Glascow: Our only stop in Scotland.

A few days in Glascow was all we had which left us exploring most of the time we were there. After Robbie parting from us, things were a little slower, but a little more spontaneous than the previous two weeks in Ireland. The first night we ran into a section of the Glascow School of Art where there was a talk happening by a visiting artist from the UK. There seemed to be a thriving arts community in Glascow, with festivals, an internationally renowned art college and a number of established and independent galleries.

We had unfortunately just missed a bluegrass/blues festival by only two days where many North American musicians such as Howe Gelb and Sarah Harmer were playing in small venues and café’s in front of tiny crowds of about 20-40 people. It was incredible to see the status of one of Canada’s most widely recognized folk stars in such a casual state. A real treat I’d expect for these musicians to play in front of smaller audiences again with much less pressure or expectations. The thought of the immediacy of music performances and the response from the audiences felt overwhelming to me at this point, such a time based experience which is set up to be so staged and presentation is emphasized so intensely seemed a world away from the tiny portable venue that I was carrying and presenting to people in much smaller doses and completely by surprise. The touring musician, unlike the touring sightseer or consumer of the tourism industry has a more omni-directional interaction with foreign places simultaneously condensing both the influence on the community to a single show or performance, and absorbing and piecing together what they know of a place from the multiple short two day visits that their tight schedules allow.

At this point, thoughts like this were beginning to exhaust me, the McCleave Gallery I think was exhausted as well with all of the moving around. It’s hinges were becoming loose, the beige-yellow leather on the outside was becoming worn, and the handle was finding it hard to carry the weight of the books so I had to put the heavy items in a backpack to help out with the weight of the books. The journey was at it’s last stretch though, just a week and a half left in the UK before handing the McCleave Gallery off to the care of Adair for a presentation in Amsterdam and a show in Rotterdam to finish the 2006 season. First though, we were off to Cambridge where a Taxi Gallery awaited us for a short weekend show in the taxi. We were looking forward to a break from the hostel scene for a weekend and hopped on a bus to Cambridge.