Psychogeographic sitiationist posters

Rooney, J; Shaw, P

Abstract

Today we are bored with the city. It is now a set of signs and signifiers, bits skimmed off and re-appropriated, which are meant to represent a trace of Manchester’s past. These elements are now empty and without meaning.

We exist the way we are because of the Hacienda. Remembering through our experiences of our Hacienda, we see there is no Hacienda, it must be built.

Its traces, references and influences propagate the city from where it came, long after the building has gone. We aim to refer back to the original Situationist text, which the founders of Factory Records used as the methodology to underpin what could exist in the space that would become Fac51 the Hacienda.

The use of a warehouse reflected a city whose industrial heritage was in decline, to be replaced by a new leisure economy. Ben Kelly’s postmodern visual aesthetics for the club introduced abject, surreal elements that used authentically raw industrial fabrics unfamiliar to the context of what was a cultural playground. It was understood by those who entered into this community - that this environment expressed the vibrancy of a new productive age.

We propose to trace the spirit of the Hacienda by creating a series of posters, which refer back to Situationist text and include visual triggers, to allow the visitor to become aware of how important this space was to the city and to also see the surface elements that exist, without the context and authenticity. We aim to expose the need to become active practitioners in the urban environment and not to be left as mere tourists.

These posters would be accompanied by a map referencing their position and let them reveal the battle for urban space that exists, because of the private ownership who control the space. As transformative agents, we use these posters as weapons, to claim back the public domain, in the spirit of the unfinished journey of the Situationist International.

The areas where they will be placed use the locations from the Hacienda, through the city up to the Northern Quarter to revisit our journeys that took place and reflect the changes that now exist.

Citation

Rooney, J., & Shaw, P. Psychogeographic sitiationist posters. (Unpublished)

• Exhibition Performance Type: Exhibition
• Deposit Date: Nov 27, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 27, 2009
• Related Public URLs: http://trip2008.wordpress.com/
• Additional Information: Number of Pieces : 1