A Matter of Precedents – Held in the Common Good is a research project and resource on the ‘common good’ created by artist, educator, and writer Annette Krauss with producer Frances Stacey and artist researcher Alison Scott.
The project has developed over a number of years and has evolved through multiple forms, including; installation, a map, study walks, a web presentation and zines.
The online resource and zines shared here attempt to demystify the ‘common good’ – a form of collective property unique to Scotland. Calton Hill and the City Observatory are both held in the Common Good.
The zines record the project, and act as a reader and importantly an invitation for further study. The zines include: recorded conversations, previously published articles, and two newly commissioned texts written by Nat Raha and Alison Scott. The zines also hold much of the information presented as part of an exhibition in Collective’s Library during Summer 2022.
The online resource has been created in an attempt to share information on the common good in the spirit of open access and free distribution. In sharing information on the common good, the aim is to connect this particular form of Scottish commons to wider discourses and learning.
In Summer 2022 a first iteration of the research resource was presented at Collective in the City Observatory Library. It included a study board, a printed map of common good sites in Edinburgh, and an audio library of the recorded interviews.
In May 2022, two in-person walks engaged many collaborators and members of the public to gather around and discuss other common good sites in the city. Walking and talking along two routes in central Edinburgh, the group took in a variety of sites, objects and spaces held in the common good, exploring and imagining forms of custodianship, collective ownership, maintenance, and community use of these sites.
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