Glasgow Research Residency: activism and anarchism following the privatisation of culture



In April 2009 the free arts and culture magazine Variant facilitated a collaborative research residency between Penny Whitehead and I, based at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Glasgow. Meeting with activists, anarchists, artists, curators, students and residents we began to develop an understanding of a number of social and political situations facing the city, including the privatisation of culture, the quarterisation of public space, and the city-wide closure of schools (see animated map of visits here).

Navigating the city by bike we witnessed the polarity of wealth left in the wake of neoliberal governmental strategies aimed at bolstering the economic turnaround kick-started in 1990 through the European City of Culture activity and focussing exlusively on desirable (primarily city centre) areas at the deprivation of the rest of the city. We also became aware of the high level of resistance, organisation and dissent prevalent throughout Glasgow, including:
City Strolls
Creative Scotland resistance
Radical Independent Book Fair
Angry Artworks
Radical Glasgow

*
art art art Liverpool launch party

In April 2009 I organised the launch event of the Live Art issue of the electronic journal art art art at The Royal Standard in Liverpool. Presenting a one-off evening of innovative, experimental live art and performance by emerging artists from Liverpool and across the UK and marking the launch of Issue 5 of the publication. Artists included David Brooks, Ayesha Edwards, Tom Marshman, Martin O'Brien, Sally O'Dowd, Marcus Orlandi and Thomas Shephard.
Download Issue 5 of art art art here (PDF)

*
Rhys and Hannah Present... Goodbye Space, Hello Spaces!

In December 2008 I was one of a group of artists from The Royal Standard in Liverpool who participated in the final exhibition at Rhys and Hannah Present, a space in Bristol run by artists Rhys Coren and Hannah James. The Royal Standard transformed one floor of the gallery in to a social space, extending some of the day-to-day experiences of working among a studio group to the visiting public, and establishing a forum for informal discussion and debate centered on the collective preparation and consumption of meals. Blackpool Museum of Contemporary Art and Eastside Projects (Birmingham) occupied the other spaces in the gallery.