The Third Place
Commissioned by Carclew and the City of Onkaparinga April 9-16 April, 2016
The Third Place was commissioned in response to community tensions around the way a group of young people were using public space in Port Noarlunga, South Australia.
Third places are supposed to be welcoming and open to anyone and everyone, they are the places we go to meet with the people we know and perhaps with people we don’t. But what happens when individuals or communities don’t have the social, cultural or financial capital to feel comfortable in these third places? What happens when people – especially young people – try and create third places for themselves?
Ramsay Place, known to the young people who hang out there as, "The Green Area" is a outdoor area surrounded by a shopping complex, council offices, a theatre, a TAFE and a number of other small businesses. Between 10 and 40 young people aged between 12 and 25 years of age come here every day to hang out. The Third Place is a site-specific audio documentary created from interviews with these young people completed over the course of a week long residency in February 2016. The work unpacks what The Green Area means to the young people who inhabit it and shares these previously unheard narratives with the local community.
The Third Place will be installed as a permanent public artwork at Ramsey Place in 2017.
Credits
- Brienna Macnish
- creative concept, writer
- Alysha Hermann
- creative concept, creative producer
- Robert D Jordan
- sound design and composition
Thanks
The Third Place would not exist without everyone who shared their stories about the Green Area. Thank you to Ashley Yeo-Megeny, Kyle Whennan, Tyler Turnbull, Portia Clark, Jayda Harwood, Jessie McGrath, Tammy Dean, Molly Wilson, Lou Rankine, Bonnie Goergens, Jake Waring, Taylea Fry, Alan Jones, Sebby “Kitty” Rivera, Eryka Burns, Brandon Hogben and Jessica Salter.
Thank you to Rowlan for permission to use the song ‘Suicide Letter’ in The Third Place with altered lyrics by Molly Wilson. Thank you to everyone who offered advice and support including the City of Onkaparinga Youth and Arts teams, Activate Ramsay Place Working Group, Carclew staff and the Office for Youth.
The Third Place is an initiative of Carclew undertaken jointly with City of Onkaparinga and assisted by the Government of South Australia, through Arts South Australia, Office for Youth and Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.