Winnicott Wednesdays

SCAPEGOAT

Winnicott Wednesdays presented their third show at the A-side B-side Gallery in October 2015

In early western tradition, scapegoating was a complex ritual of atoning for the sins of a community which involved two goats; one offered to God as a sacrifice and the other embodied with the sins or illness of the community and banished into the wilderness. This early ritual relied on 'the belief that attributes and states are transferable substances.' (Cassirer,1955).

Are these processes still at work in contemporary society, institutions and families? In 2015, the Chinese Year of the Goat, can the image or the archetype of the goat hold meaning for us in a way that enables an understanding of our projections of unwanted, undesired yet human attributes?

Winnicott Wednesdays are a group of artists and art psychotherapists who will exhibit a collection of individual responses (including painting, sculpture, installation and multi media) that illustrate the process and concept of scapegoating. In art psychotherapy, the term 'scapegoat transference' (Schaverien, 1992) refers to one way an artwork could be utilised by the client. Through repetition and ritual, collecting and containing, memory and language, we will explore how creative processes can imbue an object with our all too human reprehensible feelings such as envy, greed and shame, with the potential for transformation and creative opportunities.

For more details please email us winnicottwednesdays@hotmail.com

A-side B-side Gallery
HACKNEY DOWNS STUDIO
17 Amhurst Terrace
London E8 2BT
Gallery open: 12 - 6pm Thurs – Mon or by appointment

The gallery is a 6 minute walk from Rectory Road station. Alternatively Dalston Kingsland station and Hackney Downs stations are approximately 15 minutes walk from the gallery. Buses: The 488 and 276 stop outside the gallery.