Ellie Harrison

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  • 2011 Exhibition

    Work-a-thon for the Self-Employed

    3 Nov 2011
    Wunderbar, Newcastle upon Tyne

  • 2011 Performance / Events

    Fair Game

    An experiment in ‘value’ devised specifically for the context of the art fair. Fair Game is an endurance performance which sees Harrison gamble her entire artist’s fee for the project with fair goers, by setting-up and running a hoopla stall within the fair grounds.

  • 2011 Social / Networks

    Work-a-thon for the Self-Employed

    Work-a-thon for the Self-Employed is a world record classification initiated by Harrison in 2011. It aims to encourage isolated freelance workers like herself to come together to attempt to break the record for ‘the most self-employed people working together (on their own individual projects) in the same place at the same time, over the course of a normal 9-to-5 day’.
    Project website

  • 2011 Internet / Broadcasts

    Personal Political Broadcast

    For the third of 4 LIVE Broadcasts made over the course of a year (December 2010 – November 2011), Harrison explores the impact of political devolution on her own personal identity. Using a variety of regional accents, Harrison interprets the systems of government in use in Scotland, Wales and the wider UK, in order to make the case for electoral reform. (Duration: 14:38)

  • 2011 Internet / Broadcasts

    UK Weather Report

    For the second of 4 LIVE Broadcasts made over the course of a year (December 2010 – November 2011), Harrison interprets the unusually cold weather experienced in the UK in December 2010. By observing the short-term impact these conditions had on retail sales in the run-up to Christmas, she raises questions about the long-term effect of capitalism on climate change. (Duration: 10:30)

  • 2010 Internet / Broadcasts

    Transmission: Glasgow to London

    For the first of 4 LIVE Broadcasts made over the course of a year (December 2010 – November 2011), Harrison gives a rambling exploration of ethical compromise and political contradiction. Questioning how a person’s moral outlook and priorities may shift with age, she offers an insight into the life of a home-owning thirty-something in devolved Scotland. (Duration: 18:00)

  • 2010 Performance / Events

    The History of Revolution: Ellie Harrison’s Fireworks Display

    Conceived as the sister work to The History of Financial Crises, this performance spectacle is a one-woman attempt to re-enact a chronology of ‘the history of revolution’ over the course of the last 360 years via the medium of pyrotechnics.

  • 2010 Performance / Events

    General Election Drinking Game

    An endurance performance devised by Harrison to coincide with the 2010 UK general election. Four ‘players’ represented the main political parties – each attempting to drink one shot of lager for every seat in parliament their party won, live as the results came in throughout the night.
    Project website

  • 2009 Performance / Events

    Desk Chair Parade

    On Sunday 2 August 2009, Ellie Harrison & Adele Prince (Sports Day) staged the inaugural Desk Chair Parade took place in Manchester as part of We are the Champions – Castlefield Gallery’s 25th Anniversary. A group of willing volunteers – office workers, shoppers and gallery goers alike – embarked on a magnificent adventure, freewheeling through the streets on ordinary office chairs.

  • 2007 Installations
    Angel Row Jukebox installed at Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham in 2007

    Angel Row Jukebox

    An interactive installation commissioned for the closing party of Angel Row Gallery in Nottingham. The Jukebox contained all the UK #1 hits which corresponded with the openings of 254 exhibitions held at the gallery over its lifetime. The audience were asked to punch in the code for the exhibition they first remembered visiting.

  • 2007 Performance / Events

    Olympic Ring Doughnut Eating Contest

    Harrison collaborated with Adele Prince as Sports Day on the Olympic Ring Doughnut Eating Contest on Saturday 15 September 2007 at Burgess Park in south London as part the second Artists’ Sports Day organised by Grunts for the Arts. The Artists’ Sports Days are organised as a protest against the recent siphoning off of 35% or the Arts Council Grants for the Arts funds in order to pay for the 2012 Olympics.

  • 2007 Social / Networks

    Notts on Tour

    In September 2007, Harrison coordinated Notts On Tour – a group road trip to Germany combining visits to Documenta 12 in Kassel and Sculpture Projects Münster 07. The trip was attended by 40 artists and curators from Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Sheffield and Derby. Notts On Tour aimed to provide an important shared experience, which would strengthen the art community in Nottingham and its surrounding region.
    Project website

  • 2007 Social / Networks

    Hen Weekend

    In 2007 Harrison devised and founded Hen Weekend – ‘the seminar by the sea for female artists, writers and curators. The project aims to facilitate discussion and encourage collaboration between its participants, and to begin to create a unique support network for talented female practitioners working within the contemporary art sector. Hen Weekend events take place in collaboration with seaside art centres around the UK. The pilot event took place at De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea from 30 March – 1 April 2007.
    Project website

  • 2006 Performance / Events

    Bouncy Boxing Championships

    Ellie Harrison & Adele Prince collaborated as Sports Day on several performance / events with a sporting theme from 2006 – 2009. They made their first public outing hosting Bouncy Boxing Championships the NAN-NANA – New Adventures in Networking event held in Nottingham on 28 – 30 April 2006. 16 lucky competitors were chosen from amongst the 60 attending delegates to take part in the contest. Four nail-biting, knock-out rounds later and a champion emerged – Paul Luckraft of The Royal Standard, Liverpool was awarded much sought after ‘silver glove’ trophy.

    Project website

  • 2005 Exhibition

    Total GHAOS

    7 Oct 2005
    Nottingham

  • 2005 Social / Networks

    The Quotidian Factor

    The first collaborative project between Adele Prince and Ellie Harrison was this artists’ workshop based on the popular UK TV series The Krypton Factor. The day-long workshop took place at Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth as part of the ARC programme, which accompanied the Day-to-Day Data exhibition in the gallery. The Quotidian Factor featured a series of four rounds in which participants competed in challenges designed to get them inspired by the little things in life.
    Project website

  • 2005 Exhibition

    Trampoline

    6 Feb 2005
    Broadway, Nottingham

  • 2004 Exhibition

    Trampoline

    2 Dec 2004
    Broadway, Nottingham

  • 2004 Exhibition

    The Reactor Red Rooms Razzamatazz

    27 Sep 2004
    You Are Here Festival, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

  • 2004 Exhibition

    Horse Drawn GHAOS

    21 Aug 2004
    Q Arts, Derby

  • 2004 Exhibition

    The Reactor Party is for You, Comrade

    25 Jun 2004
    Waygood, Newcastle

  • 2004 Exhibition

    Reactor Barge Inn

    15 May 2004
    LIFT, Bargehouse, London

  • 2004 Exhibition

    Horse Drawn GHAOS

    31 Mar 2004
    Seen, Leicester

  • 2004 Exhibition

    GHAOS ZX

    27 Mar 2004
    Shift Festival, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

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News

Ellie Harrison is an artist & activist based in Glasgow (UK). In 2023 she won the Stephen Fry Public Engagement Award for her ‘Bus Regulation: The Musical’ Trilogy in Greater Manchester, Strathclyde & Merseyside (2019 – 2023).
In 2021 the Second Edition of Harrison’s book The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint was launched at the UN Habitat’s Innovate4Cities conference to mark the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, and chosen by the Ecologist for the Resurgence Book Club. Her Early Warning Signs were also exhibited at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library during COP26 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the project.
Harrison’s Vending Machine continues to feature in the 😹 LMAO exhibition exploring humour in data visualisation at the Open Data Institute in London.

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Ellie Harrison

Ellie Harrison

Artist, activist & author of 'The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint' 📚

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"We need The Scottish Government to support our transport authority, SPT, to bring the bus network back into public control, so they can deliver a fully-integrated, accessible and affordable public transport network across the region like Greater Manchester’s new ‘Bee Network’, or the recently released plans for South Yorkshire’s ‘People’s Network’" — Ellie Harrison

I was delighted to contribute to Gerry Hassan's article for Bella Caledonia about 𝘈 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘨𝘰𝘸 👏 Read online here 👇
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/03/31/time-for-a-new-deal-and-vision-for-glasgow @followers
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2 weeks ago
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Calling all A-N members! Don't miss this online artist's talk and workshop on '𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲' which I'm co-hosting this Thursday 2 April, 11am-1pm 🌍 Find out more 👇 @followers ... See MoreSee Less

3 weeks ago
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Are you in Glasgow t

Are you in Glasgow this evening? Come along to this free screening of the brilliant POWER Film at The Glasgow School of Art 👇 I'll be introducing the event, talking about my work with Glasgow Community Energy and chairing a Q&A with artist and filmmaker Hilary Powell 😊 @followersSave the date! 🌞 We're delighted to be collaborating with Friends of the Earth Scotland to bring you Turning homes into renewable Power Stations: film screening & Discussion 👇
🗓️ Thurs 12 March 2026, 5:30pm
📍 Reid Building, The Glasgow School of Art
🎟️ Book free tickets: powerstationGSA.eventbrite.com @followers
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1 month ago
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It’s this blatant injustice that motivates all my campaigning 😡 Why should people in the poorest parts of Glasgow have to pay 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 for an essential public service as bankers in the City of London? Shame on The Scottish Government for presiding over this system for more than 25 years! @followers ... See MoreSee Less

3 months ago
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Ten years ago today, I was just beginning my year-long durational performance #TheGlasgowEffect which was to become one of the most controversial publicly-funded artworks that Scotland had ever seen.

Part psychological experiment, part protest, part strike, for the whole of 2016, I vowed not to travel beyond Glasgow’s city limits, or use any vehicles except my bike.

I described my experience of starting #TheGlasgowEffect, including being at the centre of the social media stooshie it provoked, in ‘When the Chips Hit the Fan’ – Chapter 5 of my book ‘The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint’ published by Luath Press 📚

We have just printed a newly updated version of the Second Edition, so do have a read if you’d like to be transported back to that moment in January 2016... Find out more at: ellieharrison.com/book @followers
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3 months ago
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It's been brilliant working with Metro Map Design to produce Get Glasgow Moving's new film setting out our vision for the new #ClydeMetro integrated public transport system 🤩 Check it out here 👇 @followers ... See MoreSee Less

4 months ago
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🚶🚲🚍🚇🚉 I was honoured to be invited to discuss my activism with Bring Back British Rail, Get Glasgow Moving & Better Buses for Strathclyde at ETF's 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 conference at KVS Brussels 🙌 @followers ... See MoreSee Less

4 months ago
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Why are we still waiting for better buses? 🚌 Check out this brilliant new animation by Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee graduate Sooz Reilly which we launched this week as part of the Better Buses for Strathclyde campaign. Please take two minutes to 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 to demand action 👇 @followers
📨 betterbuses.uk/strathclyde/#email
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6 months ago
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Commodities

  • Channel Swimming Challenge Logbook Channel Swimming Challenge Logbook £3.00
  • Part-time Book Part-time Book £10.00
  • Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector Book Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector £10.00
  • Counterpoint Poster Counterpoint Poster £10.00
  • Ellie & Oliver Show T-Shirt Ellie & Oliver Show T-Shirt £20.00
  • Bus Regulation: The Musical T-Shirt Bus Regulation: The Musical T-Shirt £15.00
  • National Museum of Roller Derby T-Shirt National Museum of Roller Derby T-Shirt £25.00
  • Tea Blog Sticker Tea Blog Sticker £1.00
  • The Quotidian Factor Badge The Quotidian Factor Badge £2.00

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