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Next year's model: Claire Barclay's plans for Govanhill (left) and two of the shopfronts due for redevelopment in Partick's
With five derelict, open-air Sites across Glasgow currently undergomg redevelopment, art is increasingly reaching unexpected parts of the city. A £28 million project called Five Spaces aims to transform the Sites -— from Gallowgate to Partick to Pos5ilpark — through the collaboration of five artists With landscape designers, architects and local community assooations.
Gone are the days when statues of dead 'public figures’, air- dropped into squares and muniCipal gardens, was the sum total of public art Over the past decade, artists have increasingly worked outSide the confines of the gallery, and today talk is of how art initiatives can reVitalise down-at-heel spaces. Fired largely by the advent of the National Lottery, public art is seen as a means of opening up public spaces for public use.
Five Spaces forms part of Glasgow 1999 and is funded by, among others, Scottish Homes and the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund, With Glasgow's art commiSSioning agency, Visual Arts Proiects acting as protect managers. The aim is to create public spaces in the urban landscape that are more than tokenistic revamps.
Mansfield Park
Glasgow artist Claire Barclay -- working with Govanhill Housing Association, ChrisIOpher Platt Architects and DEP Landscape Initiatives — hopes to llljeCl new life into a site the Size of a football pitch ’Originally it was felt that a “gateway to Govanhill" was needed, but a showy razzmatazz thing is not really appropnate,’ says Barclay.
Flanked by two lllajOT roads, the site's community centre, block of flats, women's hostel and churches are near-marooned' the aim is now revrserl to create an intimate garden, Barclay, who spent a three-month residency in Govanhill, believes that in the past Glasg w has responded with knee-Jerk speed to urban overhaul
'On the whole, the city reacts too fast, not taking the time to think properly about quality and who the space is for,’ she says. 'Artists have had to make compromises, but the main concern is to come up with a successful project. The artists have been able to ask questions and take time in considering the space With those who Will be using it '
The Govanhill space is due to open in May.
(Susanna Beaumont,I
Scottish film needs oommeroialbreaks
i g r
Patricia Reed Scott: serving up a slice of the Big Apple pie
Under a new parliament, Scotland shOUId be wary of placing its film industry in the hands of a l‘ctimster of Culture and instead should consider it in an economic light That was the message from Patricia Reed Scott CommiSSIoner at the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting in li'ev.’ York -- on a recent Visit to G'f‘isgoc-i
'Very often when it comes to hu-ti'gt-t, the arts Will take the cuts. on the grounds that they're somehow an extra attractIOri to one's life rather than an essential thing, and that they're nit the employers that in fact they are,’ Scott told The List. 'That's why something as commerCIal as filmmakrrig actually belongs in the portfolio of economic development It Will get a better ride there because It could get tax breaks and funding benefits, rather than fight with other arts organisations for a terribly fragmented ancf too tiny budget '
Scott also praised Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (JeCIsIon to move New York's non-profit- making cultural enterprises from the
lvletropolitan Opera to the smallest dance company 7 into the economic arm of city government
'Live performance in New York draws the. tourists and definitely underpins the restaurant and hotel business, so it is econorriic development,’ said Scott "That's not to take the art out of it It's just that the government isn't a good Judge of art, it's a good Judge of commerce
Last year, the Glasgow Film Office set up a lem charter, based on the New York approach, to guarantee offICial co- operation to filriiinakers Scott ~ who claims Loca/ Hero was her favourite film of the 80s believes it is a model that works
Our stock in trade rs to be very nut- and-bolts, very logistical, very problem- solving And we do that across the board with the same level of energy: the person who maybe needs it most may not be the person who has the biggest budget You don't want to fail any of them «Alan Morrison)
The Scottish Inquisition
Questions you don’t expect. This issue: Steve Wilson, Manager; The Hub, Edinburgh Festival Centre. First arts related job?
Helping co-ordinate a recycled waste gamelan project, organised by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra within the Muirhouse community. The end result was a spectacular public performance at the Royal Museum of Scotland. Career highlight?
Working with the team at The Hub. The vision and enthusiasm of everyone involved has created a unique facility for Edinburgh.
The award for a lifetime contribution to Scottish Culture goes to?
Billy Connolly, who has taken Scottish culture all over the world with a unique wit and style.
Name a work of art you cannot live without . . .
Two paintings by one of my best friends, Fiona Clazy. They are a constant source of inspiration.
. . . and a law you're proud to have broken?
Frequenting a public house at sixteen. I used to darken my moustache With boot polish.
You‘re about to be exiled - where would you spend your last night?
On the edge of Loch Tay overlooking Ben Lawers With my partner Christine. What motion would you make as an MSP?
The banning of all private vehicles from the centre of Edinburgh.
What should be in the Millennium dome?
All the fools who burlt it.
How do you see Scotland's future? Proud, prosperous and self determining I believe we Will be independent in ten years.
(Compiled by Rob Fraser)
18 Feb—4 Mar 1999 THE LIST 19