“It’s about the whole notion of the mind-body split – that men aren’t connected to their heart and their soul,” he says. “Therefore that mind-body split means that they have a damaged psyche and that causes them to camouflage their emotional states.”
Topics of this variety regularly form the basis of McManus’ textile work, and this one seems rooted in a particularly bold diagnosis. Yet, while the sociological implications of Laundry of the Terminal Psyche are fairly blatant, the workwas catalysed by a personal event.
“It started from breaking up with someone and something they just said to me right at the end of a relationship,” McManus says. “It was such an interesting comment that it triggered this whole big installation. What they said to me was that they were sorry our relationship had to end, they had a brick in their heart. That image of some man saying that he’s got a brick in his heart was quite powerful.”
Of course, every work of art is somewhat contingent upon the creator’s subjective viewpoint. But it’s plain to see that the ideas underpinning Laundry of the Terminal Psyche possess broad relevance. “It’s not saying all men are disconnected to themselves,” McManus says, “but I find through experience that a lot of men tend to be less emotional about their day-to-day existence and relationships. That could be the brain being wired differently or it could be the conditioning – the way we’re brought up in our society.
“It’s my personal experience and it’s my imagination that’s putting this together,” he adds. “So it’s definitely coming from my point of view. People can disagree with it, that’s absolutely fine.”
Forming a personal opinion is one thing, but portraying it in a work of textile art is something else entirely. Laundry of the Terminal Psyche will transform the Rosny Barn into a highly interactive, multi-sensory environment.
“It’s made up of sculptural objects, sound-activated luminescent wire, video on fabrics,” McManus explains. “I use a lot of sound activated luminescent light through the pieces, so if someone’s speaking next to a piece of work, it’ll respond to their voice. Or if they walk past something where the sound is loud enough, it’ll start to glow. This time I’m actually involving sound and video as well. It’s like an explosive romp through the cosmic landscape of the terminal psyche.”
As the name suggests, the scenery will also include scrunched up piles of clothes. Though, they’re not just dirty old rags retrieved from McManus’ own laundry. Every individual piece has been designed and created with meticulous care. This has given rise to a work that, on one hand, could be deemed pretty and feminine, but murky colours and conspicuous signs of decay offset the apparent loveliness.
“There’s huge attention to detail in my work,” says McManus. “It’s incredibly ornate. The piles of dirty laundry are sculpted out of microfibre – molded underwear and things like that. It can be seen as being quite aggressive and violent, but the actual nature of the material makes it very fragile and kind of hauntingly beautiful. So people aren’t quite sure how to respond to it.”
To bring the piece to life, McManus went on a deeply introspective journey, interrogating his own experiences as a man, dealing with men. Given his intense personal investment, creating the work wasn’t always a joyous experience.
“It’s been incredibly emotional for me to work on this particular piece,” he says. “It’s definitely cathartic, but sometimes I find myself just crying in the studio, because there’s a kind of sadness about it.”
It’s not all insular, though. Laundry of the Terminal Psyche is a highly evocative work. And rather than staging an attack on masculinity, McManus hopes it’ll point the way towards a healthier male psyche.
“One of the major issues for a lot of men is depression and anxiety,” he says, “but we tend to cover that up and not to go there because it’s considered a weakness. What I’m really saying is there’s hope. If men can make that connection between the mind and the body and the heart and the soul, that hopefully can lead to a healthier existence. That’s all I’m trying to say… in a slightly psychotic way. It’s really full on. There’s contemplative aspects to it, but it’s a fairly crazy place.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
