“We sacrifice these machines of rusting dreams as a sign of hope that we can end the trend of road building madness”
The area of Pollok is local to the Glasgow area and a £2 train journey from Queen Street station in the city centre. My research into the archives and other literature drove my focus for this project towards the actions and behaviours of Colin MacLeod and his ‘clan’, the Pollok Free State for the simple fact that humans need relevance understand a situation. In fact, humans need relevance and context to empathise with practically anything separated from their own lives. My project delves deeper into the actions of the Pollok Free State during the 1995 protests regarding the construction of the M77 and unearths them as a group: plainly, a group of people acting against a notion. This is not to say that I am in accordance with nor that I stand in opposition to the Pollok Free State, Colin MacLeod, Green peace, or any other grassroot ecological movement- I simply wish to show you who the people were, what they did and what they stood for. I would say that it is overly optimistic to believe that all humans will one day harmonise with one another. As a collective we are destructive, and at times- self destructive. Colin MacLeod and his clan brought together people of all backgrounds in an attempt to unify people and work towards a singular cause. My aim is to show you by what means this took place, then it is up to you to decide where you stand. (The motorway, did of course, get built).