A community visual text take-over of the 3,000 Sq Ft gallery of HOME Slough, formerly a large department store set on the high street.  Through open workshops with the public and partner groups Friends in Need, Mind, Happiness Collective and Aik Saath, hundreds of pieces of creative writing were developed and written on the walls.

Read about Text Bender on the Explore Slough website.

The project focused on developing new community-driven texts through public workshops that welcomed local residents to write words around their chosen social issues. This play with text sought to empower people to be self-expressive and highlight the importance of shared community concerns. The work is a platform to share personal ideas publicly, and show how each person’s own ideas and values are just as important to share alongside all the other text we see in the city. The creation of all the print media was facilitated through DIY workshops that harboured a hands-on approach and DIY ethic to the creation of printed material. 

The Text Bender – A Shop of Words was open to the public to come in and be creative through writing, printing and using our imaginations to explore how we can re-write the High Street to let our voices are heard. I worked with people to write slogans, love letters and reimagine street signage thinking about how words can have a powerful social impact. Participation in a public art project can be as simple as what you say and how you say it. Everybody becomes an artist, designer and most importantly collaborator