I live very close to the Boscombe Centre for Community Arts. For the last five years my family and friends have been trying to save it from demolition. Earlier this year there was a rumour that it was going to be demolished without planning permission. A group of people called Occupy Bournemouth moved in to save it and opened it up to the Community. Lots of artists and musicians came to perform and there was an art exhibition. During this short period where we were able to access the building I took the opportunity to document this activity with photography.
Here is a link to a tour of the BCCA building that was filmed by 612 media to highlight the buildings uses:
Historical background: Originally the Boscombe British School built by Victorian non-conformists Sir Percy Florence Shelley and Mr Frederick Moser for all the children and adults of Boscombe, regardless of religion, party or sect. On August 28th 1878 Sir Percy Shelley laid the foundation stone. In 1903 the building was passed to the Council with covenants that state that the buildings and land should be used for the education of the impoverished children and adults of Boscombe forever. The site was known as The Drama Centre for many years and lots of school children from Bournemouth used it. It then became an adult education centre until it was closed and earmarked for demolition 5 years ago. The Council want to demolish most of it and build affordable housing, but the community wants to use it as a community and arts centre. Percy Florence Shelley was the son of the famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and writer Mary Wolstencraft Shelley. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Percy Bysshe Shelley was a famous victorian romantic poet. He was also known for his political poetry. His poem The Mask of Anarchy was quoted by Ghandi because it was about non violent resistance. This poem was also written on the wall of the occupied BCCA. This video was separately put together by a member of occupy and shows the importance that the poem has for them.
The part of the poem written on the wall is: ‘Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number— Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you— Ye are many—they are few.’ Percy Florence Shelley built Shelley Manor in Boscombe for his mother and because of his interest in the arts, built a private theatre there. Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollestonecraft an important figure in feminist philosophy. The community of Boscombe are very proud of their connection with this historically important family and many roads in the area are named after them.
Influences
My work is influenced by Strategies of Sight/for the memory by Jurgita Remeikyte.
She has printed photographs on the inside of a broken jar. I have taken my images and created a collage on a bust of Sir Percy Florence Shelley. I have mixed a traditional victorian sculpture with images created by modern artists, political activists and the building that links them all together. I was disappointed because the ink had a tendency to run, but this does give a different contrast in the piece, like the rust work that Sally Mankus puts into her mixed media work.
The Exhibition at The BCCA
The Occupiers put on an art exhibition for local artists to display their work
These first 6 pictures were made by a local artist who used fluorescent paint and put under ultra-violet light
These are the same paintings without ultra-violet light
This Outline was painted on the floor
A mural of John Lennon
This is a spider dream catcher
Occupier art/images
This is the same piece of art as the one above only this one is not lit from behind
Artwork found on site
Mural of the BCCA
Mural of the BCCA
Stage Created by The Occupiers for Music and Poetry Readings
Pottery Classes offered during the Occupation
Pictures of inside the Building
Disrepair caused by Council neglect
My bust of Sir Percy Florence Shelley
I started off by purchasing a male mannequin's head from ebay. Then I made papier mache from PVA glue and tissue paper. I used it for Shelley's facial structure, to create the nose, eyebrows, beard and hair.
The next step I covered it in ready made polyfilla and sculpted his face.
I was thinking about sanding it, but I quite liked the texture. So I gave it a light sand to take off the lumps.
Next step I printed the images off the computer that I had taken during the occupation. I applied them as a collage with PVA glue. First I applied too much glue and the ink ran. So I overlaid more pictures using less glue. It ran slightly but it made a nice effect.
The piece ties together the BCCA building which was founded by Sir Percy Florence Shelley with the political modern Occupy movement. Anonymous protesters were asked by the community for help to save this building which was intended for the poor for education. As the Shelley family were the first to call for non violent protest, in Percy Bysche Shelley's poem the Masque of Anarchy, I think they would approve of this action.
Is this the Mask of Anarchy?
No comments:
Post a Comment