New Town Reclamation: Skelmersdale
Abstract
“…asks many questions of expression and validation. Nostalgia. Vandalism. New expression. Territory
and memory.” - Simon Herbert
Location: Concrete wall relief between Exchange roundabout and Whitehey Island roundabout
on the B5312 Railway rd. Skelmersdale New Town, WN8 8TL, Lancashire, England.
Throughout a working day reclamation will take place by painting the concrete subway/underpass
wall reliefs originally designed by Mike Cumiskey who was resident artist in Skelmersdale from
1966-1976. Four major wall reliefs by Cumiskey were made in 1967 and positioned at pedestrian
underpasses on the B5312, Railway Road in Skelmersdale. These decorated underpasses were to
guide workers to their factories and linked Pennylands housing estates to the Gillibrands Industrial
Estate.
The physical brutalism of Cumiskey’s underpasses in Skelmersdale are transitional portals that
suggest that the new town environment was and is a multi-layered and liminal experience.
Description
Painting performance. Skelmersdale, Saturday 18th Aug. 2018. Presented as part of ILLUME , an arts project delivered over 2 years, providing co-creative activities around Skelmersdale, producing a series of temporary and permanent public artworks. http://illume.org.uk/
Collections
- Artistic Research [180]
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