Today is the last day for Hull to be UK City of Culture, but only just the beginning of the reinvention of the city. I've visited twice during the year (and once a few years ago) and have been amazed at the zeal with which the city has embraced the opportunity to use this as a catalyst for change. Just like Manchester did after the IRA bomb and Liverpool did with European Capital of Culture, Hull will continue to use this momentum to bring confidence and life back to it's streets.
This is the third piece in a side project where I'm able to explore my dual
preoccupations of the natural world and the built environment. I'm interested in the edge of the city, where human control fades and nature starts reasserting itself. The periphery often reveals something of the lost history of a place, especially in our post-industrial northern towns; crumbling architecture on an epic scale and underused waterways that were once the main routes for trade. I feel like a detective, wondering why domestic plants are thriving on industrial estates or how long it's taken for ivy to grow over graffiti.
Happy New Year.
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