Strip Searcher’s Brains

It was common practice for prisoners , particularly political prisoners, to be subjected to the uncommon practice of strip searching.

This entailed a humiliating and intimate examination of the victims rectal passage.

This de-humanising act was de-humanising too for the strip searcher, who in the process of de- humanising the inmate was themselves de-humanised and their mind polluted. To the extent that I imagined it as a pile of shit.

On the day in question I was looking for some dog droppings to label when I unexpectedly happened upon ,at several yards distance, a couple of dollops of dung! Not just some gold dust - a couple of nuggets! I made my selection without bothering to picture the scene of the horse, pony or donkey traversing the pavement along Craigavon Bridge, (perhaps it didn’t like the eponymous name of the eminent unionist honoured in the naming of the bridge), to Duke Street . It was here I chose to frame and label the pile.

After toying with the thought of “The Mind of a Strip Searcher”, I opted for “Strip Searcher’s Brains”; this title encapsulating more cogently the plasticity of the matter in the frame.

This was part of the “Exercises In Spontaneity” project from 1988 to 1992

From 1988 to 1992 myself and Eamonn O’Donnell made a weekly intervention in the streets of Derry, using various forms of action in response to prevailing circumstances and diverse locations: from city centre monuments to back street waste ground. ( ...this has involved an unshakable confidence in the power and limitless possibilities of creativity responding to the every day and ordinary..Prof. Teresa McCormack , Moving Pitches forward). These actions were carried out in Derry, at various opportune sites, and pieces of waste ground, around the West Bank area of the city.”

Two of the images, “Security Fandalism, ” and “Pointless Dividing Line” relate directly to the “troubles.” “Security Fanalism”, was a response to the official barricading of Derry’s walls. “Pointless Dividing Line”, epitomises our concerns about the sectarian divide in the city.

“Form and Substance” , is open to interpretation, including the absence or loss of friends, in those difficult times. “Strip Searchers Brains”, was a spontaneous reaction to the horse manure, reminding me of the forced anal investigations experienced at that time by incarcerated prisoners.

The installation, “Social Security Network”, 1993, was devised by a friend who was at the time a political prisoner in England. Jim Hughes joined us in constructing it at the Playhouse. The overall theme was the constant struggle of people within the web of social security legislation and security force presence.

A detailed account of the “Exercises in Spontaneity ” project is published in “Moving Pitches “, Yes Publications, 2008.

1988-1992

Artwork and photo by James King