Beautiful Frieze film explores Glasgow's artistic past, present and future

Date
19 November 2014

This year, before the fire at the Glasgow School of Art, Frieze travelled up to the city to speak to some its most integral artists and curators about the nature of Glaswegian creativity. From the community “come one, come all” vibes of the 1970s, to the work inspired by the flattening of the tenements to make way for high-rise blocks, these wise talking heads portray a tough city of freedom and spontaneity, underlined with a brutal sadness from times when things weren’t too great. They speak of the time Allen Ginsberg came to town, the wonder of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the gallery boom of the 1990s, and the appeal of the grand buildings in Glasgow with their sweeping staircases and enormous, trademark bay windows providing such beautiful white, Scottish light.

In the wake of the fire that tore through the paint and turps-encrusted art school this year, all eyes have been on the city as to how it will be affected. If the positive energy in this film – strong enough to make you want to move up there immediately – is enough to go by, it looks as if the freedom, time, space and history of Glasgow isn’t fading, and perhaps never will.

Spend some time with this film, if not to see wistful shots of pre-fire Glasgow School of Art, then to hear David Harding talk about singing Icelandic and Scottish songs with with Bjork – brilliant.

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Frieze: Our Glasgow

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Frieze: Our Glasgow

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Frieze: Our Glasgow

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Frieze: Our Glasgow

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Frieze: Our Glasgow

Above

Frieze: Our Glasgow

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Frieze: Our Glasgow

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About the Author

Liv Siddall

Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

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