Bracket

A creative survey of the experiences between ages 15–25

part of sites of with-ness, MA Arts & Learning Exhibition 2025

PV Thurs 17 July 6pm-9pm

Fri 18-Tues 22 July 10am-5pm

More images coming soon

Bracket is a participatory artwork in the form of a game, exploring the decade between ages 15 and 25 through co-creation, intergenerational dialogue, and care. These formative years are often bracketed as “youth” in arts programming — but what do they actually feel like, and how might we reflect on them together?

Developed through a series of workshops, the project invited 15 participants; some children, some young people, some adults - to reflect on this period of life. Each person contributed three words and three drawn images, which have become a tactile card game. Players roll a 10-sided dice to land on an age between 16 and 25, selecting a word and image to spark shared storytelling.

You’re invited to sit on the rug and play.

Bracket positions youth experience as knowledge. The game uses repeated, gentle prompts to encourage connection beyond fixed roles like “facilitator” or “participant.” It softens hierarchies between generations, and holds space for joy, discomfort, vulnerability, and change.

The installation includes:

• A tactile game using word and image cards

• A hand-tufted rug based on participant drawings

• A set of hand-drawn calico artworks

• Hand-built sensory-friendly furniture

• Two spoken poems by the artist, shaped through a youth-led conference activity

Visitors can also explore original mapping and co-design materials from the development process, and access a digital archive of interviews with peers working in youth arts.

Bracket draws inspiration from Fluxus artists like Yoko Ono and George Brecht, where instruction, gesture, and documentation are artworks in themselves. Here, process is the practice: writing, mapping, building, listening.

It’s both artwork and method, a way of remembering, connecting, and making space for care.