Demographics is a two year long research based project looking at
cultural regeneration in the Thames Gateway and beyond. This work has
been supported by Metal, Arts Council of England and Insite. Particular
thanks to Colette Bailey, Sean Mcloughlin and Grace Acton for their
encouragements and solid support.
The project has gone through several stages. Initially, I was concerned
with devising a simple cultural metric questionnaire for people to
fill out and respond to. Secondly, I visited lots of different places
along the Thames Estuary. Following this I devised an
online narrative called 'TG' - a story partly based on real events during the outset
of the credit crunch in 2008. Towards the end of the residency I have
produced a large scale work for Metal's new base at Chalkwell Hall
in Southend and at the time of writing I am completing a board game
entitled 'Kluj'. At the bottom of this page you can see the cultural
indicators or metrics implied in my research as a means of assessing
cultural profile.
Cultural
Demographics:
The ten
indicators are:
1 Vision and visionaries
2 Landmark art work
3 Landmark cultural building
4 Activist projects, artists and cheap buildings
5 Political will
6 Cultural risk
7 Networking and connectivity
8 Inclusion and audience
9 Cultural history
10 'X' factor