Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd, commencing work in Bristol supervising recording work at the Courage Brewery before relocating to London. There he led building recording and area assessment projects around the country including playing a large part in the archaeological investigations surrounding the London 2012 Olympics project.
James has additional experience in theatre and performing arts, the highlights of which are two successful comedy runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the production of a number of original plays and sketch shows. He has also published reviews on contemporary art and exhibitions.
The studentship is supported by Great Western Research (GWR) – a £14 million programme of collaborative research that aims to catalyse research partnerships between research groups in HEIs and industry in South-West England – and led by the Bristol School of Art, Media and Design at the University of the West of England, in partnership with the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol, and with industry partner Bristol Alliance (Hammerson plc and Land Securities Group plc).
James will work over the next three years, investigating the landscape of the Broadmead shopping district of Bristol’s city centre, which will be radically transformed by the Bristol Alliance. The aim of the project is to explore the public understanding and public value of commissioned artistic and archaeological practices in the context of urban regeneration, using contemporary urban regeneration in Bristol as a case study.
Taking as its starting point the broader discourse around public art, patronage and the role of artists in urban renewal on the one hand, and debates over the public value of heritage and archaeology on the other, James will make use of research methods drawn from contemporary art, archaeology and ethnography to explore the changing material and social environment of Broadmead.
The studentship contributes to an ongoing collaboration between the Situations programme and the place research centre in issues of place, location, art, context and environment at UWE and the Performativity, Place, Space research theme (PPS) at the University of Bristol.