokes the everyday experience of the regular customer at ‘your local [pub]’. When you walk in, Joe the bartender has your drink already waiting for you. Put down your £1 coin and take your drink. Though you’ve not been here before tonight, the familiar ritual is suddenly rather uncanny...
ROOM 2 PHONE CRÈCHE (AMY LORD) On the way to the bar you’ll find the phone crèche. This is a constantly manned, secure place you can check your phone into if you’d like a break from the screen and the offer of constant digital connection.
VIDEO CONFESSIONAL (SEBASTIAN MESSER) Enter the video booth to leave a message: “Say what you have always wanted to say” anonymously. No interruptions and no judgement, but what is said cannot be unsaid.
ROOM 3 FEEDBACK (come here on your way out) Explore our playful fort/tent-like structure extending from the wall, where you may reflect and respond to the exhibition. Also in this room is a blank canvas where your inner child can be released. Pick up a brush and express your emotions by playing with colourful paint as you see fit!
ROOM 4 BASECAMP A social space open at all times where you can take a breather, have a drink, and plan your experience. There are a few live elements in this space, see below. Friday 19:30: PATHWAYS (performance) by ZOE MURTAGH Saturday 18:00 : TALK By DR ALSYON DODD Saturday 20:30 : PATHWAYS (performance) by ZOE MURTAGH Various times/by chance: TEATIME by Amy & Zoe
PATHWAYS by ZOE MURTAGH An interactive storytelling and spoken word experiment in happiness, ‘Pathways’ explores the journeys on pavements that our feet patter on and the neural pathways that our brain chatters along. A chance meeting. A deep breath. A bubble. A crossroads so complex that Blazin’ Squad wrote a song about it. Join us in the bar for the moment in the film that their eyes meet, the second you guess the plot, the chance encounter that you’ve been anticipating and the puzzle you can’t quite solve. A misdirected work in progress exploration of contentment, surprise and science. Pop on your snazziest shoes and get ready to step into role.
TALK by DR ALSYON DODD Department of Psychology, Northumbria. A talk about what emotion regulation means, how it applies to us all, why psychologists are so interested in it, and what happens for mental health and wellbeing when it goes wrong.
TEATIME by ZOE MURTAGH & AMY LORD During the event we might offer you a cup of tea, served by Zoe at various points in the bar area. Keep your eyes peeled for the Chintz.
SECOND FLOOR ROOM 5 PAST PHRENOLOGY was considered a science, now a pseudoscience, which tried to explain how the mind works. It prompted one of the first public discussions of the idea that God did not control the mind, and although none of it was correct, it was still a huge step towards the idea of neuroscience. This room is a reimagining of what an early 19th Century Phrenologist’s study might have looked like. Pick up the black book in this room to read more.
ROOM 5 DARKNESS - (OPTIONAL HEADPHONE ACCOMPANIMENT) Why do we watch horror films or tense psychological dramas? Why are people fascinated by the uncanny and macabre? This headphone experience will provide a soundtrack for those that enjoy leaning into the dark whilst they’re in this room. Headphones first come, first served.
ROOM 6 STRANGER (drop in during the following time windows) (one person at time) FRI: BETWEEN 19:15 – 20:30 & 21:40 - 22:30 SAT: BETWEEN 15:00 – 16:15, 17:20 – 18:10 & 21:40 – 22:15
Micromoments with strangers matter, and can throw our mood in either direction. Think about a friendly exchange with a shop assistant or an angry road rage incident. We’ve been taught that strangers are not to be trusted but fleeting moments of intimacy with strangers can often make our day and give us a real sense of existing and our place in the world. This is a room to share a moment with a stranger. Entry is one person at a time and may involve Scrabble. Drop by and ask an assistant if there is a seat empty for you.
ROOM 6 MUSIC Featuring Rosa Postlethwaite (and a secret guest performer on Friday night only) (one person at a time)
FRIDAY: 17:00 – 18:00, 18:15 – 19:15 & 20:30 – 21:30 SAT: 14:00 – 15:00, 16:15 – 17:15, 18:20 – 19:15 & 20:35 – 21:30
Scientific tests have proved that listening to music can release the brain’s natural painkillers (opoids) into the blood stream, as well as dopamine which is associated with pleasure. But how universal is music? Will the same piece of music make us both cry/smile/dance? This experience will explore the power of music and possibilities of prescribing music to alter mood. An experience for one person at a time, sign up for a slot during the times above.
ROOM 7 NATURE Being outside amongst nature can be a brilliant tonic to our busy everyday lives – even 10 minutes a day can lift our spirits. But we’re in the middle of Newcastle at an event, so this is a love letter to Mother N. Feel free to spend as much time as you like in this room that will change as the light shifts from day to night. If we’re lucky there might just be a square of sunshine in here.
ROOM 8 FLOW Featuring Rosa Postlethwaite (Fri) and Maria Abbott (Sat) One hour session for upto 8 people starting at: FRI: 19:20 SAT: 14:30, 15:30, 16:30, 17:00, 18:30
Being in a state of ‘flow’ is an incredible feeling. This is when we lose track of time doing an activity that is well matched to our skills or talents, it should result in a sense of satisfaction or achievement. Some people get it by dancing, writing or painting. Craft is a fantastic way to enter states of flow. This experience is inspired by an archive photo from Bethlem Hospital in 1917 entitled ‘Sewing Party’. Patients gathered together to sew for therapy. Come and join the party.
ROOM 9 PALETTE CLEANSER (one person at a time) A room available for anyone that wants a few moments to… stop. To help you will be a few guided meditations or background sounds to tune into if you wish. Let the person on the door know how long you’d like to be in there and they’ll let you know time’s up with the ringing of a bell. For one person at a time. First come, first served.
ROOM 9 BREATHE Featuring LIZZIE J KLOTZ Experience for upto 8 people, starting at: FRI: 17:15, 18:15, 19:15 SAT: 16:15, 18:15, 19:15, 20:30
A session to learn different ways to breathe – to calm, relax and counteract anxiety. A 10 minute session starting promptly at the times above. Sign up outside the room.
THIRD FLOOR ROOM 10 HEDONISM Human beings have used narcotics and substances for centuries in an attempt to escape their own minds. Learn about some of this fascinating history and the dark side of substance use in this Opium den, or sit and soak up the atmosphere.
ROOM 11 GRATITUDE Practising gratitude in various forms has consistently been shown to increase wellbeing. Make a card or write a letter to express gratitude to someone, something or remind yourself what you have to be grateful for in your life. Take with you to pass on to the receiver or if you know the postal address, we’ll post it for you. Leave in the box provided.
ROOM 12 CYCLES by LIZZIE J KLOTZ
(durational, drop in between times below)
FRI: Between 18:15 – 19:30 & 20:15 – 21:30 SAT: Between 14:00 – 15:00, 18:15 – 19:30, 20:15 – 21:30
Lizzie is interested in the idea of cycles. Lizzie likes cycles. Lizzie likes to create cycles. She enjoys the comfort of routine – a sense of knowing. She likes to sleep for eight hours, eat packed lunches and drink coffee from a flask. Lizzie does this almost everyday – it makes her happy. But what Lizzie is interested in most of all are the cycles that she does not create – the cycles of others. And what happens when these cycles are in opposition. It happens and it is not always easy. Lizzie would like to play a game of cycles with you. It is called Domes and Dishes.
ROOM 12 PHYSICAL Featuring ROSA POSTLETHWAITE FRI: 30 min session starting at 17:45, 19:45 & 21:45 SAT: 15:15, 17:45, 19:45, 21:45 (Upto 10 people)
Getting physical is one of the best ways to make us feel better, and several studies proclaim it a potent anti-depressant. Power poses are physical changes you can make to your body language that have been proven to trick the brain into feeling differently and working better convenient before scary social situations or a job interview perhaps. This piece aims to give you some phenylethylamine (‘runner’s high’) and endorphins by combining a simple routine of physical power poses to a power ballad. NB. Some power poses have been left up to artistic interpretation. No dance experience necessary, just an open mind. You may work up a little heat in this one.
ROOM 13 FUN SAUCE FRIDAY: 17:00 – 18:30, 20:30 – 22:00 SATURDAY: 14:30 – 16:00, 17:00 – 18:30, 19:30 – 20:20 & 20:45 – 22:00 (Upto 5 people, sign up for a 10 min slot)
Research has shown that Dopamine is released when someone anticipates or desires something pleasurable. This short experience is for groups of mates (upto 5) and explores anticipation, forced fun, excitement and voyeurism. Sign up for a 10 minute experience within the times above.
AT A GLANCE (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)
DESIGN YOUR OWN EVENT
TIME
NOTES:
PIECE
ROOM/FLOOR
