‘It’s Basically the Same Practice to Organise an Exhibition of Work as it is to Put on a Gig’: Music and Art Sharing DIY Spaces in Scotland

ABSTRACT

In Scotland, experimental and non-commercial art and music practices have long shared physical space, with a great deal of crossover between who is making visual art and music, as well as fluidity between artists and their audiences. Whilst Scotland's—and in particular Glasgow's—DIY scene and its history has been well documented by writers such as Sarah Lowndes and Hans Ulrich Obrist offering art-historical perspective, there has been less focus on the ways in which connections are embodied through music and sometimes experimental writing and publishing practices in these communities. This paper contains two qualitative studies of projects that operate within both visual art and music contexts: The Rhubaba Choir, an experimental choir attached to Edinburgh artist-run organisation Rhubaba and The Grass is Green in the Fields for You a small-press publishing project focused on music culture, run by Matthew Walkerdine. Working with a definition of DIY as an ethic or methodology rather than a style of production, it explores the philosophical overlap between DIY art and music practices as well as their differences and the influence they have had and continue to have on each other.

KEYWORDS:

• DIY
• artist-run
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Rhubaba Choir
• Good Press
• small-press
• fandom
• music scenes

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Timothea Armour

Timothea Armour is an artist and PhD student at Glasgow School of Art, undertaking a practice-based research project on DIY and artist-run activity in Scotland. She is interested in ways DIY activity can find a sustainable future through prioritising degrowth and amateurism as part of an anticapitalist politics.