The Expanded City is a programme of research-based public artworks, curated by In Certain Places at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Developed in response to an invitation from Preston City Council, and supported by Arts Council England, The Expanded City will inform a programme of infrastructure projects on the outskirts of the city proposed by a £430m City Deal Scheme.
The City Deal scheme aims to deliver new jobs and housing, by addressing strategic transport, environmental, community and cultural infrastructure challenges. In the first stage of The Expanded City project commissioned artists Olivia Keith, Gavin Renshaw, Emily Speed and duo Ian Nesbitt and Ruth Levene have investigated the physical and cultural topography of the outskirts of Preston, ‘deep mapping’ the areas marked for growth.
The artists share an interest in boundaries, routes, edges and the urban/rural binary, and work across a range of media, including film, photography and performance. The commissions explore the social and physical aspects of the places, their relationships with the city centre and the potential implications of planned developments.
In this publication, Lauren Velvick, ‘writer in residence’ on The Expanded City project, has contextualised and provided a critical narrative for the development of the artists’ work, as well as documenting the Expanded City Symposium held in 2016.
This publication also contains images of the artists’ work and photos of the Expanded City Symposium and a foreword from In Certain Places curator Elaine Speight, and is accompanied by a separate map and grid of Gavin Renshaw’s photographs.
Author: Lauren Velvick Publisher: In Certain Places (2016) ISBN: 978-0-9930498-3-5 24-page A6 booklet and A3 map
