Thursday 15 December 2016

Revised Travelogue - Higley Bower

Higley Bower is a world inspired by the artist Leigh Bowery and its name is an anagram of his! But Bower means a pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden or wood and that is what the world at first glance,  appears to be.


However it is a world that holds secrets close to its chest for there is another side to this world.  Side streets open up to reveal a shadier side of Higley Bower.  Where the streets pulse with the throbbing of clubbing.  The buildings take on a character of their own - as if they could step out of the pavement and walk beside you or behind you.   Their eyes are the windows into another world, a seedy, gaudy, temporary place of escape.

The chequered trunks throughout this place, lead the  curious eye towards the sky line. The size of the structures dwarf the visitor as the buildings, with quite literally their head in the clouds tower above the street scenes.

The world seems quite spherical as that roundness can be seen everywhere.  In the doughnut like arches, in the topiary of the pom-pom flowers and in the building roofs or heads of the body buildings.

Transportation across this world takes place on platform stilts embossed with measle dots. They punctuate the sky and allow the traveller to touch the fabric of the buildings as they pass.

The light dances across each platform scampering and blinking its way to the end like an excitable puppy who has found a friend.

Standing on the platform and looking below, a patchwork theme emerges. Not one of different coloured fields or shades of green. Rather one that shouts of different coloured sequences, the spots and the stripes and the hashtag too.  The buildings look like over-sized and exaggerated humans.

There are volcanic hills that seem eerily toxic in their appearance.   It is as if their crown is melting, yet they still seem strangely regal and royal as they drip treacle from their foreheads, like jewels from a crown.

What do they know, what could they tell me?  Where do the  washing lines of glitterati  fashion  lead?  The costumes wave their flamboyant tribute to the scene in the breeze. Their design and shape and colour seem to tell the story of a quest for fame.

Your attention is captivated by their charm, by their difference and   by   their charismatic      presence.    Bordered by the harlequin design the lips speak out truth as if they are unafraid to discuss those things once thought taboo. They remind us of our right 'to be' and the lips. seen everywhere, constantly remind us to be.

The mirrors confirm the true identity of the one who stands before it. Their appearance at regular intervals reflect the truth of what they see - or do they?  On the building shapes, mirrors reflect who they see enter into the club scene and who exits.

There is a tower that stands camouflaged and hidden away from prying eyes and lost in the jungle of the vine. The camouflaged chameleon that sits and moves just its glassy eye knows how to find the way in. Perhaps the only way to reach the tower is by scrambling the vines, setting your feet on the stronghold of the stems – or is it? Do the platform shoes with the ladder heel take you to the safe place, where you can hide from yourself? Who can divulge the formulas and secrets of this eccentric place? The belted bridges border the boundary of the set but you choose where to unlock the buckle and pass through into the next scene.

There is a different spectacle to be seen through the lens of the spectacles where perspective is distorted and the physical exaggeration of all things can be seen. 

The street where the human buildings stand on guard at the entrance.  This wonderland speaks through its pattern and its shape and through it's energy.  The lighting in this street is fragile but inviting.  The physical structures don't blow in the breeze.  Instead they stand imposing, human-like in their structure.  They stand as if 'on-guard', sentry like and watching those who pass by.

The buildings seem to have an exaggerated human shape.  Club Motion, the night club that stands tall is solid, silent and still but raving with motion and emotion inside.

The cinema looks on - the huge rotating windows spin and scan the environment, like over-grown CCTV cameras.  It's time to pause at the grinning mouth for it entices you in for that 'bite to eat'!

What appears to be over-sized trousers at first glance with one way mirrors for windows means that the pedestrian can watch the movers and shakers dance the night away.

There is a giant in size and personifcation - the centre piece of the street.  Towering above the buildings, watching and waiting for the visitor to make their way to greet him.  This night club provides the pulse to the street - to the world as its beat reverberates.  The shine from its body radiates the heat from inside filling the air with warmth and the sky with stars.

And still there’s more, the sky turns a shade of navy. The city scene of buildings and lips and stilletto heels distort the skyline. 

Higley Bower in many ways does what you might expect. It is a place of shade
 – where the oversized trees and plants and flowers that climb and sprawl and spread provide space to rest and think. This unorthodox, chaotic world draws you in, it captivates and demands your attention. Yet, there are too many places to look, too many things to see, too many meanings to understand in this place where impossible dreams come true.  This place is counter-intuitive for it  combines shelter and hope with excitement, adventure, daring and fun.

As you leave this place, having walked through the light and shade of this metropolis.  You wonder if the cinema head holds the key and  contains the knowledge of how this world came to be, of the stimuli that shaped this world and the influences that inspired it. 

No comments:

Post a Comment