ABSTRACT
Margins seem to suffer from a sort of schizo phrenia of the imagin ation. On the one hand, the space of the margins summons up a kind of dank indus trial waste-land, a forgot ten space of flyovers, of out-of-town retail parks, or a mono ton ous subur bia that offers a place to sleep but little more. On the other hand, the margins are an edgy excit ing place to be, an inspir a tional in-between zone, a site for illicit thrills enabled by the chance to operate under the radar. One thing that is clear is that marginal loca tions and posi tions have long been considered to be creat ive ones. Whether it be the edges of cities or the peri phery of society, for many there is creativ ity to be found in sites seen as an escape from the domin ant norms of life and work. For some the margins offer cheap places to live and work, and make space for altern at ive ways of living that enable and support creat ive lives. Of course, the margins are not always a roman ticised place, embraced as a posit ive loca tion for those seeking freedom and the space to develop subversive creat ive prac tices. The margins are also sites of precar ity, where cheap spaces and a host of informal living and
working arrange ments are sought out as a neces sity rather than a choice. Often to study and occupy such sites as schol ars is prob lem atic. Marginal activ it ies, atmo spheres and prac tices can be resist ant to the perceived struc tures of studies and any poten tial expos ure and the tran si ent and informal nature of marginal prac tices and communit ies makes prolonged studies harder. Indeed, as the discus sion of subvers ive creat ive prac tices in previ ous chapters has made clear, often the very ‘edgi ness’ or other ness of these spaces to wider narrat ives of the creat ive city or norm at ive creat ive prac tices is what consti tutes their very attrac tion for the creat ive sector; but is also what even tu ally under mines their very margin al ity. This discussion will reflect on a range of differ ent inter sections of creativ ity and the margins, consid er ing geograph ic ally marginal loca tions as creat ive sites, as well as reflect ing on the creat ive prac tices of those who exist on society’s margins.
