Bryden

Mediums: Plywood, Pens, Acrylic & Textured Paint, Neon, flame retardant putty, Ayrshire grass
Dimensions: 7ft x 5ft

Although only sixteen, Mick was infamous around my way when he died. Mick was short but known for a conviction to kick your cunt in. He moved to our seaside town in Ayrshire to escape the drugs and gang violence in Glasgow's south side, however, he quickly fell amongst a similar crowd. I encountered him rarely. One lunchtime I saw him chasing a group of boys outside the school flailing a golf club above his head. Another time he left a bootprint on my mate’s face. One morning on the way to school, I encountered the aftermath of a car he'd crashed through the video shop.

The day after his death, I learned not through the newspapers but from a wall across from my house. Someone had spray painted "micks deed".

I knew Mick through fear, death, violence, and legend.
I mourn the memory and this wall carries the shame.

Mediums: Concrete, PlyWood, Pens, Pastels, Acrylic Paint,
Neon, flame retardant putty
Dimensions: 5ft x 5ft
Photo Credit: Rob Cartwright

In 2010, millions of Scots tuned in to debate and lament the Reality TV’s latest casualties. “The Scheme” was set in the estates of Onthank and Knockinlaw in Kilmarnock. The series was pulled off the air after only four episodes when one of the participants was charged with assault. Many decried the show as exploitative “poverty porn” representing nothing but the worst clichés of working-class Scots.

A scene in the first episode shares a shaken father standing outside Glasgow’s sheriff's court. After himself having spent the majority of his life in jail, he is shaken by the realization of his eldest son following in his footsteps. After one too many repeat offenses, his son faces a prison sentence for an unprovoked assault in a post office. At a loss for words, through teary eyes, all he can muster is this popular west of Scotland phrase.

Mediums: Brick, Pens, PlyWood, Concrete, Neon, flame retardant putty
Dimensions: 5ft x 5ft
Photo Credit: Rob Cartwright

Vindictive insults are plastered across the walls of Glasgow showcasing the bitter rivalry between Scotland’s most popular football teams, the “Old Firm”. Both teams have long appealed to political, social and religious divisions within Scotland.

In 1971, an Old firm game was held at Ibrox football stadium, at Rangers’ home Stadium. During the last moments of a tied match, as disappointed Rangers supporters were filing out, a child fell amongst the oncoming crowd in an exit stairway. Desperately trying to avoid standing on the child, a pile up quickly led to the crushing deaths of 66 fans with a further 200 injured including many children as young as eight. A generation later, in the summer of 2016, one morning Glasgow awoke to this hateful scrawl on the same stadiums walls.