EXPRESSIVE DEVIANT PHONOLOGY

In 2007, Lucy spent 48 hours in a basement in Soho, London. Armed with paint brush and ink, she invited friends with instruments to see if there could be an interchange between sound and brush - this unspoken conversation unfolded into the night until the entire space had been painted. Spontaneous and reciprocal, a call and response.

The installation was named after her childhood speech impediment Expressive Deviant Phonology, where only abstracted sounds remained as consonants were omitted. Her twin sister translated as Lucy found new ways to communicate.

As with her speech, elements of the installation were removed - sections of the painted wallpaper were lifted out and framed into solo works, leaving abstractions of themselves in a defiant celebration of her ‘impediment’.

The completed basement - 360 view (2007)
Film & editing: Matt Watkins
Sound: Matt Watkins & friends (thanks to Guy, Andy, Harry, Kate, Al, Damon, Nick, Caleb and everyone who passed through those nights)

The collaborations formed in 2007, continued into 2022 when Lubaina Himid curated Found Cities, Lost Objects; Women in the City at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Using the original remaining artworks and drum kit (now held in the Museum’s permanent collection) a recreation of the basement was installed with projected archive footage to reimagine the original intent. This time however, the performances were in response to the existing works, with music and interpretive dance - creating new works, extending this conversation with no words.

BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
FOUND CITIES, LOST OBJECTS: WOMEN IN THE CITY
14 MAY - 4 SEPT 2022

A national touring exhibition curated by Turner Prize-winning artist and cultural activist Lubaina Himid CBE, with works from the Arts Council Collection and Birmingham Museums. The show focuses on women and their experience of the city. Lucy paints murals in many cities around the world, each time the painting traverses language barriers, forming new routes of communication.
AV artist Matthew Watkins has created an immersive version of Lucy’s Expressive Deviant Phonology (2007) using light and sound. Works acquired by Birmingham Museum’s Trust (2016) are displayed here for the first time, alongside archive film footage of Lucy painting the original install, set against the demolition of her painted birds on Birmingham Central Library - highlighting the temporary nature of Lucy’s murals and indeed the city.