Based on the history of the Peckham Pioneer Centre, the research conducted there and its subsequent conversion into a gated community, Correspondence O expresses the complex and changing landscape of public health and the social shift away from a group mindset to a more egocentric, user-focused and technology infused understanding of wellness. Accompanying the film of the same name by artist Ilona Sagar, Correspondence O is a new publication, bringing together an arrangement of original text by the artist, intertwined with a rich range of never before seen archival material drawn from the Wellcome Trust, RIBA and Pioneer Health Foundation archives.
The Peckham Experiment was at the forefront of a dramatic shift in the public perception of health, yet its significance has been historically overlooked. George Scott Williamson and Innes Hope Pearse established it privately in 1928, before the foundation of the NHS in 1948, building it around principles of self-organisation, local empowerment and a holistic focus on social connection as fundamental to health. The learning from the Peckham Experiment is as relevant today as it was then. This is not though, simply an historical account. Correspondence O is a darkly speculative publication and film that examines modern society, particularly with regard to the unanticipated consequences of our obsession with personal wellbeing and new wearable technologies.
This timely work is the result of in-depth research and experimental collaborations with a number of different practitioners and institutions, and features newly commissioned writings by Owen Hatherley, Dr. Felicity Thomas, Nina Wakeford and Prof. Paul Fletcher.
Ilona Sagar's solo exhibition Correspondence O will launch at South London Gallery in December 2017, produced by The Ballad of Peckham Rye in partnership with the South London Gallery and supported by The Wellcome Trust.
