Inspir
ed by Exyzt’s The Feasting Mouth, a communal oven and dining table, I will be in residence at Skirt of the Black Mouth, Southern Landscape Tate Modern, Sumner Street: 15-17 July & 11-15 August 2014.
I will create new work through conversation and observation, talking to businesses owners, workers, local residents and passers-by about three key themes:
1. Food in the city: its production and consumption; people’s experience of both lone lunches and communal dining; concepts of sharing, the social, exchange and conversation.
2. Transformation and the green within the urban environment: The Skirt of the Black Mouth and the feasting table sit within the Bankside Urban Forest. The forest offers a strong metaphor – a place of magic and transformation, danger and subversion. From the burnt wood ‘fence’ and wooden cobbles of the Skirt, to the concrete/ metal/glass expansion of the Tate.
3. Work and visibility: The new Tate extension is visible and tangible, something created by a vast team of engineers, architects and construction workers, which will change the landscape of the city. At the same time, other local workers construct equally complex structures that are invisible within the urban fabric – finance and business: work done on computer screens and over phone lines.
An illustrated book with new writing will be available from mid September onwards via Better Bankside and Tate Modern’s community programmes.
I will be in residence at the feasting table 12.00-14.30 on 15-17 July & 11-15 August. Pop by for a cup of tea and a chat, or get involved online: you can contribute to our lunch survey, let us know about your urban green space, and tell us about how visible or invisible your job is.
