Perspective
- Artist: Penny Slinger
- Date: 1970–7
- Medium: Black and white gelatin silver prints on paper, on black and white gelatin silver print on paper
- Dimensions: frame: 550 x 408 x 45 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Perspective” by Penny Slinger, made between 1970 and 1977. It’s one of five photo‑collages she produced in a series called *An Exorcism*, which you’ll see as a book published in 1977. The images come from a long, seven‑year exploration of her own psyche while she staged self‑portraits in the nearly derelict Lilford Hall near Peterborough.
Slinger says the hall’s “evocative power” pulled her into a world where she could confront and unravel the “nightmare of others’ projections.” The collages blend black‑and‑white gelatin silver prints, a medium she favored, and echo the early surrealists—Claude Cahun, Hannah Höch, Max Ernst—who used staged scenes to probe the unconscious. She was also a member of an all‑women theatre troupe and appeared in an avant‑garde film, so her theatrical eye shows up strongly here.
Through this work she investigates liberation, desire, memory, and the dream realm, seeking psychic integration as a path to self‑liberation. The series sits alongside pieces like “Bird in the Hand” and “Dust to Dust,” and it offers a striking look at how place, self‑portraiture, and collage can unlock deeper layers of meaning.
See it in person
Perspective is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
