Park Life – Futures in Public Art Practice
Schedule:
10.30am: Meet at Stave Hill Ecology Centre for coffee/tea (directions from Canada Water here)
11am-1pm: Roundtable discussion on current & future Public Art Practice
1-2pm: Picnic lunch in the park
2.30-5pm: Crossing the river to Canary Wharf via the Hilton ferry (RB4: Doubletree Docklands Nelson Dock to Canary Wharf Pier) for a walk along the Isle of Dogs
Park Life examines the fertile overlaps between artistic practice, ecology and urban planning with a number of artists and contributors including Julie Demuer on evolving ideas of the ‘park’. Together we will interrogate the visionary thinking and ideology that underpins the creation of landscape: cityscapes and the city as park, by exploring metaphorical spaces in relation to the real places and contested urban spaces. The discussion will build out from the examples of Central Foresta and the GR2013 trail in Marseille, and the Stave Hill Ecology Park (Rebeka Clark) constructed from out of the Surrey Dock ‘Wasteland’, with key contributions from other artists, urban planners and ecologists.
Sarah Spanton and Richard Sobey of Delve Associates will also present their recent research ‘Harlow Habitats’. Harlow New Town was designed in the 1950s for people to ‘live, work and play’ in and DELVE present current place-making, urban planning and local economic strategies in relation to new roles for arts/cultural activity and practices in the town. Clare Qualmann will talk briefly about her current work and the collective work of Walking Artist Network. While Alberto Duman introduces his work on re-visioning urban masterplans – presenting ‘Music for Masterplanning‘. With the contribution of roundtable participants, we will examine other park life themes, by reflecting on planned and unplanned space, its relation to our perception of space, how we remake and use space, and ‘placemaking’ as a form of resistance.
In the afternoon participants are invited to join us for an exploratory trip across the Thames via the Hilton ferry to the ‘wastelands’ of Canary Wharf – walking a loop on part InspiralLondon segment 13 to Westferry DLR, then back round into Canary Wharf. Following the development down to Mudchute to recrosss the river via the Greenwich foot tunnel. This exploratory walk will imagine the future city as a ‘Landscape of Uncertainty’ (e.g. Platform mapping of Flooded London/ ZAD).
If you are interested in participating in the discussion or joining the day’s events please register for the full festival, or book a place for the day here (limited space).
Walking Workshop Segment 18 – Sunday 25 September 2016
Schedule:
11am: Meet at Kew Bridge Station, we will be walking south across Kew Bridge.
12.30-1.30pm: Lunch in Richmond Park, with a short roundtable discussion
1.30-5pm: Walk to Wimbledon
This was the final part of InspiralLondon Festival 2016. By joining us for a walk along segment 18, participants were able to contribute in the creation of this new Metropolitan Trail. The pathway taking us from Kew, through Richmond Park to end in Wimbledon. During the workshop we stopped in Richmond Park for an informal discussion of the project and to play bird bingo with orniphilosopher JD Swann.