Supported through The Second Life Awards 2023, Joey Simons created a short psychogeographical film that used the poetry of Edwin Morgan and the nineteenth-century pedlar poet James Macfarlan (1832–1862) to investigate and critique the latest phase of urban redevelopment in Glasgow.
Trailer
The trailer for The Ruined City was shown at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2023. The film will be shown at Platform in Easterhouse as part of a longer, on-going project to create a living archive of the area’s hidden history, and at the CCA, alongside further research on Macfarlan and his final pamphlet The Attic Study: brief notes on nature, man and books.
Joey Simons is a writer, artist and WEA tutor from Glasgow. His practice examines subaltern aspects of the city’s history and its relationship to political organising today. Previous work includes The Fearful Part Of It Was The Absence (2022) for Collective’s Satellites programme, two publications on the radical history of Easterhouse for Platform, and a public archive project on Tillie Olsen for the GWL. He is currently undertaking research on James Macfarlan for the CCA Annex. His writing has been published by Gutter, The Common Breath, MAP, and Speculative Books. He is an active member of Living Rent and the Red Sunday School.
edwinmorgantrust.com 