Thomas Cochrane runs Twisty-Headed Man, a mental health arts charity founded in Glasgow in 1987. His policy over the years has been not to refer to the group’s mental health problems in any exhibition or publicity, as he explains to me over a bacon buttie in Partick’s Avanti Cafe.
The Twisty-Headed Man Company is a small mental health arts organisation formed in 1987. It provides high quality arts activities for people with a range of mental health problems – from alcoholism to depression, drug abuse to schizophrenia. But Tom chooses not to focus on this aspect of his company:
“The problem of having an ‘about us’ section on our website is the stigma associated with mental health problems. It’s a perennial problem: does giving ourselves a label as producing work by people with psychiatric problems help in anyone’s appreciation of what we produce? I don’t think so. We much prefer to let the work speak for itself.”
The work is multifarious and of a hight quality, all the more impressive when you consider that these are films made on next to no budget at all. ‘The Tenement Ghost’, a recent production coming in at around £300 total production costs, is a silent film that looks at domestic abuse within marriage and has been screened at the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival. The Mapmaker, released in 2007, tackles the difficult subject of suicide. Artistic panache and flair are added by Alan Tanner, a comic book illustrator whose work you can see here.
For two decades THMC has provided a large range of activities, which include workshops in creative writing, play writing, water colour, life drawing, graphic arts, computer arts, puppet making, photography, drama, performance and stagecraft. Skills taught range from set design and construction to lighting and stage management.
On average the company works with about 45 individuals a month – 100 a year. They have applied for one-off grants for projects in previous years but on the whole are self-funded and rely on volunteer actors, artists, designers and digital film makers.
The primary purpose of The Twisty-Headed Man Company, says Tom, is to provide a non-stigmatic environment where members can become involved in a range of arts-based activities and in the process gain confidence, develop their communication skills and build a more positive self image.
Visit THMC’s website for more information and to watch trailers and full-length films of their work.
