2/5 Radius in Motion

Finale Atypical Root

SUNDAY 2ND MAY 2010: 12-5: The Launch of the Govan Armada, Bike-So-Cool, and an exhibition at the Govanheim. Riverside Hall

The Bike-So-Cool convoy, left at 12 noon from David Dale Gallery (Bridgeton) travelled through town via GI exhibitions to reach Clydebrae Street for the Launch of the Govan Armada

I don’t know where to begin, this was an amazing event, not just in the day but also in the totality of the concept to celebrate and draw attention to life along the Clyde.

I went down to the launch and it was buzzing with kids, parents, and volunteers, around these super cool boats that were made out of the refuse collected from the river, they had a message of hope (message in a bottle) element and were ceremoniously launched into the Clyde via a dingy and celebrated by the creators and admirers along the shore.

The Bike so cool rode in from their cycle trip from the David Dale Gallery to Clydbrae, which traced the entire Atypical Root project via their bikes.

I really did not understand the Atyp project until I went to this event and then walked

home along the Clyde. I had previously explored events by Atypical Root earlier in the festival, but nothing impacted me as much as this day. There is virtually a wasteland between the Armada launch and the BBC, which is a good 20-minute walk between.

There is amazing architecture surrounding the Clyde as well as obvious neglect and overall run-down apathy toward the community and the history that have somehow met and found themselves suffering from the same kind of indifference.

This weighed heavy on me as I walked home, which is the West End, posh indeed. As I

was crossing the millenium bridge, dead center in the middle was a stencilled graffiti. Intentionally placed and intense; was it salvation or the end? Desperation.. The message said

I have just prayed to a God I don’t believe in.

Ironically someone pencilled in an S in front of Prayed which actually didn’t change it that much for me, sprayed or prayed both acts of intimacy, desperate for attention or intervention. At least Sprayed implies the planting of seed even if it was meant as a lude gesture. The Irony is absolutely as aloud as can be.

I can’t help but think of  Modern Terra  by Allison Gibbs and Christoph Büchel New Commission work a t Tramway. As much as those works affected me I couldn’t help but think “who needs installation when you can go to Govan and experience it first hand, without any pre-conception”. I suppose that’s the point without someone pointing out what’s going on, no one sees it.

What a state of affairs. I have been inspired and I hope to do a follow up with some of the heads behind Atypical Root. I believe this kind of project and some attention could make a significant impact on this landscape, and that is what Glasgow needs, on so many levels.