I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead (2018)

Beatrice Gibson is an artist and filmmaker whose collaborative practice spans many disciplines, including poetry, dance and music. Driven by her own experiences of motherhood, Gibson has increasingly prioritised feminist and queer perspectives in her work. In doing so, the artist provides a transformative vision of community, addressing global concerns that are grounded in the lived experiences of the individual.

I Hope I’m Loud When I’m Dead is a highly personal account of the artist’s world set against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in 2017. The work draws on a rich variety of visual and literary material, exploring an increasingly volatile socio-political climate. The film begins with the artist describing an overwhelming moment of panic, a feeling that intensifies with the introduction of further voices. Gibson’s films often feature her influences and friends. The poets CAConrad (whose poem supplies the title for the film) and Eileen Myles, for example, feature prominently, with the work’s title taken from CAConrad’s poem of the same name. The fast-moving visuals deliberately disorientate the viewer, just as global events disorientate with waves of fear and anxiety. Interwoven with tender footage of the artist’s own family, however, an alternative narrative of community and strength emerges.

Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery is often described as a ‘landscape museum’ containing the world’s finest collection of work by the Norwich School of Artists. Many works in the modern and contemporary collection reflect and expand upon this tradition. Gibson’s work addresses broader political, social and economic landscapes through an intensely personal lens, one that emphasises the familial spaces that feature so prominently in people’s lives.

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