Output details

The Chapeltown Union of Psychogeographers

‘The Chapeltown Union of Psychogeographers (C.U.P) was an art-in-public research project proposing a different way to explore relationships between art and social issues. Established in response to East Street Arts’ programme of ‘new genre public art’ entitled ‘Under The Paving Stones, The Beach’, C.U.P took the form of a voluntary civic association, open to all interested in the ‘psychogeography’ of Chapeltown, Leeds. Taking Guy Debord’s definition of psychogeopgraphy as ‘the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals’ (Debord 1955) as a starting point, the project aimed to discover, materialise and visualise relationships between Chapeltown’s cultures, histories, mythologies and politics. It produced a range of public outcomes developed through a range of collaborative and participatory artistic and social relationships. Of central importance was ‘The Saucer: The Official Publication of The Chapeltown Union of Psychogeographers’ a newspaper publication printed in an edition of 6,000 copies and delivered by hand to households throughout the area. Developed through practice-based research workshops the newspaper was a curatorial context through which participants disseminated documentation, photography, original artwork and texts. It includes an essay outlining the rationale of the project on critical terms and the collaboration developed with Dr Max Farrar, Emeritus Professor, Leeds Metropolitan University. Dr Farrar is a long-term resident of Chapeltown and a key member of the group of activist intellectuals who established the community newspaper ‘The Chapeltown News’ from 1972-76: a time of political, social and cultural upheaval. ‘The Saucer’ also re-published excerpts of the original newspaper, adding greatly to the impact of the project overall.

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