Ebb & Flow

NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY: A CREATIVE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

Ebb & Flow was a project that set out to foster a collaborative exchange of knowledge between artists, researchers, people with a lived experience of dementia and their carers. Our hope was to delve into the complexities of uncertainty and the challenges it presents in these different contexts. Working together to co-create a resource to encourage meaningful dialogue.

From June to September 2023 at 12.01pm every Thursday, over 40 participants were sent the shipping forecast music and invited to creatively log their experiences of uncertainty as part of a WhatsApp community.

The outcome was a wonderful collection of lived experiences which laid the foundation for the Ebb & Flow card deck. This deck isn’t just a collection of cards; it’s a narrative vessel and untangling tool; our hope is that these Ebb & Flow cards can become a companion to be used alone or with friends, repeatedly/ to facilitate an exploration of the intricate emotions that may arise when we inhabit a space of unknowing. 

Please find below some suggestions for how to use the decks. We would love for you to also intuit your own unique rituals and ways to play the cards. 

These cards can be played alone or with others.

1

  • Pick one card from each deck, reflect

2

  • Pick two cards from each deck, create a poem/a song/ a dance/ a noise

3

  • Pick three cards from each deck, choose a beginning/middle/end and tell a story

4

  • Pick four cards from each deck,  arrange them in a shape

Artist Lucy Steggals & Researchers Mar Estarellas Tatiana Alvarez

With thanks to:

Ossa Prints for collaborating with us on the card deck Nicolas Franky Tommaso Olivero

Our Advisors for all their support, guidance, creativity and contributions to the logbooks.

Alison Gilderdale Charlie Gilderdale Caroline Russell Ian Russell Dianne Turner Ian Turner Linda Watts Stephen Watts

All the Artists, Researchers, People with lived experience of Dementia and Carers who contributed to the logbooks & other supporters who helped us along the way

Rare Dementia Support Groups Nikki Zimmermann & The St George’s YOD Support Group Olivia Wood & The RDS Focus Group Zoe Maxwell

… and all the attendees who shared with us

Ebb & Flow was a UCL Trellis Arbor Commission 2023