Mark Jenkins in Barcelona: the story

Posted on July 18, 2008
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Mark Jenkins new work in Barcelona

photo by Mark Jenkins

Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of Mark Jenkins‘ work. What always impresses me about his body of work is not only the quality of the finished pieces, but the way in which he integrates them into the urban fabric. His storkers can often be found playing with and in the cast-off areas of the city, creating both a sense of delight and tension in their innocence bordering on misadventure, while his embeds turn the otherwise anonymous areas of the city into theatrical arenas of intrigue and almost discomfort for the passers-by. But with his latest work in Barcelona, he has hit a new stride.

The piece shown above is The Golden Ass - one of his embeds, this time hacking the world of street theatre and people masquerading as “living sculptures”. For those who aren’t familiar with Mark’s work, his “embeds” are hauntingly realistic sculptures he creates out of tightly rolled newspaper, then shapes, clothes and installs accordingly. So, yes, there isn’t actually anyone inside the donkey costume - a fact delightfully lost on the spectators. Being particularly impressed with the piece, I had a conversation with him today about it. As Mark explains:

“I see a lot of performance artists trying to become sculptures or playing dead/frozen these days and so it’s nice to meet them half-way on this one.

“Part of the camouflage was to put a coin bucket in front of the piece, and surprisingly the piece earned over 200 euros that day (before diasspearing in the night) so i think the commerce of street art in the gallery… while interesting, to me it’s as interesting pimping a street piece like this direct, and it makes a point in itself.”

As he says, it is the direct nature, even the direct funding, of this piece that really brings it home. While the whole people making money by standing really still for long periods of time Living Sculpture phenomenon has become a ubiquitous part of the urban tourist experience, the tips offered forth by the public are always for their roles as performers (or pity - it’s a sliding scale). Yet here, even unbeknownst to the public, the money put forth is for the performance of the piece of art itself. It’s a brilliant urban hack on Mark’s part.

Lastly, what resonates with me is of course the title of the work, The Golden Ass. One of the great fantasy stories of literature, it is the tale of how the main character, Lucius, falls victim to his over-enthusiasm to witness a magic act, and accidentally gets transformed into an ass. As such, he is put to work and is forced to witness and share the misfortunes and hardships of the other slaves and workers who are exploited at the hands of the wealthy. Anyone else feeling the analogy here?

Harkening back to University literature classes here, I was also drawn by the significance that The Golden Ass begins with a charge to the reader: “intende”. Literally translated, it means “be attentive”. But it is a conditional phrase also, meaning that if you are attentive, then you will take pleasure in this experience. So, as parable, for those who see merely a Living Sculpture on the streets of Barcelona and offer a few coins to it, there is a certain level of appreciation. But for those that pay a greater degree of attention to what is taking place in the macro of the piece, there is an enormous amount of enjoyment within the work.

Lisbon Street Art Tribute to Pessoa

Posted on July 14, 2008
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Photo Credit: Joao Pina for The New York Times

Photo Credit: Joao Pina for The New York Times

The New York Times just published a fine article about the dilemma facing Portugal that a collection of the famed Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa’s papers might be sold and leave the country. What drew me to the article was the fact that it was on Pessoa, for whose work I have a great appreciation, but what brings me to write about the article here is of course the stencil graffiti illustration used in the piece and its larger significance.

I remember seeing this stencil the last time I was in Lisbon. It made a great impression on me then for the same reasons that bring me to write about it now, but the fact that it is the illustration for this particular article brings it to a new light.

There is a quality in Pessoa’s image being painted on the streets of Lisbon that anchors him to the city in a tactile, visceral way - the same way that he himself is so strongly anchored to the city. He was born in Lisbon in 1888, and lived there for most of life, a virtually unknown writer publishing little of his immense body of work before ultimately dying there in obscurity in 1935. Certain authors have always had an inseparable connection to specific cities. I think of Miller’s writings of Paris, or Hemingway’s fondness for Madrid, and of course Kafka’s embodiment of Prague. To think of these authors and their respective cities is to imagine their image cast against the physical streets of the city. In Lisbon, someone has literally done just that, and The Times acknowledges this testimony of individual action with their illustration.

As always, I find much larger meaning within this intervention than what is seen the surface. Let’s frame this stencil in the perspective of creating a public tribute to Pessoa in his home city. Imagine the individual who created this stencil decided that he was going to petition the city to create a new public monument to the poet apart from the rather uninspiring one which exists in front of A Brasileira. First, of course - would they have access to the city officials to get the proposal, or letter, even past the first filter given to public correspondence? And, if so, then think of the immense amount of bureaucracy, competitions, commissions… we are now looking at several years of process. And even in an alternate take - if the individual petitioned the local authorities with the desire that not only a public portrait be created, but that the artist put themselves forward as the one that would then create it? Mega-million lotteries hold better odds.

So, instead, in the course of a few hours, the stencil was made, and, most likely, in a few seconds in the middle of the night, the tribute was created - by the people, for the people in a direct creative action. No permissions, no commissions, no waiting.

But what is more, the image itself holds a tragic beauty beyond that of Pessoa himself which resonates with Lisbon. One of my favourite cities by far, Lisbon holds a beautiful if at times sad reminder of its past empirical grandeur. This is found within the portrait of Pessoa himself - his immaculate, stately attire, taken so much for granted at the time, but now a symbol for a past prominence in himself, in his home city, that is more reminder than reality.

Of course Lisbon has found a new confidence in recent years, a renewed vitality that brings the warmth, romance and brilliance it holds within the beauty of its stone-filled city to the surface. And in the stenciled portrait of Pessoa, I find that hope of renewal as well. His gaze looks literally to the street itself, in contemplation. In anticipation.

A staggering beautiful tribute to Pessoa, done fitting tribute by The Times.

World Urban Development Congress

Posted on July 3, 2008
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I’m pleased to share the news that I have been invited to deliver a keynote address at the World Urban Development Congress in Riga, Latvia this October.

I’ll be addressing the congress on the development of creative urban environments - should be an interesting session, considering that my definition of what makes an urban environment creative challenges a lot of the usual notions. But I guess that’s why I’m there.

Joining me as keynote speakers at the congress will be Rem Koolhaas OMA, Charles Landry, Janis Dripe, chief architect of Riga City, and the economist Robert C. Kloosterman. For a list of the speakers and bios, go here. For more information on the World Urban Development Congress, go here.

New Work From CutUp

Posted on June 20, 2008
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Last night CutUp installed their latest batch of work throughout London. For those of you not (yet) familiar with CutUp, they specialise in physically remixing the urban visual, taking down billboards, cutting them up into pixels, and re-installing them to create new images out of the original source material. While my personal favourite medium of their work is large-scale billboards as above, I also enjoy their bus stop hits, where they hack the lightbox adverts with their own remix. Here, a Spiderman poster takes an unexpected turn:

Most satisfyingly though, last night I got to spend some time with the guys and talk more in-depth about their methods and process. What can I say - I heart CutUp. For more photos, see the flickr set here.

Viktor & Rolf & One Amazing Dollhouse

Posted on June 18, 2008
Filed Under exhibitions, london | 1 Comment




I attended to the Viktor & Rolf opening last night at the Barbican for one of the following reasons:

A) I decided I don’t spend enough time around supermodels
B) It’s been too long since I’ve spent an evening drinking rose-flavoured vodka cocktails
C) I was invited because of my relationship with Premsela

It was all celeb, glam and paparazzi, dahling, but hugely enjoyable in its own right. Fashion exhibitions are incredibly difficult to pull off, but this one is exceptional. The highlight, obviously, was the insanely huge doll house in the centre of the exhibition. Viktor & Rolf essentially re-created the entire exhibition, which surrounds the dollhouse, in miniature. If you’ve seen their website, this won’t be a surprise, but in the context of the exhibition, it not only added a layer of appreciation to their work, but also created the simple joy of smiling as you enter the space and see something truly fresh and exciting in a show. I really can’t recommend it enough.

However, with my recent time being filled working on Urban Play, I came across one piece in the exhibition that made me pause for a moment and mix wonder and appreciation for where some of their ideas come from:





Mark Jenkins’ “embed” to the left, Viktor & Rolf to the right. Coincidence? Discuss…

At the Ecole Speciale d’Architecture, Paris

Posted on June 14, 2008
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At the Ecole Speciale d’Architecture in Paris today as part of the final jury for the architectural design class being taught by my friends Karsten Huneck and Bernd Truempler of Office for Subversive Architecture fame.

As with most student work, there was a healthy range of ideas and varying degrees of talent on offer, but overall it was an fairly impressive selection of new thinking towards architecture by the next gen (well, France’s next gen). One piece that really stuck with me as I was walking around after the day was a project by students Berenice Gaussuin and Clair Tournier.

With a brief to redevelop an old firestation, they presented some impressively polished and well-thought out plans to gut the interior of the firestation and create an organically developing natural space within the building. Their ideas and execution of the project as they presented it reminded me of a lot of the thinking done in the second part of the Shrinking Cities project and even more radical explorations in terms of designing for shrinkage instead of growth in cities. Some nice work coming out of the ESA, guided by OSA. All hail the power of the acronym!

Amsterdam Talk: Hacking Reality

Posted on June 4, 2008
Filed Under amsterdam, talks | 1 Comment

As part of Platform 21’s excellent Checking Reality programme, I have been asked to give a talk on “Hacking Reality” this Friday at their space in Amsterdam, how the virtual world and digital culture is altering our interaction with the real world, in particular in the realm of street art and urban intervention. To read more about my talk, go here.

Friday 6 June, 20 00
Platform 21
Prinses Irenestraat 19
1077 WT Amsterdam

Report Out: Urban Intervention as Design Masterclass

Posted on May 9, 2008
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Previously, on scottburnham.com…

As I wrote last week, I was an instructor for UQAM’s (University of Quebec in Montreal) Design International Masterclass. My workshop functioned as an creative urban laboratory to explore the objects and areas of the city with a new approach to design and the city: how can shared spaces, objects, visuals and aesthetics be created which invite creative participation by the public?

To say I was pleased with the outcome would be an understatement. For a more visual overview and a play-by-play in French, with a cameo by some of Montreal’s city officials who wanted to get inside the concept a bit more, go here.

Guest Lecturer @ Design International

Posted on May 1, 2008
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It’s been an inspiring week working with a team of about 40 advanced design students to explore the notion of urban intervention as a design process. The mission was simple: “The city as source material and canvas.” And with each day that passes, I’m continually impressed with the work coming out of the class. That, and the fact that the “Intervention Unit” van (above) is parked around the corner from the building. Coincidence?

Participating in these intense international workshops are always great fun - mostly because the students had to apply to get in, so they’re at their best, and also because the other guest lecturers from across the departments are all key players in their fields, so there’s also a great a vibe in the cafe in-between lectures, swapping ideas and contacts.

Come back soon for the flickr pool of resulting student work. You won’t be disappointed.

Interview with The European Urban Knowledge Network

Posted on April 13, 2008
Filed Under amsterdam, media, urban play | Leave a Comment

An interview with me exploring the underlying themes of Urban Play has just been published on the European Urban Knowledge Network. It’s a nice platform for the debate Urban Play is causing, as the EUKN is primarily read by urban planners and policy makers. Here’s a clip:

“… [shared space in the city] is increasingly devoted to commercial messages and advertising – communication that is exclusively one-way: the public is being spoken at, in areas where the social expectation is one of shared interactions between people, so the same is expected of the shared visuals of the areas. Yet the one-way visuals and communications of the city run in opposition to the instinctive behaviour of people in the city. Therefore people are increasingly reversing the communication streams of the city and are communicating back.”

I’m fairly pleased with how the interview went. So if it’s a slow news day where you are, you can read the rest of it here.

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