PARK/STAD
Commissioned work
Exhibition ‘Dynamics of Time’
Bureau Europa, Maastricht, NL
13 December 2014 – 22 March 2015
Within the context of the exhibition ‘Dynamics of Time’ about Cedric Price, ‘PARK / STAD’ (2014) was shown.
The work PARK/STAD (PARK/CITY) examines our presumptions about the often highly constructed ’natural’ landscapes. In the photographic series, presented here as a slideshow projected onto the wall of slowly crossfading lush and idyllic landscapes that can be found in the Parkstad area, an undercurrent of tension exists. In many places, the green ground covers and conceals traces of the mining history that characterises the landscape of Central Limburg.
PARK/STAD is the outcome of the short group residency for the project ‘Verhalen Verbeeld’ in 2013 at the Winselerhof Estate on invitation by Bureau Europa.
As part of my research for ‘Verhalen Verbeeld’, I consulted the Limburg Regional Historical Centre archives and old DSM calendars to gain an insight into what once was, when the earth was still black. This translated into a visual analysis where I zoomed out from the Winselerhof estate in Landgraaf to its immediate vicinity.
Within a 2 km radius only, a range of typologies of constructed landscapes can be found: from an overgrown fishing pond, a botanical garden, to large-scale scenic recreational areas, such as Snow World, Gaia Zoo, Megaland, and the Mondo Verde World Gardens. Parks all seemingly imbued with a particular history, but in terms of meaning and design they appear to completely ignore their industrial past and identity. The remains of what was once a landscape of production are transformed into carriers of a new, generic ‘arcadian’ identity, becoming what could be described as style rooms of the new nature. As such, I put our perceptions about nature under the microscope and show, in a poetic way, the relation and contradiction between constructed, cultivated vegetation and its opaque, underlying cultural identity.
About ‘The Dynamics of Time’: Bureau Europa presents the third iteration of an exhibition of the work of architect Cedric Price and the first public appearance of some of his selected projects in the Netherlands. CEDRIC PRICE: The Dynamics of Time is an exhibition that introduces the work of Price by presenting a cross-section of the elements of his inventive and singular practice: sketches, project drawings, recorded talks, first-hand accounts by staff, colleagues and friends. A series of selected projects present his innovative models for industry, education, government, tourism, ecology and the house.
The exhibition is curated, at the invitation of Bureau Europa, by Jan Nauta and Samantha Hardingham ad is made possible with the support of the municipality of Maastricht, the province of Limburg and the Creative Industries Fund NL.