Anna McLauchlan
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department Member
- University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Faculty Memberadd
- Ethnomethodology, Art writing, Writing in Visual Art, Sports Geography, Performativity, Performance and performativity, and 12 moreSite Ontology, Autonomy, Strategic Management, Cultural Geography, Embodiment, Affect (Cultural Theory), Human Geography, Human-Environmental Geography, Swimming, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Environmental Sustainability, and Environmental Lawedit
- * Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde * Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice, Duncan of Jordansto... more* Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde
* Tutor in Contemporary Art Practice, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee
* Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
* Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
* Member of the Association of American Geographers
* Member of the Strickland Distribution, an artist-run group supporting the development of independent research in art-related and non-institutional practices
* Qualifications: BA Hons (Fine Art); Masters of Environmental Studies (with Distinction); PhD: Environmental Justice as a Policy Objective; PG Diploma in Research Methods; PG Certificate in Advanced Academic Practice; Diploma in Yoga Teachingedit
The Glasgow Effect is the name given to a public health mystery: Why do people in Glasgow, Scotland, die younger than similar post-industrial UK cities such as Manchester and Liverpool? Ellie Harrison appropriated this name to title an... more
The Glasgow Effect is the name given to a public health mystery: Why do people in Glasgow, Scotland, die younger than similar post-industrial UK cities such as Manchester and Liverpool? Ellie Harrison appropriated this name to title an artwork where she confined herself to Glasgow for 2016. During that year the only vehicle Harrison used was her bike and she actively engaged with a variety of communities where she lives. The artwork’s invocation of Glasgow’s poor health record in combination with the £15,000 of public funding awarded to Harrison hit a nerve with some Glaswegians that led to outrage on Facebook. Subsequently, Harrison and her artwork were demonized by a broader UK media. Why fund a middle-class English artist’s ‘poverty safari’ in Glasgow when so many others never have the chance to leave? This article grapples with the educative potential of The Glasgow Effect. Harrison began the project because her teaching job in Dundee required her to ‘write and submit a signific...
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This report intends to inform the debate about whether an independent organisation to administer Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is needed to support the Scottish Ministers desire to make Scotland a world leader in SEA.... more
This report intends to inform the debate about whether an independent organisation to administer Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is needed to support the Scottish Ministers desire to make Scotland a world leader in SEA. Interlocking roles an independent body could perform were developed from literature about the administration of environmental assessment in several countries and studies regarding “effective” SEA; arguments for and against a freestanding administrative body have then been assessed in the context of these roles and existing/proposed Scottish legislation.
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Radical action must be taken now to curb the worst outcome from our current climate crisis. The Scottish Government has been a world leader in climate action as a result of legally binding emissions reductions targets established by the... more
Radical action must be taken now to curb the worst outcome from our current climate crisis. The Scottish Government has been a world leader in climate action as a result of legally binding emissions reductions targets established by the 2009 Climate Change (Scotland) Act. The Managing Climate Risk conference, organised by Holyrood Insight, drew attention to enhancements to the 2009 Act that introduce a legally binding monitored commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. Importantly, the conference pinpointed key areas for action together with the challenges of, and practical opportunities arising from, delivering on commitments. Delivering on the Scottish commitment requires transformation in the community, public sector and businesses. During the conference approaches to altering structures and strategies were set out alongside a variety of other ways to incentivise and support change in people’s day-to-day behaviour. There have been easy wins in electricity generation but n...
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This report is based on an independent online survey of people engaged with strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Scotland, October 2018. The survey was designed to contribute to research into effective SEA in the Scottish context... more
This report is based on an independent online survey of people engaged with strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Scotland, October 2018. The survey was designed to contribute to research into effective SEA in the Scottish context (as documented in McLauchlan and Joao 2019). This report begins with information about who took part in the survey, then provides a summary of responses to the questions. There were 35 full responses, from local authorities, statutory consultation authorities, other public bodies, NGOs and the Scottish Government. All participants had been involved with SEA for a period of more than 3 years; 21 people had 10 years’ experience or greater. Many of the questions were open ended and this yielded much information about people’s experience of SEA
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This report compiles responses to an online survey of participants in Bothy Project ‘live/work’ artist residencies at two main sites in Scotland: Inshriach Bothy, in Inshriach Estate in the Cairngorms National Park (operational since... more
This report compiles responses to an online survey of participants in Bothy Project ‘live/work’ artist residencies at two main sites in Scotland: Inshriach Bothy, in Inshriach Estate in the Cairngorms National Park (operational since October 2012), and Sweeney’s Bothy on the Isle of Eigg (up and running from February 2014). In November 2019 a link to the survey was emailed to 165 people listed as doing these residencies (with a reminder in December). Forty-five full responses were received. The majority of respondents (40 of 45) noted a direct beneficial impact on their work or practice from their Bothy Project residency. Undertaking a residency often resulted in tangible artworks and influenced the ‘feel’ of what was made. Some people changed existing, or adopted new, working practices during their residency. A small group stated that the residency had directly inspired new ways of thinking. Two (of 45) people wrestled with the conditions, making it difficult for them to complete p...
Glasgow’s swimming pools 1804-2014: names, locations and dates when they became operative and, if applicable, when they closed.
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Reggae sound systems are assemblages of speakers, record decks, and amplifiers that permit sound to be reproduced at very powerful levels. Sound systems crews, alongside an extended affinity group, build their own systems and organize and... more
Reggae sound systems are assemblages of speakers, record decks, and amplifiers that permit sound to be reproduced at very powerful levels. Sound systems crews, alongside an extended affinity group, build their own systems and organize and engineer the space of the dance. Interviews with crews from the United Kingdom and France reveal differences in how they each draw from the history of Jamaican musical experimentation when making spaces to collectively immerse the crew and crowd in sound. Yet in both cases, their approach to sound design communicates a commitment to inclusivity, maintaining an emphasis on the “vibe,” which progressively alters participants’ somatic experience and perceptions. In contrast to “dancehall” in Jamaica, such sound systems disrupt understandings of a “standard” setup that reinforces hierarchical relationships between performers and audience. Crews also downplay the visual aspects of the “dance” and dancing and are consciously non-consumerist. Thus, different crews’ histories and associations alter how they enact, feel, and understand similar conventions.
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Where social occasions, in the context of nightclubs and music venues, are bounded, the space of the entrance is accomplished via regulation of attendees by workers. This regulation ensures: the venue stays within capacity; people have... more
Where social occasions, in the context of nightclubs and music venues, are bounded, the space of the entrance is accomplished via regulation of attendees by workers. This regulation ensures: the venue stays within capacity; people have been invited or (if required) pay the fee; entry to ‘undesirables,’ such as drunks, is prohibited. This paper draws from experience of attending social occasions and being a doorperson to categorise and examine methods of entering where access is restricted. Often methods require attendees to engage in visible dialogue with the doorperson; where methods are invisible, attendees can circumvent access restrictions whilst a semblance of order is maintained.
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SEA’s capacity to profile significant environmental effects is thought to help make public-sector decision-making more sustainable. Acknowledgement is growing that ‘learning’, that links to but transcends individual assessments, is a key... more
SEA’s capacity to profile significant environmental effects is thought to help make public-sector decision-making more sustainable. Acknowledgement is growing that ‘learning’, that links to but transcends individual assessments, is a key source of SEA effectiveness. Such learning is largely positioned as wholesome, moral, as ‘good’. The Scottish Parliament went further than the European Commission to require all public bodies to engage with SEA. More than 14 years of evidence – including from the Scottish Government SEA Database (an online registry), a survey and interviews – provides a unique opportunity to study the role of learning in SEA. The paper argues that application of SEA requires systematic reinforcement and maintenance of learning. But the learning fostered by SEA is not guaranteed to prioritise or protect ‘environment’ – for that to happen SEA must also be embraced as disruptor of the prioritisation of economic goals.
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Reggae sound systems are assemblages of speakers, record decks, and amplifiers that permit sound to be reproduced at very powerful levels. Sound systems crews, alongside an extended affinity group, build their own systems and organize and... more
Reggae sound systems are assemblages of speakers, record decks, and amplifiers that permit sound to be reproduced at very powerful levels. Sound systems crews, alongside an extended affinity group, build their own systems and organize and engineer the space of the dance. Interviews with crews from the United Kingdom and France reveal differences in how they each draw from the history of Jamaican musical experimentation when making spaces to collectively immerse the crew and crowd in sound. Yet in both cases, their approach to sound design communicates a commitment to inclusivity, maintaining an emphasis on the “vibe,” which progressively alters participants’ somatic experience and perceptions. In contrast to “dancehall” in Jamaica, such sound systems disrupt understandings of a “standard” setup that reinforces hierarchical relationships between performers and audience. Crews also downplay the visual aspects of the “dance” and dancing and are consciously non-consumerist. Thus, different crews’ histories and associations alter how they enact, feel, and understand similar conventions.
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Swimming is a popular form of recreation and exercise in the UK and US. Swimming can take place outdoors but, particularly in the UK, largely takes place in designated indoor pools. Existing research tends to focus on ‘public’ or... more
Swimming is a popular form of recreation and exercise in the UK and US. Swimming can take place outdoors but, particularly in the UK, largely takes place in designated indoor pools. Existing research tends to focus on ‘public’ or ‘municipal’ pools leaving broader spatial geographies of swimming pool provision under explored. In response to concern about swimming pool closures, this paper draws from extensive archival research into all swimming pools in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, since the first opened in 1804. Formal and informal programmes of pool building and closure were revealed. Rather than decreasing, public provision has remained constant for the last 100 years but become progressively more spread out in relation to the city’s changing size. Broadening exploration beyond the ‘public’ category exposed a vast drop in school pool numbers around the year 2000 due to a Private Finance Initiative project that consolidated the secondary school estate and outsourced school building management. The lessons: researching all types of swimming pool through time greatly enriches understandings of the changing meaning and extent of public service provision.
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Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is undertaken in more than 60 countries worldwide. Support to the SEA process can range from formal legal requirements to voluntary ‘ad hoc’ approaches. In the cases where SEA is legally required,... more
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is undertaken in more than 60 countries worldwide. Support to the SEA process can range from formal legal requirements to voluntary ‘ad hoc’ approaches. In the cases where SEA is legally required, such as in Europe where the SEA Directive sets a framework for SEA legislation in 28 countries, practitioners may engage with SEA but in a reluctant way. This paper reports on a unique survey of 203 key people responsible for implementing the SEA legislative requirement in Scotland. The majority (53%) of the 187 practitioners who answered the hypothetical question ‘If SEA was not compulsory, would you do it?’ said ‘Yes’. However, results suggest that the responses were much nuanced. Practitioners were asked to explicate their reasoning and, irrespective of whether the answer was ‘yes’ or ‘no’, common themes were evident in accompanying remarks. This paper enables reflection on reasons for acceptance or rejection of the SEA process by discussing: the perception that a similar process to SEA is already being done, the problem with lack of resources, the call for a ‘leaner process’ and the difficulties of undertaking SEA when conditions are already determined at a higher ‘tier’.
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This film document of 001–100, and the associated event conceived by Cristina Lucas, expose the different forms of classification inherent within sport and those that shape most of our day-to-day understandings: distance in terms of... more
This film document of 001–100, and the associated event conceived
by Cristina Lucas, expose the different forms of classification
inherent within sport and those that shape most of our day-to-day
understandings: distance in terms of the metre; age as defined in the
standard unit, years. Such classifications produce boundaries — they
allow for something or someone to be understood as existing within or
outwith a particular category. As a result, the existence of the measure
generates what it means to achieve within the framework of the measure’s
use. One to one hundred, as with many projects framed as culture
provides a space for implicit commentary and subtle disruption of such
categorisations.
by Cristina Lucas, expose the different forms of classification
inherent within sport and those that shape most of our day-to-day
understandings: distance in terms of the metre; age as defined in the
standard unit, years. Such classifications produce boundaries — they
allow for something or someone to be understood as existing within or
outwith a particular category. As a result, the existence of the measure
generates what it means to achieve within the framework of the measure’s
use. One to one hundred, as with many projects framed as culture
provides a space for implicit commentary and subtle disruption of such
categorisations.
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Radical action must be taken now to curb the worst outcome from our current climate crisis. The Scottish Government has been a world leader in climate action as a result of legally binding emissions reductions targets established by the... more
Radical action must be taken now to curb the worst outcome from our current climate crisis. The Scottish Government has been a world leader in climate action as a result of legally binding emissions reductions targets established by the 2009 Climate Change (Scotland) Act. The Managing Climate Risk conference, organised by Holyrood Insight, drew attention to enhancements to the 2009 Act that introduce a legally binding monitored commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. Importantly, the conference pinpointed key areas for action together with the challenges of, and practical opportunities arising from, delivering on commitments.
Delivering on the Scottish commitment requires transformation in the community, public sector and businesses. During the conference approaches to altering structures and strategies were set out alongside a variety of other ways to incentivise and support change in people’s day-to-day behaviour. There have been easy wins in electricity generation but now energy efficiency measures must be mainstreamed and the transportation system be completely rethought. Emissions reduction must be part of a coordinated global effort; Scotland can achieve net zero in way that brings communities together and encourages health benefits.
Delivering on the Scottish commitment requires transformation in the community, public sector and businesses. During the conference approaches to altering structures and strategies were set out alongside a variety of other ways to incentivise and support change in people’s day-to-day behaviour. There have been easy wins in electricity generation but now energy efficiency measures must be mainstreamed and the transportation system be completely rethought. Emissions reduction must be part of a coordinated global effort; Scotland can achieve net zero in way that brings communities together and encourages health benefits.
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This report is based on an independent online survey of people engaged with strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Scotland, October 2018. The survey was designed to contribute to research into effective SEA in the Scottish context... more
This report is based on an independent online survey of people engaged with strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Scotland, October 2018. The survey was designed to contribute to research into effective SEA in the Scottish context (as documented in McLauchlan and João 2019). This report begins with information about who took part in the survey, then provides a summary of responses to the questions. There were 35 full responses, from local authorities, statutory consultation authorities, other public bodies, NGOs and the Scottish Government. All participants had been involved with SEA for a period of more than 3 years; 21 people had 10 years’ experience or greater. Many of the questions were open ended and this yielded much information about people’s experience of SEA.
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This report documents a conference (13th September 2004) by Holyrood Conferences and Events in association with The Scottish Executive. The conference consulted on a Bill introduced to the Scottish Parliament which came to extend existing... more
This report documents a conference (13th September 2004) by Holyrood Conferences and Events in association with The Scottish Executive. The conference consulted on a Bill introduced to the Scottish Parliament which came to extend existing commitments to Strategic Environmental Assessment resulting from European Community Directive 2001/42/EC.
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Anna McLauchlan drinks in The Last Hour!, a project curated by Timothea Armour, the fifth and final commission in Collective’s Satellites programme
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Anna McLauchlan navigates Shelter Stone: The Artist and the Mountain, a year-long public art project in the form of a newspaper
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Anna McLauchlan visits the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum, Dundee
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A second volume of The Persistence of Type newspaper was created especially for the seventh edition of Glasgow International.
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Anna McLauchlan channels ‘Radiophrenia’, a fortnight of live broadcast sound and transmission arts
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Anna McLauchlan preserves Alex Impey’s ←Term.←Lam.←, the second commission in Collective’s Satellites programme
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Text written to accompany 'The Persistence of Type' an exhibition of new work by
artist Fiona Jardine and designers Sophie Dyer and Maeve Redmond that explores exchanges between graphic design, visual art, fiction and historical... more
Text written to accompany 'The Persistence of Type' an exhibition of new work by
artist Fiona Jardine and designers Sophie Dyer and Maeve Redmond that explores exchanges between graphic design, visual art, fiction and historical advertising (Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 20 June - Sun 9 August 2015).
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A ‘more active Glasgow’ is intended to be a major outcome of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Official publications indicate this is supported by ‘improvement of facilities and emphasis on grassroots sport participation’. The Games has... more
A ‘more active Glasgow’ is intended to be a major outcome of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Official publications indicate this is supported by ‘improvement of facilities and emphasis on grassroots sport participation’. The Games has motivated an ‘upgrade’ of swimming facilities including the east end Tollcross swimming pool, but, there are also plans to close four school pools and action continues over the 2001 closure of the south side Govanhill Baths. Anna’s talk gives an overview of her recent research into trends in the provision of swimming pools in Glasgow since the first pool opened in 1804, placing the
Games commitment and the controversy over local closures in regional and historical context.
Games commitment and the controversy over local closures in regional and historical context.
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Four visitors to the Cairngorms one after the other take up residence in Inshriach Bothy; each stays for one week from February into March. Being in Inshriach, and being alone, shapes the stories they tell—immersion in the late winter... more
Four visitors to the Cairngorms one after the other take up residence in Inshriach Bothy; each stays for one week from February into March. Being in Inshriach, and being alone, shapes the stories they tell—immersion in the late winter countryside, negotiating low light, a questioning of capabilities, concern about access to and ownership of land, awareness of solitude.
There could be no better guide.
They have an intimate knowledge of what they narrate, and love it deeply. They cut wood, gather water, sleep, eat, toilet and walk. Three wash. Two cycle. Two drive cars. One climbs a tree. One is accompanied by a whippet; another is haunted by a cat. One witnesses a human kissing trees.
What will you do? Climb that tree? Shower? Walk up that hill with or without this guide? Successfully keep the fire going to spare yourself from the cold? Sauna and drink gin with a stranger? Jump in the river?
There could be no better guide.
They have an intimate knowledge of what they narrate, and love it deeply. They cut wood, gather water, sleep, eat, toilet and walk. Three wash. Two cycle. Two drive cars. One climbs a tree. One is accompanied by a whippet; another is haunted by a cat. One witnesses a human kissing trees.
What will you do? Climb that tree? Shower? Walk up that hill with or without this guide? Successfully keep the fire going to spare yourself from the cold? Sauna and drink gin with a stranger? Jump in the river?
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The word ‘dwelling’ is commonly associated with a building, not usually a place of work, but somewhere that you stay (or live), probably for a long period of time. So, what it means to dwell is often wrapped up with legal and practical... more
The word ‘dwelling’ is commonly associated with a building, not usually a place of work, but somewhere that you stay (or live), probably for a long period of time. So, what it means to dwell is often wrapped up with legal and practical understandings of residence. The title of a building, the right to a property, is normally owned. But you can dwell in a building you don’t own through leasing or squatting.
Awareness of the conditions of dwelling happen through their disruption. This Creative Lab Residency disrupts my usual way of living and working to form a situated inquiry taking-place in the CCA. Writing, archival research, movement practices and plastic arts are used to think through tenancy and ownership together with how somewhere familiar changes through being in residence.
Awareness of the conditions of dwelling happen through their disruption. This Creative Lab Residency disrupts my usual way of living and working to form a situated inquiry taking-place in the CCA. Writing, archival research, movement practices and plastic arts are used to think through tenancy and ownership together with how somewhere familiar changes through being in residence.