“The city as a place of play and re-appropriation.” This situationist notion forms the basis for the exhibition “Reactivate!!” curated by Francesca Ferguson with Pepe Ballesteros at the Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castelló. Until the end of August it will be presenting an international collection of strategies to revitalise urban space.
Reuse of the existing is a central theme, exploiting minimal resources and limited financial means to reach sustainable solutions, at times brilliant, often unexpected, from the driving school on the roof of a building devised by Atelier Bow Wow to modular temporary structures by the French collective EXYZT. Speed and flexibility are the essential ingredients for the situationist city and this also applies to its contemporary interpretation. One example is the urban nomadism proposed with “Permanent Breakfast”, an experiment devised in 1996 by Austrian artist Friedemann Derschmidt. The basic idea is to gather a group of people in a public space to create an improbable picnic. “Delete!” by Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf addresses public space invaded by advertising. In 2005 the two artists created a spectacular installation covering all advertising billboards, posters, logos, signs and street signs in yellow paper in Neubaugasse, a shopping street in Vienna, creating a disconcerting yet relaxing effect
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