The Project
A live durational installation work that mixes storytelling and architecture in a darkly comical but poignant way to produce a narrative on modern urban life.
Like architects evolving their Lilliputian city, the artists will be in residence throughout the festival to construct a monumental model of a frozen urban landscape. This is partly imaginary, partly based upon memories of places they lived, partly upon the failure of town planning and upon the clash of old and new.
Human incidents are etched into the diorama of a forsaken neighbourhood, full of those commonplace or unorthodox buildings deemed unworthy of cultural significance. Strange and incongruous relationships are highlighted in a numbered key to the site (Le Pews Nightclub, Mr Stitch the clothing alteration shop, etc).
This culture-clash city will constantly expand into the space, its linearity emphasising its rampant enlargement as, for instance, graveyards spill under motorway flyovers and retail parks invade the school playground, each overhaul offering stimuli for the curious to keep returning.
Lisa Wesley works across the disciplines of performance, video installation and text. Andrew Blackwood qualified from Glasgow School of Art with an honours degree and diploma in architecture.
Wesley is currently a recipient of an Artsadmin Bursary. The Project has been partly developed from White Settlers, a Bonington Gallery/Now Festival Commission.
Commissioned for the National Review of Live Art 2006