Final report and posting

Photographic Cultures

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From the unit guide,
“…what if you were asked to do a site-specific photographic project for Elephant and Castle? ... demonstrating it through a prototype” (Photographic Cultures Unit Guide : 3) set the parameters for the task.

The suggested readings set out an indicated pathway to follow but this was not intended as a limit to either the nature or the scope of the final intervention.
However, given the restricted timescale, less than twelve weeks from the initial class to the hand-in date of the final project assessment, any considered physical intervention was likely either to mimic closely those interventions set within the suggested readings or to be small scale physical prototypes or initially relatively short-term cyberspace projects.

Whilst the form of my intervention project was being decided upon, I took part in some of the ‘drifting’ exercises. The Apexart exhibition webpage and group discussions made it clear that the idea of ‘drifting’ was to allow one to view, and so allow one to use, the urban landscape in a different way from the way in which one might usually do. Thus,

“This is an exhibition about walking in the city. But not all of the artists included here engage in walking; some squat, some stand still, one awkwardly attempts to scale buildings. "Walking" is an ordinary but transformative way of using space, for which we might substitute any number of other spatial practices.” (Apexart : 2003)

Or, alternatively,

“In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there.”(Debord : 1956)

My own ‘drifting’ exercises were less unusual than some that have been used to explore cityscapes. I did not travel around within the Elephant and Castle area using a map of some other region to determine my direction of travel, or travel in some unusual vehicle or manner. I took a die and use it to determine the direction of travel at each junction, assigning equal probabilities to each alternative route. I found that the area had large open spaces, covered in tarmacadam or in concrete, as well as a substantial number of green spaces, usually laid out to lawn. What I was unable to observe was any evidence of wildlife, other than the occasional pigeon. At about the same time I had been photographing with the Wild About Kent group and I also was assisting a BBC South East camera crew as they attempted to find “a dolphin who has been "performing" for visitors all summer” (BBC : 2006) off the coast at Folkestone, and I was reading about the ‘Flat Daddy” project.
Hence, from my weblog,

“And in the face of the onslaught of traffic and concrete, perhaps one might borrow from the 'Flat Daddy" and "Flat Mommy" movement in the USA, appropriately substituting the word 'animal' in this piece from the Boston Globe.” (Atkinson : 2006a)

The idea being that the items represented by the cardboard cutouts are real and do exist, it is simply that they, in this case the U.S. military service personnel, are away on duty elsewhere.

``It's to remind the kids that this guy and this woman is still part of your life, that this is what they look like, and this is how big they are." (MacQuarrie : 2006)

The Swedish artist Akay Barsky was able to produce cutouts of animals and to install them upon an area of ground that had been effectively isolated by a busy traffic junction, thus

“There was a weed-filled lump of land surrounded by highways and bike paths near Karlberg station. It was fenced in, but somehow wild. If you even noticed it when you passed by, it would be hard to imagine anything living creature surviving there. But maybe that’s how it started, by imagining what creatures could possibly live on No mans land...”
 Kidpele (2006)

A similar situation existed at the Elephant and Castle roundabout.

Upon the public space, at the junction of several major roads, the local authority had grassed over the roundabout hub and planted some hedges and trees. It was difficult to believe that such an area would be attractive to any wildlife, but the authority had made the ground appear as if it was natural countryside, and so it occurred to me that perhaps the area required the installation of the missing animals.

Such an installation upon the ‘public space’ of the roundabout tests what actually is public space. As Micklethwait explains,

“’Public’ is a confusing word. On the one hand it means places used by the public, and on the other hand it means things that are merely “owned” by the public. Many “public” places and spaces, such as cinemas, restaurants, pleasure gardens and shops, are “privately” owned, while great swathes of the “public” sector are surrounded by impenetrable barbed wired barriers to keep the supposed owners out.” Micklethwait (1993)

I found that the barriers were not solely physical ones. The London Borough of Southwark, the local planning authority into whose jurisdiction the Elephant and Castle falls, had hedged the area around with more than just Ligustrum. Upon enquiring at the planning department regarding the possibility of placing anything onto the space, I was presented with a planning timetable, a schedule of likely costs and a list of Local Authority Council departments to contact and from whom I would need approval, before anything might receive final, formal, approval. These regulations, backed by the team of local authority community wardens and the police and courts invite any public intervention to, at least, consider the implications of ignoring the legal ownership of any ‘public’ spaces being used.

Upon examining the suggested reading, I found some projects that were a little too firmly grounded in post-modernism ideas to allow me to heed the caution contained in the introductory advice, attributed to Wochenklausur, that “the secret to intervention based practice is that it really changes something” (Photographic Cultures Unit Guide : 3). Therefore I discarded such ideas as using human forms to mimic the forms of street furniture (Export : 1976) and the installation of human forms entering into public places from such furniture, (Villar : 2002). Eventually, I determined to produce a prototype photographic installation that consisted of a series of images, from my wildlife work, (Atkinson : 2006b) of life sized native British wild animals to be placed upon the roundabout.

The photographic images were mounted upon foam-board and the boards were camouflaged using green paints; similarly painted wooden stakes were attached so as to make insertion into the ground easier. These pieces were then placed in typical, for the creatures represented by the images, situations upon the roundabout. The available vegetation was used to assist in the masking of the edges of the pieces. In spite of the view of the painter, Eugene Delacroix who died in 1863, reported in Lovejoy (2004:31) that a daguerreotype, and so by implication, a modern photograph was “still only a reflection of the real, only a copy, in some ways false just because it is so exact”, I wanted to create the impression that the creatures were actually present. Therefore the Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life was used to correctly size and site the images.

The reactions of passers-by were then observed. However, as suggested by Rose, “that just as an image may be ‘a site of resistance and recalcitrance’, so too might a particular audience. Not all audiences will be able or willing to respond to the way of seeing invited by a particular image.”(Rose 2001:15) the target audience generally were able to avoid appearing to have noticed the images.

Later, I intercepted passers-by and they were asked if they could identify the bird and the animals opposite them. Most of those asked did offer guesses. Sadly, most guessed that the badger was a cat. One gentleman suggested that it was a warthog. No one questioned was able to correctly identify both the badger and the green woodpecker. 
Most passers-by, however, were able to correctly identify the rabbits.

If it is true that

“We are able to communicate because we share broadly the same conceptual maps and thus make sense of or interpret the world in roughly the same ways.” Hall (1997:18)

and

“That is indeed what it means when we say we ‘belong to the same culture’” Hall (1997:18)

then it may be that the pedestrians who use the Elephant and Castle region of London are, truly, a culture apart from those who live in the nearby countryside.

The project was an interesting prototype. If it were to be repeated, as a large scale installation, then a wider range of animals might be used and presented. The images might benefit from being a little larger than life size in order that they are more easily viewed, although care would be needed to ensure that the images remained credible, individually and in relation to each other. More robust mountings and better weather proofing might also be called for. Certainly if there was to be a more solid installation then a longer time scale would be required in order that the appropriate planning permissions could be sought. If such a plan was to be put into place then it might also be appropriate to support it with information displays such as those that are now common sights in zoos and animal parks. If nothing else is to be achieved, then perhaps making those that live in cities become more able to recognize countryside animals would be a valuable objective. It is, after all, often their elected representatives that decide Government policy for the countryside.




Apexart exhibition ‘Walking in the City: Spatial Practices in Art, from the Mid-1960s to the Present’ (2003) [online] available from http://www.apexart.org/exhibitions/dawseybrookhart.htm last accessed 10th December 2006

Apexart exhibition ‘Walking in the City: Spatial Practices in Art, from the Mid-1960s to the Present’ (2003)

Atkinson, A (2006a) ‘Installation at the Elephant and Castle’ [online] available at http://pheasantscroft.blogspot.com/ last accessed 10th December 2006

Atkinson, A (2006a)

Atkinson, A (2006b) ‘Wildlife’ [online] available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pheasantscroft/ last accessed 10th December 2006

Atkinson, A (2006b) 'Wildlife'

BBC (2006) ‘Dolphin Dave boosts town's trade’ [online] available at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6099604.stm last accessed 10th December 2006

BBC (2006) ‘Dolphin Dave boosts town's trade’

Debord, G. (1956) ‘Theory of the Dérive’ Internationale Situationiste #2 (December 1958) [online] available from
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/%7Epss1su/lecturenotes/documents/derive.html
last accessed 10th December 2006

Debord, G. (1956) ‘Theory of the Dérive’ Internationale Situationiste #2 (December 1958)

Export, V. (1976) ‘Rounding Off’ [online] available at
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/abrundung/ last accessed 10th December 2006

Export, V. (1976) ‘Rounding Off’

Hall, S. (1997) ‘Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices’ London. Sage/OU


Kidpele (2006) ‘Urban Recreation’ [online] available at http://www.akayism.org/hq.html last accessed 10th December 2006

Kidpele (2006) ‘Urban Recreation’

‘Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life’ (1967) London. Hamlyn


Lovejoy,M. (2004) ‘Digital Cultures : Art in the Electronic Age’ London. Routledge


MacQuarrie, B. (2006) ‘Guard families cope in two dimensions’ Boston Globe 30th August 2006 [online] available at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/08/30/guard_families_cope_in_two_dimensions/ last accessed 10th December 2006

MacQuarrie, B. (2006) ‘Guard families cope in two dimensions’ Boston Globe 30th August 2006

Micklethwait, B. (1993) ‘The Private Ownership Of Public Space: The New Age Of Rationally Priced Road Use’ Economic Notes No. 49 The Libertarian Alliance London [online] available at
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/econn/econn049.pdf last accessed 10th December 2006

Micklethwait, B. (1993) ‘The Private Ownership Of Public Space: The New Age Of Rationally Priced Road Use'

Rose, G. (2001) ‘Visual Methodologies’ London. Sage/OU

Villar, A. (2002) ‘Upward Mobility’ [online] available at http://www.iniva.org/assets/archive/images/large/VILL_ALEX_006.jpg last accessed 10th December 2006

Villar, A. (2002) ‘Upward Mobility’

Wild About Kent [online] http://www.wildaboutkent.com/ last accessed 10th December 2006

Wild About Kent

Penultimate Post

So nearly all done. After the closing date for handing in the work, I will upload my final formal review of the whole project.

Until then, two thoughts.

First, if this project prototype changes anyone's views of the countryside, then that will at least be something. The millions of city dwellers who elect MPs to vote on issues that directly affect the countryside should at least be aware that the warthog is not a common native British wild animal!

Secondly, the group gave oral presentations of their projects this week. At least one appears to have caused criminal damage to a building and yet another reported being warned by a policeman that they were in danger of being cautioned for their behaviour.

Weeks ago, I raised the likelihood of something similar happening with (significant) others who only seemed to object to my having suggested it, not the substance of the message.

No doubt I will be reported for this posting too, and this posting too will be censored. Who would be a messenger?

At least in the countryside we usually manage to hit the correct targets!
C'est la vie!

A prototype for a site specific intervention?

Has what has been done enlightened anyone?

Well, I was quite surprised at the guesses.
Perhaps the urban residents really are a race apart from their country cousins!

Read more about the town and country mice here!

Perhaps the pictures entertained some folk; at least one person was curious enough to go and view the pictures quite closely,

and even seemed to be using his mobile phone;
to call someone, or to photograph the installation, perhaps?

Certainly the project prototype was not so great a task that the whole idea might not be re-done on a grander scale.

More robust materials, more heavily put in place would be needed.

And more securely too, as the rabbits disappeared after just one night!

Do the people using the Elephant and Castle want their green spaces populated by wildlife, or are they content to exist with the sterile traffic islands that they use at present?

Public Interaction

Initially, I left the prints to observe, from a distance, whether or not they were being noticed by the passers-by.
Some people noticed them, most did not.





But some people clearly did notice them.





This gentleman was so intrigued that he crossed over onto the island to inspect the installation more closely!



Later, I asked passers-by if they could identify the bird opposite them. None asked could do so.

I asked if they had noticed and could identify the large animal opposite them.

Most offered a guess.

Sadly, most guessed that the badger was a cat.



The gentleman above suggested
"Is it a warthog?"

No-one called the badger a badger, nor the green woodpecker a woodpecker.
Most correctly identified the rabbits though.



Co-incidentally, as I was doing this, the front page of the ES on sale nearby showed scans of an elephant foetus in the womb.
Clearly it was just as well that the ES editors were not showing a native British animal.
No-one would have recognised it!

The Installation (part 2)

So you have seen the pictures, now see the creatures in their wild settings!

The Installation

So, here goes, ...... deliberately littering lovely Southwark!

My Stars

So here are the pictures used. All fairly common native British creatures.










They are to be shown life sized, the largest print being 100cm X 75cm,
what will the locals think of them?

Some other installations

There are many other installations next to roads.

The French motorway from Calais to Boulogne sur Mer has a pair of sculptures, one at each end, on each bridge over the road.

Antony Gormley's 'Angel of the North' is sited so as to be visible from the road. See

Angel of the North

The Swedish installation artist Akay Barsky produced a work similar to the prototype that I intend to install. He found an isolated island of land, cut off by motorways from the rest of the surrounding land. Upon this island, he placed sculptures and cut-outs of different animals.
See 'The Island' here.

Akay Zoo

And in the face of the onslaught of traffic and concrete, perhaps one might borrow from the 'Flat Daddy" and "Flat Mommy" movement in the USA, appropriately substituting the word 'animal' in this piece from the Boston Globe of 30th August 2006.


While most families stay in touch with their guardsmen by e-mail, snapshots, and videophone, the cutouts are unusual. `It's a novel approach," said John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States, a Washington-based lobbying group. ``It's to remind the kids that this guy and this woman is still part of your life, that this is what they look like, and this is how big they are."

click here for Boston Globe 30 Aug 2006 Flat Daddy

Preparation for the Installation

Life-sized photographs of some rabbits, a green woodpecker and a badger were printed.

The prints were mounted onto foamboard using a spray glue.

For the smaller pieces, the reverse of the foamboard was painted green to assist with camouflaging the pieces.

I wanted the photographs to merge into the existing vegetation as the real animals would.

The pieces were to be secured into the earth using wooden stakes, so these were cut to an appropriate size, and painted too.

The stakes were affixed to the foamboard and the pieces were then ready for insertion onto the roundabout.

Mapping

From the 'drifting' exercises, walking about the area without any clear destination, or alternatively, by following a dice roll, where 1 or 2 indicates a left turn, 3 or 4 goes straight on, and 5 or 6 indicate turn right, I have noticed that there are some large areas of open space, but such areas tend to be entirely isolated from each other by large swathes of concrete and tarmac.


So it is difficult to see how the local residents see much wildlife, for all the green parkspace, it is largely sterile.

What would be the local reaction to an installation of some natural British wild animal into one of those spaces?

The large roundabout outside the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre would be as good as any other space; there is some cover and the central grassed hub is as large an area as most in the region. So there it is to be!