Ellie Harrison

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  • The Global Race The Global Race (2014)
    2014
    Work Performance / Events

    The Global Race

  • Timelines Photo: Marco Frauchiger
    2006
    Work Installations

    Timelines

  • Dark Days Photo: James Rippingale
    2015
    Work Performance / Events

    Dark Days

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Ellie Harrison is an artist & activist based in Glasgow (UK). In 2023 she won the Stephen Fry Public Engagement Award for her ‘Bus Regulation: The Musical’ Trilogy in Greater Manchester, Strathclyde & Merseyside (2019 โ€“ 2023).
In 2021 the Second Edition of Harrison’s book The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint was launched at the UN Habitat’s Innovate4Cities conference to mark the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, and chosen by the Ecologist for the Resurgence Book Club. Her Early Warning Signs were also exhibited at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library during COP26 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the project.
Harrison’s Vending Machine continues to feature in the ๐Ÿ˜น LMAO exhibition exploring humour in data visualisation at the Open Data Institute in London.

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Ellie Harrison

Ellie Harrison

Artist, activist & author of 'The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint' ๐Ÿ“š

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It was great to meet Paul from PalFox Photography last month when he visited me at Wasps Studios Hanson Street to take these fab pictures ๐Ÿ“ท

My studio has always been more like an office than anything else, going back to my very first one in Glasgow in the Barnes Building at The Glasgow School of Art from 2008-2010. I bought โ€˜The Bossโ€™ mug back then as I was interested in the aesthetics of the corporate world and exploring what it meant to be self-employed worker, making pieces like โ€˜The History of Financial Crisesโ€™ (2009), โ€˜Desk Chair Paradeโ€™ (2009) and โ€˜Desk Chair Discoโ€™ (2011), and the โ€˜Work-a-thon for the Self-Employedโ€™ (2011).

Iโ€™m not making much art these days as nearly all my time goes into local community activism, particularly with the Glasgow Community Energy co-operative which I helped get up-and-running during the pandemic, and with the Get Glasgow Moving public transport campaign which I co-founded in 2016.

Over the summer Iโ€™m preparing for Get Glasgow Movingโ€™s 10th Anniversary Exhibition at the New Glasgow Society, which opens on Thurs 17 September as part of Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival 2026.

I love using my creative skills to further causes that Iโ€™m passionate about. Over the years I've designed many campaign materials โ€“ including this โ€˜Trans-Clyde Links You Clyde-Wideโ€™ T-Shirt, which is based on the original marketing for the Trans-Clyde integrated public transport network launched by the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive in 1979, the year that I was born.

The integrated public transport networks which most big city-regions had were wilfully destroyed in 1986 with the deregulation (and later privatisation) of buses. This was one of the most destructive of all Margaret Thatcherโ€™s policies, and it is shameful that The Scottish Government has continued to maintain it for more than quarter of a century of devolution. With the Better Buses for Strathclyde campaign, we are doing all we can to get our regionโ€™s buses back in public control.

If you like the T-Shirt, come down to the exhibition in September and youโ€™ll be able to get one there! And, if you'd like to have a nosey round my studio, I'm also planning to take part in the Open Studios at Wasps Artists' Studios - Hanson Street, Glasgow on Sat 3 October ๐Ÿ˜Š See you there! @followers ... See MoreSee Less

2 weeks ago
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This ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐Ÿฑ ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ in Glasgow! ๐Ÿ“ข I'm delighted to be talking about my work with Get Glasgow Moving & Glasgow Community Energy at the ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Š๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ: ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ? conference at the University of Glasgow ๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ Tickets are free, so come join us ๐Ÿ‘‡ @followers ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago
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Don't miss our Better Buses National Hustings tonight! ๐Ÿ‘‡ You can catch me on the livestream at 7pm:
๐Ÿ“บ www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rFh2CjP_Xs @followers ... See MoreSee Less

3 months ago
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"We need The Scottish Government to support our transport authority, SPT, to bring the bus network back into public control, so they can deliver a fully-integrated, accessible and affordable public transport network across the region like Greater Manchesterโ€™s new โ€˜Bee Networkโ€™, or the recently released plans for South Yorkshireโ€™s โ€˜Peopleโ€™s Networkโ€™" โ€” Ellie Harrison

I was delighted to contribute to Gerry Hassan's article for Bella Caledonia about ๐˜ˆ ๐˜•๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜Ž๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐Ÿ‘ Read online here ๐Ÿ‘‡
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/03/31/time-for-a-new-deal-and-vision-for-glasgow @followers ... See MoreSee Less

4 months ago
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Calling all A-N members! Don't miss this online artist's talk and workshop on '๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ' which I'm co-hosting this Thursday 2 April, 11am-1pm ๐ŸŒ Find out more ๐Ÿ‘‡ @followers ... See MoreSee Less

4 months ago
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Are you in Glasgow t

Are you in Glasgow this evening? Come along to this free screening of the brilliant POWER Film at The Glasgow School of Art ๐Ÿ‘‡ I'll be introducing the event, talking about my work with Glasgow Community Energy and chairing a Q&A with artist and filmmaker Hilary Powell ๐Ÿ˜Š @followersSave the date! ๐ŸŒž We're delighted to be collaborating with Friends of the Earth Scotland to bring you Turning homes into renewable Power Stations: film screening & Discussion ๐Ÿ‘‡
๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Thurs 12 March 2026, 5:30pm
๐Ÿ“ Reid Building, The Glasgow School of Art
๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ Book free tickets: powerstationGSA.eventbrite.com @followers ... See MoreSee Less

5 months ago
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Itโ€™s this blatant injustice that motivates all my campaigning ๐Ÿ˜ก Why should people in the poorest parts of Glasgow have to pay ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ for an essential public service as bankers in the City of London? Shame on The Scottish Government for presiding over this system for more than 25 years! @followers ... See MoreSee Less

7 months ago
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Ten years ago today, I was just beginning my year-long durational performance #TheGlasgowEffect which was to become one of the most controversial publicly-funded artworks that Scotland had ever seen.

Part psychological experiment, part protest, part strike, for the whole of 2016, I vowed not to travel beyond Glasgowโ€™s city limits, or use any vehicles except my bike.

I described my experience of starting #TheGlasgowEffect, including being at the centre of the social media stooshie it provoked, in โ€˜When the Chips Hit the Fanโ€™ โ€“ Chapter 5 of my book โ€˜The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprintโ€™ published by Luath Press ๐Ÿ“š

We have just printed a newly updated version of the Second Edition, so do have a read if youโ€™d like to be transported back to that moment in January 2016... Find out more at: ellieharrison.com/book @followers ... See MoreSee Less

7 months ago
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Commodities

  • Radical Renewable Art + Activism Fund Sticker Radical Renewable Art + Activism Fund Sticker £3.00
  • The Glasgow Effect (First Edition) The Glasgow Effect: A Tale of Class, Capitalism & Carbon Footprint £10.00 – £12.00Price range: £10.00 through £12.00
  • Bring Back British Rail Sticker Bring Back British Rail Sticker £3.00
  • Tea Blog Sticker Tea Blog Sticker £1.00
  • 4 Live Broadcasts DVD 4 LIVE Broadcasts DVD £20.00
  • Bus Regulation: The Musical T-Shirt Bus Regulation: The Musical T-Shirt £15.00
  • Hen Weekend Badge Hen Weekend Badge £2.00
  • Ellie & Oliver Show T-Shirt Ellie & Oliver Show T-Shirt £20.00
  • Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector Book Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector £10.00

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