Graffiti: The Artform of the Proletariat?

This is the alleyway that takes you from St Michaels Lane to North Lane in Headingley, Leeds. It is a cut-through at the back of the cricket/rugby grounds. As well as there being a family of foxes nearby, who seem to be around day and night, the walls are full of graffiti throughout most of the length of the path. These are the boldest and most colourful of the selection there:

This is one of the more subtle ones.

Here's an extract from a graffiti blog called Bombing Science. The article is entitled 'Graffiti Theory: Graffiti and Marxism':

Illegal. Feared. Rejected by societal norms and described like cancers to communities, a destructive virus that consumes and devours decent proper values until suddenly there’s a crack house next door OR perhaps just another victim of Marx’s social alienation. Let’s be straight, America really has no problem with graffiti—as long as they can make a buck off it. The style has been mimicked and milked in almost every market, from designer t-shirts to XBOX games and countless hip-hop album covers. Yet despite all this corporate love, the act of getting up, putting the paint on the walls is still punishable by jail time and large amounts of debt.

Graffiti is the art form of the proletariat. The bourgeoisie can’t sell off the walls of their factories so whatever the workers write on them is finally there’s to keep. It’s an art that cannot be exploited by those who own the means of production, because graffiti exploits them first. The proletariat artist is using the property of the bourgeoisie as a canvas—essentially redistributing the use of property to the people. In that sense graffiti writing becomes the last truly free artistic vehicle; it cannot be taxed and doesn’t have to be taught. Anyone can participate, regardless of class, race, religious preference or sexual orientation. Graffiti doesn’t even require consumption of any materials if the artist doesn’t wish to purchase them. According to old school ethics, paint should be stolen from supply stores as an act of liberation from bourgeoisie’s financial death-traps—but really, all you need is a rock and a hard surface to scratch on to make your mark.

Click here for a recent Yorkshire Evening Post article on Synical, a local 'graffiti vandal', as the police have described him: 'Leeds graffiti vandal's war on blank look'

There Are No Longer Bears in the Bear Pit - Phew!

Today I went for a walk to photograph what is known as the Bear Pit on Cardigan Road, Headingley, Leeds. It was part of the Leeds Zoological and Botanical Gardens built in 1840, at the peak of the Victorian curiosity in all things 'other'. Apparently, the zoo didn't do too well and was closed down. The Bear Pit was restored in 1966.

There used to be a plaque on the big boulder in the middle archway, but it seems to be missing.

The Bear Pit itself is actually located behind the façade shown in the above two photos (take a look at the flickr images below under 'links of interest' to see the actual pit). The bears could be viewed from the top of the little circular staircases, which were located in the turrets (you can see the turret and stairs in the following two images). There is a 'rumour' that there is a tunnel that leads from here into the town centre.

Below is some text from the Yorkshire Evening Post, dated October 7th 2010, entitled 'The Seven Lost Wonders of Leeds':

Many people will have passed the castellated frontage on Cardigan Road, Headingley but few perhaps realise that in its heyday it was a zoo, called Leeds Zoological and Botanical Society.
Opened on July 4, 1840, it was home to swans, eagle hawks, owls, monkeys, raccoons and other animals. There were also botanical gardens, a lake and a bear pit, with a bear which was made to climb a pole time and time again, whilst being pelted with buns by the public.
The zoo was not a financial success and courted controversy after keepers regularly put live rooks into the birds of prey cage, only for them to be killed cruelly and torn apart as the public looked on.
The site was bought in 1848 by entrepreneur Thomas Clapham, who made it a success but sold the land for development in 1858.
Leeds Civic Trust bought the sole remaining feature, the Bear Pit in 1966 and part of the wall, which was described by one newspaper as "a whimsical Victorian feature in the style of a castle" and which still stands today.


Links of interest:
The Bear Pit on Leodis (photo archive)
VR Leeds (panorama of Bear Pit)
Flickr (excellent photos of the Bear Pit)

Happy Accidents #1 - St Michael's Church, Headingley, Leeds

These two lomography images were taken in April in St Michael and All Angels' Church graveyard in Headingley. This was the first time I used my new Diana F+ camera. These are my two favourite images, or 'happy accidents' as they are described in the literature that comes with the camera.

Related Links:
Lomography Website
St Michael's Church

Five Dead Women and Many Live Animals

The above map is based on the view from my window. It is an aesthetic response to the graveyard of which my flat borders. While it is a very quiet place, and not visited by people very often, because I live next to it I get to see the 'comings and goings' of not only the animals, of which there are many, but also the people. While the animals are totally open in their actions - the squirrels scratching themselves, the blue tits cleaning their beaks, the robins 'beating up' the hedge sparrows - some of the human visitors behave a bit 'cagey', like they think they are not supposed to be there.

The 'Action Zone' is the area around my window. It is named thus because this is where I feed the animals and hence it is a draw to all the birds and squirrels. The animals seem to think it is a tuck shop. Unfortunately they do not realise there is only food in the 'Special View' section, so sometimes they come in in order to see what other delicacies might be inside, much to their disapointment...

Leeds Girls' High School - 'Development Opportunity'

A sign has finally gone up for the sale of the Elinor Lupton Centre building of the old Leeds Girls' High School in Headingley Lane. I spotted in when walking back from university so decided to have a wander around the building and take some snaps.

As you can see it is made in the same Portland Stone as the University of Leeds, popular for construction in this area in the 1920s and 1930s. It is a jurassic limestone and, interestingly, has tiny fossils in it if you looked closely.

According to this person who posted a photo on flickr, it is a grade 2 listed building and was purchased by the school in 1986 for £230,000:
Elinor Lupton Centre



I love this building and pass it every day on the way to and from university. I remember when I first came to Leeds (2005) it was still in use and drama performances were advertised on the board outside, in the same place as the 'for sale' board now appears. It would be lovely to see the building cared for again: some sand-blasting and graffiti removal.

The building is much bigger than it looks in my image. The Geograph link below shows a good image of the building and reflects its size much better.

There was a locked fence at the back and I managed to take this photo of this old sign through the railings:



Also, this detail I photogrpahed demonstrates the Greco-Roman influence in Art-Deco architecture of this period.



Related Links:

Leeds High School on Wikipedia
Elinor Lupton Centre on Geograph

The Headingley Arndale Centre: Today and Yesterday

I took this image of the Arndale Centre in Headingley, Leeds on a foggy morning this November in the rush hour. The shopping centre was refurbished in 2009, when part of the frontage was painted this terracotta red colour.

Here is an old photograph of the Headingley Arndale Centre, taken circa 1967. I scanned it from the book Leeds: The Heart of Yorkshire. It doesn't say who took the photo, so I am assuming it was the author: John Waddington Feather. Apologies for the poor quality, I think it's my scanner. Note the Woolworths. What I found particularly interesting was the different shape of the office block at the far end of the centre.



According to wikipedia, the Arndale Centres were "the first American-style malls to be opened in the United Kingdom.". The first one was opened in 1961. Apparently, one of the reasons they were criticised was because many Victorian buildings were demolished in order to erect them. My own first recollection was hearing about them in Squeeze's song It's Not Cricket (an ironic title considering Headingley's connection to cricket), from their Cool for Cats album (1979). The lyrics are rather sexist, but that wasn't hugely unusual in the 1970s:

She went with all the tossers who kick about a ball
They say their club's the greatest and she has kissed them all
At the Arndale Centre, she's up against the wall

In the 1996 IRA bombing of Manchester, the Arndale Centre was damaged and later rebuilt. The links below show the bomb-damaged Arndale, and the current one:

Bombed Manchester Arndale Centre
Manchester Arndale Centre Today

I shall close this blog with a paragraph from an A' Level essay I wrote and just rediscovered. It's quite polemic, and also funny to read after such a long time, especially with the italicised words which I obviously must have included to add emphasis. Even though it is about the shopping mall, rather than a shopping centre, the sentiment is there. :

As a side effect of the process of consumerism a form of communion has become available. We no longer need to attend a church service on Sunday when we have available to us every day the opportunity to commune with like-minded people and purchase at the same time. And, as with a church service, there is not even a requirement for us to socially engage. We may simply attend and temporarily share in the experience of the collective consciousness.

Relates websites:
Headingley Development Trust
Signs of a Lost Eternity
Cool for Cats

The Headingley Hole

A hole appeared in Headingley High Street today. I'm not sure if it leads to Hades or Atlantis, but the workmen found it when digging, rather than it being discovered by a surprised motorist while driving over it. I spoke to them and they let me take photos:





Apparently the workmen simply found a "void" when they were digging for the purpose of working on utility pipes.

You can only drive one way along the High Street and cannot enter from the lower side of Headingley.

Here is the traffic report from BBC online:

Headingley road hole causes traffic delays

Kirkstall Valley Subdub or The Prozac Walk

Sunday May 20th 2010. I set off from home with the intention of checking out the Kirkstall electricity sub-station (Leeds), which I had first stumbled upon in the summer of 2008.

National Grid Sub-stations

Redcote Lane
The entrance to Redcote Lane is from Kirkstall Road. It is a strange space (part hinterland, part heterotopia) with a number of leisure pursuits represented. These are juxtaposed with the preservation area that runs by the river and this large sub-station which dominates the end of Redcote Lane. As you enter Redcote Lane you can hear the cracking-crunching sound emanating from the recycling centre on the right. You then walk over a really interesting green iron(?) bridge that crosses the river Aire:



Past the bridge is a 'Fitness First' leisure centre and opposite is a small fenced-off part of the electricity sub-station. This is probably what the deep topographer Nick Papadimitriou would call an “adjunct” to the bigger system at the end of the lane. The golf course crosses the lane (between the first and second tees) and to the left there is a 'Goals' five-a-side football centre with the tagline “The Beautiful Game”. Most of the traffic in the lane (barely any, though) is for the leisure outlets.

Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve
The gate at the entrance to the reserve on the right of the lane is designed by the children from Burley St Matthias School:



This gate takes you onto a path which stretches along the banks of the Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. I think it is possible the preservation area stretches as far as Kirkstall Abbey, but I have only walked part of it in the past, although from a window of an office on Kirkstall Road I have seen some interesting wildlife, including kingfishers. I spent the summer of 2008 working at this office in between my BA and MA. I used to gaze longingly into the river on hot days, thinking about arranging some kind of performative act which involved me donning a swimsuit and flinging myself into the Aire.

The Bridges
Right near the entrance to the nature reserve are two bridges. The first is a modern bridge used by the railway, bridge no. TJC3/22 (I am including the bridge references for the benefit of any train-spotters who like to search for this kind of information). Directly after that bridge, with barely any space in between, is the old, probably Victorian, bridge (TJC3/22A). A google search for these bridges throws up a Yorkshire Post article about water leaking from the base of the modern bridge, apparently threatening to flood the sub-station and 'Goals'. I really like the two bridges next to each other (the modern and postmodern). The Victorian bridge is particularly attractive and my photo does not do it justice:



The Electricity Sub-Station
As you pass under the bridges the sub-station is straight ahead. My second visit to it was not as aesthetically powerful as my first. I think this was because it was a surprise discovery the first time around. Nevertheless, I don't want to understate how imposing it is. Its dominance is of a monolithic nature.



The sub-station is surrounded by greenery and it sits in a kind of enclave amidst the trees, grass and foliage. So, you have the sound of birds and the wind blowing through the trees, and also the hum of the station. Different parts of the site emitted different sounds. At one point there was a clicking sound coming from the machinery, which sounded rather like a cricket.




Signs and Notices
I took a few photos of some of the signs but as I got to the point of taking a photo of an interesting looking National Grid sign which was falling apart, I got the visit-from-security. I had noticed the portakabin and knew there was someone in there but thought I could sneak past to the gate and get the shot. But, no chance. Mr. Jobsworth, bored to death in his cabin, was going to allow me to 'make his day'.




One of the signs had C E Electric UK written on it. Who, according to their website, are “...responsible for delivering electricity to over 3.8 million properties across the North East of England, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.”:

C E Electric UK

On the same sign was another logo: SmartWater, which appears to be a police sponsored crime reduction initiative. I did see a police van drive around the area while I was there. Interestingly, they didn't see me as a 'threat', even though the security guard obviously did. What is SmartWater, you may ask? Well, their website explains that “...SmartWater is a colourless liquid solution that is simply dabbed onto the uneven surfaces of your valuables. It can be used to code all sorts of items such as jewellery, ornaments, electrical items and even your motor vehicle. Each bottle contains a unique chemical ‘code’ which is registered to you – conclusively proving ownership. It cannot be easily seen by the naked eye and is almost impossible to remove. The liquid glows under ultraviolet light making it easy for the Police to detect.”.

SmartWater

Concluding the Walk
After being caught by the security guard, I walked in the direction of the exit and I think the guard thought I had left. But, I actually continued to walk around the sub-sation and take more photos. I found a caravan storage park and also, at the back of the sub-station I found a place that moored boats:



I then sat down on the grass to write up some notes. But after about 5 minutes I could see the security guard walking towards me and I made a quick getaway. When I was walking back home up the hill towards Burley the sky ahead of me looked dark and ominous, whereas behind, over the valley, the sky was bright, sunny and dotted with white clouds. The two photos below are from the same spot on Argie Road: the first towards Headingley and the second towards Kirkstall Valley.




When I entered St Michaels Lane in Headingley I spotted a green and yellow pill on the pavement. I decided to name the walk after the pill, which turned out to be fluoxetine, aka Prozac.