This was one of those projects where
the process was as important as the product. Movie clip at end of
page. This item is also duplicated on the film page.
"The Room of One Arm Free" was a small room in Leith's A1 Gallery,
containing a bespoke shrine based on Mexican Catholic shrines to
local saints, and especially those of The Virgin Mary. I
appropriated those images and researched the materials in these
shrines (blue plastic sheeting is very common in these poor areas)
and located the shrine in the centre of an area of Edinburgh with a
troubled relationship to prostitution - just off Salamander Street,
Leith. There was a sister project called "May They Keep One Arm
Free" on the film projects page.
I worked with a struggling sex worker's charity (www.scot-pep.org.uk) in creating this piece and the
shrine was built with the aid of prostitutes' personal belongings
alongside other objects donated by the huge and still growing
"freecycle" community in Edinburgh. From escort girls' bed sheets
and pillowcases to glittering gold and blue condoms, alongside
kitsch images of kitten playing cards and knitwear to the more
religious imagery of the forgotten and "fallen" women, this was a
room where candles and phallic lava lamps burned and glowed for
working girls and women of all backgrounds - local and
archetypal.
Two concealed loudspeakers play a prayer on a 24-hour loop. The
"prayer" is based on the Buddhist meditation "The Metta Bhavana."
The lines of this meditative text are based on a Mahayana text
called "The Metta Sutra" where the practitioner repeats wishes of
kindness upon everything, even to those who have violated us.
"Metta Bhavana" roughly translates as "the cultivation of the
uprising of compassion" - or in plain English - "setting the
foundations for giving a crap about kindness and people."
"May they keep one arm free"
"May they keep a door slightly ajar"
"May they not assume someone is safe
just because they look safe"
"May they face oncoming traffic"
"May they walk confidently, shoulders back"
"May they keep one arm free"
"May they keep one arm free"
The text for this prayer comes from www.scot-pep.org.uk's handbook on how to be safe on
the street. It was a bit of a wake up call for me, reading about
how sex workers need to "keep one arm free at all times" and to
"leave car doors ajar at all times" and to "face oncoming traffic"
and so on. The list went on and on. I had the text read out by
artist Amilia Mouzaki of Greece who works with images of sexual
representation. And as English wasn't her first language, she gave
the piece lovely international input (full text at end of page) - I
felt she gave it an 'everywoman' sound.
As I read this booklet, it became obvious there was a parallel in
the booklet and in certain kinds of Buddhist literature I'd come
across over the years. Some Buddhist scriptures are very repetitive
because they had come from an oral tradition. So from one oral
tradition to another (it had to be said).
Built over 7 days, with the prayer playing throughout materials
flooded in to the gallery. A Christmas tree. Bed Sheets. Condoms in
blue wrappers. Condoms in gold wrappers. Candles. Teddy Bears.
Perfume. Even underwear. Tinsel.
There's a lot to be said for transforming one part of a building or
room into a shrine even if you don't adhere to any belief system -
it seems to be good for mental health and positive psychology.
Every time I entered the shrine, it felt really safe, the voice of
the prayer perhaps seeping into the collective unconscious. It was
a nice place.
I don't think the shrine altered any of the prostitute's lives but
at least it forced me to think of their plight and a hundred or so
visitors came to the gallery. Some people sat near the shrine for a
long time.
May they keep one arm free
May they always get the money up front
May they always tell a friend where they are going
May they always keep one arm free
May they keep walking
May their calves remain strong
May they always trust their instinct
May they carry a mobile phone
May they programme it to dial a number with one button
May they not assume that someone is safe
(just because they look safe)
May they keep one arm free
If a client is violent,
May they remember:
Hair colour, hair style, hair length, build, height, age, earrings,
chains, rings, watches, skin tone, scarring, spots, facial hair,
tattoos, piercings, eye colour, glasses, accent, speech impediment,
expressions used, aftershave, body odour, clothing and
footwear
May they take his registration number
May they have the confidence to call the police
May they walk tall, act confidently and be assertive
May they keep their head up and shoulders back
May they keep one arm free
May they take purposeful steps
May they ask for an unopened can or bottle
May they not drink without observing preparation of drink
May they never accept drugs from clients
May they have cash when they leave the house
May they keep cash well out of sight
May they not wear hooped earrings
May they not wear a scarf round their neck
May they not put the bag over the neck and shoulder, just the
shoulder
May they keep one arm free
May they know the area well; the escape routes, police stations,
pubs, open shops and garages. May they know the bus routes and
where to obtain a taxi.
May they not work in areas they do not know
May they work on the side of the road of oncoming traffic
May they work in twos and threes
May the others take the registration details of client's
vehicles
May they agree a sign between them to show all is not well
May they keep one arm free
May they wave to their friends when leaving with the client even if
the friends are not there
May they get paid first
May they put the money in a different place to where any other
money is kept
May they ask the driver to keep your window wound down
May they tell the client if he pulls up too close to a wall or car
preventing you from opening the door.
May they try to keep the door slightly ajar
May they stay in the front seats of a door door car
May they keep one arm free
May they keep as much clothing on as possible
May they keep the situation calm
May they leave a small personal object lodged down the seat like an
earring or bangle
May they be clear about the services they are prepared to provide
and the prices
May they keep one arm free
May they keep one arm free
