Art that isn't looking away #2

Taylor Wimpey show home interior at new Devon town of Cranbrook

Another example of work that's engaging with contemporary 'real life' issues - this time in a much more direct way. I joined one of four playful excursions into the city of Exeter led by artist Stephen Hodge, where we investigated "buildings and the life between them". This was part of his project Where to build the walls that protect us which invites its audience to imagine a future city.

It included a surreal and slightly depressing trip to the new town of Cranbrook on Exeter's outskirts.  Given a blank sheet of paper, you'd have hoped Devon could do better. There's a lot of talk in the publicity about community and environment, but no real commitment to it in the way this new settlement been designed or constructed. That's what happens when you hand over your civic planning responsibilities to private developers, whose first responsibility is to deliver a return for their shareholders, not invest in a sustainable community.  It was, however, great fun exploring the show homes...

Where to build the walls that protect us was conceived by Stephen Hodge and commissioned by Kaleider.
http://www.wheretobuildthewallsthatprotectus.com/

Storify by Mark McCarthy  http://storify.com/markpmcc/where-to-build-the-walls-that-protect-us-excursion