London Fieldworks Mussol<strong>in</strong>i Animal Show Home, Super K<strong>in</strong>gdom, 2008 � London Fieldworks 32
London Fieldworks Stal<strong>in</strong> Animal Show Home, Super K<strong>in</strong>gdom, 2008 � London Fieldworks K<strong>in</strong>g’s Wood takes its name from the Jutish k<strong>in</strong>gs who occupied Kent c400-c600 follow<strong>in</strong>g the retreat <strong>of</strong> the Roman occupation army. After hav<strong>in</strong>g been summoned as mercenaries to suppress the Pictish tribes by the Romano-British they subjugated the native Britons and established the K<strong>in</strong>gdom <strong>of</strong> Kent. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to traditional history, this created the open<strong>in</strong>g wedge for Anglo, Saxon and Jute migration <strong>in</strong>to Brita<strong>in</strong>. This period <strong>of</strong> time roughly co<strong>in</strong>cides with late antiquity c300-c600, a periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, <strong>in</strong> both ma<strong>in</strong>land Europe and the Mediterranean world. A range <strong>of</strong> more dramatic names are given to the period <strong>in</strong> popular works: the Dark Ages, the Brythonic Age, the Age <strong>of</strong> Tyrants or the Age <strong>of</strong> Arthur, where antagonistic, powerful k<strong>in</strong>gdoms absorbed weaker sub-k<strong>in</strong>gdoms and neighbours. In the w<strong>in</strong>ter <strong>of</strong> 2007, as a way <strong>of</strong> imag<strong>in</strong>atively charg<strong>in</strong>g the forest space, our first act as commissioned artists was to br<strong>in</strong>g a number <strong>of</strong> non-native animal species <strong>in</strong>to the wood and photograph them. Namely, a boa constrictor and a poison dart frog from tropical Central and South America; an Australian white’s tree frog and an American ‘new world’ turkey vulture. <strong>The</strong> exotic fauna appeared strangely at home <strong>in</strong> the damp, dark English wood. Seem<strong>in</strong>gly relaxed, perched <strong>in</strong> a beech tree, the vulture evoked the belligerent spirit 33 <strong>of</strong> the fascist dictator, Benito Mussol<strong>in</strong>i. A chill<strong>in</strong>g rem<strong>in</strong>der <strong>of</strong> the countless number <strong>of</strong> people ‘disappeared’ <strong>in</strong> forest environments by despots around the world. Draw<strong>in</strong>g on our previous experiences <strong>of</strong> the edge cities with<strong>in</strong> Bangalore and São Paulo and the collision <strong>of</strong> habitats and <strong>in</strong>equality that exist around them we <strong>in</strong>itiated a collaboration with London based Consarc architects to design 3 dist<strong>in</strong>ct animal habitats. In “Planet <strong>of</strong> Slums”, Mike Davis references Brazil’s most famous walled edge city: “Named perversely after the dark new world <strong>in</strong> Godard’s dystopian 1965 film, Alphaville is a complete private city with a large <strong>of</strong>fice complex, an upscale mall, and walled residential areas – all defended by more than 800 private guards.” Edge cities have been described as self sufficient “<strong>of</strong>f worlds” because they <strong>in</strong>corporate large employment bases as well as most <strong>of</strong> the retail and cultural apparatus <strong>of</strong> traditional urban cores. (Davis, 2006) <strong>The</strong> Prestige Group, one <strong>of</strong> South India's most successful developers <strong>of</strong> real estate, which “for over 4 decades now, has changed the very skyl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Goa” has built over 70 ‘residential enclaves’ with names such as Palm Spr<strong>in</strong>gs, Long Beach, Serenity, Ozone, Utopia, Dreamland and Sunnyvale. <strong>The</strong>se “<strong>of</strong>f-worlds” are designed to distance their <strong>in</strong>habitants from the sight <strong>of</strong> abject poverty
- Page 1 and 2: Antennae Issue 10 - Summer 2009 ISS
- Page 3 and 4: T his issue of Antennae is fully de
- Page 5 and 6: ‘Y ou don’t need a Ph.D. in lin
- Page 7 and 8: Simon Starling Kakteenhaus, 2002, V
- Page 9 and 10: BEYOND CLASSIC FIELD BIOLOGY: BATRA
- Page 11 and 12: Brandon Ballengée DFA 83, Karkinos
- Page 13 and 14: empathy in viewers. The intention i
- Page 15 and 16: Brandon Ballengée The Ever Changin
- Page 17 and 18: investigations; for example, explor
- Page 19 and 20: F ood production, energy consumptio
- Page 21 and 22: W hat is a Translocal Curator? We u
- Page 23 and 24: The feminist challenge to patriarch
- Page 25 and 26: O ver the last several decades, the
- Page 27 and 28: Julian Montague The Stray Shopping
- Page 29 and 30: Julian Montague The Stray Shopping
- Page 31: L ondon Fieldworks’ latest projec
- Page 35 and 36: and violence; keeping urban reality
- Page 37 and 38: E ndangered Species began as a resp
- Page 39 and 40: Todd Gilens Top images: Waiting at
- Page 41 and 42: Todd Gilens Foldable Pelican Bus
- Page 43 and 44: MAINTAINING A GREEN NEWS AGENDA Thi
- Page 45 and 46: coverage shaped in this way appeare
- Page 47 and 48: CAPE FAREWELL: THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY
- Page 49 and 50: David Hinton Director David Hinton
- Page 51 and 52: Nathan Gallagher Ryuichi Sakamoto o
- Page 53 and 54: Patrick Huse Bølgende landskap, wa
- Page 55 and 56: Which brings me back to what origin
- Page 57 and 58: nature. The affirmation is one that
- Page 59 and 60: Max Eastley Max Eastley recording s
- Page 61 and 62: and leave land behind. This region
- Page 63 and 64: Max Eastley Exposición CAPE FAREWE
- Page 65 and 66: I t can be argued that culturally a
- Page 67 and 68: Ana Mendieta Untitled, from the ser
- Page 69 and 70: Ackroyd & Harvey FlyTower 2007, Nat
- Page 71 and 72: Ackroyd & Harvey Green brick, green
- Page 73 and 74: Ken Yonetani The Dead Sea, 2008, ce
- Page 75 and 76: Mark Wilson and Bryndís Snæbjörn
- Page 77 and 78: Georgina Reid For the Baby, In Ligh
- Page 79 and 80: Art Orienté Objet have been creati
- Page 81 and 82: Art Orienté Objet Bwiti Turning, 2
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and his environment emerges from th
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Art Orienté Objet The Happy Hen, 2
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M INE is a documentary film by Gera
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Geralyn Pezanoski Mine: Taken By Ka
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91 MAUSOLEUM The extraordinary bota
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Gregory Pryor Herbarium, Naturhisto
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Gregory Pryor Top Image: Black Sola
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Brandon Ballengée DFA 2, Héphaist