54

POCKET PARKS

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

Collating research/exploration of Pocket Parks.

Citation preview

Page 1: POCKET PARKS
Page 2: POCKET PARKS

Task:

1. Find a space2. Mark out a 1 metre square3. Utilise the square

Page 3: POCKET PARKS

1/ FIXED SPACE. NON-LOCATION SPECIFIC. We think [they]* already explored the use of different envi-ronments. We would like to explore more the use of objects in space, rather than objects in location.

2/ COLLECTED/DONATED items from the community. Addresses the community aspect of pocket parks. Asked evertone to donate one item to the square. Items are personal to people, each item possesses great identity. [Therefeore] shows how di-verse objects/people can be bought together in a [beautiful] way.

3/ + 4/ THE SPACE AS A [WOMB]. Shows comfort in a small space. Maximising use of a small space. Jigsaw puzzle. Simple space brings people together.Time to [relax] & [reflect]. Boris says: “They might provide a place to sit and watch the crowds go by or to en-joy an oasis of greenery or a place to stop and chat.”Made for the comfort of the com-munity and the individual. Holistic. (Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.)

Page 4: POCKET PARKS

5/ + 6/ BOOK SWAP. Directly com-pares to [their]* raw idea in the tool, i.e. when [they] placed a me-tre-square over a pre-existing book sale.(See references, figure 1)We aimed to refine this raw idea. We emphasise the act of sharing. We recontextualise the act in a non-com-mercial environment. Thus, this is not an exchange of

books ~ money

but an exchange of

books ~ books

or even,

[raw] knowledge ~ knowledge.

7/ + 8/ Directly compares to [their]* ‘draw on me’ image/idea.(See references, figure 2)The space is open to illimitable creativity. It is shaped by its users. The space’s core purpose is to allow creativity to flow freely. Boris says: “They will turn spaces into places.”The use of newspaper as a ground = the past [history] and [political, cultural and social entanglement] of the space.

Page 5: POCKET PARKS

9/ + 10/ Consider: Dalston Eastern Curve Garden (DECG).DECG was the forerunner for all pocket parks.DECG was previously a dump be-fore being converted into a pocket park.Objects found in the dump were even given a ‘new lease of life’ by being ‘upcycled’ into furniture, etc.

Here, we illustrate that concept by organizing a mess of useful objects/materials to give them purpose with-in a composition.

Ordering/chaos/etc

Page 6: POCKET PARKS

(*they = previous group)

[REFERENCES/etc]

Above: Fig 1

Above: Fig 2

Page 7: POCKET PARKS
Page 8: POCKET PARKS
Page 9: POCKET PARKS
Page 10: POCKET PARKS
Page 11: POCKET PARKS
Page 12: POCKET PARKS
Page 13: POCKET PARKS
Page 14: POCKET PARKS
Page 15: POCKET PARKS

 

Page 16: POCKET PARKS

Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban district, a re-lated increase in rents and prop-erty values, and changes in the district’s character and culture. The term is often used negative-ly, suggesting the displacement of poor communities by rich out-siders.

Page 17: POCKET PARKS
Page 18: POCKET PARKS

!!!!!!

Gentrification!is!a!general!term!for!the!

arrival!of!wealthier!people!in!an!existing-urban-district,!a!related!increase!in!rents!and!property!values,!and!

changes!in!the!district's!character!and!culture.!The!term!

is!often!used!negatively,!suggesting!the!displacement-of-poor-communities-by-rich-outsiders.--!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

The!best!explanation!for!this!is!house!prices!and!rents.!Young!creative!types!aren't!

paid!all!that!well.!Young!management!consultants,!bankers!and!lawyers,!by!contrast,!

are.!And!as!they've!followed!the!artists!and!advertising!copywriters!into!trendy!

neighbourhoods,!they've!pushed!up!rents!and!house!prices!so!that!the!creative!

people!can't!move!there!anymore.!!

!

Is!this!a!problem?!It!is!tempting!to!think!so.!The!shift!reflects!genuine!social!

progress.!Trendiness!alone!has!not!driven!change.!Twenty!years!ago,!few!

middleAclass!people!wanted!to!live!in!places!like!Hackney,!because!crime!rates!

were!high,!congestion!legion,!pollution!choking!and!the!schools!appalling.!All!of!

those!things!have!improved!enormously.!And!an!influx!of!middleAclass!people!

has!probably!helped!entrench!the!changes.!Not!all!existing!residents!benefit!

because!some!have!to!rent!in!the!private!sector,!and!rents!are!up.!But!most!are!

shielded:!either!because!they!own,!or!because!they!live!in!subsidised!social!housing.!

Moved!

upmarket!

No!change!

Moved!

downmarket!

http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2014/04/gentrificationAlondon!

!

!

Creative!people!out,!businessmen!in!

Statistically!improved!

yuppie-9-a-w

ell9paid-you

ng-

middle9class-

professiona

l-who-

works-in-a-c

ity-job-and-h

as-a-

luxurious-lif

estyle.-

Page 19: POCKET PARKS

!

!

!

!

!

!

By!2031,!around!2,000!council!or!former!council!homes!will!have!been!demolished!

and!replaced!with!more!than!5,500!units!on!the!estate:!some!social!housing;!some!

for!“key!workers”,!the!euphemism!now!used!for!lowApaid!public!servants,!and!

the!majority!to!be!sold!on!the!open!market.!

!

Woodberry!Down!!A!Even!tenants!in!the!new!social!housing!reported!how!they!

or!neighbours!had!been!plunged!into!debt!because!of!the!higher!bills!incurred!

through!having!a!private!housing!association!as!a!landlord.!Despite!Berkeley’s!

promise!to!“bring!together!all!people!in!Woodberry!Down”,!social!tenants!

reported!that!those!living!in!the!expensive!private!blocks!“cross!the!road!to!

avoid!us”.!They!had!been!made!to!feel!like!second;class!citizens!in!their!own!home.!http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/18/AspAtruthAaboutA

gentrificationAhowAwoodberryAdownAbecameAwoodberryApark!

!

Three!years!ago,!I!shouted!down!young!men!as!they!burnt!cars!on!the!streets!of!Hackney,!where!I!live.!Now!they!come!in!beards!and!bobble!hats!instead.!

Places!such!as!Kingsland!Road!and!Mare!Street!have!become!the!trendiest!

places!to!be,!but!that!has!bought!unrest!of!a!different!sort.!The!people!who!live!

here!are!not!happy.!

There!are!a!lot!of!issues!with!the!social!cleansing!that!is!becoming!increasingly!

evident!around!here.!

I!try!to!keep!away!from!the!word!'hipster',!and!call!them!trendies!instead.!But!

it!all!means!the!same:!gentrification.!The!regeneration!funds!given!to!the!

council!have!been!spent,!in!part,!on!a!fashion!hub.!How!is!that!helping!the!

youngsters!in!the!borough?!

!http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/lawAandAorder/11014543/WhiteA

hipstersAnotAblackAlootersAareAnowAthreateningApostAriotsALondon.html!

!

!

And!so!gentrification!is!no!longer!just!the!doing!of!young,!single!professionals.!It!

increasingly!takes!in!families!too.!It!is!here!to!stay—indeed,!it!will!keep!spreading!to!ever!more!unlikely!locations.!Even!since!the!2011!census,!the!wave!has!probably!moved!on!from!Brixton!and!Dalston,!where!young!families!are!now!settling.!New!graduates!now!are!moving!to!what!were!once!even!grottier!places!such!as!Peckham!and!New!Cross.!!http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/08/londonsAdemography!!

!

!

!

!

!

Social!class!tension!–!does!it!actually!bring!a!community!together?!Or!just!create!a!new,!richer!one.!

The!hipster!trend!spreading!

!!!!!!

Gentrification!is!a!general!term!for!the!

arrival!of!wealthier!people!in!an!existing-urban-district,!a!related!increase!in!rents!and!property!values,!and!

changes!in!the!district's!character!and!culture.!The!term!

is!often!used!negatively,!suggesting!the!displacement-of-poor-communities-by-rich-outsiders.--!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

The!best!explanation!for!this!is!house!prices!and!rents.!Young!creative!types!aren't!

paid!all!that!well.!Young!management!consultants,!bankers!and!lawyers,!by!contrast,!

are.!And!as!they've!followed!the!artists!and!advertising!copywriters!into!trendy!

neighbourhoods,!they've!pushed!up!rents!and!house!prices!so!that!the!creative!

people!can't!move!there!anymore.!!

!

Is!this!a!problem?!It!is!tempting!to!think!so.!The!shift!reflects!genuine!social!

progress.!Trendiness!alone!has!not!driven!change.!Twenty!years!ago,!few!

middleAclass!people!wanted!to!live!in!places!like!Hackney,!because!crime!rates!

were!high,!congestion!legion,!pollution!choking!and!the!schools!appalling.!All!of!

those!things!have!improved!enormously.!And!an!influx!of!middleAclass!people!

has!probably!helped!entrench!the!changes.!Not!all!existing!residents!benefit!

because!some!have!to!rent!in!the!private!sector,!and!rents!are!up.!But!most!are!

shielded:!either!because!they!own,!or!because!they!live!in!subsidised!social!housing.!

Moved!

upmarket!

No!change!

Moved!

downmarket!

http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2014/04/gentrificationAlondon!

!

!

Creative!people!out,!businessmen!in!

Statistically!improved!

yuppie-9-a-w

ell9paid-you

ng-

middle9class-

professiona

l-who-

works-in-a-c

ity-job-and-h

as-a-

luxurious-lif

estyle.-

Page 20: POCKET PARKS

!

!

!

!

!

!

Job!CentreA!In!Deptford!High!Street!the!former!site!of!the!local!jobcentre!recently!became!home!

to!a!new!bar!called!the!Job!Centre.!The!bar's!website!promises!upmarket!pub!food!in!

an!atmosphere!of!"quirky!design!features!inspired!by!its!function!as!a!place!that!

once!served!the!unemployed".!Unemployment!is!now!being!packaged!as!fun!decor!

for!those!with!disposable!cash.!

The!bar!marks!the!leading!edge!of!gentrification!in!Deptford,!which!is!located!in!one!

of!the!most!deprived!wards!in!the!southAeast!London!borough!of!Lewisham.!Key!

poverty!indicators!in!Lewisham!remain!high,!with!youth!unemployment!consistently!

in!the!top!10%!of!boroughs!nationwide.!This!is!a!literal!example!of!how!gentrification!is!taking!away!important!things!needed!in!a!poorer!community!to!survive,!and!replacing!it!with!unnecessary,!trendy,!expensive!places!to!attract!wealthier!residents,!and!so!on.!!

!

One!of!the!signs!of!gentrification:!!

;Support!from!the!city!authorities,!who!often!designate!these!areas!as!special!development!zones!and!provide!some!degree!of!funding!or!(tax)!incentives!to!developers.!

!

!

Physical!examples!of!gentrification!

The!Deptford!Project!A!a!communityArun!cafe!on!Deptford!High!Street,!with!lovely!

brunches!catering!to!the!hipster!Goldsmiths!College!crowd.!

Page 21: POCKET PARKS

!

!

!

!

!

!

TRAIN!CONVERTING!

—!

Train!carriage!cafes!don’t!just!transform!into!trendy!cafes!overnight.!We!pulled!

together!an!excellent!team!of!local!professional!and!creative!people!to!work!out!the!

logistics!of!the!transformation.!It!really!is!a!marvel!and!the!finished!train!carriage!

cafe!at!The!Deptford!Project!today!is!a!testament!to!all!those!people’s!hard!work.!

!

The!Deptford!Project!team!is!made!up!of!lots!of!interesting!and!lovely!people!who,!

not!only!have!a!passion!for!their!community!but!also!a!love!of!being!creative.!We!all!

come!together!to!suggest!new!ideas!for!the!cafe!and!also!ideas!for!what!could!take!

place!onAsite.!I!think!it!fair!to!say!that!we!are!a!family!and!those!that!move!on!to!new!

adventures!always!stay!in!touch.!!

!

The!Deptford!Project!Café!became!a!popular!place!with!Deptford!locals.!Lovingly!

restored!by!neighbourhood!craftsmen!and!run!by!a!local!group,!the!café!acted!as!a!

creative!hub!for!the!community!and!as!the!focal!point!for!The!Deptford!Project.!

Vogue!magazine!included!The!Deptford!Project!Café!in!their!top!50!favourite!things!

in!London.!<<!TRENDY!

!

- See!more!at:!http://www.thedeptfordproject.com/theA

arches/test#sthash.j23s6fhU.dpuf!

!

!

- This!draws!strikingly!similar!comparisons!to!the!‘Circle!Garden’!we!visited.!

Although!it!has!converted!a!disused!space!into!something!very!green,!and!

social!and!positive,!there’s!no!doubt!it!is!‘trendy’!and!it!follows!the!same!

rules!as!being!supported!by!the!city!authorities,!being!a!designated!area!for!

special!development!and!gathers!local!people!to!make!it!themselves.!We!

noticed!that!the!price!of!a!small!hot!chocolate!was!£2,!perhaps!not!the!

cheapest!deal!Dalston!has!had!to!offer!its!locals.!

!

Page 22: POCKET PARKS

1MAYOR OF LONDON

This call for projects is to give the Mayor’s commitment to deliver 100 pocket parks a further push and unearth some gems along the way. The Mayor wants these pocket parks to be small areas of inviting public space providing relief from the hustle and bustle of the city. These spaces should have trees and greenery; they should be open to all; they should provide places to sit and relax, for people to come together; and they should contribute to making the city friendlier, greener and more resilient.

Page 23: POCKET PARKS

How can we remove [the pock-et park] from its [negative political entanglement?] (gentrification, bo-ris, london-centricity, etc)

[Wait] Why should we? Its political entanglement is what makes it in-teresting.

[Thus] how do we redesign its [political entanglement?]

Page 24: POCKET PARKS

Guerrilla Gardening Being a Guerrilla is a Spanish term meaning a member of a band of soldiers that uses guerrilla warfare, harassing the enemy by surprise raids and sabotaging communication. This term became popular during the Peninsular War when the Spanish people rose against the Napoleonic troops. Guerrilla gardening is defined to be the act of utilizing areas on the street, which they don’t have the legal right to use, as areas to garden in. These people tend to be gardeners with strong political views against land-ownership, land that is neglected or misused. Through gardening lands they are protesting and taking action to provoke change. The land that they choose to be gardened is usually abandoned or neglected, they therefore raise plants, such as food crops or flowers to give that land a purpose or make it look aesthetically pleasing. They tend to carry these actions out at night, in secrecy if possible since those lands are normally banned. Guerrilla gardening is actually found all around the world, however it seems the term was first used in 1973 in New York by the artist Liz Christy and her Green Guerrilla group who from a run-down private lot created a garden. Green Estate, the Sheffield maintenance company who has done the Dunnett’s meadows says that making things beautiful is the way to engage people and create a duty of care. They thought that money should be spent on soft landscaping and enjoying aesthetical and emotional rewards for the community rather than on a state of the art playground. For them it is about listening, working together and co-operation. Richard Reynolds, a guerrilla gardener in London and founder of the website www.guerrillagardening.org describes his activity as “the illicit cultivation of someone else’s land”. Guerrilla gardening is a growing trend. There is also an inclination towards this activity becoming more open, encouraging communities to take action over their local environment. Their idea is to create change to enhance the local environment in a way that will help involve local people. In some cases, guerrilla gardeners are carrying out their gardening in the hope that the improvements they are attempting will eventually lead to approval and support from landowners. However there is a health hazard to planting crops near toxic waste sites and roads with traffic. Chemical runoff gets absorbed by the roots and therefore makes the plants toxic. Nevertheless, there are types of plants that actually absorb the toxins from the soil without dying and can therefore be used to reduce ground pollution, cleaning up the community.

Page 25: POCKET PARKS

 

Page 26: POCKET PARKS
Page 27: POCKET PARKS
Page 28: POCKET PARKS
Page 29: POCKET PARKS
Page 30: POCKET PARKS

‘1m square’ 1m = 100cm i.e. 1:10 = 10cm square

Page 31: POCKET PARKS

30/11/2014 15:16Thanks to Instagram, it’s hip to be square — the shape so cool it’s retro

Page 1 of 3http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2014/07/13/squares_are_the_shape_of_things_to_come.print.html

News / Insight

Thanks to Instagram, it’s hip to be square — the shape so cool it’s retroThe BlackBerry folks, marketing their new Passport device, is lauding the square as the best ergonomicshape for productivity. But really, there’s nothing that shouts retro so much as a square. A square is,well, square.

DAVE CHIDLEY / THE CANADIAN PRESSBlackBerry CEO John Chen shows off the new Passport phone after the company's annual general meeting inWaterloo on June 19, 2014.

By: Kenneth Kidd Feature reporter, Published on Sun Jul 13 2014

Feeling “stuck in a rectangular world”?

The good folks at Research in Motion would have us believe we’re all living in that spatial hell.

Sure, they’ll concede the familiar rectangular screen on our mobile devices is “a great ergonomicdesign that drives content.”

But a recent entry on RIM’s corporate blog goes on to suggest the ubiquitous shape is “perhapslimiting innovations.”

Award yourself zero points for detecting a marketing angle (90 degrees or otherwise) in all this. To wit:the newest BlackBerry device, the Passport, has a 4.5-by-4.5-inch screen.

MORE: BlackBerry Passport features

Citing academic research, RIM says the optimal number of characters on one line in a book is 66,versus roughly 40 on most (rectangular) smartphones.

The Passport will show 60 characters, “making it the ideal device for reading ebooks, viewingdocuments and browsing the web.”

Page 32: POCKET PARKS

Squares in popular culture: Instagram (Images by Brock Davis)

Page 33: POCKET PARKS
Page 34: POCKET PARKS

Squares in Art Invader Invader is a French urban artist. His name, inspired by the 1978 arcade game Space Invaders, is also the indication for his art, which he describes as the “invasion” of space. His work is modelled on the crude pixellation as depicted in such games, composing together ceramic tiles in highly visible places in more than 60 cities in 30 countries. The artist sees himself as a hacker of public space spreading a virus of mosaic; the streets are his canvas, his invasions seen as gifts to the city and its people. He believes that museums and galleries are not accessible to all and so deliberately makes his works public by installing them at street level for ordinary people to enjoy on a daily basis. The locations for his work are extremely important and are not chosen randomly. Careful planning is taken to scout possible locations for their strategic, aesthetic and conceptual significance.

Since about 2004, Invader has been using Rubik’s Cubes in his work and declares himself as one of the originators of the art form he calls Rubikcubism. He takes an image from popular culture and then uses a computer program to work out the precise disposition of the six colours for each image. He then constructs a full image by stacking them, after which the cubes are glued to the backing board. One theme he sticks to using this technique is “Bad Men”. Here he re-interprets villains such as Osama Bin Laden, Jaws and Al Capone. ���

Page 35: POCKET PARKS
Page 36: POCKET PARKS
Page 37: POCKET PARKS
Page 38: POCKET PARKS

Tutorial: Monday 1st December 2014 RE: Gentrification Who are ‘they’? ‘White middle-class’ pushing the (ethnic) working class further and further out of the centre. Boris Johnson Richard Reynolds Fight against gentrification – Make places undesirable/impossible to gentrify, camouflage/dope people into believing a place has already been gentrified. (Camouflaging places that look like they don’t need renovating) Define: Garden ‘A piece of ground adjoining a house, used for growing flowers, fruit, or vegetables.’ ‘A large public hall.’ Heterotopia Heterotopia is a concept in human geography elaborated by philosopher Michel Foucault to describe places and spaces that function in non-hegemonic conditions. Hegemony is the political, economic, or military predominance or control of one state over others. ‘These are spaces of otherness, which are neither here nor there, that are simultaneously physical and mental, such as the space of a phone call or the moment when you see yourself in the mirror.’ Guerilla Gardening is too kitsch: Japanese Knotweed It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's worst invasive species. The invasive root system and strong growth can damage concrete foundations, buildings, flood defences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites. It can also reduce the capacity of channels in flood defences to carry water.

Page 39: POCKET PARKS

01/12/2014 11:08Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and other invasive plants - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK

Page 1 of 20https://www.gov.uk/japanese-knotweed-giant-hogweed-and-other-invasive-plants

From:

First published:Last updated:Part of:

GOV.UK Menu

Environmental management (https://www.gov.uk/environmental-management) –guidanceJapanese knotweed, giant hogweed and otherinvasive plants

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs(https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs)

2 January 201329 May 2013 , see all updatesWildlife and habitat conservation (https://www.gov.uk/environmental-management/wildlife-habitat-

conservation), Environmental management (https://www.gov.uk/environmental-management), Landmanagement (https://www.gov.uk/environmental-management/land-management) and Rural andcountryside (https://www.gov.uk/government/topics/rural-and-countryside)

Find details of your legal responsibility for dealing with invasive plants and how to remove and dispose ofthem.

IntroductionThere are several hundred invasive plants in the UK. Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and Himalayanbalsam are invasive plants that your business might come into contact with.

You must not plant invasive plants intentionally and if you have invasive plants on your property you mustnot allow them to spread off site.

Invasive non-native plants can cause problems for native UK species and reduce biodiversity (the varietyof living organisms). Invasive non-native species are now widely recognised as the second biggest threatto biodiversity worldwide. Japanese knotweed can block footpaths and damage concrete, tarmac, flooddefences and the stability of river banks. Giant hogweed can cause harm to human health.

Injurious weeds are native species, which cause problems for farming. They are harmful to livestock andmust not be allowed to spread to agricultural land.

Page 40: POCKET PARKS

Cultural Terrorist Manifesto A terrorist who hijacks an airplane or plants a bomb in a crowded shopping centre apparently doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he (sic) achieves his aim. That innocent people are turned into bloody corpses or maimed for life is not his concern. The cultural terrorist is no different. The cultural terrorist, an assassin of the future, an executioner of morality. Cultural terrorism, an attitude, a state of mind - not a set of values to be dogmatically followed. Cultural terrorism is a celebration of the power of the individual. Our aim is to pollute the minds of the public, to sow the seeds of insanity into society. Our victims are of all ages - everybody from the cradle to the grave. Man cannot bear too much reality and as a result of this the cultural terrorist is in the business of providing a reality attack. An over exposure of reality - the dirt behind the day dream. No subject is taboo, all must be exposed. No one is sacred. Everybody as well as everything should feel the wrath of the cultural terrorist. The object of cultural terrorism is to exploit situations and people in order to cause a reaction, preferably negative. Our aim is to make money in order to finance our war which we wage upon society, The money is required so that we can purchase the technology which will tear into the heart of all that is considered normal. We are the cancerous cell that would painfully destroy all that is in contact with it. We are working to erase the conforming instinct. To prevent humanity from ever acting with a common will. The cultural terrorist's weapons are anything that enables him to inflict his views upon others or make him money. Be it film, video, audio cassettes, music, photocopiers, printed words, pictures - any media whatsoever is acceptable as long as it achieves the objective. We are little concerned how violent, how perverted, how degenerate, how much our material appeals to the very lowest of emotions, or how much the material twists and pollutes fresh young minds and further warps those already in trouble. If it makes money it will eventually achieve our aim and we will use it. We believe nothing is impossible, there is no god, there is no morality so we manipulate our environment to its fullest extent. Plagiarism is not only acceptable it is welcomed with open arms. We believe that you should not be afraid to steal from anyone. Our way is that of the liar and deceptor. We also know that the bigger the lie the better the chance of people believing it. Under cover communication is enemy crime not politics. Elaborate safeguards may be placed at airports to separate would-be terrorists from their weapons. But we the cultural terrorists are free to distribute our soul destroying weapons to whom and where we choose. The cultural terrorist is both benevolent and evil. Pull the wool over your own eyes in a call to arms. We feel very strongly that an active role of participation should be taken in this struggle by people already interested in this form of warfare. The cultural terrorist is involved in an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhuman world. Cultural terrorism is alien to this society and our technology will tear into it to open up wounds that may never again heal. Tomorrow belongs to us.Confusion as a weapon / Confusion the key word. Healthy confusion, some call it "evil". Confusion that sparks the need to question. Confusion calling fear, the adrenalin to flow, the blood rush and the life force to sit up and take notice. Confusion making us question everything in search of some (un)sense. Everything to be probed into. Indulging into whatever subjects we feel like. Making our lives that much more interesting for ourselves. No subject should be taboo. Spewing it out in our writings, in our "artwork", in our aural pieces. Digesting and regurgitating, sometimes in almost original form and other times in unrecognisable confusion. Leading to questions from others, not sure of where we stand, their need to know, pretending not to care, yet seeking the safety of answers that fit their way, the safe way of thinking. We stand everywhere and nowhere. We wade in cool rivers / we tread in dogshit. Creating only for ourselves. Taking anything from our surroundings we desire or find necessary ... Alternative media ... Mindfuck to oblivion ... A disjointed, chaotic view of this fucked up, ever decaying globe. Gladly we take our part in the information / disinformation war in a fearless way. Ours is a wide open mouth sucking deadlife media cock. Ours is a wide open arsehole shitting out deadlife media junk food. This here is the stink and defiance of a blanket protest. A big fuckoff to "peer group pressure". No attempt is made to conform, to speak your / their words. Always the fight against those who would control our minds and our bodies. In this our weapons are our very lives.  

Page 41: POCKET PARKS
Page 42: POCKET PARKS

01/12/2014 12:45OPEN Dalston: The story that was never told

Page 11 of 14file:///Users/baljyotkaur/Desktop/Pocket%20Parks/OPEN%20Dalston:%20The%20story%20that%20was%20never%20told.webarchive

"[These buildings] represent theheart and soul of Dalston. We believe they represent both the past and the future ofDalston’s prosperity. We want to see them restored so that we can show ourgrandchildren how Dalston used to be and so they can share our pride in our heritageand identity."Ridley Road Market Traders Association

"This [demolition] will destroy the memory and history of black culture in Dalston."Charles Collins (tenant of the Dalston Theatre 1963-1999 and a founder of the ClubFour Aces reggae club)

"This group of buildings' potential is obvious and there is no need whatsoever to tearthem down."SAVE Britain’s Heritage:

" Their demolition would be an unforgivable oversight...our built heritage isirreplaceable."The Spitalfields Trust

Page 43: POCKET PARKS

Manifesto To counter-attack gentrification using guerilla gardening/nature. Bring ‘guerilla’ gardening closer to true guerilla warfare. Steal the ethos of pocket-parks and re-transfer it to a more left-charged political stance Attacking rich HIPSTER ~ RICH ?????!!!?!??! Make sure we’re attacking the right people Not just rich people but white upper-middle class ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK

Page 44: POCKET PARKS
Page 45: POCKET PARKS

Begin 4-part terrorist attack

1. Plant chilli seeds outside New Cross cafés.

Planting the seed of revolt against gentrification.(Chilli seeds were planted outside Maddy’s Fish Bar and The London Particular on New Cross Road)

QUOTE Maddy of Maddy’s fish bar: “....with the community that Bex and The London Particular have got, I’m really excited to have a piece of that, and also to create a bigger community feel, i think, with the two of us, we are gonna be the start of regenerating that whole, not just the road, but hopefully the wider area... it’ll be fun, yeah.”(promotional video, maddysfishbar.com)

2. Forbidden seeds, envelopes

Injurious weeds are those that are considered able to cause harm to agricultural pasture. The five species of ‘injurious weed’ are:

common ragwortspear thistlecreeping or field thistlecurled dockbroadleaved dock

We also included Japanese Knotweed. We printed envelopes with plant descriptions and health/legal warnings, filled them with seeds and left them in local expensive cafes/shops/establishments. The objective was to enlist more members/spread the anti-gentrifi-cation movement.

3. Hostage video, kidnap a hipster

Filmed on a Nokia for deliberate bad quality. Dressed an actor up as a ‘hipster.’ Looked at existing hostage/terrorist footage for inspiration. Forced the ‘hostage’ to read the (deliber-ately ill-written) manifesto. Demonstrating the fragmented minds of the terrorists.

4. Terrorist attack

To plant Japanese Knotweed over potential land for new developments to be built.It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world’s worst invasive species.The invasive root system and strong growth can damage concrete foundations, buildings, flood defences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites. It can also reduce the capacity of channels in flood defences to carry water.

Page 46: POCKET PARKS

ATTACKATTACKATTACK

Page 47: POCKET PARKS
Page 48: POCKET PARKS
Page 49: POCKET PARKS
Page 50: POCKET PARKS
Page 51: POCKET PARKS
Page 52: POCKET PARKS
Page 53: POCKET PARKS
Page 54: POCKET PARKS