ARTSNIGHT: IRVINE WELSH

Knowing that this was being filmed early on (from my not-so-secret insider at The Biscuit Factory) I had high hopes and high expectations, and in many ways the documentary totally hit it. I'm just pretty suprised (at myself for one) that I had to be prompted to be offended by the fact that there are zero female artists interviewed or mentioned in the documentary. Of course, props to all the talented men featured, but it'd be nice to have a 'wee' mention of the female Scots - their strong accents aren't representative of nothing!

I found it particularly interesting watching the mouth move to the Scottish rhymes spoken by Kevin Williamson & Michael Pederson. The spoken word is so much more passionate with the Scottish twang, and as much as I used to hate (sorry not sorry) the accent, it's grown on me! I was really drawn to the works of Kevin Harman, whose project in 2008 - Love Thy Neighbour saw him bring together neighbours by ‘borrowing’ the doormats from outside the front doors of tenement buildings and inviting the entirety of the neighbourhood to collect them in an effort to create pretty much a giant social gathering I would say (a doormat party??). This is the kind of Art I have passion for. Art with purpose, meaning, and perhaps an element of sociality.

Watch it here.