URBAN ARCADIA #4:

Annual Scything the Flower Meadow.

Nursery Row Park

1-5 pm Sat 28 Septemberr 2013

Cutting and stacking the hay from the recently planted flower meadow in Nursery Row Park, a small area threatened by developers in the centre of London. On Friday and Saturday the 24th and 25th of October 2009 I cut the flower meadow, using a traditional scythe and stacked the hay, with the help of volunteers, to build a large haystack in the park. This project is now repeated annually.

Urban Arcadia #1 juxtaposes an ancient rural tradition with the city, the slow rhythm of season and growth, sharpening the scythe, cutting, and stacking the hay with the pace of the surrounding city, the  adjoining car park, social housing and market.   It places an image of arcadia in the context of an urban space as well as involving and empowering the local community in their public spaces.

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