“The beauty is in the possibility”: Jen Wu's 'The Wall'

Halfway up Chapel Street, a busy car, bus and pedestrian route which links the city of Salford with Manchester city centre, a motley assortment of old buildings punctuate empty stretches of rubble and high fencing, a familiar sight in many post-industrial cities. The bricked-up pubs, burnt-out office buildings and an old theatre covered with 'danger' signs are suggestive of a time when the street was a busy shopping hub, before abandonment was forced by the area's subsequent decline. With details like bell towers, faded signs and curved frontages these buildings capture the imagination, standing out in a landscape dominated by vacant sites and new-build apartment blocks (so much so that it is possible to buy postcards featuring unconventional landmarks such as the derelict Old Nelson pub from Salford Museum and Art Gallery up the road, hoardings and all). Appreciating these buildings aesthetically, though, is ignoring the inevitable: Chapel Street is due to be transformed with extensive residential and commercial development over the next few years, aimed at attracting new residents into the area. Many of the existing buildings will be demolished.

As the demolition crews finally move in this summer, it is hoped that one wall from the Old Bank building, which was used as a community theatre in the 1950s and 1960s, will remain standing as a readymade sculptural artwork, a 'barometer' which will remain constant as the area changes around it. Working with bricklayers and structural engineers, artist Jen Wu will stabilise the wall before inviting the local community, which ranges from tower block tenants and artists to 'young professionals' resident in newer flats, to take part in dismantling and then moving and rebuilding the wall in an act of 'creative DIY', soundtracked by free and open 'demolition' and 'reconstruction' rave parties. For Jen, who has a background curating projects in London such as transforming major art gallery the ICA into a nightclub, the focus of the project is not just on demolition, but on action, creating a cycle of activity that will help bring people together to celebrate the past at the same time as looking to the future and channelling the DIY spirit which drives places such as nearby arts venue Islington Mill.

At least that's the idea. Jen conceived the work in collaboration with Islington Mill directors Bill Campbell and Maurice Carlin in early 2012, and in December started discussions with English Cities Fund and Urban Vision, which is responsible for overseeing the regeneration of the area. She says the regeneration firms “took a leap of faith” in supporting her ideas, seeing the project as a positive way of empowering and involving local people in the changes taking place their immediate environment. The buildings were due to come down in February 2013, but demolition was delayed – and then around May time the council started to get cold feet due to health and safety concerns and the changes it would entail to the original demolition contract. Now the fences have gone up and demolition is imminent, meaning Jen faces a race against time. She has been meeting with Salford City Council and Bagnall, the demolition contractor, to find a solution so that the events can take place in September rather than July as originally planned, but the future of The Wall is still uncertain; the latest news is that it looks like Bagnall will have to take down the wall and save Jen the bricks, meaning the community action will be just the reconstruction. Jen says:“A compromise, but at least it can still happen!”

Jen's interest in the process of demolition initially grew out of a three-month residency at the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester which started late in 2011, where she researched the history of Manchester's former musical landmarks which have been demolished, such as the Hacienda nightclub (now rebuilt as apartments – Jen “kept wondering why I couldn't recognise it – it's depressing”) and the notorious Hulme Crescents, which were once the venue for famous parties. She also went out on Manchester's club scene and met those suffused with DIY energy in Manchester today, from Unity Radio and Islington Mill to Kraak space and the Volkov Commanders, finding that “there is something real about it. It's not like it's just setting itself up as an alternative”. Jen became interested in the ways in which spaces where people used to come together, such as nightclubs, have been destroyed and started to explore narratives of regeneration, demolition and starting over again. She documented the demolition of buildings such as the former seaman's mission and Salvation Army centre Stella Maris, which stood just behind Chapel Street next to Islington Mill, becoming interested in both the material process of demolition and the communal psyche of what the building meant to its former users. Despite both Islington Mill and Manchester Modernist Society proposing future uses for the building, which once boasted facilities such as a sprung dance floor, the council was insistent on its demolition, and it is now used as a storage space for building work in the area. Jen made a film about the demolition which was shown at suitably avant-noise band Gnod's Gesamtkunstwerk night at Islington Mill, and Gnod will reciprocate by playing at the parties accompanying The Wall events, closing the circle of Jen's convergent interests in rave and regeneration.

By holding rave parties, Jen hopes to resurrect the spirit of rave in a positive way, bringing together some of the protagonists of the 1980s rave scene in Manchester with musicians who are influenced by their music today and connecting them with the creativity and energy flourishing in Salford now. The Wall is also an opportunity for people to reconnect with the materiality of what's around them, and appreciate the solid sturdiness of brick in a city which is, after all, built predominantly of the material. Jen explains: “Everything is so virtual now, but if you help to take down a wall and rebuild a wall you are contributing to something longer-lasting. People will be able to walk past and say 'I built that'. It doesn't take specialist skills or support any ideology.” Jen has met with representatives from community newspaper M3, and the local residents' association, to gauge interest in the project, and it is hoped that the wall, rebuilt nearby, may then become the starting point of something new, such as a community centre (in an interesting parallel, one local resident was involved in a similar project to save a wall in an old aircraft hangar, which contained a half-finished wartime mural, interrupted by its artist being called up to fight, and succeeded in moving the wall to a museum).

The parameters of The Wall are constantly shifting, and the development of the area is gathering pace. As Jen says, “It's extraordinary what's been happening. Every day something new is there or something is no longer there.” Sometimes The Wall seems impossible to realise, but Jen sees Manchester as an ideal space to try things out and doesn't think The Wall could take place anywhere else. She has now been in Manchester far beyond her original residency period, doggedly trying to see the project through. She explains: “I just want to do something truthful and that I can stand behind as an artist. I didn't give up, because it could happen. Because I got a glimpse of it happening I had to carry it through. So many people said yes and got excited that I couldn't go back.” Jen has convinced those around her of the beauty to be found in a brick wall, and The Wall still exists as a possibility, just in reach of being realised. As she says: “The beauty is in the possibility. I'm always optimistic. If I'm not then who's going to be?”

For the latest news on The Wall keep an eye on www.islingtonmill.com/visual-arts-events.php.

Jen is hosting a 'supper' at Islington Mill on Saturday 13 July from 6-9pm. She will be talking about The Wall for around 45 minutes, then use the rest of the time to get feedback from people about how to re-think the work. For more information visit www.facebook.com/events/467844653307944.

Antonia Low: White Cube Longing, Chapel Street & Hope United Reformed Church

Berlin-based artist Antonia Low's work exposes what she sees as the 'impossibility of the white cube', a supposedly neutral place in which the visitor forgets their surroundings to concentrate on what is in the space, rather than the context in which it is displayed. In the past, she has used white cubes as starting points for installations that show up inevitable imperfections, exposing the infrastructure – a lift mechanism or wiring – hidden behind surfaces that are seemingly free of detail.

For White Cube Longing, Low has created a single focal point in a room where once there was none. The basement space in which White Cube Longing is displayed in Salford's Chapel Street and Hope United Reformed Church has numerous distractions relating to its multiple uses, from a netball basket to balloons hanging from the ceiling to a girls' brigade logo. White Cube Longing is a pristine white room, viewed from a serving hatch, that is cut off from the rest of the space (and now, due to the false walls and floor of the installation, only accessible via the serving hatch). Illuminated in neon, the room looks almost surgically clean and new, appearing to stand independently of time and space, yet the installation was only made possible because of the space's obsolescence as a kitchen for preparing and serving food. The kitchen did not meet hygiene standards because the lack of a dishwasher meant cups could not be washed at the required temperature for public use. Eventually the kitchen will be refurbished, but until then the church's minister is content to let the installation remain as a 'step in the middle, a quiet space'.

Low's installation draws you in, a glowing light among the basement's gloom. It also draws you into an institution which is in need of an attraction and a new purpose to get people through its doors. Once, churches were focal points for the community – places for routine and regularity, physical reminders among the rooftops of a common, unifying belief. Because of their scale, it's hard not to feel a sense of awed reverence and smallness in a church. As congregations dwindle, and ageing churchgoers are not replaced by younger generations, churches are shutting down and the buildings are left to face dereliction. Many are magnificent, but it's hard to find a new use for buildings so crafted and specific in their original intent and expensive to maintain.

White cube galleries have been accused of imbuing artworks with an air of sacredness, or imposing a formal distance between the exhibition and the viewer. The one object on display in White Cube Longing is a cupboard, the oldest of several which had been added to the kitchen over the years as the building's use evolved. The lack of activity in White Cube Longing makes you notice the varied life of the rest of the building, a place associated not just with worship but the diverse people who use it for non-religious purposes. The basement of the United Reformed Church is usually accessed through a separate, back entrance, but the curators and artist made the decision to bring visitors to White Cube Longing in through the main church itself, and past a new cafe area which has replaced the one in the basement. Low's installation makes you ponder the building's adaptability and wonder what these places are for now, which have been around for so long, and what is lost if they disappear.

White Cube Longing is the sixth in a series of performances, installations and interventions into the everyday around Manchester and Salford that comprise the Seven Sites project.

Visit White Cube Longing at Chapel Street & Hope United Reformed Church, Lamb Court, Chapel Street, Salford, M3 7AA daily from 11am-4pm until March 30.

Music for Churches (Hey! Manchester at St Philip's Church, Sounds from the Other City preview)

For music fans, especially festival-goers, gigs often involve standing in sticky, beer soaked venues. At Sounds from the Other City, however, Salford's annual celebration of alternative music and art, Chapel Street’s beautiful Sacred Trinity Church has long provided the equivalent to a chill out tent, where audiences can sit on the floor or bean bags and relax.

Andy Salmon, music fan and reverend at Sacred Trinity, tried to go to Sounds from the Other City in its first year, but it was sold out. However, when the organisers said they needed more venues the next year he saw the perfect opportunity to get involved, offering Sacred Trinity as a stage. This year, Sacred Trinity’s bigger sister church, St Philip's, a little further along Chapel Street, which was put on Salford’s musical map when it hosted a show by Sugababes a couple of years ago, will be used instead.

Andy explains: “Churches have always put on gigs — even if they weren’t always rock gigs, but the divide between gigs in pubs and gigs in churches is not always as obvious or stark as some people make out. For example, the Wesley brothers wrote hymns based on popular tunes sung in pubs.” He continued: “Sugababes made people realise you can do gigs a mile from Manchester city centre. Psychologically, people had seen Salford as being too far.”

Members of Andy’s congregation volunteer at gigs, introducing a whole new audience to the music. Andy, a self-confessed beer snob who favours the ‘decent beer’ to be found at places like the Black Lion, King’s Arms, New Oxford and the Crescent, will be bringing in kegs of real ale from Bazens brewery in Higher Broughton, a mile or two away from the venue, and manning a hand pump himself.

There are bassy, loud gigs that rattle the stained glass windows, and one of Andy’s favourite bands is British Sea Power, but he admits the building is more suited to ambient, acoustic, folky music. “Sometimes sparse, electronic music that could be very dull if you were standing up in one of the academies is completely different experienced in a church.”

Bands also use the church for recording, taking advantage of the ‘big-space’ sound it provides, including Delphic, who put St Philip's' organ to use.
“The building can work with the artist. The human voice and guitar, singing into such a big space, can be really powerful. Churches were built with sound in mind so even unamplified sound, such as four unaccompanied human voices singing Russian folk songs, can fill the space in a wonderful way. When Florence and the Machine played they brought a rig with them that was far bigger than they needed as they were used to blasting out sound.”

“What I love is that there’s an interaction between the music and the building. There’s a history and feel to the building that comes from the fact that generations of people have used it. It reflects the hopes and dreams, and also the hurts and pains, of people. We celebrate all of human life here — baptisms, weddings, and funerals. The building has something else about it, and so does music — music connects in a way that often words don’t."

Chris Horkan, who promotes gigs under the name Hey! Manchester, and Oh Productions, and will be hosting a stage at the festival, has put gigs on at Sacred Trinity Church, St Philip's and Manchester Cathedral in the past. He explained: “Churches are not really used as venues despite them being some of the best venues in the city and a lot more memorable than a black box room. Fans like the novelty. Most of the people who go to gigs probably haven’t been in a church for years and so many people who live in Manchester have never been in the Cathedral, even though it’s one of the most iconic buildings in Manchester and it’s such a big, imposing place.” However, there are some downsides for promoters: “They can be quite unpredictable — having a choir come in to practice when you didn’t expect it, for example!”

Revenue raised from putting concerts on means that the building can continue to be used for future generations, bands benefit from the acoustics and both music fans and church volunteers are introduced to experiences they might not have otherwise had — using churches for music is a win-win for everyone.

Read Reverend Andy's blog about Salford, the church and bands he's seen.

www.heymanchester.com

This is an extract from 'The Shrieking Violet presents: Sounds from the Other City' festival programme, which will follow soon!

Sounds from the Other City festival of music and art takes places at various venues on Sunday May 2 and costs £15 (tickets available from Islington Mill, Piccadilly Records and Quay Tickets).

www.soundsfromtheothercity.com

My journey to Salford Job Centre (to which I am a regular visitor)

Whenever I go to the jobcentre, there seems to be a high likelihood it will be raining, and I will be soaked by the time I get there. I generally cut through shiny, new Spinningfields - although it seems to flood easily, and I often get wet feet in this area due to the poor drainage! - past the courts with hoodies grouped outside and onto Bridge Street, although sometimes I approach from Chapel Street as I like the views and getting to walk under railway arches. This is the view from Chapel Street looking towards the river, probably one of the most dramatic views in Manchester - it looks so modern, futuristic even!
The buildings gleam in the sunshine as much as the puddles in front of them. There are many other modernist buildings in Manchester but not really clustered as dramatically in one area as here.

The white 1960s buildings completely contrast with the dank, dark, dripping railway arches of Chapel Street, built in grimy redbrick, from which the photo was taken!

In this photo, you can see why the new Civil Justice centre is known as the 'filing cabinet!'.

I also like walking this way as there is a curious cluster of circles in one of the railway arches: