MENTAL STATE SIGNS

Open:  1st - 24th June.

Paradise Works presents Mental State Signs, a solo exhibition by artist Nick Jordan. Titled from a  clinical term used for assessing mental health disorders, the exhibition explores themes of psychosis  and surveillance, and includes new paintings, film, photography and found objects. Material on  display includes schematic diagrams, clinical index cards, archival letters, audio visual equipment and  illuminated signage, which the artist salvaged from an abandoned hospital’s psychiatry video studio. 

A central feature of the exhibition is Nick Jordan’s hybrid documentary Thought Broadcasting. A  composite of fact and fiction, the film draws upon real-life accounts of a schizophrenic disorder: the  belief that one’s thoughts are being transmitted and heard by others. Set against the proliferation of  mobile phone masts, the film reveals a fragmented inner world of paranoid delusions and anxiety,  off-set with revelations of mass surveillance and data gathering by corporations and security  agencies. Part clinical observation video, part psychological horror, the film features an original  soundtrack score by Lord Mongo. 

Thought Broadcasting trailer: https://vimeo.com/190114797 

About the artist: 

Nick Jordan’s practice includes film, painting, drawing, objects, publications and collaboration. Exploring themes of social, cultural and natural ecologies, the artist’s work has been shown widely at  international exhibitions and film festivals, including recently at Innsbruck International Biennale  (Austria); Kunstmuseum, Bonn (Germany); Whitstable Biennale (UK); BFI London Film Festival (UK);  Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (France); Centre d’art Contemporain, Roubaix (France); Edinburgh  International Film Festival (UK); Haus der Kulturen, Berlin (Germany); State Darwin Museum,  Moscow (Russia); São Paulo International Short Film Festival (Brazil); Kassel Dokfest (Germany);  Documenta, Madrid (Spain). Nick Jordan is based in Manchester (UK). www.nickjordan.info