The point of this project was supposed to consider the future (specifically 2061) and how we might live then. I think I almost instantly wanted to do it on gentrification as it's what came to mind- I think about how I'm going to have to move out of Elephant and Castle a lot, because I can't afford it here without my student loan, but I also consider that it won't be the same place if I stayed anyway, because even in the two years I've been here the parts I love are slowly being destroyed and I have a lot of anger about the way the people and history of the area is being treated. It's hard to ignore, since I literally pass it every day, right outside my flat, and the building works keep me up at night.
The primer for this task was to observe a community space in Southwark, and I chose Aobaba/ Longdan Supermarket. It's probably not the number 1 spot to best represent Southwark and its residents as it was in itself a little part of the gentrification, built to appease Asian students living mostly in the very expensive studios above, but it's right opposite the Elephant Park building site, I know a lot of the staff in there and it does get a good mix of people, and allows for me to sit for a long time in there. It also has a view of Walworth Road, where I spend a lot of my time since Tescos/McDo/Bagel King/Post Office is down there.
Few notes because self-explanatory:
I feel like this sketchbook is quite strong because like I said, I just ran with the project. I think I've been treating my sketchbooks as ~project books~ for a long time but not putting the effort I did into making them into ~project books~ in the way I did at A Level (eg, notes, explanations, sticking in finished works and explaining them etc). I just kind of moved on and decided this was my project and I was going to gather the information I needed for what I wanted to do.
I then started back at term and began with the 2061 project, seeing where this was going to go etc. We were lead on a number of rotations with guest lecturers. I only did one of these. I kind of feel bad about it, but I also don't- I was going through a rough patch with my mental health trying to work out my own direction of this project which was really difficult (as I will explain) and I felt there was a massive understanding gap between uni work and briefs and what I wanted to achieve (which I will also explain).
The original brief for the first rotation with Kin (who were super interesting and gave what was probably a good VP talk, but less relevant to what was happening, though they directed the rotation well and were really nice) was to create a dystopian society and pitch it to the local community. For this, I worked with Bethan and a bunch of the others pretty much because they're in good with the tutors and I figured they might show me where I was going wrong. Of course, Bethan did her drawing in Wetherspoons so between us the project ended up being about Wetherspoons acting as a refuge in a future where technology has taken over and the outside world is horrifying. Wetherspoons, much like today, is a place where not much changes and nostalgia and warm beer are cheap.
A group collage was a surprisingly good way of sorting out our ideas and helped for use as reference, as well as of course being turned into a leaflet of sorts later for pitching to the public.
I then went to draw in Wetherspoons at 10am the day after, because apparently it was interesting. Unfortunately, I've apparently forgotten to scan those pieces, but they can't have been that important as no one else turned up to do it with me, despite having promised to.
We then made merchandise and branding to go with the project, for pitching to the public, including screenprinting those ugly hi-vis vests.
Amanda designed the logo which I put on badges, and by this point I felt like my own work hadn't been used for anything and that maybe I should actually draw something, so I designed some beer patterns to use on badges also.
I obviously didn't use the one on te right as it had too may gaps and didn't really work, but I printed and made about 30 badges to hand out when pitching our society.
All in all we had hand-painted beer mats with numbers on (a reservation for the future), badges and leaflets to hand out, as well as a questionnaire designed to engage with the public and start conversations. The questionnaire was interesting and prompted some quite humerous answers (for example, a lot of the people talked about death when asked about 2061, which seems a weird thought to jump to when you're only 20 like me). I recorded these findings but again, I haven't scanned them, though maybe one day I will do a transcript.
My biggest problem with this project arose then. I obviously already had thought of the seriousness of the issue, and wanting already to do my project on gentrification, and then finding this project was kind of treating the issue as a joke? Even the idea of Wetherspoons as a refuge I thought was sweet and professed hope for the future of our communities and their ability to survive despite the world around them changing (like being gentrified) but the rest of the group wanted to make it a joke and here we are with a giant beer costume.
I think what stressed me most though was the contrast between getting upset about gentrification and social cleansing and then seeing white privilege in action so obviously. Here we were, talking about beer in a public park, making a nuisance of ourselves essentially. The police approached us and I was honestly expecting us to be told to leave, but we weren't they took our quiz, which really messed me up. This would have happened if we were black or minority ethnic, or if it was me with my friends when I grew up, because I'm not a rich kid and I grew up somewhere with a huge binge drinking culture. Besides really being against my morals and a really uncomfortable position to be in, it mostly seemed to set me as an art student apart from the community I'm trying to connect with and treating it like a joke, and that's not what I wanted.
So yeah, I was done with that and the rest of the roatations and I decided to dedicate time to researching the history of Heygate and Elephant and Castle and developing a worthwhile and respectful narrative around gentrification.
I already knew the strong feelings in the community towards the "regeneration" project and I've seen the changes in the past year and a bit. I read the local news, I've seen the local graff and stickers on lampost indicating a deep unrest and a split in the community created by the works. Here's where I started:
From there there's a wealth of information and stories from the locals, including history dating back to the creation of the Heygate estate, which was essentially the centre of Elephant and Castle (I mean, what, it's just a dangerous semi-roundabout and a systematically stifled shopping centre now tbh??) before gentrification took hold.
I read thoroughly Southwark Notes and their compiliation of graphics, news reports, opinion and useful timelines, as well as their handbook "Staying Put". There are a wealth of news reports covering the Heygate scandal and ongoing development just by Googling it. The Daily Mail (sorry) has an interesting compilation of photos from the 5 years the estate stood empty after the council forced everyone out, as well as The Guardian (though all their opinions seem to be from white people?? "Eritrean woman" doen't get a name apparently). HeygateWasHome.Org also best helped me develop a narrative as it interviews many of the residents and expresses their fears and anger best. I'm also not the first to try to put together a project on this and there's a collection of photos on Pintrest. There's also an ongoing campaign for affordable housing in Heygate, Aylesbury and beyond by 35% Campaign. UAL also put together a photo book, "Economy", on the regeneration.
Not an exhaustive list, but here's the story of the Heygate estate- it was built as affordable (and it seems strange that's something we have to point out, because in my day there was "housing" and "luxury/expensive housing". An indication of ow deep this mess is that I have to point that out) in the 70s, much like the estate I currently live on.
The buildings are sturdy and were made to last, something that was proven when the Labour council began looking into "regenerating" the area as far back as 1995, only to do a stock take of the buildings in 1998 and discover the crime rate was low for the area, the buildings were well made and would only require upkeep costs of "£21,742 per dwelling over 30 years, below average for the rest of the stock, which was estimated at a mean average of £23,363 per dwelling over 30 years". Numerous council documents at the term of the millinium referred to the untaped potential and the money in the site currently occupied by horrible normal people instead of wealthy people who could flas their cash at the council.
Ultimately, a lot of backscratching and deals later, the coucil decides to work with Lend Lease, wo have been sued in multiple cities including New York and Sydney for overcharging public bodies, who underpay their staff despite being contracted to pay Living Wage to contractors, and who allegedly blacklist employees who take part in union activities, and a subsidiary who, by the way, works out of the Isle of Man, a tax haven where I used to live. They go through a number of iterations of the regeneration project before suddenly bringing the project forward in 2007, not waiting for replacement homes to be built for the current residents as promised- as a result, many of the outgoing residents are moved as far out as Slough given they can't afford non-controlled council rents. The estate, valued at £150m, was sold to Lend Lease for £50m after the council spent £51.4m emptying the estate (though some reports say £44m).
Many of the residents are elderly and there are reports the move from the estate and the upheaval of the community shortened and ended lives. The council speeds up the process of moving residents out in 2010 by turning off hot water and heating under the guise of a "burst pipe". The estate stands empty for 5 years, the demolition not finishing until 2015, and in 2017 every single flat in the estate put up for sale is sold to foreign investors.
I think what truly made this project difficult was researching it. It made me so angry. Change didn't happen quickly on the Isle of Man and if I were to return now, many of the parts of my childhood- the old cinema, the playground, the community centre, the places I lived (including our council flat) will probably still be there. I think about how much the community in Elephant and Castle means to me, how good these people are and how that's systematically being destroyed and it's so upsetting. I definitely cried multiple times.
To begin, therefore, it was hard to pick a direction. Part of me wanted straight-facts because the scandal is enough to boil anyone's blood, and my role as an illustrator and my voice would be minimal. I'm aware that in part, maybe I'm part of the problem- I can no way afford to live her after I graduate, therefore I really am like every other student, only here for three years with no real stake in the community. As already mentioned, too, there is my white privilege. However, I also thought the emotion I have towards this topic could be quite powerful, and as a result, the final product is an edit of a late night rant.
I also found it hard in practice to stylise and shorthand buildings. I wasn't sure I wanted to rely on a cartoon-y style because of how serious the topic is, it might subtract from what I was trying to say.
I also really wanted to focus on the people, as I think that's where the argument for not destroying communities really comes through. People buying these properties don't understand what they're doing wrong because like "society", "community" is just an abstract term until you meet the people I'm talking about. I also, of course, talk about people a lot in my primer work, and it seemed sad to neglect that. Ultimately, I'd like to return to this in future work, but the people I've met as a part of the final outcome of this project ended up being largely anecdotal.
The last drawing is based on an early idea, and is a reference to my friend Aranit who's been working at Tescos in Elephant and Castle for longer than I've been alive, and essentially knows everyone. He also knows I like me some cheap food when I can score it, even the "definitely will give me food poisoning" kind.
I the end, I was doing personal work studying the backgrounds of Kaz Aizawa, who worked on Danny Phantom back in the day. I loved his form and the backgrounds in the show are really something special and the minute I started sketching I realised the style (or my version of it) would work well for this project.
As a result, I started to work on versions of the Heygate in this style, so I could pull the project together into a book in time for the deadline.
I was then done scripting (after a few failed attempts) and could thumb out a plan for the zine (twice), which would mostly be full page illos but isn't entirely unlike a comic, given that's what I'm used to doing.
I also organised a GoFundMe to print a run of books for free distribution to the community- since the project is inspired by and about them, and also I can't really afford to pay out that much for a project. I made £67 in under a week, which went towards fees, a print run and my A1 poster, since I didn't have my shit together in time to get Tommy to do it.
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