ARTISTS TALKING

Apartment, Manchester
11 February (ongoing)

Motorists speed along the Mancunian Way, unaware of passing a new, subtle intervention into Manchester’s urban landscape. Two inner-city tower blocks standing 100 metres apart have been joined together via a thin strand of nylon. The thread runs from two sixth floor windows in opposite blocks and spans the space between – low rise housing, tree-lined pavements, grass verges and a parking lot. Invisible from the ground below, the taut line delineates the air space normally overlooked by pedestrians, measuring the non-space between buildings. It also comments on the perception of the lost community within tower block residencies.

‘Joined’ was created by Manchester-based artists Cath Corlett, Paul Harfleet, Zac Ingham and Hilary Jack and commissioned for Apartment, the newest artist-led project space in Manchester. Apartment is a one-bedroom council flat on the sixth floor of 1960s tower block Lamport Court, where Harfleet lives. This is the third exhibition in which artists are invited to make work alongside domestic objects in the flat.

Living high up in the air must be a liberating experience. On sunny days the views are incredible. One side looks out over the city centre towards Salford, the other points towards Thomas Heatherwick’s B of the Bang, the City of Manchester stadium and, in the distance, the green hills of the Peak District. Binoculars stand on the laminate kitchen worktop from which you can see Ingham and Corlett’s previous work, a circle cut from the undergrowth of the Pennine hillside.

I wonder if the downside of living so high up is that you feel isolated from the majority of earth-bound city dwellers. With ‘Joined’ in place, you are reminded of your connections to others who share a similar experience and geographical outlook.

Apartment is a welcome new addition to Manchester’s cultural landscape and ‘Joined’, a thoughtful intervention into 1960s urban planning. It will remain in place until it snaps.

Natasha Howes

Natasha Howes is a curator at Manchester Art Gallery.

First published: a-n Magazine May 2005