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A Radical Shift of Scenery
This project is a cooperation between the artists Janna Holmstedt,
Anna Högberg, Johan Tirén, Johan Waerndt and produced
in collaboration with planners at the Office of Regional Planning.
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A
3-room apartment was temporarily transformed into a ”black
box” – a stage for in-depth discussions during the
important period of consideration of a new Regional Development
Plan for the Stockholm Region, RUFS 2010. 200 politicians,
officials and regional stakeholders were invited to participate
in workshops during one month, Sep, 2008.
Background
Sustainability, innovation, knowledge competitive economy, clean
and safe environment and attractivity are often occurring themes
in the re-branding of city regions today. This is also the case
in Stockholm, Sweden, where an extensive work with a new Regional
Development Plan for the Stockholm Region, RUFS 2010,
is in progress. The process involves officials, politicians,
business interests, NGOs and other regional stakeholders.
The pronounced ambition for RUFS 2010 is to create
“The most attractive urban region in Europe”. The
Stockholm Region is located relatively far from the European
center, but yet distinctly identifies itself with the European
norm, seeking to compete with other metropolitan areas in order
to reach a position on the global market – attractive
to visitors, foreign investors and the so-called creative class.
This easily gets us into questioning: What do we mean with an
attractive society?
200 politicians, 30 days and a black apartment in Huddinge
As visual artists, we have been commissioned to contribute to
the RUFS 2010-process, and since 2007 we have closely
followed the work at the Office of Regional Planning in Stockholm.
In our reflective work on the planning process, the renewal
of the region’s policies and identity is critically examined.
After a period of research and involvement, we presented the
concept of a communicative platform. The platform was situated
in Huddinge south of Stockholm, where a 3-room apartment was
transformed into a ”black box” – i.e. a flight
data recorder, or the performative space of a theatre. During
thirty days in September more than 200 leading politicians and
regional stakeholders were invited to the apartment for discussions
and workshops elaborating the final plan.
The flat was painted black from floor to ceiling. Three different
workshops were held and white markers distributed. In the beginning
the surfaces were empty, unwritten, but during the process the
walls were covered with notes and signs. The apartment became
a scene for performative action, and at the same time the immaterial
ideological production was left as traces on the interior surface.
The workshops: A Sustainable Soup 2030, Subjective
Maps and Agora
The workshops focused on a number of borderlands and potential
conflicts. For example the demands for economical growth in
relation to ecological and social sustainability, and the need
for planning versus space for organic growth. The apartment
was used as an interface between the private and public sphere,
highlighting interrelated systems such as water and energy supply,
sewage, broadcasts, communication, recreation, social relations
etc. Although the participants represented local municipalities,
the business world and NGO:s, they were in the workshops also
involved as subjects on a more private level with multiple and
contradicting experiences. |
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Report from a Black Box – Open house:
Oct 3-4, 2008 the doors were opened up to neighbours and the
general public.
Photos: Holmstedt, Högberg, Tirén
and Waerndt. Panorama photos at the top: Natasja Jovic
The project was funded by the
Office of Regional Planning and
the Culture Administration within the Stockholm County
Council, Sweden, in association with Konstfrämjandet,
an Association for the Promotion of Art. Project manager:
Ann Magnusson. The cooperation continues during 2009-2010,
please see "To
Mushroom" and "Sharing/Dividing
a Society" and the book
with the same name.
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