Ellie Brown

Ever wondered why Milton Keynes has cows made from concrete? Join resident researcher Ellie Brown on a fact-finding and myth-busting mission into deep MK lore. Online now on Block blockonline.live

Now on @pooleyvilleuk , an interview with the marvellous @studiolilianelijn ✨ Liliane Lijn is an artist whose work I have found myself in close proximity to over the years - from growing up visiting the shopping centre in Milton Keynes where her site specific work, Circle of Light, hangs in one of the arcades (though - not in the place it was intended!!), and later, the Light Pyramid in Campbell Park which has become a focal point in Central Milton Keynes. Beyond MK, I unintentionally followed Liliane’s public sculptures… White Koan, originally made for Plymouth as part of the 1971 City Sculpture Project, is now installed on the University of Warwick’s campus (picture 5) For such a long time, Liliane’s public sculptures have never been far away… so having the chance to discuss these works as well as her memoirs, Liquid Reflections, is a real privilege! And don’t forget - Liliane will be in Milton Keynes tomorrow to discuss her book which retraces her life and career as a young artist in Paris, New York and Greece in the 1960s

On this cold evening thinking (always) about Ronald Rae’s sculpture, O wert thou in the cauld blast (1984) Inspired by the poem of the same name by Robert Burns: Oh wert thou in the cauld blast, On yonder lea, on yonder lea; My plaidie to the angry airt, I’d shelter thee, I’d shelter thee: Or did Misfortune’s bitter storms Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, Thy bield should be my bosom, To share it a’, to share it a’. 🫂

To coincide with the publication of Liquid Reflections in paperback, we are delighted to welcome @studiolilianelijn back to Milton Keynes for this special event in March at x+why, unity place. Lijn will read extracts from her memoir followed by a Q&A with Dr Ellie Brown (@elliebr.own ) and a book signing. Lijn (b.1939, New York) is a pioneering kinetic artist, writer, and sculptor known for integrating science, eastern philosophy, and mythology with industrial materials to explore light, energy, and the female form, notably through early kinetic text works and iconic Koan sculptures. Lijn is also responsible for some of MK’s most iconic public sculptures - Circle of Light (@centremk ) and Light Pyramid (in Campbell Park @theparkstrust ). Supported by @xandwhyspace and @culturemiltonkeynes as part of the Look Again programme. To book a free ticket, visit our link in bio.

A good year for being outside, whether in the rain or the sunshiiiiiine ⛅️

I passed my phd! How do you summarise four years of researching, writing and thinking about all things “shopping centres”? I answered that question in my viva (!) but I could have chosen any of the 1000s of photos I’ve taken or images I’ve acquired of outrageously glam brochures, questionable plans for destroying medieval streets, Mies inspired shopping centres, Gordon Cullen illustrations, Terence Conran Habitat stores, John Lewis stores designed by Robin & Lucienne Day, sculptures by Barbara Hepworth, Franta Belsky and Liliane Lijn, or sad and sorry photos of what a lot of shopping centres look like now, etc etc, but this photo taken somewhere in Liverpool somehow sums it up 🫡

MARK LECKEY & ARTHUR JAFA SUMMON GHOSTS INTO AN EVER-SHIFTING SHOPPING CENTRE Read & See More at: https://recessed.space/00286-Mark-Leckey-Arthur-Jafa-Whitgift-Croydon Link in bio Two seminal moving image artworks come together in the unlikely setting of a run-down shopping centre in Croydon, South London. Works by Mark Leckey & Arthur Jafa take over a former electronics store in the Whitgift Centre, a project organised by gallerist Gavin Brown with local affordable studio provider, Conditions. Ellie Brown went along to think not only about the works, but also their meaning when extracted from a gallery setting & repositioned into a space awaiting demolition. ----- Outside the Whitgift Centre in Croydon, bright green signs affixed to lampposts point in the general direction of HARDCORE / LOVE, an exhibition which takes its name from two video works on show: Mark Leckey’s Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999) and Arthur Jafa's Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death (2016). Staged in a former electronics store within the shopping centre, the exhibition brings these pivotal video works to Croydon’s late 1960s shopping centre with rich context. Entering the Whitgift Centre from Croydon’s North End, the emptiness of the centre is immediately striking. Orange traffic barriers cordon off an unused set of escalators, while green scaffold netting suspends a clear view of the glazed atrium. A café seating area outside the former Allders department store remains sectioned off by a wood and glass partition, the tables and chairs that once filled the space long gone. The nostalgia-tinged aesthetic of the ‘dead mall’ phenomenon has crept into the British psyche in recent years, a term that originated in North America, where suburban malls have fallen into decline and disrepair over the past three decades. This makes it easy to see the Whitgift Centre as yet another example of commercial decline – yet, HARDCORE / LOVE forces the visitor to see the space of the shopping centre along different lines. ----- @conditionstudioprogramme @mark.leckey @anamibia @gavinbrownsenterprise @passerbystop @elliebr.own @mnoeltod @doubledisaster1 @gladstone.gallery @spruethmagers

I am this close 🤏 to finishing my phd, and though I would be lying if I said it has been a smooth ride (I have acquired as many greys as I have written footnotes), riding my bike in between writing and editing has made it an infinitely smoother ride. As recently as last summer, I was Not A Bike Person - maybe riding a bike is less worse than writing an abstract, or maybe it’s because @hyasynthe started a bike club @handsfeetarmslegs so I had very little choice. Either way, it’s been fab 🚲

A (kind of) journey thru mies van der rohe & lilly reich’s 1929 pavilion in barcelona … of the original pavilion claire zimmerman writes “not only do [architectural photographs] allow the viewer to “walk through” the building, but they also show how particular moments in the plan might be considered visual opportunities” - many of which seemed (evidently) pretty instinctive when visiting the reconstructed pavilion last month 🤔 insta mies

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𝓙𝓛𝓟 monogram for john lewis partnership designed by Hans Schleger (aka Zero) in 1962, as seen at the victoria centre, nottingham

For present space #4, i spoke to some incredible people including hans ulrich obrist, mark leckey, joel meyerowitz, dara birnbaum, john pawson, and wrote about others including pedro reyes, claudia andujar & nan goldin. A beautiful publication, and one i am very happy to have contributed to!