The Bowling Harbour Project
Bowling BasinGlasgow
G60 5AF
The blue on white sign was adopted by Jain McIntyre, Executive Director of The Bowling Harbour Project to be displayed outside their office in Bowling Basin where the Forth and Clyde canal system meets the River Clyde outside Glasgow. Ellie Harrison later collaborated with Jain McIntyre on the Radical Renewable Art + Activism Fund Founding Symposium at the CCA in Glasgow on 23 - 24 July 2016. At the end of the year, the blue on white sign continued north to the Isle of Skye, where it had been adopted by ATLAS Arts for 2017.
End of Year Report
By Jain McIntyre, Executive Director, The Bowling Harbour ProjectThe Bowling Harbour Project adopted the blue on white sign half way through 2016 after the previous adopters where unable to continue this role.
We enjoyed having the sign chained up outside Magic Cycles shop in Bowling Harbour situated along a busy canal, cycle and walking route. The sign was positioned beside a bench and in a prime spot to catch the wind coming through the canal area.
The Bowling Harbour Project is a new organisation so for most of the latter part of 2016 we had visitors and potential collaborators come visit us and the Early Warning Sign was a good place to talk about our environmental and creative work and to mention RRAAF - the Radical Renewable Art + Activism Fund that Ellie and ourselves are also working on.
Most people were unaware of the sign's significance and in hindsight we could have provided further information. Unlike previous venues, we don't have an office or indoor space (preferring to work outdoors for all our activities) and therefore no information was at hand for the public to read. However, organising bird and food foraging walks meant that we could pass by on a regular basis. I think people were keen to find out more when we mentioned that the object they were walking past was in fact a piece of artwork.
The mechanisms worked fine and were a great indication of the how windy it could get onsite - like a mini wind weather station. The wind creates a very unique sound as it rustles up and through the masts and sails of the boats in the harbour giving the sign its own little soundtrack.
It is unfortunate that we only had the sign for 6 months and in our start up phase as an organisation. If we had more time, we could have linked it more directly with our outdoor programme and made a bigger deal of the work being there.
But as a a first attempt at bringing contemporary art to new places, Early Warning Signs was a great start.