onionbagblog

To @firstsite! …on Saturday afternoon for something of a pop will eat itself approach to architecture. Or even art will eat itself, with the occasion being a talk by Jay Merrick, the architectural critic at The Independent about… the trouble and strife to build the Golden Goose in Sunny Colch.

Any fears that this would be an afternoon of beard strokers talking all about themselves were soon put aside upon seeing the almost full firstsite auditorium, housing a genuine cross section of the good folk of Sunny Colch.

The building has its critics, but equally there is an unheard, almost unrepresented critical mass of folk in Britain’s Oldest Recorded that hasn’t swallowed up the agenda put forward by the town’s MP or local media.

Jay outlined the afternoon ahead, framing and conextexualising - as architectural critics often do - the similarities that firstsite has had with its contemporaries in Wakefield and Margate. Three Towns, Three Battles for Art in the Community explained how opposition to art is something that seems a recurring theme; firstsite has had to overcome the doubting Tom, Dick and, um, Bobs as well construction woes.

But we are where we are, as that other great symbolism of a Great Big Empty vacuum was fond of saying when it came to showboating vanity projects. But firstsite is no Great Big Empty, and it certainly isn’t a vanity project. The structure of the building is only the start; engaging with the community is the challenge ahead.

I’m starting to sound like Mr Tony…

These Saturday afternoon sessions are a great start. Free of entry and staged at a civilised time of 2pm, you could wander in off the High Street with your bag of groceries and settle down for a session of mid-brow discussion. Which is exactly what some of the Happy Shoppers in Sunny Colch did.

Jay was keen to emphasise that this comparison wasn’t a beauty contest. Which is a shame, because the Golden Goose stacks up rather well when compared to Wakefield and Margate. The former has a lakeside setting, whilst the other is beside the seaside. firstsite has to contend with a half-arsed bus station as the visual backdrop, yet somehow still manages to look resplendent in the late autumn golden sun.

The question posed by Jay was:

“The Tate Modern has made modern art cool. It is now commodifed as a lifestyle choice. Why has there been a problem in creating these social spaces?”

Modern art was described as “spiky and fractured.” A slide showing Francis Bacon‘s disfigured Michael Leiris portrait was displayed, with Jay introducing it as:

“A portrait of the town’s MP - how very dare they ignore my thoughts on firstsite.”

Whoops.

Funding and a distrust of anything left of centre seem to hold the answer in winning over the cynics. Thankfully in Sunny Colch we just about have the funding, as well as a local Borough Council that is slightly left of centre, if you squint out of one eye and stand on one leg.

Jay explained how the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield has transformed the town’s main lifestyle choice from alcohol to art. I often like to combine the two.

Heading south and the Turner at Margate was described as having:

“Breathed new life into Benefits-on-Sea.”

Ouch.

A cup cake cafe nearby on the front has given the appearance of “Islington being teleported to the coast.” All of this changing landscape leads to the process of art as a gentrifier. The *ahem* Cultural Quarter in Sunny Colch certainly needs some upwardly mobile activity right now. This raises certain ethics however, something that Jay was keen to explore.

The transformation from run down bus shelter to the Golden Goose sitting next to… a half-arsed run down bus shelter was explained chronologically. The Minories morphed into firstsite, but with great difficulty for all involved.

With a background of having lived in both Essex and Suffolk, Jay understood the complexities in trying to deliver visual arts facility to Sunny Colch. He praised the Minories, but believed that it has historically had a stand off-ish attitude. He believes that the divide between broad art and the local community can be traced back to The Minories.

But with firstsite now finally standing, what of the future relationship between art and the community? A cultural and business case needs to be made to both local councils and interested parties such as the University. It is perhaps with apt timing that Colchester Borough Council’s cabinet is debating the future of funding for firstsite at a cabinet meeting this week (although to be fair, this is simply some knockabout early political pantomime put up by a rogue Labour stooge who wants to make a name for himself…)

Jay eulogised over the firstsite auditorium and cafe, praising the potential here when compared to the facilities at Wakefield and Margate. It’s probably not in the remit for the original ethos of firstsite, but the cafe does have the fastest free WIFI that I have so far managed to snaffle in all of Sunny Colch.

The open space of firstsite was also recognised, with the deliberate move away from the dull white cube structure that dominates so many faceless modern art spaces. The key space is the entrance - half of the building is free for locals to roam around at their leisure. A sense of community ownership is important here.

Jay concluded the talk by stating that for firstsite to work, it must add to the quality of life in Sunny Colch. This was pretty much the agenda for the recent Creative Colchester collaboration session staged at firstsite, with a breakfast brain storming session on how to take creativity out into the town.

“Colchester will decide that it will come to love firstsite. If the cafe serves a decent pint of Adnams then it might just win over the town’s MP as well.”

Chin chin.