Judged Response
Exhibition
Lower Gallery, London College of Communication
23 February 2017 - 2 March 2017
Shahram Saadat, Rory Sheridan and Errin Yesilkaya

Judged Response showcases the work of three contemporary photographic practitioners and their individual responses to the intrinsically linked nature of art and stammering. The exhibition works across disciplines including sculpture, moving image, installation. 

Stammering is typically recognised by a tense struggle to get words out. This makes it different from the normal non- fluency we all experience which includes hesitations and repetitions. Commonly it involves repeating or prolonging sounds or words, or getting stuck without any sound (silent blocking). Sometimes people put in extra sounds or words. Often people lose eye contact.

The culture in which we inhabit, on the one hand, celebrates difference and individuality however, on the other, there is still a sense that disability is somewhat awkward to talk about and to be open about, in particular, stammering. Where some people who stammer identify themselves as someone with a disability and others may not, Judged Response celebrates the difference of people who stammer, through the medium of art, which has no boundaries. Self- expression is not limited, you are not confined to what you can utter, instead, the visual nature of art allows for freedom of expression without fear of being judged.