Here is a visual summary of the integral project themes.
Entries Tagged as ‘garston’
March 1, 2008
made in garston
Themes of ‘making’ and creativity have been important in my project since the start, with reference to my ‘declaration of interdependence’. Analysing the plans for the “Artistic Republic of Garston” and the “Garston Embassy” building has been a useful starting point, with reference to developing a project brief.
The brief anticipates a future development of the [...]
February 25, 2008
the peoples’ assembly
Here’s a slideshow of the SuperWindowTable being ‘taken to the people‘ – assembled in the Wellington Pub in the heart of Garston Village.
[Two smartly dressed studenty-types start assembling the table, and they're joined by a local regular in his lesisurewear as he's on his way back from the lavs. He helps out by holding a [...]
February 23, 2008
cultural bypass
This print by Phil Disley describes an important theme in Garston. The construction of the A561 “Garston bypass” effectively took the life out of the heart of the village, and contributed to the town’s demise. The route is Liverpool’s main gateway to the south. Traffic that once went through the village high street now bypasses [...]
February 16, 2008
take it to the pubs
Last night the SuperWindowTable made it’s debut in the Wellington Pub in Garston. The ‘provisional construction’ brought together some important themes 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 the event, [...]
February 15, 2008
dignitaries tour the embassy
This afternoon Alex showed a group of us around the old school building that’s going to be used as the ‘Garston Embassy’ as part of the Biennial’s Peoples’ Pavilions Project. We were joined by local MP Maria Eagle, as well as potential investors from South Liverpool housing association, and other locals who are involved.
The building [...]
February 10, 2008
gathering
Yesterday afternoon, Garston’s bastion of the avant-garde Alex Corina phoned me and kindly invited me to an evening sioree at View Two art gallery on Liverpool’s famous Matthew Street. The ‘independent’ gallery is owned by architect Ken Martin, who’s also the architect working on the Artistic Republic of Garston’s Embassy building. It was a good [...]
February 9, 2008
anything
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 [...]
February 8, 2008
architects’ journal picks up the story
Two weeks after I started looking at public art in Garston as part of the Interdependence studio, the Architects’ Journal conveniently ran the story as their main feature. The article gives a good overview of the ongoing art projects in the three deprived Liverpool suburbs of Kirkdale, Kensington, and Garston, including the aforementioned “Artistic Republic [...]
February 7, 2008
arctic monkeys wrecked our street
This is the story of a unique inter-relation between Sheffield and Garston, with reference to another kind of art:
The trendy Sheffield band “Arctic Monkeys” used one of the abandoned houses in Garston for their latest album cover art (pictured), and a music video.
The interior of the house was painted with psychedelic murals, before the front [...]
February 6, 2008
take it to the streets
This Sunday the “Super Window Table” was taken to the streets. It went to meet the “Super Lamb Banana” in the city centre, as well as gracing the mean streets of Garston Village. It was a kind of guerilla “public art” installation. I was hoping the “street furniture” might provoke a bit of banter with [...]
February 4, 2008
spaces for deliberation
Here the “Super Window Table” is shown in context on the streets of Garston, to indicate possible sites for architectural intervention.
February 2, 2008
super window table
Exploring the interdependence/independence relationship of towns like Nowa Huta, Sheffield, and Garston, Super Window Table is an example of four identical components that work interdependently, to form an independent ‘reciprocal frame’ structure. Each component supports, and is supported by each other. Like the ‘housing’ and the ‘industry’, the components are useless on their own, but [...]
February 1, 2008
super lamb banana
Commissioned for the Art Transpennine Exhibition of 1998, Taro Chiezo’s Super Lamb Banana is one of the most instantly recognisable and well loved symbols of the City of Liverpool.
Super Lamb Banana represents Garston and global interdependence, by referencing the port’s history of importing bananas and exporting lambs. (In post-war Britain most of the country’s bananas [...]
January 31, 2008
garston declares independence
The plans for the Embassy and ‘Artistic Republic of Garston’ were unveiled with a press release and launch party in November 2007. There were fireworks, music, Trotsky-esque speeches, open-top bus tours, and “lots of Ferrero Rocher”…
The Artistic Republic Of Garston
Garston Is declaring Independence
People of Garston, join the friendly revolution, we need YOU!
Friends, locals and Garstonians [...]
January 30, 2008
the artistic republic of garston
The next step for the ‘Cultural Village’ campaign sees Garston “staking its claim for artistic independence” by declaring itself an ‘artistic republic’… with “all the fun of a revolution, but without the violence”.
The area is to receive a major art installation by artist Michael Trainor that will see a disused school in Wellington Street transformed [...]
January 29, 2008
the ‘cultural village’ campaign
As early as 2004, local artist Alex Corina had a vision for Garston’s regeneration, to designate the area “Garston Cultural Village”, to attract new creative businesses to the village, giving the community new confidence and to redefine Garston as an integral part of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture in 2008, as a vibrant and lively ‘cultural [...]
January 28, 2008
public art in garston
The ‘Winter Lights Project’ has run for two successive years. In the first year artist Ron Haselden invited pupils from schools to make a drawing on the subject of ‘Animal’ in 3 areas of Liverpool. Three of the resulting Animal drawings were transformed into large scale, freestanding line drawings in neon light and installed in [...]
January 26, 2008
drive-by shooting
A video I found on youtube, of a drive around Garston in 2005. It shows the bleakness of the deserted streets, many of which have since been demolished to make way for new houses.
January 24, 2008
what do people do all day?
in Garston they stay in their pyjamas, even when they go outside…
Liverpool was famous in the 1980s for pioneering the tracksuit/shellsuit leisurewear fashion, now mainstream with many working class communities all over the UK. Since the late 90’s Liverpool has been pioneering a new fashion for wearing pyjamas and slippers in the street. It is [...]
