ABSTRACT
Foreign Bodies was originally published in 2004 as an exhibition and limited edition colour picture book. The narrative takes the form of an exchange of letters between two cities Marseille and Glasgow. Both cities are also famous for verbal trickery, and enjoy trading on their stereotypes of notoriety, with Glasgow feared by London, and Marseille by Paris. The Glasgow authorities recently returned stolen religious artefacts and clothing to Native Americans. And one wonders what else lies in the vaults of the Kelvingrove Museum. The syndicalist movement that had swept Europe from Glasgow to Moscow caught the political imagination of French workers, including those in the Marseille area, and for a while they exerted considerable influence on local affairs. The new Marseille was destined to become a radiant orthogonal city of replicated blocks and streets. The ferocity of the retaliation against the communards was matched only by the events in Paris.
