LONDONFIELDWORKS

Photo: London Fieldworks, 2010

SPONTANEOUS CITY IN THE TREE OF HEAVEN
Duncan Terrace Gardens
Islington, London, N1
19 July, 2010 ongoing

Cremorne Gardens
Chelsea, London, SW10
19 July, 2010 ongoing

London Fieldworks' Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven is a sculptural installation drawing on the ecology and biodiversity of two sites on opposite sides of London: Duncan Terrace Gardens in the East and Cremorne Gardens in the West. The installations are constructed from several hundred bespoke bird boxes mounted in two trees of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) and reflect the forms of the surrounding architecture; a combination of Georgian town houses, and 60's social housing around Duncan Terrace Gardens, and the World's End Estate adjacent to Cremorne Gardens. Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven has developed out of a recent London Fieldworks project, Super Kingdom, commissioned by Stour Valley Arts for Kings Wood in Kent, where 'show homes' for animals were constructed based on the architecture of despot's palaces.

The installations have been commissioned for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Islington Council by up projects as part of their Secret Garden Project ; a new programme of artists commissions and events for secret gardens, lesser known green spaces, and urban corners across London. They will be in situ for three years.

Spontaneous City has also been commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, May 2011, across three of the city’s public gardens, lesser known green spaces and urban corners. and also in May for the Clerkenwell Design Week, as a their 2011 legacy project. The Spontaneous Cities are temporary interventions in the trees reflecting the local architecture, a metaphorical interplay between the condition of the animal and the human. As well as being open to occupation by urban birds and insects, Spontaneous City can also be read as an allegory of population crash and dwindling biodiversity.