Daily practice- walking in and out of containment

As an artist, I have always found it difficult to sustain an embodied daily practice. I think this is because I found it difficult to unpick the why of it all. However for this module, I have been inspired simply by learning about the context of prison, as context is half the work.

I have been thinking about the courtyard prisoners have to walk around, particularly in Barlinnie, Glasgow. In the documentary  ‘Ross Kemp Behind Bars- Inside Barlinnie’ , prisoners can be seen walking around the same caged area outside over and over again.

Ross Kemp Behind Bars- Inside Barlinnie documentary screenshot

In response to this, every day I will be walking around my courtyard for ten minutes.  Although not caged like the prisoners in Barlinnie, my garden is enclosed by surrounding buildings.

The Courtyard at my house

Walking in circles like the excersise for prisoners will allow me to see the same things every day and examine the effects this has on my brain. Will I notice more? Or get frustrated with the same scenery? What will it feel like inside not knowing what is happening on the outside? I have chosen ten minutes for a specific reason too. I recently had a phone conversation with artist and graduate of the CPP course Rachel Morrison. She has been working in prisons recently and during the Covid-19 pandemic all in person contact was stopped. She informed me that in HMP Edinburgh, prisoners often would only be allowed ten minutes of exercise per day which shocked me.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/

The NHS website link above states that you should “do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week”. If prisoners are only allowed to walk for ten minutes a day, this is 70 minutes a week. Again, another right being taken away from those in the care of the prison system.