Life is more virtual than ever, but in this intensely divided moment, it's arguably our streets, squares, plazas and monuments where power remains most contested.
How does a garden become an act of resistance against gentrification? How can an urban park expose a pre-colonial landscape? What are the boundaries of protest in public space? And what role does architecture play in the the stories we tell ourselves about our collective histories, hopes and dreams?
Coming soon from Drawing Matter and the Architecture Foundation: a new series on Power & Public Space.
Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Life is more virtual than ever, but in this intensely divided moment, it's arguably our streets, squares, plazas and monuments where power remains most contested.
How does a garden become an act of resistance against gentrification? How can an urban park expose a pre-colonial landscape? What are the boundaries of protest in public space? And what role does architecture play in the the stories we tell ourselves about our collective histories, hopes and dreams?
Coming soon from Drawing Matter and the Architecture Foundation: a new series on Power & Public Space.
Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The concrete-lined LA River was built on top of a sprawling floodplain, which the land artist Lauren Bon seeks to reveal through a large-scale infrastructural project called “Bending the River Back to the City”. By diverting a small amount of water from the river, lifting it, cleansing it, and spreading it to a network of public parks, (its former floodplain), she renders the utilitarian water management system as an accessory of public delight and education, and begins the long process of restoring the floodplain to its natural state.
Much of Bon’s artwork is focused on closing the gap between the natural world and public life, and in this conversation she discusses the role of the artist in translating the abstraction of both natural systems and human infrastructure into experiences that are tangible and culturally meaningful. Bon also discusses her earlier work “Not a Cornfield” - in many ways a precursor to Bending the River - which aimed to transform a derelict industrial site “back into a public space — a commons — creat[ing] the possibility for a deeper public consciousness and a sense of shared ownership of LA’s historic floodplain.”
Power & Public Space is a co-production of Drawing Matter & the Architecture Foundation
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.