Talk #30

Ellie Harrison

Ellie Harrison is an artist and activist who has been living in Glasgow since 2008. Her work seeks to investigate, expose and challenge the absurd consequences of our capitalist system: from over-consumption, inequality and alienation, to privatisation and climate change. In 2010, she became the first visual artist to publish an Environmental Policy. In 2016, she slashed her carbon footprintfor transport to zero and made headlines with her ‘controversial’ project The Glasgow Effect, for which she refused to leave Glasgow’s city limits, or use any vehicles except her bike, for the whole calendar year. Her first book The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint was inspired by the 2016 project and published by Luath Press in November 2019. In September 2019 she premiered a new work at Manchester Art Gallery – Bus Regulation: The Musical was inspired by the 1980s hit musical Starlight Express and presented in collaboration with the Better Buses for Greater Manchester campaign.