An artist is doing a performance piece where she doesn’t leave Glasgow for a year

And she’s got £15k funding for it


Glasgow based artist  Ellie Harrison sparked controversy with her “year long ‘action research’ project/ durational performance”-The Glasgow Effect.

The artist is also a lecturer in contemporary art practices at Dundee.

The projects Facebook page says the project is to “Test the limits of a ‘sustainable practice’ and to challenge the demand-to-travel placed upon the ‘successful’ artist / academic.” Apparently it aims to: “cut her carbon footprint and increase her sense of belonging.”

The Facebook page for the project

The name of the project “The Glasgow Effect” is the name given to Glasgow’s statistics of poor health and low life expectancy,  illustrated by the artists use of an image of chips on the Facebook page.

Harrison is receiving £15,000 of funding from Creative Scotland towards the project, which has caused a lot of controversy.

Many have commented to express that they feel this money has been misused in its funding of the project.

One user said: “People are fucking starving in this city-It’d have been better use to donate this money to a food bank or homeless charity and teach them art.

The controversy of Harrison’s project has even sparked a rival page called The Alternative Glasgow Effect in which “normal person Gordon Scott” is raising money towards Alzheimer Scotland.