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Less is More
‘Less is More’ is a mini exhibition by Glasgow-based artist Ellie Harrison exploring the contradictions between sustainability and growth, and the relationship between art and activism.
Exhibition Guide -
This Is What Democracy Looks Like!
We live in a liberal democracy, yet how much power do we really have to decide the direction of our country? “This Is What Democracy Looks Like!” gives you the opportunity to meet & greet your newly elected politicians at a roving roundtable discussion upon a bicycle built for seven. Hop on, decide on your direction and then travel together through the Olympic Park whilst discussing the issues that matter to you with the people in power.
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High Street Casualties: Ellie Harrison’s Zombie Walk
A performance / event in collaboration with Ort Gallery staged on Birmingham’s busy shopping streets. Dressed as “zombie employees”, more than 60 participants helped to map the former locations of thirteen of the big retail chains which have disappeared from our high streets since the start of the financial crisis in 2008.
Project website -
Dark Days
An ‘experiment in communal living’, this event offered one hundred participants the unique opportunity to stay the night in the great hall of the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow as part of a pop-up community.
Project website -
Anti-Capitalist Aerobics
Re-staged during Gustav Metzger’s Facing Extinction conference on 7 June 2014, Anti-Capitalist Aerobics engages delegates in an energy intensive workout in order to expose some of the fundamental contradictions in the way we live our lives. (Timecode 02:38-10:20)
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Transition Community of One
Devised in 2014 in response to Glasgow Open House Arts Festival, this special event at Harrison’s flat in Glasgow aimed to expose the paradox at the heart of her lifestyle and challenge her actually existing ‘socialism in one person’. Monthly screenings continued in 2016 as part of The Glasgow Effect.
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Anti-Capitalist Aerobics
Originally created as a disruption during Invisible Dust’s Ways of Seeing Climate Change conference on 30 October 2013, Anti-Capitalist Aerobics engages delegates in an energy intensive workout in order to expose some of the fundamental contradictions in the way we live our lives.
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The Other Forecast
Recorded LIVE in front of a green screen, Harrison’s The Other Forecast offers her summary of the absurd consequences of capitalism, as a warning about the future we are heading towards if the system continues unchecked. Broadcast on the Big Screen at MediaCityUK in November 2013 as part of The Other Forecast project – a collaboration between Harrison & John O’Shea.
Project website -
The Redistribution of Wealth
Installed in Tate Britain’s Historic Collection Room, this piece retells the history of UK government spending on the arts from the birth of the ‘Council for the Encouragement of Music & the Arts’ in 1940, right up to the present day climate of cutbacks.
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Best of the Rest
The final instalment in her series of 4 LIVE Broadcasts made over the course of a year (December 2010 – November 2011). Harrison draws on recurring themes from her previous broadcasts, to introduce the ideas behind Oliver Braid’s exhibition I’ll Look Forward To It and tell the story of her own work-life successes and failures in 2011. (Duration: 27:50)
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Work-a-thon for the Self-Employed
3 Nov 2011
Wunderbar, Newcastle upon Tyne -
Market Forces
1 Nov 2011
Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne -
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.
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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 -
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)
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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)
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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)
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The History of Financial Crises
7 Nov 2010
Market Gallery, Glasgow -
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.
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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 -
Vending Machine
15 Apr 2010
Glasgow Film Theatre -
Vending Machine
15 Mar 2010
Abandon Normal Devices, Lancaster -
Vending Machine
An installation for which an old vending machine is reprogrammed to release snacks only when news relating to the recession makes the headlines on the BBC News RSS feed.
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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.