Ellie Harrison’s Dark Days offered participants the unique opportunity to stay overnight at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow. Web developer Neil Scott was lucky enough to be one such participant and shares his experience of the night below.

image by James Rippingale

What would happen if a cataclysmic event forced one hundred strangers to spend the night in a public building?

This was the scenario informing Ellie Harrison’s participatory art project, Dark Days, which took place in Glasgow’s GoMA on Friday 13 February 2015.

The rules were strict – there was to be no drugs or alcohol, no cooking, no pyjamas, no leaving the gallery after doors closed at 6.30pm, and lights would go off at 3am. Before that the participants would be trained in consensus based decision making in order to come up with a plan about how they could spend the rest of the night.

Now, my opinion of human nature – informed by the nightly news and an interest in dystopian science fiction – is that we will descend into a violent, power-crazed mob in a trice. I doubt we can ever settle into peaceful non-hierarchical communities without massive restrictions on personal freedom. However, I was pleasantly surprised that all the participants I met during the various icebreaking exercises seemed unbelievably genial. Maybe, I thought, utopia is possible. Even the consensus based decision making (unfairly characterised by people waving jazz hands when they agree with something) seemed to produce workable solutions.

image by James Rippingale

image by Neil Scott

The only downside was that it just wouldn’t stop. The talking in groups and in spokescouncils went on for a surreal length of time. People seemed to be quite happy to keep mumbling about stuff forever. As someone who doesn’t have great hearing, especially with the hard floors and the high ceilings of echoey old GoMA, it was incredibly alienating.

They say introverts have their energy sapped by being with people whereas extroverts become more energetic. As the evening wore on, it became clear who were the extroverts – their charisma turning them into natural leaders. And, to be honest, I don’t think anybody minded. They just wanted to take all the thwarted energy and do something.

The decision we made was to split into fluid groups doing different activities such as playing games, den-building, talking about Dark Days, and writing a manifesto. Thanks to Laurie, one of the aforementioned natural leaders, we also sprinted down the hall in order to feel the breeze on our faces and took part in crowdsurfing. It was all great fun – like a big party but one where the lack of alcohol and the presence of an authority figure (ie Glasgow Life) meant it had the joy and freedom of childhood.

images by James Rippingale

Nevertheless, by the end of the night the groups gradually moved into factions, with the hedonists and the serious ones diverging. It’s fascinating to speculate how this contradiction would have been resolved had the experiment continued another day. After a luminous night, it may well have been a dark day.

image by Ellie Harrison

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Dark Days is an event by artist Ellie Harrison offering participants a unique opportunity to stay the night in Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art.

Taking place from 13 – 14 February, Dark Days aims to hint towards a time in the future when our large municipal buildings may need to be re-imagined / re-used for alternative purposes.

The event coincides with the gallery’s participation in Harrison’s Early Warning Signs project.

Book your space at Dark Days here.

Read about Ellie’s previous Scottish Independence Referendum exhibition at Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh here.

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Rob Swain is an artist, designer and DJ who runs and curates Gamma Proforma, a London based art’s label and publisher. Born in Belfast, he’s lived in various cities around the world including Edinburgh, Melbourne, Hong Kong and London. This is what he recommends.

Music: Chrome (1975)

I’ll bet most reading this haven’t heard of Chrome (i love a generalisation or two). For me, they are one of the most important bands of all time. Tracks from their 1979 ‘Half Machine Lip Moves’ album still sound beyond our time. They were formed in San Francisco in 1975 by Damon Edge and Gary Spain, later joined by John Lambdin and Mike Low who was later replaced by Helios Creed. Edge and Creed were the movers, together they worked magic!

Having had their initial demo rejected, Edge set up his own label (Siren Records) to release their music, this go your own way spirit is evident throughout their recordings. The music is raucous, experimental, futuristic and completely outside the box. Chopped up samples (before samplers), synthesised layered drums, alien-swagger vocals, diverse movements within tracks and all round lawless punk attitude. They were punk on stage and in the studio… There has never been anything quite like Chrome. And they totally moved heads and bumped hips!

Chrome Video – Static Gravity

Film: Dark Days – Marc Singer (2000)

I’m sure a lot of you will know this, it was a well received documentary of it’s time (deservedly so) and featured music from DJ Shadow. The story follows a collection of characters who live under the New York subway system in abandoned tunnels. These down and out men and women tell their tales through the lens of Marc Singer who spent years living amongst them to make the film. More than a documentary, Dark Days is a stunning, heart wrenching film that examines how we perceive each other and the reality of how we treat each other in one of the most advanced civilisations on earth. If this film doesn’t twist you up inside, you’re obviously already dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=vrUvQEG_djg

Art: James Choules (AKA sheOne)

Choules’ work, like all good urban art, makes subtle use of its environment. It’s about a highly advanced technique of lifting detail from the surface with subtle flourishes of light and shade. Having watched him at work, I’m always amazed by where he paints and how he does it, on one occasion i saw him paint alongside several other artists on a long wall in east London. Most of the artists chose the flattest, smoothest surfaces for their piece whilst Choules went straight for a crumbling, crooked and semi hidden wall (the last place you’d choose if you wanted people to see your work). He then set about utilising the crumbling stone and peeling paint, lifting it out further with his trademark black flourishes. On another occasion i saw him paint in a burnt out paint factory, moving through the space adding little details to old signs, doorways and even an abandoned forklift truck. Unlike a lot of the street art mob, Choules isn’t on a mission to become famous. He’s an artist traveller who uniquely inflects his persona with subtlety on the world around him. One of a kind…

sheOne’s Tumblr | sheOne’s Instagram

Book: Futurism 2.0

Time for a shameless plug, I was fortunate to work with a lot of outstanding artists from a new wave of abstract urban art for Futurism 2.0, which looks at the current landscape and reflects on parallels between now and emerging art of the 20th century.

More info at www.futurism2-0.com

A DJ mix from Rob Swain:

DJ Rob Swain – Don’t Panic Mix (Gamma Proforma / Methodblack) by Gamma Proforma on Mixcloud

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