This is a speculative design proposal to create a site-specific activist performance on the M8 Motorway in Glasgow. This piece is the result of an applied process called Rhizomatic thinking (Felix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze), a process of understanding and questioning. By using site-specific locations as a framework we can create a new narrative, digging up the past to inform a possible future for the space.
I was initially inspired to apply this process after reading the book ‘The Glasgow Effect’ written by Ellie Harrison as well as my own experience of growing up in the city. The Glasgow Effect is a term that attempts to expose some of the reasons why Glasgow has a higher mortality rate in comparison to any other city in the UK and Europe. By researching and focussing on the subject of cartography it became apparent to me that maps are only interpretations of spaces and not objective realities, thus, they have the potential to change. The M8 motorway is a prime example of how an urban network design has been allowed to disconnect a city.
But as mere interpretations, maps can be changed.
How do we reconnect the disconnected? The key to this performance is to explore maps, territories, and transport networks critically. In doing so we create a new map for the city and redeem it from the narrative of ‘The Glasgow Effect’.
To communicate this concept I created a 1.150 scaled model of the M8 motorway, designing a topographic landscape with skate park elements within. This was made using techniques such as laser cutting, vacuum forming, 3D printing, gouache, spray paint, and acrylic.
For the soundscapes, I worked in collaboration with JamestheSeventhSun in addition to audio compositions I made using a looper and other musical instruments.
Stage Crew Costume Costume Designs
