Duct Tape or Gaffa Tape – you decide..
I’m in Hurpurhey district centre – B+M stores, Wilkinsons, Mac Donalds, Asda, Subway. A freezing cold day, bitter wind. I rush about from shop to shop and the Primark scandals come back to mind, the cheap goods, the busy shoppers collars up against the bland wind tunnels, out on a Sunday in this rather bleak precinct bring me down to earth. The library seemed like an oasis of enlightenment and education compared to this – and thank goodness for it…. I find a roll of B+M duct tape for £1 which will have to do for now….
text from Joe “aiming to get to the Forum for 4.30 see you there still?”
Now I’m driving down the motorway. Wythenshawe is cut off from the rest of Manchester in that way. Joe told me yesterday that when he’s worked there before he has found people much easier to engage than in the city centre. He says theres a stronger sense of community identity in this self contained place. The precinct is similar to that in Harpurhey – a bleak set of building blocks and big cheap stores.
The Forum is the centre of community facilities . Its like entering a shopping centre, but instead whats on offer are leisure, education and health facilities. Its open late for a Sunday because theres a dancing competition in the public hall. Joe and Jai are here setting up Joe’s work which consists of a set of three gold pasting tables. A long roll of lining paper holds the diagrams that they’ve been perfecting for three days, and on top is a partially unrolled sumptuous red paper roll, as if about to obliterate the lining paper. Kids in sequins with doting parents run through the space, music and applause can be heard from the hall. A few people wander over to puzzle at what we are taking photos of. We find an easel for the interpretation. No title yet for this one though….
Sitting in the centre of the concourse, with the mosaiced floor beneath it and various other art works dotted about in the distance, I actually think this piece works quite well – it almost disappears into the overall setting, but like Jil’s it requires close attention. The security guards are always around to keep an eye on things. Who knows what will happen to such a delicate work. Joe doesn’t hold much hope for it lasting till Thursday and Jai is dreading having to start again on the labour intensive production if it gets grafittied or damaged.
