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London Fieldworks (Arts in the Elements, 2015)Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven

London Fieldworks

Shortlisted in 2015 for Arts in the Elements

London Fieldworks is the united artistic output of Bruce Gilchrist & Jo Joelson. Their earlier work showed a marked interest in connectivity using digital networks to create site-specific pieces such as ‘Syzygy’ (1999) and ‘Polaria’ (2001) which connected wild and remote places to urban centres to question the authenticity of mediated experience.

Sustaining their practice for so long has gradually led to an evolution in their work where their interest in digital economies has been translated into working with natural ecological systems such as in ‘Super Kingdom’ (2008) which was expanded into a multi-site project based in urban green spaces (‘Spontaneous City’, 2010-2012). In this project they created ‘architectural interventions’ in nature, sculptural pieces ‘open to occupation by wildlife’ which were also remarkable aesthetic responses to the environment. Often situated in trees, the pieces recall densely populated urban areas, simultaneously resembling hives and other colonies.