None of us know when the dark clouds of mental illness may descend and the team at ACID are proud to support our friend Steuart Padwick who is drawing attention to this often debilitating and unspoken illness which, even in our enlightened times, is still associated with stigma.

“Head Above Water”, is a breath taking 12 metre high sculpture by Steuart Padwick on Queens Stone Jetty (aka Gabriel’s Pier) on The South Bank during The London Design Festival, beginning 15th September.

It will be lit in such a way that people will be able to interact (via an app or similar) with it using colour changes depending on how they are feeling at the time.

Whilst this is a very personal piece for Steuart, it is deliberately gender-neutral and stands as a symbol of hope, bravery, compassion, positivity and change, for those having come through or still confronting mental health issues.

The charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness will use this dynamic platform to engage and stimulate their discussion to eradicate mental health-related stigma and discrimination through their Time to Change campaign.

Dids Macdonald, OBE., ACID’s CEO commenting on the “Head Above Water” project said, “Steuart Padwick’s bold and dynamic “sculpture” visually & metaphorically reminds us to wave not drown if mental illness hits. Engaging us to think about the very real challenges of mental health during London Design Festival could not be a better platform to encourage compassion, awareness and better understanding.”

Click here to view a short video about the Head Above Water project. 

We have a world class team of people working on the project either pro bono or to cover their costs, including for engineering Ramboll (Tate Modern extension and Hastings pier) and for lighting Hoare Lea (The Hive at Kew) and for the build White Productions (Piccadilly Circus, Circus).

Head Above Water’s location on Queen’s Stone jetty (with its panoramic view of St Pauls and the city skyline) delivers a breath-taking and very powerful social media ready image.

To support this amazing beacon of hope during London Design Festival click here https://tinyurl.com/ycqm7pon