Confessional. Commission for Hello Wood, Hungary. In collaboration with Lee Ivett from Baxendale Studio

Olczak, Susie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9615-5514 and Ivett, Lee (2019) Confessional. Commission for Hello Wood, Hungary. In collaboration with Lee Ivett from Baxendale Studio. [Artefact]

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Abstract

CONFESSIONAL noun noun: confessional; plural noun: confessionals 1. an enclosed stall in a church divided by a screen or curtain in which a priest sat to hear confessions. adjective adjective: confessional 1. (of speech or writing) in which a person revealed private thoughts or admitted to past incidents, especially ones about which they felt ashamed or embarrassed. In a contemporary society that had become addicted to sharing through the digital world of social media, what does it mean to create a physical space from which we could share with consideration and care? Stress, anxiety, depression and guilt seemed to become more prevalent within common society, but how do we find solace and therapy without shame and embarrassment? Do we really have to pay to be heard or take to our phones and keyboards to seek sympathy and validation? Confessional imagines a world where everyone has the right to be heard, but with that right comes a responsibility to listen. A space to share - a space for two people to exchange hope, pain, sin and desire, but with anonymity and privacy. Olczak and Ivett started this work through an examination of the confessional, a space and a ritual common within Christianity. Outside of organised religion, where is it that we can be heard with anonymity and be forgiven without judgement? The collaborative duo worked with participants to design a series of spiritual spaces that encouraged us to share and exchange our thoughts, feelings and desires through written and verbal means. This installation proposed a new form of civic and social amenity that offered an escape from the constant carnival of life, while generating new modes of being with ourselves and connecting with each other.

Item Type:	Artefact
Related URLs:	https://www.instagram.com/hellowood/?hl=... https://www.instagram.com/_baxendale/?hl...
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR N Fine Arts > NA Architecture N Fine Arts > NB Sculpture
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Arts, Culture and Environment
Depositing User:	Susie Olczak
Date Deposited:	29 Jul 2026 15:44
Last Modified:	29 Jul 2026 15:44
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/16011

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