Allan Antliff - Adrian Blackwell’s Anarchitecture: The Anarchist Tension

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Anarist Developments in Cultural StudiesPost-Anarism today2010.1

Adrian Blawells Anaritecture:

e Anarist Tension

Allan Antliff

Abstract

Andrian Blackwellhas developedthe antagonistic aspectofanarchistaesthetics bycreating zones of tension enactedinthe spaces betweenartand architecture. efollowing articleis an engagementwith andreview of his work.

In anarchistpoliticalactivism,socialstructures are autonomousfrom, yet intimately related to, our agency. Societys beerment isconceived as a collective process ofself-actualization wherein in-dividual freedom and social freedom are contiguous: anarchismspotential is realized in the social trace of its own immanence. But thattrace assertsitself intheface of formidable opposition. Giventhatexisting societies are so antithetical to anarchist values, anarchismnecessarily provokes antagonism, conflict, and challenge alongsidepre-figurations of freedom as a sensuous reality. ese are the pol-itics ofartist-architectAdrian Blackwell,who has been activeforsome time combating the forces of gentrification in Canadas largestcity, Toronto. Inthe course of this struggle,Blackwellhas developedthe antagonistic aspect of anarchist aesthetics by creating zones oftension enacted in the spaces between art and architecture.

Inthefirst instance, this has been his means ofovercomingforces

of alienation in the architectural profession. Blackwell argues that

Allan Antliff holds the Canada Research Chair in Modern Art at the University ofVictoria. He specializesinthe historyofmodern art,contemporaryart,and anarchiststudies. Heis arteditor for the UK-basedjournalAnaristStudiesand has publishednumerous art reviews andfeature articlesinjournals such asCanadian ArtMagazine,Fuse, C Magazine, andGalleries West. He was a founding member of the TorontoAnarchistFree School (now AnarchistU)and a contributor toTe Fifh Estate,AnaryMagazine, Ye Drunken Sailor,and other publications.


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Public Water Closet, modified portable toilet, 2-way mirror glass (Oawa andToronto) 1998, photos: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell.

the production of architecture is highly mediated [. . .] within thecollaborative yet hierarchical structure of a firm while art is gen-erated in a context that is proximate to the everyday lives of its


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Adrian Blawells Anaritecture 167

Public Water Closet, modified portable toilet, 2-way mirror glass (Oawa andToronto) 1998, photos: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell.

producers (Blackwell, 2005: 78). Architects build the environmentswe live in, but the creative freedom of the architect is systemicallyconstrained. How, then,can oneradicalizethe socialpotentialofarchitecture? Blackwells solution has been to incorporate archi-tectural concerns into art-making, prefiguring anarchic social rela-tionships in the guise of art that takes aim at the popular culture of


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capitalistgentrification andthe social relations marked out intheurban spaces it creates (ibid.).

What is the popular perception of gentrification in Canada and theUnited States? e term was first coined by British sociologist RuthGlassin 1964 to describethetransformation ofa neighbourhoodshaped by a less well-off class to suit another more affluent one. ForGlass,gentrification was a predatorysocialprocess with a multitudeofnegativeimpacts,however,asthe decades passeditbegantoloseits critical bite, at least in North America. Here, where the institutionof private property is routinely treated as the structural foundation

ofcivic development,gentrification was naturalized as a positive,politically neutral process of urban revitalization that removes thestain ofpovertywhile physically improvingthe cityscape(Black-well,2006: 30). In his political study of the contemporary urbanpublic sphere, American social theorist Jeff Ferrell has pinpointed therhetorical features ofcivic upli through gentrification as deployedbydevelopers,civic officials,and law enforcement. Gentrificationcleans up quality of life crimes and solves the unpleasantries of

povertyand homelessness by forcingthe poor toleave.Outofsight,out of mind, so to speak (Ferrell, 2001: 15).

In late September 1998, aer considerable negotiations with cityadministrators andlocalbusinesses,Blackwell installed a portabletoilet near the corner of Qeen and Spadina in Torontos downtown(Blackwell,2004: 306). einstallation was pitched as partofanoff-site exhibition organized by an artist-run gallery and Blackwellcommied himself to servicing and cleaning the toilet for a month.

Prior to installation, he modified the toilet by replacing the door witha two-way mirror. e mirror allowed the casual round of toilet usersto watch the street, creating possibilities for play and voyeurism.

At the time the Conservative government of Ontario had passedaSafe StreetsActempowering policeto criminalizethe survivalstrategies of homeless people. Gentrification was intensifying underthe auspices of Torontos city hall, which was promoting condo-minium development inthe downtown core. As partof the effort,Toronto police were given increased funding for overtime and a man-dateto clear the homelessfrom public areas(ibid.).Governmentandprivate developersfound common causeinthe popularization ofafamiliargentrification equation: poorpeople= danger. Blackwellinstalled his toilet adjacent to a busy corner where street people


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Dundas square is a proposal for a new public square in downtown Toronto. It re-sponds aggressively to the authoritarian conceptions of civic space imagined byTorontos planners and politicians, but it tries to do so while proposing a reason-able solution to the technical demands of the competition.

Dundas Square unofficial competition entry, 3 posters, 24 x 36 each (Toronto) 1998,drawings: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell.

cleaned carwindowsformoney. Localbusinesses had been agitat-ingfor the corner to be cleared,and one of theirstrategies wastodeny access to washrooms.


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is was an intervention on the side of the window cleaners, pro-viding a much needed public servicetothose being discriminatedagainst. In the process, systemic segregation along class lines and theimposition of proprietor rights on the public sphere was successfullydisrupted. Use of the toilet also provided respite from intensified po-lice surveillance mandated by theOntario government and Torontocitycouncil inthe name of the public good (ibid.,307). In effect,


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every time a streetperson usedthetoilet the watched becamethewatcher, a reversal of perspective that went hand in hand with Black-wells provocative push-back against social harassment at the behestof business interests.

In the late1990s, Torontos planning departmentannounced acompetition to design a new public square at the corner of Youngeand Dundas Streets in the heart of the downtown. Brown and Storey


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Architects invited Blackwell to help develo p a proposal,but he pulledout once he realized their plans were at odds with his own. e firmwentonto win a placeinthe competition,and eventuallysecuredthe commission,giving usthe square asit existstoday (Blackwell,2008: 86). e square was a classic exercisein gentrification,pro-moted as a festive, business-friendly space, tightly-managed andpackagedfor rentalpurposes. Accordingly,Brown and Storeyde-signed a squarethatservesthe needs ofcommerce. Aprominentelectronic billboard bombardedthe public with advertizing and ar-chitectural features wereintroducedto channel trafficflow between

shopping destinations. e plaza was conceived as a stage for corpo-rate-backed promotionalevents, replete with water jetsforcrowdmanagement.

Blackwell walked away from the privatization of Dundas Square,but he refused to abandon the public space being colonized. Instead,he created his own alternative design,which he presented ata publiceventcelebratingthe competitions winning entries. e proposalwasinspired by the spaces ofcivic discoursein ancientGreece

the marketplace, calledthe agora, andthefocused amphitheater(Blackwell, 2003b: 308).

It tooktheform ofa spiralling platformthatgentlydescendsto-wards a large open area in the centre. Abalcony and bleachersprovide alternative waysto experiencethe space which can be en-teredfrom multiple directions. e aesthetics are porous,opentothe whims of the public (Blackwell, 2008: 86). Following the privatiz-ing logic of gentrification, the planning commissions square was in-

tended to mirror the commercial vocabulary of its surroundings; andthis is precisely what Blackwell rejected. In accord with the anarchistinsight that diversity, disorder and unpredictability are inescapablefacets of social freedom, his square is free of any ideological manip-ulation,notably the advertisingtower that figured so prominentlyinthe winning plan. Blackwells proposal fostered antagonism be-tween a space for discussion and debate and the commercializedenvironment surrounding it. e design welcomed demonstrationsand othermanifestations ofpoliticalconflictbecauseit refusedtoimpose a hegemonic notion of community on civic life. Accommo-dating the diversity and friction which democracy requires the pro-posal encouraged freedom of action that exceeds any boundariessetdown bycivic orstate authorities(Blackwell, 1998a). Anarchywas flagrantly and overtly celebrated. Playing with fire, eating out-side, telling alie,kissing on concrete,walking aline, fightingthe


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power, loving a stranger in a civic space autonomousfromregula-tion, the possibilities could and should be endless (Blackwell, 1998b).Blackwell exposed the Dundas Square competition as a gentrifyingexercise intent on commercializing the public sphere and managingit.

Occasionally, life imitates art. In 2008, the city employee in chargeofDundas Squares developmentwas appointedToronto ChiefPlan-ner. Meeting with a newspaper reporter for a photo op, he waschased offhis own square by an events manager who broughtalong a security guard. ey were told that doing anything on the

square required a permit. Apizza company was seing up to handout free slices, so they had to move on. Civic rhetoric aside, thereporter concluded, what we have [atDundas and Younge] is a pri-vate square run by a board of management that rents it for corporateevents (Anonymous, 2009).

Inthe wake ofhis Dundas Squareintervention,Blackwelldecidedto distill his proposals anarchic features in ideal form, as a sculpturedesigned for public use. Model fora Public Spacewas completed in

1999 and has been exhibitedin a numberofgalleries and outdoorcivic seings. e model is composed of concentric bleachers abouttwenty-five feet in diameter. e ring starts at ground level andrisesto a heightofsevenfeetbefore spiralling graduallydownwardintothe centre. is sculpture wasinspired byanarchistdecision-making processes in which participants form a circle so as to engagewith each other face to face. e model is designed to accommodatealargergroup ofpeoplethan a standard circle. Variationsin ele-

vation create conditionsforplaying withthe dynamics of impliedhierarchies that offset each other. Power relations are symbolicallysituated and made fluid in the process. Who is more commanding, aperson closer to the centre or a person higher up on the periphery?(Blackwell, 2008: 87).

In 2000, inthe midstof Torontos development frenzy,Blackwellexhibited Model fora Public Spaceat theLisgarStreet location ofMercer Union, one of the citys oldest artist-run galleries (est., 1979).Buildings in the area were being converted at a rapid pace into con-dominiums and upscale locations for high tech companies. Aroundthe corner from the gallery, real estate developers had set up showrooms and stage apartments to lure buyers. While Model for a Pub-lic Spacewas on exhibit,Blackwellorganized severalopenforumsin which local residents discussed the social problems arising fromgentrification andthelack ofaffordable housingintheimmediate


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is project is derived formally from the project for Dundas Square, but it respondsto my experience with non-hierarchical meeting forms at the Torontos AnarchistFree School. In these classes and organizational meetings ideas are discussed, anddecisions are made by consensus, by a group of people siing, and talking in a circle.

Model for a Public Space, plywood construction (Architecture Gallery at the Uni-versity of Manitoba, Winnipeg and Mercer Union, Toronto) 2000. Copyright AdrianBlackwell. Photo 1: Rafael Gomez-Moriana, Photo 2: Mercer Union.


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neighbourhood (Osborne, 2000: 267). A social sculpture of antago-nism and agitation pied the civic freedoms of artists, wage earners,and people on welfare against capitalized urbanism for the affluent.

Blackwellhimselfwas homeless when he installed Model for aPublic Space. He had been livingin aformer factory located at9Hanna Avenue in which occupants built their own studio units, com-plete with plumbing and other amenities. A Fiber-Optics companyhad bought the building site and on March 31st, the occupants weregiven 30 days notice to get out.

9 Hanna was more than a home. e makeshi interior included

an immense centralareathathad been usedfora hostofactivistprojects over the years, including banner-making. e studioshoused many artists, and the creative work that had gone into themwas extensive. What I loved about 9 Hanna, Blackwell recalls, isthat you could makethingsin it. Ithad twofeaturesthatmadeitideal:affordable,well-lit [studio]units andlarge open spacesinsidethe building where it was possible to make a mess and build largerthings. It was a functional utopian space (2005: 88).1 e building

was political and it was social. It was functional and it was unique.It deserved to be commemorated.

With eviction pending,Blackwelldocumentedthirteen artistsstu-dios using a pinhole camera. Each photographinthe series, titledEvicted May 1st, 2000 9 Hanna, recordstheindividualizedfeaturesof these spaces. e units had been builtand adapted to suit theneeds of those wholived and workedinthem. No studio was ex-actly the same asthe nextandthey variedin size accordingtothe

amountof floorspace occupied. Blackwellhas argued suchidealgeneric spacesare antithetical tothe money-making conceptionsofcondo developers,who destroy the possibilityof autonomouscreative productionevery timetheyshutdown a low-rentbuild-ing to make way for upscale lifestyle living (ibid., 889). His seriesreclaimsthe activism of these spaces,where modes of living werefreely configured to serve the desires of the inhabitants. ese openarchitecturalcreations,photographicallyaestheticized,projectananarchic oppositional power, a threat by example that could not be

1 He continues, By contrast, the condominium lo is primarily concerned with con-sumption. Itshort-circuits all the productive possibilities embeddedinthe studio. Forthat reasonIseethe condo crazeinToronto andthe gentrification of lowrentstudiobuildings as an aack onthe possibilityofproducing a world ofautonomous creativeproducers.


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ese four images are part of a series documenting workspaces in a former munitionsplant. ese spaces were cheap to rent and easily adaptable. Each photo illustrates aspace in which everyday life and creative practice are organically integrated.

Evicted May 1, 2000 (9 Hanna Ave.), 13 colour pinhole photos, 20x24 and 24 x 30,2001, photos: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell. Photo 1 GordonAndersons Space

le alone, targeted andEvictedby the economics of capitalism. eradically reflexive art of Blackwell aacks, in the first instance, forcesthat undermine the possibility of a beer, more humane world. Hiswork configures anarchist aesthetics as an exercise in immanence byappealing to us as potential accomplices in the social tensions thatanarchy in artcultivatesthroughitsrefusal to closet itselfwithinthe


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Evicted May 1, 2000 (9 Hanna Ave.), 13 colour pinhole photos, 20x24 and 24 x 30,2001, photos: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell. Photo 2 AdrianBlackwells Space

confines ofcapitalisms cultural institutions. is aesthetic of ten-sion is constantly searching for avenues that break out of alienation,

transparencies that bridge the gap between artist and audience, rup-tures that draw us into contested social ground, where we discoverour own freedom.


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Evicted May 1, 2000 (9 Hanna Ave.), 13 colour pinhole photos, 20x24 and 24 x30, 2001, photos: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell. Photo 3 PeterBowyers Space


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Evicted May 1, 2000 (9 Hanna Ave.), 13 colour pinhole photos, 20x24 and 24 x 30,2001, photos: Adrian Blackwell. Copyright Adrian Blackwell. Photo 4 DarrenODonnels Space


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References

Anonymous. (2008) Leer fromYounge-Dundas Square: Design-ing for the Public,National Post(May 6). As Retrieved on March2nd, 2009 from hp://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/05/09/leer-from-yonge-dundas-square-designing-for-the-public.aspx

Blackwell,Adrian. (2006) e Gentrification ofGentrification andother Strategies of Torontos Creative Class,Fuse(29)1.

(2005) Lecture: October21,2002,Unboxed:Engagementsin So-cialSpace(Jen Budney &Adrian Blackwell, Eds.).Oawa:Gallery103.

(2003a) Public WaterCloset,Only a Beginning: An AnaristAnthology(Allan Antliff, Ed.). Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.

(2003b) Model fora Public Space, Only a Beginning: An An-aristAnthology(Allan Antliff,Ed.). Vancouver: ArsenalPulpPress.

(1998a) UnofficialEntry to the Dundas Square Competition,panel two.

(1998b) UnofficialEntry to the Dundas Square Competition,panel three.

Ferrell, Jeff. (2001) Tearing Down the Streets: Adventures in UrbanAnary. New York: Palgrave.

Osborne, Catherine. (2000) Silicon Alley North/Liberty Street Vil-

lage in the Year 2005,Mix(2)26.


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Allan Antliff - Adrian Blackwell’s Anarchitecture: The Anarchist Tension

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