The Glasgow Pleasure Gardens

The Glasgow Pleasure Gardens create an environment where gender identities can be explored and social hierarchies can be dismantled through explorations of the threshold between urban - rural, leisure - labour, where leisure relates to communal festival and the ceilidh and labour relates to the processing of wool and the feminist craft of knitting.

Project 1 initiates a urban -rural dialogue between Brick Lane and Grymsdyke Farm. The stile becomes a vehicle through which individuals can explore and define various boundary conditions. As it moves between each site, it’s use becomes distorted. Interchangeable handles allow for an exploration of identities within these urban – rural contexts. Project 2, The Glasgow Pleasure Gardens, sit on the River Kelvin which represents a boundary between two communities with important socio-economic disparity. Representing relics of the masculine industrial environment which once occupied the site, the old bridge piers hold new structures proposing a feminist industrial public space to connect these communities. Using the three elements of Pleasure: Reason, Imagination and Sense to drive the brief; The Glasgow Pleasure Gardens will aim to create an environment where gender identities can be explored and social hierarchies can be dismantled. A Festival Factory explores the thresholds between leisure and labour through the clashing programs of the traditionally gendered Ceilidh dance and the collection and processing of wool from sheep on site. As industry and festival meet a new form of public space is created where agency and ownership are at the forefront of a dialogue between leisure and labour, urban and rural. Artist’s retreats encourage rural practitioners to ‘retreat’ to the city. Here they will share knowledge, promote their work and in turn cement the importance of women’s creative work in our economy. The proposal will encourage a shared identity for the newly connected communities created through education, labour, and festival. Much like in the 1800’s, The Glasgow Pleasure Gardens will bring people together through a collective desire to disobey. In this case the focus is on promoting equality and opportunity for all members of the community through a rebellious form of public space.