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Blog post uploaded to padlet with images in this link. I am Tia Johnson, a GMD student who wishes to make a positive impact or at least produce discussion through the topics of my work. Since becoming a GMD student, my outcome for university work and goals have changed to becoming focused on theory, social issues and highlighting important topics that have affected myself and others in our lives. For me to have a new agency it needs to focus on a topic I am passionate in and feel not only a need but a connection to the campaign, my agency is towards the rise of ‘regeneration’ in London. Why is that? Well with the cost of living raised everyone has rightfully reacted negatively to this, it’s an issue affecting us all, some much more than others but still affects us all no less; while with regeneration, which I will now regard as gentrification, it is portrait as something positive as it brings people to an area when it’s ‘up and coming’ which will bring more money to businesses; only that is not completely the case. With gentrification comes displacement, old businesses closing because they can no longer afford to stay in an area they have operated in for years, council flats or community spaces bulldozed to make space for luxury housing. This displacement makes many others in London feel uncertain about their future, this topic allows me to explore a new agency of exploration of pros and cons gentrification has; along the lines of primary and secondary research, I can know whether my anxiety is justified or if there is hope for others in this situation. I wish to explore areas close to me as well as areas I am not familiar with, my list of places include, Shoreditch, Hackney, Brixton, Peckham, Elephant and Castle, Nine-elms, and Clapham. With these areas I plan on visiting in person, taking photography to capture what I am witnessing, recording footage, and researching articles based in these areas on gentrification. Since being a student, my interest in print and book production has been stimulated through the accessibility of the workshop spaces in LCC; once known as London college of Printing, printing still holds an important aspect to courses on campus. Design itself is a powerful tool, combining that with one of the oldest forms of mass communication, print, makes it only stronger; traditional print using letterpress, screen-print and other methods hold a place in my heart as being very personal; which is why my outcome for my SIP will be using print and bookbinding to produce a mass copy of booklets on gentrification and why it needs to matter to more people. I have investigated 2 practitioners related to my SIP, my first listed is Anna Minton, the Author of ‘Big Capital: Who is London for?’ The book was published in 2017 and discusses the housing crisis, displacement and housing redevelopments, and people being unable to travel to see family or even attend important meetings like hospital appointments. In chapter 3,’Demolitions’ we looks at elephant and castle and the production of luxury apartments. In the chapter, we see Terry who once lived on Highgate Estate in E&C, which is now demolished to make space for Elephant Park, which included 2,704 luxury apartments but only 82 for social housing, he has since been relocated to Sidcup, he and a significant number of people have become depressed due to displacement and having family and social ties cut off by starting in a new area. Left image: Elephant Springs, part of Elephant Park, Image from ElephantPark.com Unknown. (2017). Elephant Park now open 24/7. Available: https://www.elephantpark.co.uk/about-elephant-park/green-spaces-and-the-park/. Last accessed 15/03/22. Right Image: Apartments in Elephant Park, Image from ChaseEvans.com Unknown. (2017). Elephant Park. Available: https://www.chaseevans.co.uk/Elephant-Park-New-Homes. Last accessed 15/03/22. Since then, E&C shopping centre has been demolished, many working communities (many of those being ethnic minorities) who set up business in the shopping centre were made to relocate. With the destruction of the shopping centre, UAL have bought the planning permission and plan to build a new campus that will replace the current LCC building. Though this plan is a business opportunity, it has highlighted to me how UAL fails to care about the communities and spaces they will shape with this creation of the campus. Image: Concept for development of new LCC campus replacing E&C shopping centre. Image found on UAL. pmaustin. (2015). New UAL campus at the heart of proposals for Elephant & Castle town centre regeneration. Available: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/press-office/stories/new-ual-campus-at-the-heart-of-proposals-for-elephant-and-castle-town-centre-regeneration. Last accessed 15/03/22. Image: Concept for Elephant and castle redevelopment, Image from Elephantandcastle towncentre.com Unknown. (2017). LOOKING TO THE FUTURE. Available:https://elephantandcastletowncentre.co.uk/looking-to-the-future/. Last accessed 15/03/22. I have enjoyed the book, however one critique I have is that Minton does not investigate the oppositions side, to make my SIP and agency strong, I will need to investigate the opposition's point and come up with counter points to strengthen my cause and show my understanding of the topic. My 2nd Practitioner is Aida Wilde, is an Iranian born but London based artist and designer. She studied surface design and foundation of Applied Arts at LCC and was a Lecturer on that course from 2004 to 2015. Aida has been a professional screen printer for the last 20 years and has produced installations, murals and social commentary posters around London and other city streets across the world such as New York, her work are often a response to issues of gentrification, equality, and education. Aida Currently resides in Hackney Wick, she used to reside in Shoreditch with her own print shop but with the price raise of gentrification she closed shop and moved. In an article written in 2016, she states that her and the community of artists in hackney wick are fighting to stay as the area, quoting “artists grabbed hold of it, pulled it back, stitched the buildings back together, saved the old factories, created communities, created spaces people wanted to come to, creative areas people wanted to live in, the estate agents love us artist types, they use us in their glossy sales brochures, come live with the artists and the galleries, only they’ve priced us all out and knocked our spaces down and made it very clear we are not wanted around here anymore…' Sean Worrall. (2016). ORGAN THING: Gentrification? It was Aida Wilde’s fault! Damn artists, creating a community!. Available: https://organthing.com/2016/05/04/organ-thing-gentrification-it-was-aida-wildes-fault-damn-artists-creating-a-community/. Last accessed 15/03/22. One thing I enjoyed about the article is an artist acknowledging that they have played a domino effect to places becoming gentrified and accepting that they have shot themselves in the foot as they themselves have made a place seem lucrative and exciting, thus driving prices up with the gained interest of property developers. As an artist and designer, I want to make sure my legacy and the way I work does not negatively impact a space and community I have placed myself in. How this topic influences my thesis for year 4 is I planned my work to be about the communication of print and where it began, this topic will relate to this as print will be a tool used to explain my argument and share it with the public, with the process being an experience I can discuss in my thesis. Anna Minton. (2017). Demolitions. In: Big Capital:Who is London For?. London: Penguin. 120-127. Oliver Wainwright. (2016). Gentrification is a global problem. It's time we found a better solution. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/29/gentrification-global-problem-better-solution-oliver-wainwright. Last accessed 15/03/22.
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