The impressive, meticulously researched and compelling 27 minute work, complete with specially compiled sound-track by Karen Monid, featured stunning visuals and an emotive narrative that was specific to Glasgow, detailing the historical contributions made by the city and its communities, and the resulting social impact of World War 1.
"It was an incredible honour to be trusted with relating such a fundamentally significant piece of history and of telling the story of Glasgow's War with honesty and integrity" states Ashton, whose art has won multiple international Awards and holds two Guinness World Records.
Glasgow's War detailed some of the military and social 'firsts' achieved by Glasgow and its citizens during the war, including the fact that its people raised £14m g - a staggering amount at the time - in just seven days during 1916 / 17 for the 'Tank Bank' to aid the war effort. This exceeded the totals of the next three cities combined.
Principal segments were dedicated to the major battles in which Glaswegian soldiers died, including the Somme, Passchendaele (Ypres) and Arras, and parallel to this, the story also drew attention to Glasgow's very strong anti-war / peace movements including the work of high profile campaigners James Maxton and John McLean.
It also highlighted the massive impact of the war on women. It changed their role in society forever as they stepped into industrial jobs like munitions, filled positions vacated by men going to the front lines and established major legacies in the city like founding the Erskine Hospital to care for war veterans and using local technical and engineering skills to develop prosthetic limbs.
Period film and newsreel from Pathe News was utilized in making the visual content and local Glasgow newspapers were trawled for photographs, articles, speeches, etc. plus a host of other readings, books and references were consulted as the pair got thoroughly 'into the zone'.
Monid recorded around 12 different Glaswegian 'voices' aged between 16 and 60 years old, some dependents of World War I soldiers, who read various texts and narrative passages which she then wove into the soundscape.
Monid collaborated with Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio who undertook a project to recreate 'authentic' World War I battlefield sounds that were utilized for the relevant parts of the show.
Ashton specified the projection system and mapped the 75m wide by 40m tall building, which was covered with images using 24 x Christie 20K machines supplied by locally based rental company QED, all located on special towers. QED also supplied a d&b line array system for the audio. The video control system was a d3 media server programmed by Dan Gray.
Says Monid, "We are all extremely proud of being involved in this work. It's been very consuming and an incredibly emotional experience. I wanted to give viewers a sense of scale, of the enormity of the contribution and sacrifice by so many ordinary - and yet extraordinary - men and women, but all the time referencing this to the dynamics of the city. With the social history thread, I could illustrate some of the alternative and positive transformations that were also developing alongside the destruction of life in the War.
"Some exceptional teamwork contributed to the end result which is a heartfelt but non-sentimental tribute to all who died, their often overlooked legacies and a gritty, genuine historical snapshot of Glasgow in the context of the First World War."
(Jim Evans)
