Urban Play, Søndre Havn, Køge
Temporary cultural interventions kickstart industrial harbor redevelopment
Urban Play is an exhibition in the public space of Søndre Havn, Køge, Denmark taking place from May 4th – September 15th 2012. Based on the meeting between art and play, a number of artistic installations invite participants and bring new life to an industrial harbor.
Urban Play is the result of a collaboration between curator Charlotte Bagger Brandt of Råderum – Mobile Office for Contemporary Art, Bettina Lamm, Forest & Landscape, University of Copenhagen, and Køge Kyst, a partnership between the municipality of Køge and Danish development group Realdania City. Under the motto ‘life before the city’ Urban Play is part of Køge Kyst’s strategy for using temporary cultural interventions as a process for developing the harbour area.
Rebar was part of a global group of artists and architects that created works for Urban Play: Rintala/Eggertsson Architects (NO/FI/IS), Raumlabor (DE), Ditte Hammerstrøm, Claus Bjerre and Jeremy Walton (DK), Happyspace (SE), Jesper Aabille (DK), Keri Smith (CA), Monika Gora & Gunilla Bandolin (SE). We contributed two works to the exhibition.
PLAYSCAPE OF WOOD AND SAND
A constructed wild space, playscape repurposes industrial materials into a large scale artwork and play environment. Pine poles – typically stacked in Søndre Havn and shipped abroad for flooring- are embedded in an abandoned lot. Sand dredged from the working harbor rings the constructed forest and invites running, climbing, jumping, and tumbling.
THE GROUND IS POISONOUS
In a polluted abandoned lot reclaimed by ruderal vegetation Rebar created a raised walkway into a contaminated wilderness. Visitors are invited to look but not touch the contaminated soil and to cast grain – stored in a nearby grain silo – into the field to begin the process of remediation.
See the video and project website for more info.
Date: 2012
Client: Råderum; Mobile Office for Contemporary Art
Location: Køge, Denmark