Deptford X 2005
Deptford X Festival 2005
2005 Festival Archive:
Programmer:
Hannah Liley
project assistant:
Bea Denton
Core artists:
- Alain Bublex
- Simon Starling
- Luke Oxley
- Andrea Gregson
- Scanner
- Kazuya YamaZaki
- Georgia McIntyre
- Discoteque
- The Miller and McAfee Press
- Loren Beven
- Cordelia Swann
- Sally Barker
- Yara El-Sherbini
- Charlesworth, Lewandowski & Mann
- Nicky Hodge
- Florencia Guillen
- Amanda Francis
- Emma Wozukau-Wanambwa
artists:
- Pankof Bank
- FAT
- Brown and Pletts
- Susanne Isa and Simon Herron
- Dusu Choi
- Raqs Media Collective
- Bernadette Corporation
- Daedalus
- Anthony Gross
- Faiyaz Jafri
- Miltos Manetas
- Rafael Rozendaal
- DJ/Rupture & Daniel Perlin
- Man from Uranus
Summary:
Ephemeral Cities: A Project Space is a broad map of how we engage with our cities.
“An accurate definition of the ephemeral is that which last for just one day — more commonly we think of ephemeral experiences as transitory ones, though of intermediate length. It is almost automatic to assume that such fleeting experiences are relatively inconsequential. However, though they may be temporary in duration, they impact can be lasting. It is therefore the power of the experience rather than its duration that is more important in gauging its meaning and effect.”
- Robert Kronenburg
It is about exploration of the real world, of people and things, as well as the creation of visionary dreams and fictional worlds. It is about looking closely to discover different perspectives, different ways of looking at the world an of recounting individual experience.
The exhibitions, public works and events explore the way in which artists seek to express and expanded view of the world, suggesting new connections and engaging in themes that consider the transitory nature of where we live. These theme’s include migration, advertising, public art, architecture, utopia and fantasy. The works describe the city through many ordinary lives as well as extraordinary journeys, the detail and diversity focusing on the signs that engage n the realities of contemporary life, personal experience and the flow of the community.
Not all artists engage directly with the belt environment, some work at the margins of planned space; developing experimental cities and communities, new contractions and opening up fresh market spaces.
Among the interweaving themes are ways in which people and communities engage and interact whilst navigating the city. The city streets and landmarks are most in Scanner’s performance, traversing the city via sound waves. Simona Starling’s new work for billboard sites across European cities brings an unexpected glimpse of multiple city structures into our daily lives, whilst Alia Syed and Cordelia Swann make new journeys to previously visited cities. Yara El-Sherbini’s jokes show how language can restrict our understanding as much as it enlightens us, at the same time Luke Oxley asks us to decipher the codes and conventions of language by removing words from their context.
Looking closely at where and how we live the architects Pankof Bank, Brown and Pletts, Susanne Isa and Simon Herron, and Fat have been developing ideas for enhancing urban living conditions through possible community based or individual initiatives, as Alain Bublex has been developing a utopian vision based on an Architrav design. Erosion by Whispers by Rags Media Collective is an intangible presence of words, whispers and rumours across our dense urban infrastructure suggesting that fragility is as much part of the experience of cities as the claim to endurance is built into their design. The Open Season open exhibition brings together artists who bridge social, political, cultural and economic structures.
Importantly, A Project Space is about a large number of artists whose work can b seen in studio spaces and living rooms, whose works stretch the themes and boundaries still further. Here is a convergence of separate practices from painting to sculpture, photography to conceptual, performance and installation, extending the context from the studio to the gallery and often beyond into the public arena.
