Hidden Spaces – what do they mean and how do they affect us? Each person carries with them their own sense of home, tied to their sense of belonging, their past and their wished-of future. From this conception of home we construct the world around us – places we feel safe in, drawn to, wary of, excluded from and intrigued by.  Our idea of these places might change as we grow familiar with them, as personal and emotional associations fluctuate, as our bodies move through space and as others enter or leave that space – constructing spaces of migration, dislocation, settlement and even bereavement, each with conceptually structured layers of surface, accessibility and invisibility overlaying the physical construct of our environment.

With such a subjectively-framed starting point, not only will personal interpretations of hidden spaces vary, but these will be carried into the cultural and professional production of spaces, so an architect’s perception of Hidden Space might be very different from a public artist’s, an anarchist’s or a film location scout’s, and each of these professionals will in turn come to influence how we navigate the space around us.

From this broad and permeable conception of space we’ve drawn a few more concrete examples, and we’ll be featuring differing approaches to the theme of Hidden Spaces. From Curator to Artist to Poet, we’ve invited some guest bloggers to write about their relationships with spaces, here are some of the contributors we’ve got lined up to kick things off:

Matt Baker, in the past Lead Artist for both Inverness and the Gorbals, writing on hidden space from the perspective of someone who makes public art. Read his blogs: hiding, finding and the search, space hidden in things, looking for unconformity… & seasoning time.

Sarah Butler, author and head of the UrbanWords consultancy, developing projects which explore regeneration and place through creative writing. Read her blog here.

Richard Taylor, freelance artist & writer, talks about his collaboration on a project focused on abandoned spaces. Read his blogs: ArtEvict – hidden space and revealing performance, SPLICING HORRISONS, Hidden space – tent as a transitory studio, THE CUMBRIA ENERGY CENTRE & getting lost remaining hidden

Collaborative collective, Sans Facon, gave us a continued visual dairy of hidden spaces being enjoyed in everyday life. See their observations here.

We also had contributions from:
Arika – Shadowed Spaces
Johanna Basford – hidden (work) spaces
Neil McGuire – Hidden Spaces: Supreme Social Networks
Erin McElhinney – What’s in a name?
Susan Castillo – Hidden Space
Fraser Denholm – Tracing Places

Tell us about your hidden spaces - add a link to a blog, a video or photographs from the overlooked or concealed spaces of your city in the comments below.

Glasgow

See more from Sans Facon here.
Find out more about Sans Facon here.

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

Glasgow, Stonehaven

See more from Sans Facon here.
Find out more about Sans Facon here.

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

I was writer-in-residence on the Central line (on the London Underground) last year (a commission for Art on the Underground). My brief was to work with staff across the line to create new work, and the fantastic thing about it was getting a completely new experience of a place that I (and millions of others) have passed through thousands of times and never really thought of as a place.

Travelling in the driver’s cab of a tube train gave me an entirely different experience of being on the tube – the intense darkness of the tunnels, the soupy yellow light of the stations, the isolation of being in this tiny space, whilst knowing millions of people were flowing through the system behind the cab door, on the other side of the window.

As part of the residency I wrote two short stories inspired by conversations and journeys with two Central line tube drivers, Francesca Alaimo and Jerry Semple. Here are a couple of quotes. If you want to read more, you can download the book of the project from Art on the Underground’s website, and/or listen to either story online.

The platform at Bond Street bleaches into view. Someone’s left a kiwi for the mice, and one’s already chewed through the skin, leaving bright green memories of its teeth. Marble Arch. Lancaster Gate. Queensway. Jake stares at his reflection, but his father’s gone. He switches the light off and sits back down, stares into the black space rushing towards him, the cable-runs like clusters of veins on each side.
[From Early Turn]

When I clean a train, I start from the front end and work my way to the back. By the time I’ve finished, the driver’s walked through to the other cab, so back and front have switched around.
People are messier when it’s wet and when it’s hot; I’ve learnt that. When it’s hot they leave behind empty drinks cans and torn ice-cream wrappers. The train holds onto the warmth of their breath and their skin. When it rains, the abandoned newspapers are damp and ripped. People forget scarves and umbrellas, and I find gloves, separated from their partners, huddled into tight balls in the corners of the seats.
[From Talking About The Weather]

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

Digital Drawing, from ongoing series ‘Marks on Maps’

Blind Alchemy Invite 2

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

North Shields, Fish Quay

See more from Sans Facon here.
Find out more about Sans Facon here.

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

Glasgow

See more from Sans Facon here.
Find out more about Sans Facon here.

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

“We have a secret hidden group on Facebook where we exchange ideas but its nothing compared to a good chat over the phone.”

Most of the time Kimbal seems to be away performing in various countries – forever simplifying his acts so he can travel lightly with a recording device (I can usually tell when he’s not in the UK – the dialling tone is different – sounds like he’s engaged most of the time or perhaps somewhere unattainable).

I got to thinking how Kimbal’s work fits in to this strange beast that is ArtEvict. The nature of the spaces that are revealed each month bends towards an ephemeral approach – an ad-hoc deliberation in what is made and performed. Today’s telephone conversation came to a conclusion: Kimbal takes away, tidies up his ideas – he packs himself up to hitch hike to another land where he straps himself to a stranger. Then I come along and make a piece of installation art where I want props and sounds and flashing lights – basically making a mess.

At some point we have to reach equilibrium and perhaps this will happen in the performance itself. Certainly my drawings seem to be acting as modes of communication – they seem to strike ideas within the nomadic man’s mind.

So I also got to thinking of how even in Kimbal’s stationary habitation – a warehouse/studio/flat/bed-living working area in north Hackney – is also a place of ever-changing racing activity. I want to install myself in this and build my ideas next to his self-made MDF bedroom. To this idea I thought of a tent made of paper to match his medium density box.

This image is that which is drawn by another the person on shift before me. It looks like a tent or a pyramid. A hidden space within a hidden space is perhaps a make shift studio constructed upon arrival in London through collaborative exercise and conversational/visual exchange. It can also be a drawing tool or a habitable or moveable studio.

Find out more about Richard Taylor here.

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.

Loch Carron , Lake District

See more from Sans Facon here.
Find out more about Sans Facon here.

/////

Hidden Spaces – a month of blogs by members about their hidden space – whether they be real, imagined, unbuilt, cut-off from the public, demolished, spiritually significant or politically sublimated. Read more from the series.