MK GALLERY EXHIBITION: 'THE POINT REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLE...'
The curtain falls on the current exhibition in the Project Gallery Space this weekend. The exhibition has been a labour of love for the lady who executed the idea, Emily Shepherd.
But just what was the point of it?
Emily explains all about a rather special, temporary little shop...
The Point Souvenir Shop at MK Gallery, kindly supported by the Community Foundation and Milton Keynes Arts Centre, is the final outcome of a project developed over the course of the year to offer a platform for reflection and celebration of the soon to be demolished Point Entertainment Complex.
Taking the form of a makeshift souvenir shop containing souvenirs designed and constructed by myself and workshop participants, visitors are invited to exchange a personal reflection on the Point for a souvenir of their choice.
I left Milton Keynes a decade ago to study Fine Art at Brighton University.
Now a multi-disciplinary artist based in Glasgow, but with family ties remaining in Milton Keynes, I developed a new preoccupation with its architecture and town planning after making The Centre, 2013, for MK Calling at MK Gallery - a short film based in Milton Keynes's listed shopping centre.
In late 2013 I learnt through local press the proposed plans for the demolition of The Point - saddened by this news and keen to learn more, I instinctually knew I wanted to return to my home town to present an opportunity to collectively share in conversations surrounding the Point's inception and legacy, its current state and the proposed plans for demolition.
The Point, once drenched in red neon light, was a clear symbol of Milton keynes and remains a significant architectural example of the first American leisure model, including the UK's first ever multiplex cinema. Many still hold golden memories of dancing in Oasis or visiting UCI but to some of the younger generations it is a rusty, dilapidated shell associated with crime and gangs.
Without wanting to hand more importance to one view or another, I set out to collaborate with a spectrum of Milton Keynes based residents. Secondly, I was keen to uncover the contemporary arts of a very different town to that of Glasgow and across the project development I forged strong connections with MK Gallery, Milton Keynes Arts Centre and MK College.
I set out to develop a souvenir shop inviting students from my former secondary school, Ousedale, and participants based at Milton Keynes Arts Centre to design and construct their own souvenirs for the Point Souvenir Shop, to be exhibited alongside a series of my own creations. I chose a souvenir shop because I wanted the objects to disperse across the city as they passed from maker to
owner. It was also a way of gently considering Milton Keynes's persona, and many other British towns, as a shopping destination - questioning the very nature of shopping as visitors are invited to use personal memories as their currency to shop for souvenirs.
However, the most important element has been to provide a pause - a place to reflect and preserve an essence of The Point and I hope the exhibition has provided the town with an opportunity to bid a farewell to the much loved (and by some loathed) red ziggurat - The Point Entertainment Complex.
The Point, once drenched in red neon light, was a clear symbol of Milton keynes and remains a significant architectural example of the first American leisure model, including the UK's first ever multiplex cinema. Many still hold golden memories of dancing in Oasis or visiting UCI but to some of the younger generations it is a rusty, dilapidated shell associated with crime and gangs.
Without wanting to hand more importance to one view or another, I set out to collaborate with a spectrum of Milton Keynes based residents. Secondly, I was keen to uncover the contemporary arts of a very different town to that of Glasgow and across the project development I forged strong connections with MK Gallery, Milton Keynes Arts Centre and MK College.
I set out to develop a souvenir shop inviting students from my former secondary school, Ousedale, and participants based at Milton Keynes Arts Centre to design and construct their own souvenirs for the Point Souvenir Shop, to be exhibited alongside a series of my own creations. I chose a souvenir shop because I wanted the objects to disperse across the city as they passed from maker to
owner. It was also a way of gently considering Milton Keynes's persona, and many other British towns, as a shopping destination - questioning the very nature of shopping as visitors are invited to use personal memories as their currency to shop for souvenirs.
However, the most important element has been to provide a pause - a place to reflect and preserve an essence of The Point and I hope the exhibition has provided the town with an opportunity to bid a farewell to the much loved (and by some loathed) red ziggurat - The Point Entertainment Complex.
