Urbis by Glenn Tucker

URBIS

CONTENTS Pg 4 Inside O utside Pg 32 Urban exploration as social reflection Pg 34 Mondrian Compositions Pg 38 Urban Extac y

lights on get up get out look see love send Welcome to Urbis. The magazine based on experiance, action and reaction within an urban environment. This issue is based around Birmingham and focuses on the idea of exactl y what Urban Exploration means to me and the experiences i have had while producing the images. In future issues i hope to inc lude the work, opinions and experiences of other ar tists invol ved in Ur ban Exploration so as to produce a full years collection that expresses the vast interest shown in the subject. Any opinions expressed in this issue are solel y my own and are completel y open for debate. If you like it or loathe it then let me know. For any one interested in their work forming the basis of the next issue please contact me. www.tuckalux83@hotmail. co.uk 3

Glenn Tucker.

Park Street, Birmingham Bullring.

inside outside DEFI NI NG

URBAN

EXP LORAT ION

â&#x20AC;&#x153;the study of parts of civilization normally unseen or off-limits, such as abandoned structures, drains, sewers, tunnels, etc.â&#x20AC;? For many Urban Exploration starts before before that. For the inquisitive mind i beleive it starts the moment you leave your front door. On many occasions i have set off with a destination in mind and never made it there for the amount of nooks, crannies or unvisited streets that have distracted me. The images that follow are a result of door to door exploration where i have walked along roads, through tunnels and finally into buildings where many people believe the exploration begins. They consist of those colours, lines and shapes within the city that intrigue me, that talk to me about the city and tell a story of their own without the need for interpretation.

Objects discovered on walk through Balsall Heath, Digbeth and Sparkbrook.

Sleeping Rough. Bullring area.

Tunnel 1, Tunnel 2 and Tunnel 3. Located off Bristol Rd and behind the Jaguar Garage. 12

Birmingham Ring Rd. Old HP ink factory.

Moral , Social and Physical Decay

Doors and Natural Light.

Blue

Medium Format. Canister, Stourbridge and Tyres, Digbeth

Medium Format. Warehouse and Controls, Stourbridge.

urban exploration on social commentry Social commentry is often said to be made with the intention of implementing or promoting change by providing the public with a point of view on or around a given problem. So what does Urban Exploration have to do with social commentry? Surley Urban Explorers are rule breakers and trespassers with no interest in the progression of social society today? I believe it is quite possible that Urban Explorers provide a lot more insite into how we live than they are given credit for. The mere movement of Urban exploration tells us we live in a highly creative society where people are constantly looking at new ways

of exploring their own lives, environments and pushing their own personal limits to achieve their goals. Even if that includes the possibility of breaking the law. It shows that people rediscovering things that have been forgotten and enabling those around them to see aspects of the city they never noticed before. On the other hand it also shows how our society has less and less regard for rules and regulations, the simple idea that Urban Explorers are not afraid to trespass opens our eyes to other problem areas. UE acts as a reflection of the lack of respect and disregard for the law apparent in our society, on the streets and in the very idea of UE, however this is not to say that those involved in UE are disrespectful rebels, but that they are creative constructive rebels.

Images from Jewellry Quarter area Visit WOOM Gallery for Laura Woods HIDDEN QUARTERS exhibition (5th Dec- 5th Jan) to see more derelict buildings in the Jewellry Quarter.

Then there is the view on housing issues and the lack of accomodation spaces in cities. Urban Exploration web sites have certainly proven that there is plenty of space within cities for develepment. In the Birmingham Unitary Development Plan 2005, for example, chapter 5.4 states “Almost the whole of Birmingham is built up and therefore the supply of land within the city boundry is severly constrained.” Meanwhile, a report from property advisers and developers GVA grimley says: “Here (The Jewellry Quarter), many sites were identified for residential development within the urban framework plan but the maximum target of around 2,100 new homes in the area was very quickly reached. In order to slow down

housing development in the Jewellery Quarter, the City made the Jewellery Quarter a conservation area, adding another layer of restrictions and hold-ups for developers. However, while this was done with the best of intentions, Mike Brough believes it has inadvertently brought to a halt the potential for the true regeneration of the area and put off the developers that are so critical to the process.” http://www.gvagrimley.co.uk/x629.xml

While receiving these mixed messages we could be forgiven for thinking that the more one side of the social ladder tries to restrict, moniter and red tape everything the more the other side tries to break free and defy those very rules. Keep up the good work moral rule breakers!

mondrian Based on Mondrians study of composition i have arranged the elements found on buildings so that they create a pleasing image irrelevant of the subject matter.

urban extacy â&#x20AC;&#x153;This was also my first exposure to used needles, i always felt i would be fairly unaffected by the sight of themâ&#x20AC;?

When i have to consider my first ever experience of Urban Exploration i look back to a young age, around twelve years ago when i was thirteen. It was 1996 and I was living in an area of Johannesburg called Weltevreden Park. South Africa, being a relativly young country in comparison to that of England and France, did not have quite the same concentration of derelict buildings or run down areas that where safe to stroll around. Instead i remember making do with creeping through the run off gutters that hid beneath the streets. My friend and i would would sneak out the house with our torches and steal our way to the exit area of the gutters. I remember the first ever feeling i got from being in a place you shouldnt be and the fear of what you might run into there but knowing every turn ahead was too tempting not to explore. It was only now, years later, that i have relived those feelings and been able to capture what i saw as a record of the places i have been that make me feel that way.The most recent of these experiences was while i was exploring a building near to Aston University, there where no gates or fences and it was the middle of the day so i simply strolled in. This particular building was also next to a busy stretch of road, but once inside it was like i was in that whole new world again

Top Left: Exterior HP Factory. Botton Left: Holiday Entitlement. Above: Needles and condoms.

where you test every step you are about to take, where you hear every noise the world makes and where your imagination runs away with you. There where moments when i would hear a clatter from a floor below or a flutter from a floor above and i would stand stock still for at least five minutes, seemingly terrified at what made the sound and straining to hear for another clue to tell me that i might not be alone. This was also my first exposure to used needles, i always felt i would be fairly unaffected by the sight of them but as i saw them i had a whole new wave of emotion, i couldnt imagine what kind of life it could be for the user, it was on the top floor where all the pigeons nested, the floor was scattered with feathers and dead birds and the dust stuck in your throat to a point of choking, the surroundings where filthy and spoke of everything that seemed to be associated with the scatter of syranges and condoms at my feet. I decided to head back down to the ground floor but the dirty feeling stuck with me for the rest of my time exploring the buliding. On the lower floors i came across remnants of the busy factory that the building must have once been, notes to employees, signs on walls and even letters stipulating holiday pay entitlement.

All this contributed to a whole new wave of emotion, imagining how such a busy hive of production now lay dead and disused. On my exit from the building i was called to from one of the rooms and asked what i was i doing there and if i slept there, upon a quick glimpse into the room i noticed two men who seemed about to shoot up and so after a quick explanation i thought it was probably a good time to leave. As i returned onto the busy road it seemed as though reality had kicked in. Seeing the normal people driving cars and moms walking to the shops made me feel like i had suddenly come back to earth. Looking around me i wondered how many people where completely blind to the activities that took place in the buildings on their doorstep and if they had ever experienced the range of emotions i had just gone through. The one thing i was certain of was that the feeling of fear, intrigue, and excitement i had as a child exploring gutters was still with me and that there where plenty more unexplored places for me to experience that over and over again.

Glenn Tucker 2007

lights out. go home.

Thank You for visiting Birmingham. Please show me round your city.

Tuckalux83@hotmail.co.uk