The Holbeck and Hunslet experience

Apologies in that I am a little late in adding to this blog, mainly because I can't get up to see my designated postcode until the 9th April.

But I have been commiting to lots of different areas of research, like the provenance of the names; Holbeck for instance comes from Hol and Beck, both relating to the river (like almost every town and village in England!) and it has a Village status, despite looking more like urban and industrial sprawl.

Not sure if I am getting my wires crossed, but Holbeck also claims to have housed one of the 07/07 bombers, so maybe everywhere in Leeds is cashing in on that association?

From the innitial research into the history and the museums there, I found it difficult to create interesting images of anything except rivers, armour or factories.

So instead I got really interested in the idea of observing people that live in the area who can represent the history in a direct, or perhaps more metaphorical way. I liked what Rebecca Strain is doing, talking to the older generation. I want to gather information more from a certain cultural level than any specific image. On a par with taking pictures of all the chip shop owners, or pawn shop brokers, but I'm not sure yet. It might be more important to me how the image is finally made, like maybe as a carefully made etching, but of a decrepit looking warehouse or some out of date political statement sprayed on a wall...

...still thinking about it, and I reckon everything will become apparent in the three days that I am there for, snapping away on my camera.

Alex

Anytown

Cheers for the info si. I think it's an interesting point you make about town planning and I certainly notice the similarities between innercity architecture and housing layouts across the city.

Funnily enough, what we would now refer to as up and coming areas in Burley and Meanwood, where first time buyers are being priced out of the housing market, used to be referred to as the slums because of their back-to-back housing, with people preferring to move to the new developments of the time such as Seacroft.

How I wanted to approach the brief was perhaps to investigate the deviations on a common theme and how independent initiatives and retailers could make similar landscapes different. However, paradoxically, but none-the-less relevant, this approach could also be used as a pilot model in other areas.

Headingley

Hello everybody

I am researching the Headingley/Hyde Park area, LS6. There is no getting away from the fact that Headingley is famous for its cricket ground. I have been admiring the Hutton Gates on a site: http://www.chrysalisarts.org.uk/projects_headingley.cfm

Of course the huge student population is another well known feature of the area. I found a site about student life but it is almost entirely made up of reviews of pubs.

I am also drawn to visiting the Cottage Road Cinema which started in 1912 and has managed to survive. http://www.nm-cinemas.co.uk/leeds.phtml I will contact the owners and see if they will let me take some photos of the place

For more general info and images I found a site about living in Headingley http://www.findaproperty.com/areaguidebook.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&storyid=10533&areaid=6473

I am cominng to Leeds on 13th April and will spend three days walking around, talking to people and taking photos.

I am really looking forward to it

Helen

Research on Kirkstall...

Having been doing some research on my postcodes of Kirkstall and Burley this morning I was saddened to read that Kirkstall Forge had closed it's doors for business. The forge was one of the oldest continuously used industrial sites in Britain having been founded in 1200AD by the Cistercian Monks of Kirkstall Abbey. Apparently the site is to be redeveloped into hotels, offices, housing... etc.

Several years ago, as part of my degree, I took a practical film elective in which we were given a brief to create a short film inspired by a poem, an extract from a book or a piece of music. My team chose a piece of music that used industrial sounds within it and to increase our challenge decided we wanted to create an audio visual piece constructed entirely from industrial sound and footage. We approached Kirkstall Forge who were happy to help and extremely accommodating. They allowed us to wander freely around the vast grounds setting up shots in front of awe inspiring pieces of deafening machinery manned by friendly, colourful characters. As the floors shook and sparks flew 50 feet in the air we were told it was quite common for filming to be taking place at the forge and they were quite used to strange little requests from film students. Our film turned out extremely well and I'm certainly glad I got to see the forge in full working action before it closed its doors for the final time.

Mike

Links and such

Hi Folks

Stumbled upon this: http://www.leodis.org/
I thought it may be of use to anyone unfamiliar with their postcode to get some historical background, perhaps Louise, 'old' town planning has already made Armley into anytown, from a generational perspective. Could throw up some nice visual material.

Still trying to solidify dates im afraid, happy that calendars and all are working.

Si

Investigation

My initial proposal is to investigate the impact of the regeneration plans of Leeds City Council on Armley Town Street. Will this make Armley an up-and-coming vibrant place to live or will it become Anytown, UK?

I had a walk down Armley Town Street to take some pictures of the local shops. It's a Saturday so quite busy and lots of cars and people buzzing about. I've had a few ideas about how my research could translate into badges but I'm gonna look more into the regeneration plans. Probably take some photos early tomorrow when there's not so many people about.

I'm here at last!

Hi All,

I had a little trouble getting going with the blog, all better now!

Went to my postcode area LS9 last Thursday, met with Tom from the Irish center and he's invited me to come to the dinner and bingo with the 60+ group on Tuesday. I am looking forward to meeting them and talking about their memories of the area. The oldest member is 97 so they should have some interesting stories to tell.

Becs x

Greetings

Dear all

Had a little technical difficulty getting registered but it would appear that all is functioning as it should be. Delighted to be working on this project and early research has yielded that LS11 is both a region in Leeds harbouring three of the 07.07 bombing suspects, an online chinese education resource and a prototype 2 seater class sailplane. Im sure theres a connection in there somewhere...

Hoping to solidify two dates to visit Leeds at the start of next week and will post to confirm.
All the best

Simon
www.supanaught.com

Leeds information...

Hello all,

I've had a quick peep at Wikipedia this morning on the subject of Leeds and its districts. The entry for Leeds contains a large link list to entries on all the Leeds districts containing some nice snippets of local history. Might be a good starting point if you don't know Leeds already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds

Mike

Hello..

Planning on coming to Leeds for a few days from the 28th...Ill let you know the dates ,and maybe we can meet up.
Cheers

John

Badge Project

Welcome to the slightly revised Monitor website. This will be the home of the Badge Project for the next 3 months before we launch our super duper new archive website.

We have selected 8 artists to respond to postcode areas around Leeds City Centre for the Situation Leeds festival of art in the public realm. They have been asked to keep a blog relating to their research on this website. The selected artists are:

LS4/5 Mike Lewis
LS6 Helen Grundy
LS7 Adam Bridgland
LS8 John Hall
LS9 Rebecca Strain
LS10 Alexander Stevenson
LS11 Simon Canaway
LS12/13 Louise Atkinson


Here is the official blurb about the project as submitted to Situation Leeds:

Journey beyond Leeds City Centre and collect a limited edition set of pin-badges.

Monitor have commissioned eight artists to design a limited edition set of badges for each postcode area on the periphery of Leeds city centre. The badges are the culmination of the artists' research undertaken in each area, encapsulating their experiences. Monitor invites you to navigate Leeds to collect the full set of badges. In addition the Monitor collective have designed a ninth badge for the city centre to start you off.

To seek out your set of badges visit www.monitorleeds.org where bus and cycling routes from venue to venue are suggested. Take note, each badge is only available to collect from a designated venue in the postcode area for which it was produced.

Log on to view the artists’ weblog for information about each artists' work and their investigations and for ideas of things to look out for on your travels.

Come along to the launch night on 15th May to meet your fellow adventurers. This is a joint launch for Monitor, Black Dogs and The Bus Stop Project. Expect art, music, fun and games and the chance to start off your badge collection.