The Confession Booth has been created by Compass Presents. Based in Bristol, UK Compass Presents has been creating mixed-artform installations, events and shows since 2006.
This installation is part of an R&D project with SPIN (Secrecy, Power, and Ignorance research Network). SPIN is a collaborative initiative between UK researchers based at the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University, and the University of Exeter with members of the network spread as far as the Netherlands, France, Mexico, the US and Canada. SPIN research focuses on the power and politics of secrecy and ignorance – at the global, international, state, societal and personal level.
The Confession Booth has also been created in consultation with a focus group of people that identify as being underrepresented in their local cultural activity.
The installation is an early phase prototype, and will feed into learning to create a larger, public facing installation in Bristol, UK in 2025-2026.
Confessions made as part of this experience will be recorded, anonymised through conversion into written text, and will form part of the testing phase.
A parallel confession booth will be running in Bristol, UK, in the The Pervasive Media Studio,a centre exploring the intersection of technology with creative practice, where Compass Presents are resident.
SPIN and Compass are particularly interested in cross cultural comparisons of confessions in a secular and non-secular context.
The Confession Booth is part of a wider interest Compass holds in connecting audiences, and is one of a few installations around the festival, including a postal service, a network of telephones, and a message board.
The Compass team aim for all their installations to be playful invitations to Magnetic Fields audiences to connect with each, and with themselves, bringing a layer of reflection and fun to the festival’s fantastic performance lineup. They hope that, through these micro-experiences of connection and contemplation, memories will be seeded.