Sleaford artist Jason Wilsher-Mills has talked about his new exhibition being staged at The Hub, talking about disabilities in a fun, engaging and inspiring way.
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00:00Well, it's a combination of my full kind of stable of artworks, so there's some things from ten years ago,
00:12there's some things from five years ago, and there's some things that I've specially designed for the exhibition.
00:18I consider that it's a bit of a coup as well, because one of the pieces has just been at the Venice Biennale,
00:27and it's from Sleaford, which I think is absolutely fantastic.
00:32I've lived here, you can tell from the accent, I'm a Yorkshire, a very proud Yorkshire, from Wakefield,
00:39but I've lived in Sleaford for over 20 years, and this is the first kind of big exhibition that I've had on the doorstep.
00:48I'm very fortunate to have the facilities to show a lot of work, and as you can see from my friend in the background,
00:55some of the work is very big, it's very colourful, it has the theme of disability in a kind of disability activism,
01:08but not in a shanty, angry way, but in a kind of, I call it trope horse art, so the work is colourful,
01:17it makes you smile, sometimes it makes people laugh, but then I've got little, because that's where the real work can take place,
01:26and conversations can be hard, but the most important thing is that people come and enjoy the artwork,
01:34and take something away from it, in the sense of learning a little bit about what it is to be a disabled person at this point in time.
01:44The work's not all about me, it's about other disabled communities that I've worked with, including Japanese disabled artists,
01:54I did a residency over there in Tokyo last year, there's artists with learning disabilities that I've worked with for over a year in Corby,
02:04in Northamptonshire, and the sculptures which represent that relationship, so there's lots and lots of things here that people can enjoy,
02:13it's about fun, it's accessible, and it will make you think, so that's not too bad, is it?
02:20And would you say that this is almost like your greatest hits then, really, if you had an album?
02:26It is, there's no tracks that you need to skip over, it's kind of, you know, they're all up there, you know,
02:35so yeah, there's some absolute corpus in here, I'm incredibly proud of the work, it's not very often that I can get it all together,
02:45because at the moment, for instance, I've got five exhibitions on the go, so the work is kind of touring the world,
02:53and I've got an exhibition in London as well, so it's really lovely to have it all in one space, for my neighbours to come along,
03:01for my family to come along, and for friends to come along as well.
03:05That's smashing. And do you feel that accessibility as a disabled artist is improving?
03:15No, in some ways it is, in kind of recognition, you know, of artists like myself, we're not,
03:28more and more, when there's a newspaper or TV piece about me, it calls me, describes me as an artist, first and foremost,
03:37and the disability is part of that, that I'm described as an artist, that has changed, so perceptions have changed,
03:44which is really good, and when I said, you know, when I said no, I'd been kind of tongue in cheek,
03:49because it's all about access, it's all about access, so I'll give you a really good example of that,
03:56I was working in Wakefield today, and basically we pre-booked a taxi, and the taxi didn't realise there was a wheelchair user,
04:05even though we booked an accessible taxi, and we had to then book two other taxis, the train was cancelled,
04:12and so you kind of, the sort of challenges are there, so it's literally sometimes, has the venue got a toilet which I can get into,
04:23is there a ramp which is not like that, it's kind of like that, it's practical things a lot of the time,
04:32but there's still attitudes that can be challenging, and as long as there's got to be people like me, you know, challenging those attitudes,
04:39I think we're going to be okay.
04:41I mean that's one other thing I was going to say, was that looking around the pieces today, you say you're a disabled activist,
04:48but they don't look to be sort of angry pieces, they are more positive.
04:54I purposely kind of impose a PG rating on my work, because I want children to kind of get it.
05:04One of the things that really inspired me as a young child was seeing fairground artwork when I was going away on holiday with mum and dad to the east coast,
05:15a place called Withership, and I saw these amazing paintings on a fairground that was really inspired by that.
05:23I always remember that, I always remember that.
05:26And what's really gratifying is that the mail that I get these days is from families that have been really moved,
05:34because children really, really buy into the work.
05:38They ask the really interesting questions, because they're not embarrassed, you know, they're not embarrassed about, and they will ask stuff.
05:45But no, it isn't shouting, it has kind of punk sensibilities, it's got, I mean, there are things that I am angry about,
05:54that shouting at people, shouting at people can change you.
05:58If you make them laugh, if you make them think, you're halfway there to changing sort of attitudes, and that's where I am really with my work.
06:07Yes, I mean, I suppose the last leg on Channel 4 probably had it right there in that respect, didn't they?
06:13Well, yeah, yeah.
06:15Do you say you have a favourite here today?
06:18That's the like, it's like asking what your favourite, who your favourite child is, you know.
06:23I'm very proud, I'm proud of them all, because they all are different pieces that represent different aspects of who I am, what my practice is about.
06:36I think the one piece of artwork that is up here, which is called Changing Places, the Changing Places album,
06:45he's been used as a way of focusing attention on the Changing Places toilets.
06:53So everywhere where he's been exhibited, there's been a Changing Places that's been installed.
07:00So if I'm proud of anything, anything at all, it's the fact that I'm changing practical things, making real things happen by doing this really daft, bonkers art that I do.
07:13In a way, that's probably the biggest legacy of all, isn't it?
07:15Oh, blimey, yes. The fact that, you know, people can do the most basic thing, the most basic thing that everybody else takes for granted.
07:24Yes, and so obviously this is your story so far, but it's not the end of it, is it? What does the future hold for you?
07:34Lots and lots of things, lots of very exciting things. I'm going to be doing a really big project in Wakefield.
07:43I've got exhibitions at a tour in Europe, I've got an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London, and I'm going to be doing stuff with the Mining Museum as well.
07:55And then there's several touring shows next year, so I'm going to be very busy, very busy indeed, but that's good.