Poverty Play or Artistic Activism? Skip House

A recent video has gone viral on Twitter after being reshared from TikTok. It featured a well-dressed man being asked about his London rent (revealed to be £50 a month), and then taking the videographer (@jj02395) to his lodging – the lodging being a refurbished skip.

Responses to the content are a mixture of humour and disbelief, but most take a darker interpretation of the media and its activism intentions.

Campaigner and activist Gina Martin interrogated the practicality of the house on Twitter, asking “You think you can create something that comfy and unique without money?” and other practicalities, like bathing and the initial cost of buying the land, were speculated on by other users. The confusion is that, of course, this skip house isn’t for someone who is actually living in a skip as a necessity.

And they were right, the man was Harrison Marshall, an artist and architect who is ‘living in a skip’ to make a commentary on and bring awareness to the cost-of-living crisis, housing crisis, and the rent prices in London. He boasts a healthy following on TikTok, has been interviewed by many magazines, and even has been featured on the BBC. He owns his own architecture company, has a master's degree, and comes from a well-off family. And whilst the project is ‘a statement, not a solution,' aiming to bring awareness, neither his Instagram nor TikTok show any evidence of political engagement or activism, links to charities, or further information. The project, in his own words, cost £4,000, and therefore, maybe calling it a commentary on 'living for less' rightfully is making people wince. For whatever reason or combination of reasons, the video, the skip, and its intentions have landed wrongly with many.

The main reason for this is summed up by Alessandra Asteriti in Ugly, Dirty and Bad: Working Class Aesthetics Reconsidered. She writes “when bourgeois people adopt the culture of the working class (or in this case people in poverty), they are leaving behind the privileged position to which they will return.” Even whilst living in his skip house, Marshall can and will return to a position of privilege or comfort any time he chooses, meaning that he never truly leaves it. To shower, for example, he uses his work and the gym, places with paywalls and entry requirements. Choosing to be in this position, whilst it is making a point and gaining publicity for his cause, is worlds apart from actually being in this position.

Which is another off-note of the project. Why is seeing a rich white man cosplaying poverty something to spur us into uprising regarding the cost-of-living and housing crisis, whilst seeing the thousands of homeless sleeping on the streets, not affording their food, or freezing in their house, is apparently not? Whilst people cannot even sleep in road underpasses, on benches, in shopfronts, train stations, bus stops, and public toilets without being moved along and because of anti-homeless architecture, this man sleeps in a bin and is framing it as doing his bit. A blog post on Find A Skip writes that ‘Homeless people have been known to climb into skips and industrial bins to try and stay warm, sometimes with dire consequences’ of hygiene and safety. the company urges people to check their skips and bins before moving, empty, or adding to them. Whilst sleeping in a skip isn’t a criminal offence, they are often stored on private land and have been hired and paid for by someone, so doing so could be classed as trespassing and is not a permanent, or desirable solution. 

But Marshall's skip-house isn’t really a skip house, it is a small house. It is safe and comfortable, with a layout that has clearly benefitted from his architectural creativity and touch. Whilst it is impressive, saying “I actually live in a skip!” is a stretch.

In the video, Marshall also mentions the help he gets from neighbours. “Some people have bought me full-on meals, like homecooked meals”, “That’s so sweet” replies the videographer. It would be interesting to see if the people bringing him hot meals donate to food banks or cook for shelters. Again, the activism lands wrongly. A rich guy living in a skip is meant to bring more awareness to an issue than evidence of actual people affected by the issue – and he’s getting more coverage, help, praise, and sympathy at the same time. Whilst he doesn't ask for them, donating meals to someone who is well-off is a bit wince-worthy, but perhaps this is making the commentary it is wishing to make on elements of the issue. 

Marshall is not completely at fault and maybe he raises a good point. It has got people talking. ‘Housing Crisis: Could Bristol’s back gardens offer a solution?’, and ‘Buying a tiny house helps couple tackling crisis’ are just a couple of stories that the BBC covered in February. These are posed as loopholes and solutions to the housing crisis, but instead are dystopic symptoms of a huge issue.

However, the issue is larger than an artistic installation that lands wrongly and is not the artist's fault. Marshall is firstly an artist, not a politician or activist, and is seeking to bring awareness and commentary on something through his specialism. Art is used by its creators throughout history to make social commentary, as artists use their work to reflect the world around them. His company CAUKIN 'aims to create impact through architecture'.

Those who are passionately disagreeing with Marshall’s methods regarding the issues should ensure that they focus their grievances correctly – towards the people who have the power to make real change - when the time comes. 

Links and information:
Streetlink - Allowing members of the public to connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them.
Single Homeless Project (shp.org.uk) - London based, helping those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, homelessness, and other related issues.
Shelter - The housing and homelessness charity.