7. The Plaza
Photo by Eden HawkinsPeel Eezy was the pseudo-faux creative brand and collaborative practice of Gemma Crook and Mina Heydari-Waite. The Plaza (2017) was a temporary space developed by Peel Eezy at EMBASSY Gallery. We built a structured framework for workshopping and discussion inside a spatial installation that housed the needs of the project. The project aimed to contribute to an evolving conversation surrounding artist-run activity.
The Plaza focused on three key questions:
- What do we want the Edinburgh artist run network to look like?
- What uses do/could artist run initiatives serve the artistic community and the wider public?
- What challenges do we face in getting there?
We invited both Edinburgh’s artist-run initiatives and general public to occupy The Plaza for hour long slots, using the above questions as a starting point to investigate and speculate; generating writing, artwork and other content.
This working environment was documented in real time using an in-house risograph printer, with Mutual Press acting as technicians, converting all work produced in The Plaza into printed pages live each hour. These printed pages where collated into an edition of 50 loose leaf publications (The Living Archive). As part of this project we also held an open discussion event, a transcript of which was printed and added to the archive.
Photo by Eden Hawkins
Contributors Included: MUTUAL, MISS WORLD, Joseph Revans, The MacKay Brothers, Rhythm Machine, Eden Hawkins & Phoebe Miller, Andy Ethereal, Ian Goncharov, Pauric Courtney, Francesca Hawker, Aled Haywood, Mary Hartley, Um Boys, George Douglas, SANKT, Lily Pugh, CRISPS, EPOCH 8, SUEDE, Jamie Watt, ECAD, Monomatic, Katie Dibb, Amelia Tan, Sisi Wang, Josie Grant Pyett, Cath Keay, Sarah Calmus, Isaac Moss, Rachael Simpson, RIB, Joe Ruesmann, Andy Grace Hayes, Irineu Destourelles, DAN, Vinebox, Matthew Poland, Chlamydia Collective, Luke Thomas Edwards + Cora Ogborn James, Fiona Berry, Harry Whitelock, Supermodel, Keith MacIsaac, Lachlan Bold + Sam Adamson, STASIS, Ben Callaghan, Stef Blum, Bargain Spot, Basic Mountain, Place & Platform, Becky Tucker, Izzy Williams, Serafima Mehhovits, Katariina Yli-Malmi and Michael Di Rienzo.
Thank you to Deborah Jackson for facilitating The Open Discussion Event, and to Naomi Garriock (Basic Mountain), Abbe Webster and Lydia Honeybone (Bargin Spot), Ben Callaghan and Faith Limbrick (Rhubaba), Francis Dosoo (Rhythm Machine and ECAD) and Alistair Grant (The Number Shop and ECAD) for acting as key speakers. Mutual Press (Katariina Yli-Malmi and Micheal Di Rienzo) were our technical team who printed throughout the project.
