‘Let loose the loganberries of war: making noise and occupying space in Govanhill,’ Field, 3:1(2010), pp. 125-131.
Brown, James Benedict and Warren, T ‘Let loose the loganberries of war: making noise and occupying space in Govanhill,’ Field, 3:1(2010), pp. 125-131.
Abstract
Seeking to explore and articulate the complex nature of interdisciplinary creative practice in a contested urban environment, Brown and Warren’s article was published in the international online peer-reviewed journal Field, which has an explicit commitment to the presentation of critical, theoretical, political and playful perspectives on architecture for a wide audience. The article presented an original exploration of the complex interrelationship of architecture, fine art practice and social history in a deprived inner-city neighbourhood. The article was the first academic paper to introduce this unique social and cultural context to a forum focused on alternative architectural practices. Brown and Warren met in 2008 while living in the Glasgow neighbourhood of Govanhill, a district characterised in recent years by its significantly high rates of drug overdoses, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse, serious crime and murder. In spite of these problems, many of which have been shown to be intimately connected to the predominance of old and poorly maintained tenement housing, Govanhill is one of the most culturally vibrant and politically active neighbourhoods in Glasgow. The research highlights the allied and interdependent opportunities for political engagement and creative arts practice in contested urban environments. The article uses the citizen occupation of the former public swimming baths in the Govanhill district of Glasgow (25 March to 7 August 2001), its violent conclusion and subsequent community based art projects to contextualise the critical role of community engagement in art and architecture practice. It sets the occupation of the Govanhill Baths against established historical narratives of political and spatial action in Govanhill, from the Glasgow Rent Strikes during World War I to the Poll Tax protests of the nineteen-eighties. Brown considers each of these events as interplays of spatial occupation and political protest. Brown served as the lead author of the article, researching the statistical data and literature informing the paper and conducting and coding an interview artist Marielle MacLeman.
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