J’accuse!

Gross negligence, not accident?

By Grouse Beater©

Grouse Beater is an essayist, filmmaker and troublemaker

THE DESTRUCTION by fire of the Glasgow School of Art’s world renowned Mackintosh building is tantamount to abject managerial incompetence. It remains unanswered: why was questionable gross negligence passed off as an accident?

How did the fire start?

The fire was caused by a degree student’s ‘installation’. (I’ll discuss installations shortly.) It started when ‘flammable gases from a foam canister used in a student project were ignited’, according to a report by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The report concludes that the blaze began in the basement when a projector ignited gases from the expanding foam and took hold quickly as gaps in the walls. Old ventilation ducts assisted its spread into neighbouring studios and upwards through the building.

The student work in question was made up of foam panels fastened to three walls, with one wall left blank to receive images from a projector. At the time of the incident, visible gaps between the panels were being filled by applying expanding foam from a canister.

Chard remains of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Library

An illustrious history

Aside from producing artists of the highest calibre, the GSA includes the study of architecture, product design, and automotive design. For example, Jaguar cars entire new automotive range emanates from GSA graduate, Ian Callum. Nevertheless, some philistines regard art as a frippery. The French with the Louvre and their love of art are mystified at our attitude. To them as with Italians and Germans, art is the very expression, the embodiment of a nation’s soul. Even primitive man understood the power of art when he venerated galloping horses, antelope and bison on his cave wall. And he signed his work with his hand print.