Small is Beautiful? Visual and Material Cultures of Making and Mending

Early in 2009 the media began circulating the statistic that 120 small UK businesses were failing every day. While there has been significant interest in the economic and social implications of this loss, less attention has been given to the cultural effects of the recession, and its impact on the character and texture of public life. The research project aims to create a record of the material culture of workplaces that are particularly vulnerable to economic insolvency, places where the making or mending of material objects forms the core activity (such as shoe, clock and electrical appliance repair workshops, tailors and seamstresses, analogue photography studios and locksmiths). These kinds of ordinary 'hands-on' workplaces are becoming increasingly uncommon, their niche closed out by the availability of mass-produced inexpensive goods which are easily disposed of and replaced, and by changing technologies of production. They are often taken for granted until they disappear. What is lost is not just the services they provided, but the unique material cultures that sustained them--the objects, tools, skills and materials of repair and small-scale production.

The project will apply a creative, multi-method approach to produce a photographic and textual record of the material culture of such places, offering this into a moment of accelerated economic and social change. Research activities will focus on workplaces where there is some evidence of longevity, accretions of technology and material. Particular emphasis will be given to places that are public or quasi-public, storefront workshops and high street survivors that contribute to the visual and material texture of public experience. Workplaces that are still operational, as well as those that are winding down operations or recently closed, will be considered for inclusion in the project. At each site, researchers will produce a series of photographs which take a close-up and detailed approach to the framing of the workshop contents. The intention is to represent the character and aesthetic quality of the material culture in these spaces, rather than to produce a comprehensive visual survey. These images will then be used in a series of object-centred interviews with the people employed at the sites, collecting stories about the significance of the materials and their histories of use.

The project is focused geographically in the South West (defined as the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset), an area with a strong regional identity and with a well-established institutional infrastructure to support the project. The research will involve a project partner, the South West Image Bank (SWIB), a photographic archive established by the Plymouth Barbican Association to provide an accessible means by which the public can engage with images relating to the region's past. The research team will work closely with SWIB and other organisations to deliver a phased, multi-sited programme of community engagement and communication throughout the project. This will include a series of public exhibitions and research conversations, as well as a project blog and other opportunties for comment and participation. Through these activities the project will initiate a dialogue about social and economic change and the aesthetics of everyday spaces. Proprietors and employees of participating establishments will benefit from the project through public appreciation of their work, attendance at events, and receipt of the images produced. At the close of the project, image files will be deposited in the SWIB photographic collection and made accessible in an online gallery. In addition to delivering clear public outcomes, the project will contribute to the development of alternative methods for visual and material research, and significantly further academic understanding in a broad range of disciplinary contexts.

This research will benefit a range of audiences, directly and indirectly. Beyond immediate academic audiences, direct beneficiaries of this research include the commercial private sector; the public and third sectors (notably museums and galleries); as well as the wider public (notably community groups and individuals in South West England). In the longer term, policy-makers within national, local and devolved government and government agencies will also have the potential to benefit from the research. As set out in the Impact Plan, the research team have developed a strategy to ensure that the research impacts on these intended audiences. Anticipated impacts include:

(for private sector organisations)
(1) Encouraging small, skills-based businesses (particularly those in the South West of England studied in this project) to record and value the history and distinctiveness of their working places, practices and skills.
(2) Promoting new understandings of the valued material and visual cultures of small-scale making and mending enterprise.
(3) Raising awareness of the unique value placed on these places and skills by local, regional and national communities in the past and present.
(4) Encouraging re-examination of traditional values of making and mending in the context of new calls for a more local, sustainable and low-carbon future.

(for local community groups and general public)
(1) Engaging local community groups and the general public in a significant aspect of their local cultural and economic heritage through a series of public exhibitions in innovative and accessible locations (including a ferry, a hospital, an arts centre and a university).
(2) Raising awareness of issues related to local economic practices and the distinctiveness of small-scale trades and enterprises
(3) Fostering appreciation of the link between local culture and quality of life.

(for heritage and community arts organisations)
(1) Promoting dialogue between academic and non-academic organisations, notably by working closely with South West Image Bank as a project partner, and by working with other community arts and heritage organisations.
(2) Generating new photographic material for South West Image Bank's public collections and website content.
(3) Stimulating new photograph-based engagements with local communities through the South West Image Bank's facilities and community activities.
(4) Developing knowledge and expertise within South West Image Bank, increasing staff skills and developing new opportunities for collaborative research and public engagement.

By identifying and disseminating the cultural value of businesses associated with small-scale, skilled making and mending trades, the research has the potential to make a positive impact on local and regional economic landscapes. The research is of particular relevance at a time when economic and cultural transformations render small businesses particularly vulnerable, and there is growing interest in the promotion of local, sustainable forms of economic growth.