Sean Burn

I am always keen to hear from artists who would be interested in a blog post focusing on their work. Usually, I ask for an artist’s statement and a few images which they would like to showcase, but these guidelines are very flexible and I am open to suggestions. If you would like a post on your work, please do contact: kdoutsiderart@yahoo.com.

This post will focus on the work of Sean Burn.

“Sean Burn – outsider artist / performer / writer – works across performance / film / installation / soundmapping / visual poetry and spoken word to challenge ownership of narratives. He’s now established a considerable and international track-record with this creative questioning as key. Surrounded, often defined by languages (visual / sonic / textual / performative), we use them to free ourselves. Languages should be owned by all with bandwidth not hierarchy as a better contemporary model. he regularly challenges psychiatry, seeing it as a privileged storytelling rather than a science; this is based on his own long history as (enforced) service-user. He is an advocate of breaking down the stigmas surrounding mental ill health in his work and challenging society’s mis-perceptions. Such creative work saw him short-listed for a dadafest 2009 disability arts award.”