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Broken City Lab presents collaborative exhibit

September 20, 2011
By Lauren Chan

Forest City Gallery is currently showing an innovative multi-media exhibition called …and then the city. The collaborative behind the project is Broken City Lab—an artist-led non-profit organization and creative research collective that works towards civil change.

Born from what Broken City Lab’s research director, Justin Langlois describes as, “thinking about how to open up a conversation around the intangible things that go into making a city what it is,” …and then the city brings London’s social, economic and political issues to life through art. Using real citizens’ responses to online and written surveys filled out in the gallery, Broken City Lab was able to capture a spectrum of opinions.

In the windows of Forest City Gallery are bulletin boards covered in hand-written Post-it notes, printed documents and heritage photos of city buildings. The opinions written on the boards range from disapproving remarks like, “If only London had balls, things would be a lot better,” to inspiring quotes like, “I really need London to know that it has the potential to be a great city,” to constructive criticisms like, “If only London had a better public transit system, then things would be a lot better.”

The left wall of the gallery is divided into four sections, each with its own massive …and then the city quote from the artists. The four quotes read, “…and then the city overcame everything,” “…and then the city actually developed,” “…and then the city ate cake,” and “…and then the city was good enough.” Though these hand-painted sections are the least interactive part of the exhibit, they certainly serve as its main focus.

Along the opposite wall hangs a chalkboard timeline, tracking London’s development. Almost surprisingly, it’s completely filled in by observers having written on it with sidewalk chalk. The various scribbles of document historical facts as well as predictions for the future.

The exhibition is sure to stir up some form of civil assessment from its spectators. The artists have provided a space where comments can be written on cards printed with the headline “…and then the city.” The cards will serve to continuously update the bulletin boards in the gallery’s windows—a successful second effort at making the exhibit interactive.

Langlois hopes this engagement will encourage people to open up creatively and make efforts to improve the quality of life in the city.

“There are a lot of things that might help to make London a better place to live, but maybe the most important thing would be to figure out how to encourage people with ideas to bring them to fruition,” he explains. “There’s a lot of pockets of creativity across arts, culture, and business in London from what I’ve seen, and I think that finding ways to help those creative people do the things they want to do with the city would indeed make it a better place to live.”

Overall, the socially, economically and politically motivated exhibit seems to have succeeded in engaging its audience to think about civil change. “[The goal is to] create a space for a conversation that might not normally occur about the things that go into shaping our experience of a city and how we might begin to think about changing those things,” Langlois says.

The exhibit runs at Forest City Gallery, located at 258 Richmond St., until Oct. 21. Open Wed.-Sat. 12-5 p.m. Admission is free.

 

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