Last night I met up with Mike Carney in the Wellington Pub (‘The Welly’) in Garston. Mike’s a Garston-based designer who’s involved with the Artistic Republic of Garston project, working on the Embassy building. Since November he’s been trying to start something positive in Garston, by running a night called “Anything” at the Welly. Described as…
“a funky little ’sit off’, on Friday nights, in Garston
With ale, nuts, pool, darts, tables and chairs.
It’s something interesting with a friendly, mellow, and down to earth yet otherworldly vibe.”
It’s round the corner from my mate Dan’s house, so I took three of my mates from Garston along, to check it out. It was a strange mix of local scallies in tracksuits in one corner, dolled-up teenage girls in another corner, and the older locals propping up the bar. Mike was behind the ‘wheels of steel’, spinning some groovy trip-hop tracks, at a polite volume level. He left the turntables and plugged his ipod into the amp, while he joined me and my mates for a pint.
We chatted about the plans for the Artistic Republic, the Cultural Village, about the present state of Garston in general, and ideas about how to make things better. Mike was optimistic, and it was great to see someone trying to make a difference, “supporting the cause for alternative activity in Garston“, trying to generate positivity, and create an upbeat artistic yet unpretentious scene. He grew up in the “posh” neighbouring district of Cressington, and I wondered if this was the reason for his optimism. Mike admitted that the “Anything” night was going slower than he’d hoped, and it wasn’t attracting the clientele he had in mind. It was appropriate that I was joined by my mates, two of whom are themselves on the dole. They mentioned how some people might be put off a pub like the Welly, as the gang of scallies hanging round outside can appear intimidating.
But I think that’s kind of what it’s all about; what if the artists and the scallies could understand each other and all get along? If Garston is to reach it’s full potential, it will take more than physical regeneration. It’s all about bringing people together, to make something, and make something better. That’s what the SuperWindowTable is all about, and it struck me that a setting like the Welly was pretty much what I had in mind when I did the room perspective with table. So Mike and I organised it with landlady Helen that we’d bring the SuperWindowTable to the Welly next friday, set it up in it’s natural habitat, and hopefully provoke some banter with the local scallies. Watch this space to find out what happens…
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February 16, 2008 at 8:35 pm
[...] in my project [art, tables, pubs, community engagement, beermats]. It was the feature at an “Anything – Special Edition” night organised by Mike Carney. Mike had done some posters and publicity for [...]