Råängen Film

As part of the Råängen programme, curated by myself and Jake Ford, we’ve made this short film about the response to Nathan Coley’s work in Lund, south Sweden. It includes a fantastic range of responses from students and teenagers:

” Grandma wouldn’t like it!”

“Does it mean we should do more while we’re still alive?”

“It’s unpleasant, all of it, it’s super creepy!”

“I think it’s a comforting idea”

“It shifts meaning as you read it”

Film made by FEW Agency, Malmo.

Read more about the Råängen programme here.

Hanover Square commission

I saw Rhys Coren’s work at Seventeen Gallery last year and thought I’d love to work with him on a large-scale public commission. So, I’m delighted that I’m now engaged in a project in Hanover Square, London, with him and developers GPE, to be realised in 2020.

Photo: Rhys Coren, ‘Carly Simon’s Why, followed by Carly Simon’s Why, followed by Carly Simon’s Why (again)’, 2016.

Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens

Nathan Coley’s artwork ‘Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens’ has been installed adjacent to Lund Cathedral in Sweden. The work marks the beginning of the Church’s conversation with the people of Lund concerning the development of Church land in Brunnshög, an area northeast of the town.

More information on the Råängen programme here.

Photo: Peter Westrup, 2017

Råängen launch

After a year of talking, travelling and plotting, my project in Sweden has now launched!

Råängen is a platform for discussion about what happens on Lund Cathedral’s land in Brunnshög. It’s a radical rethinking of the way that urban centres are expanded and developed; the commissioning programme will become a tool for conversation, critical debate and engagement which will, in turn, inform the future development programme.

Talk at Skissernas Museum, Lund

I’m giving a talk with Nathan Coley at the incredible Skissernas Museum in Lund, Sweden on 16th September 2017. The event is part of the Råängen programme of art and architecture commissions for Brunnshög that I’ve been working on over the past year with Lund Cathedral and White Arkitekter.

This Skissernas event will take place during ‘Kulturnatten’ - Lund’s annual programme of culture-related activities. Nathan will present a selection of current and past projects, outlining his interest in belief systems and how the values of a society are articulated in the architecture and public spaces it produces.

Image: Nathan Coley, ‘Wisdom and Courage’, 2015

House Taken Over

Artists Eduardo Padilha and Harold Offeh have invited me to edit a book documenting discussions taking place over lunch at Eduardo’s flat in Balin House, south London. The project has received ACE Grants for the Arts funding and will include invited participants’ responses to the concept of the house as a site for artistic practice; the point at which domestic and public worlds collide; conviviality and art as a social tool.

Project partners: Freelands Foundation; Wysing Arts Centre; Matt’s Gallery; Bankside Open Spaces Trust, Tate Exchange.
 
Image: Launch party of Martin Cordiano’s installation, Balin House, 2017.

#DoingItInPublic

Happy to be taking part in a discussion with Helen Nisbet and Liza Fior about public art, democracy and control, organised by RCA Curating students on 6 May at Beaconsfield Gallery.

The focus will be on current developments in Vauxhall and Nine Elms (London), the biggest development site in Europe. We’ll consider what it means to make and commission work in ‘public’ and ‘private’ spaces; art as an income generating tool; and the power of art to pose questions and agitate.

Image: Performance of Paloma Proudfoot’s ‘belittle’, a commission for #DoingItInPublic, Beaconsfield, May 2017.

Murdered with Straight Lines exhibition

The Architecture Centre in Bristol is to mount an exhibition of Garth England’s drawings of Bristol.

England’s drawings were published in a book I co-edited with Theresa Bergne for our Future Perfect programme, which was published last year (not many copies left!). Here’s an article on the book by Tim Burrows writing for the Guardian.

Gary Hume commission for Dean Street

Gary Hume’s marble relief work for Dean Street in London is nearing completion. It’s currently being fabricated in Suffolk by Kim Meredew and will be installed in June 2017.

The work has been commissioned by developers GPE in collaboration with architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.

Photo: Kim Meredew’s studio, Suffolk
© Thierry Bal, 2017

Marginal Activity: Twins Talk

I was delighted to be invited to take part in the Twins Talks programme on 2 March to talk about my marginal position in the world of architecture.

Organised by Charles Holland and Robert Mull at University of Brighton, the programme is a new series of architecture talks exploring ‘difficult alliances, strange bedfellows and new relationships’.

Photo: Dalston Boys Club, London / talk location.