The Separate System was produced by veterans through workshops at HMP Liverpool and HMP Altcourse with artist Katie Davies. Taking the form of a single channel cinematic film, the piece investigates the distinct, yet interconnected, spaces of the military, custody and ‘civilian’ life. Exploring these spaces and the experiences within them through the notion of work, an everyday activity that unites these worlds and is familiar to us all, the film communicates what we, as a civilian audience, do not understand about the unique set of relations, actions and responsibilities held by the individuals within these spaces.
The Separate System premiered at a public screening and artist discussion event at FACT in April 2017. Showing alongside FF Gaiden: Control, FACT’s pilot project working in local prisons, project artist Katie Davies was joined by Larry Achiampong and David Blandy for an artist discussion chaired by Dr Emma Murray, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University and Director of the Reimagining Conflict: Policy, Pedagogy and the Arts research centre.
