Episode 4 - and the final episode - of ASSET ARREST's mini-series on culture-led housing, made in collaboration with the London Cultural Diversity Lab, takes us to speak to artist Jill Kennedy-McNeill about her experiences living as a property guardian for many years in London. I then speak to artist Sean Roy Parker about his involvement in artist-led co-living project The Field, which is situated on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in rural England.

Episode 3 of ASSET ARREST's mini-series on culture-led housing looks at Bow Arts in London and their provision of 'affordable' housing for artists, which operates to a property-guardianship framework. I speak to artist Rab Harling (aka Balfron Social Club), an ex-resident of the flats they managed between 2007-14 at the iconic Balfron Tower - a brutalist tower block designed by Erno Goldfinger - in Poplar. He talks about his experience there and his ongoing fight against the artwashing and social cleansing that took place. I then hear from a current resident of the properties they currently manage in an estate in Thamesmead, which are planned for demolition within the next few years.

For more information:

rabharling.com/ balfronsocialclub.org/

In this episode, I speak to Newcastle-based artist Andrew Wilson, previously a resident of Artist House 45 - a housing project for artists by artist-led organisation East Street Arts in Leeds, which ran between 2015 and 2020. Andrew lived and worked there with his collaborator Toby Lloyd (together they are known as Lloyd-Wilson), where they developed relationships with their immediate neighbours and existing community projects. For more information about Andrew's work visit: www.iamandrewwilson.co.uk/

What is culture-led housing and can it play a role in tackling the UK's housing crisis?

This is the introductory episode to a new ASSET ARREST mini-series on 'culture-led housing', made in collaboration with The London Cultural Diversity Lab at City, University of London. The London Cultural Diversity Lab is one of five cross-Europe “laboratories” that form the Creative Impact Research Centre Europe (CIRCE). Throughout 2023, the five labs are exploring the multiple challenges and opportunities facing the European creative economy in the midst of an unfolding polycrisis. In this episode I introduce the idea of 'culture-led housing' and speak to architectural researcher and practitioner Jonathan Orlek.

Coming Soon: ASSET ARREST explores "culture-led" housing

It’s been a while, but a new mini-series of ASSET ARREST shall be ready for your ears very soon! Coming up over the next few months is a special edition of 3 episodes that take a slightly different form than usual, and have been developed in collaboration with the London Cultural Diversity Lab at City, University of London. These episodes explore the idea of ‘culture-led housing’ and whether such housing projects can offer radical alternatives to financialised housing models. Stay tuned for more info.

The London Cultural Diversity Lab is one of five cross-Europe “laboratories” that form the Creative Impact Research Centre Europe (CIRCE). Throughout 2023, the five labs are exploring the multiple challenges and opportunities facing the European creative economy in the midst of an unfolding polycrisis.

Coming soon: ASSET ARREST explores "culture-led housing"

It’s been a while, but a new mini-series of ASSET ARREST shall be ready for your ears very soon! Coming up over the next few months is a special edition of 3 episodes that take a slightly different form than usual, and have been developed in collaboration with the London Cultural Diversity Lab at City, University of London. These episodes explore the idea of ‘culture-led housing’ and whether such housing projects can offer radical alternatives to financialised housing models. Stay tuned for more info.

The London Cultural Diversity Lab is one of five cross-Europe “laboratories” that form the Creative Impact Research Centre Europe (CIRCE). Throughout 2023, the five labs are exploring the multiple challenges and opportunities facing the European creative economy in the midst of an unfolding polycrisis.

Investing in social housing is growing in popularity. This is the first of a series of ASSET ARREST shorts - 'SMALL TALK' - that give telephone-based insights to speculative real estate and investor-driven housing. Find out how investors plan to maintain profits in a time of polycrisis.

Installation as part of ‘Prospect Us’ at Shieldfield Art Works, Newcastle.

Video produced for the exhibiton 'Prospect Us' at Shieldfield Art Works, Newcastle, 2021. The video features meetings with a number of former, current and future students to visit their accommodation or view new accommodation with them and discuss their experiences of searching for and living in this form of housing. A video compiles imagery and footage from the various student accommodation’s promotional material in the form of a tour around their various spaces. You can also listen to the episode online at assetarrest.com. With thanks to Anna Muddiman, Anna Li, Grace Armstrong, Renee Wong and Anantha Ram Kalepu for their participation.

ASSET ARREST presentation at ZK/U: Centre for Art and Urbanistics, Berlin, 2019.

FRIEZE WEEK SPECIAL #3!!! The Property Investors Show, ExCEL, London.

“Why would anyone want to live 15km from the centre of Lagos? Because there’s an 18-hole gold course!” “The vast majority of landlords out there are great people.” “You do get professionally bad tenants who will prey on vulnerable landlords.” “Covid has given landlords a big bloody knock.” “Deep inside we’re all investors.” “Anomalies and loopholes can be translated into entrepreneurial opportunities!”

A contemporary horror story featuring flesh eating creatures called investors and blood sucking monsters called landlords, who are desperate for bodies to take to another dimension they call ‘property’. Finding myself trapped in a hellscape and lost in a word cloud, I begin to realise that Utopia Corporation is not as utopian as the branding would suggest….

What the reviews are saying:

"Scariest thing since the Blair Witch Project!" "The unflinching brutality of the ASSET ARREST Frieze Week Special 3 is captivating." "I sure hope I never end up in 'property' - not for the faint of heart!"

Episode 26 and my 2nd Frieze week special!! In this episode I visit two houses on (and just off of) Avenue Road in St Johns Wood – named London’s most expensive street in 2020 – with Berlin-based curator and writer Tirdad Zolghadr. We talk about the art-gentrification-real-estate relation; artists complicity in these processes of social cleansing; the Haus der Statistik in Berlin, and hope.

Since 2017 Tirdad has been artistic director of the Sommerakademie Paul Klee. Curatorial work includes biennial settings as well as long-term, research-driven efforts, most recently as associate curator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin, 2016-20. Writing includes TRACTION: an applied and polemical Attempt to locate Contemporary Art, Sternberg Press 2016.

*Please note, the "political looking artwork" I refer to is the one in the image, and it's a Gilbert and George work - lol - so not as out of place as I'd thought on first glance.*

“𝗪𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳.”– random developer man in suit who networked me. “𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.” – Sean Mulryan, Managing Director of Ballymore who couldn’t help but network me too. 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗭𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟!!!!!!!!!! 𝗔𝗥𝗧 + 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 = 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛!!!  Asset Arrest Episode 25 is bit long and unwieldy but incase anyone is interested, it is a recording of an event I attended this morning called ‘Productive Placemaking, New Opportunities: What does successful regeneration truly look like? Held at the Trinity Art Gallery on London City Island, it featured a bunch of mainly slimy posh men in suits – an array of planners, developers, investors, etc – saying very little of meaning and just rambling on about how successful they and their placemaking strategies are. But it's a chance to hear how those on the other side speak about these things. They left little time for questions but I did manage to get one in right at the end, which led to me having a substantial conversation with Sean Mulryan, Ballymore’s managing director, after the event. Sadly the recording of this conversation, and my other networking efforts, was not usable due to the crowds of loud networking people in the space. Apologies for the imperfect audio but I was recording on the sly in a difficult room full of people.

Photos of ASSET ARREST installation in ‘Prospect Us’ exhibition.

ASSET ARREST is part of this exhibition and series of events at Shieldfield Art Works (SAW) in Newcastle!

Prospect Us exhibition is open at Shieldfield Art Works (SAW) in Newcastle! More info on the exhibition and related series of events: https://www.saw-newcastle.org/prospect-us/

A special episode made for the 'Prospect Us' exhibition at Shieldfield Art Works (SAW) in Newcastle. I visit several private student accommodation blocks in the area and speak to a number of former, current and future students to visit their accommodation or view new accommodation with them and discuss their experiences of searching for and living in this form of housing.

Presented in the gallery alongside a video that compiles imagery and footage from the various student accommodation’s promotional material in the form of a tour around their various spaces.

With thanks to Anna Muddiman, Anna Li, Grace Armstrong, Renee Wong and Anantha Ram Kalepu for their participation.