Under-stand the Inner-view,
I stand under Dylan’s view
In the window peace
Beyond the veil.
Window watching
People pursuit.
They occupy my mind
And I am with them.
– Lindsay
bella kerr
a journey through uplands windows
- On this third CIVIC 2014 walk, Lindsay Halton introduced us to windows, inspired by a line from his book ‘The Secret of Home’ :
“The way you see the world is the way it is. Change your view, then your experience will change too”.
Catriona Ryan led exercises to explore our understanding of ourselves through language. How language defines us and how we define the world around us through language.
The result without exception was some beautiful poetry written by all present at the end of the walk, whilst sitting in Dylan Thomas own front room.
rooftop actions
Interesting roof top actions. Pre gentrification landscape and water towers, the New York of the 60’s and 70’s- the city becomes the material.
An exhibition looking back at the work of Laurie Anderson, Gordon Matta Clark and Trisha Brown held at the Barbican Gallery – link bellow.
https://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=11398
A restaurant and artwork – ‘Food’ by Gordon Matta Clark
During Adain Avion, Cultural Olympiad Wales and Dance Days at Taliesin Arts centre programmed Bodies in Urban Spaces to make a new work in response to Swansea’s architecture. Here they are at Swansea Train Station.
Image from: http://www.laraward.co.uk/tag/bodies-in-urban-spaces/
More links :
Roof piece http://www.trishabrowncompany.org/?page=view&nr=483 & recreated http://art.thehighline.org/project/trishabrown/
On the roof of Swansea Market
As part of Let’s see what happens… Gawn ni weld… an exhibition of Welsh and Chinese artists, the Glynn Vivian team and I worked at Swansea Market for a month, creating a site specific work, during this period we were offered a rooftop tour by John the market manager. From this raised perspective it is possible to see the potential of the flat roofs of Swansea, which dominate much of the city center due to the post war redevelopment in the 50’s and 60’s.
From the roof there is a great series of views allowing a new perspective on such a familiar landscape, many of the shops and buildings are of course empty on this level, but could offer new possibilities of radical cultural and social change that represents an exciting opportunity for a city like Swansea reconsidering its urban landscape. Let’s have a culturally driven and greener city center rather than more chain shops / pound shops and only a belief in retail based development….but how?
Now under major redevelopment with Powell Dobson Architects, could the market roof and the flat roofs of Swansea offer new spaces for occupation, growing and socializing? Powell Dobson’s contribution to CIVIC will focus on the potential of these spaces.
Rooftop Garden, Montreal. http://tinyurl.com/nq97x7k
In 2011/12 A group took occupation of the Dolphin Hotel as a community space, providing gigs, discussion and temporary book shop, now largely still empty the space looks over the market roof site. An interesting intervention into the city center and we’ve got lots more room!
Cwtch – a temporary community center. BBC link here: http://tinyurl.com/pttwpsk
By Owen Griffiths
a photo taken down Cambrian Place
A photo taken down Cambrian Place towards what would have been a dry dock and ship building yard as outlined in the 1879 Map. Pier Street would have been even more impressive with the either the Ships prow or stern towering over the houses. Somerset Place ended in a wharf so it may have been entirely possible for that Windjammer to lay up next to the old Town Hall? Probably not but it would have made a spectacle.
We have been looking into redevelopment proposals for that area (currently a car park) which includes re-opening some of the dry dock elements. There is an early sketch attached showing how we believed that the Cambrian Place vista could perhaps take a focal building.
If you ever take a stroll around the rear of Sainsbury’s you can still see the original walls of the lock control to the North Dock Half Tide Basin leading to what is now the Strand.
What a waterfront city we could have had? -Andrew Nixon
CIVIC 