The Hidden Spaces in Paisley Project
This project was created as a way to engage with community members in Paisley, and discuss the themes of regeneration, participation and decay in the town. The basis for the project was the construction of a workshop. The different steps I took in creating the workshop are illustrated below. After the construction and completion of the workshop, I was left with a variety of photos and videos of decaying spaces in Paisley. This was material that I created myself, but also material that was sent to me by workshop participants and other people living in Paisley wanting to participate.
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Overall, the participation in the workshop was not as high as I would have hoped. And there could be many reasons why that was the case. It gave me great insight into the nature of participatory arts in Paisley, and the way that people engage with creative activities. To make sure I explored all avenues of engagement, I decided to create this website and see if people would feel they could more easily engage with online content. The database that is on this website is meant to be a participatory product. Hence, if people send in photos and videos of other decaying spaces, the database has a chance to grow and evolve.
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If you have spaces that you would like to see added to the database, you can send an email to marzijl@xs4all.nl, or you can send pictures/thoughts/ideas to @hiddenspacespaisley on Instagram!
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Walking around Paisley
In order to get a sense of the look and feel of the decaying sites that were listed in the Vacant and Derelict Land Survey, I cycled and walked to each decaying space that was listed within the town border of Paisley. I timed how long it would take to visit each space from the city centre.
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Snapping Pictures and Recording Spaces
At each space I visited I took photographs and videos to capture the feeling of the space. This included the colours, sounds, and the general state of the building or site. I also paid attention to current users of the space. For instance, some open spaces, while classified as vacant, were being used by dog owners to walk their dog
03
Creating Walking Route
From the spaces I identified in the survey, I applied a list of three criteria. Based on these criteria I included and excluded sites from the walking route activity. I added all viable sites to a google drive map and gave the sites numbers. In that way workshop participants could more easily discuss each site.
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Setting up Workshop
I created questions for the workshop participants to answer while constructing their own walking route. They were asked to visit at least three different numbers, and apply the questions to each individual site. After the activity was completed, we planned in a discussion moment a week later to talk about what the participants had found.
What did I end up creating?
What can you find on this website?
Parts of my Research
The thesis is the final document with the literature, method and analysis of the results of my study. Some text that is on this website will feature in my thesis as well. For instance, the section on 'autoethnography' that features in the Learn about my PhD page.
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The Hidden Spaces in Paisley Project
Initially I started my PhD by creating a workshop for communities in Paisley. In this workshop, community members walked around Paisley and took pictures of decaying spaces. During their walk, they filled in a form with questions. After a week had passed, we came back and discussed the pictures, and the feelings of community members about these spaces.
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How did I create this project? With the steps outlined on the top of this page. I started by walking around Paisley, taking pictures of decaying spaces, making a walking route of those spaces, and engaging community members in that walking route while filling out questions.
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A Decaying Spaces Database with
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Photos & Videos - including pictures and videos I made myself of decaying spaces that were known by the council, as well as pictures that community members took during the workshop and after the workshop was finished.
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Decaying Spaces Map - the map that I created as basis for the walking route that I used in my workshop. This is an interactive map, and so you are able to use street view and 3D functions to see where the spaces are located and how big they are.
A Continuous Feedback Loop
The gathering of material for this project works on an ongoing feedback loop.
This means that once I completed the workshop with the pictures and videos that I took of Paisley up to that point, I added new photos and videos to my collection. These included photos that were taken by workshop participants, other people living in Paisley, as well as my own photos and videos that I took during repeated walking and cycling trips in Paisley.
Since starting this project, I have kept on expanding my online photo and video collection of decaying spaces across Paisley.
And I hope to keep expanding even after this PhD is finished!