A C K R O Y D & H A R V E Y

1mile² Delhi 2011

Sculpture, photography, architecture and ecology are some of the disciplines that

intersect in Ackroyd & Harvey’s work revealing an intrinsic bias towards process

and event. Their practice makes explicit connections with urban political ecologies

by highlighting the temporal nature of processes of growth and decay in sites of

architectural and ecological interest as well as contemporary art galleries and

museums worldwide. Often working outside the gallery space and in diverse

contexts, they are acclaimed for large-scale architectural interventions where they

grow landmark buildings with seedling grass. In 2003 they grew the entire vertical

interior space of a disused church in South London, the following year contributed

to European Space 9th Sculpture Quadrennial in Riga, Latvia and in 2007 realised

their largest temporary living public artwork “FlyTower” on the exterior of London’s

iconic National Theatre.

 

In February 2011, they travelled to Delhi to participate in Khōj International Artists’ Association’s In Context: public.art.ecology project for 1mile² Delhi. Their first opportunity to work in India was informed by a desire to search out spaces for public interactions and create work in a direct response to place.

Landscape is implicit within our work - processes of germination, growth (organic and inorganic) and erosion/decay are recurrent themes. Often our work occurs in the urban space where we juxtapose nature and man-made structures in such a way as to reveal political ecologies and tensions between material and form.

Using the space of the cental courtyard at Khōj, Ackroyd & Harvey were invited to create a living architerctural work by Khōj’s Director, Pooja Sood. Grass seed, the artists’ usual medium, was not available in Delhi which pushed them to experiment, try new materials and ultimately localise their production choices. Inspired by the forthcoming "Navratri" festival, where barley is germinated and grown in celebration of spring, and where meditative ritual invites transformation, Ackroyd & Harvey explored the wilder, more exhuberent growth achieved with barley seed.

Quantities of barley were germinated and red-brown clay sourced from a nearby store. A structure of wooden poles, twine and planks made a rudimentary scaffold in the middle of the courtyard, and through the course of one day, clay and germinating barley were planted over the interior walls of the inner courtyard, transforming the former white space to a golden seeded chamber. Within days the barley sprouted and a flush of leaf further transformed the space to a cool green haven.

 

Trees and cities

A profound interest in the science behind climate change informs the work of

Ackroyd & Harvey. Inspired by Joseph Beuys’s 1982 ecological project to plant

7,000 oak trees in Kassel, the artists collected acorns from Beuys’s mature oak

trees and germinated them. Hundreds of saplings were exhibited during the Royal

Academy of Arts 2009/10 Earth: Art of a Changing World exhibition and in this

formative stage of the project they are researching how Beuys’s vision of ‘forest-

like’ towns and cities may become a necessity in the future.

Whilst in Delhi, Ackroyd & Harvey had an opportunity to meet Pradip Krishen,

author of Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide - a seminal work that catalogues the 252

species of tree in Delhi. For the artists, the meeting affirmed the profound

importance of trees as a living presence in our cities.

Photosynthesis photographs

Ackroyd & Harvey are equally acknowledged for their pioneering work utilising the

light sensitivity of the pigment chlorophyll in making complex ‘photosynthesis

photographs’ in seedling grass. This work explores the notion of change,

transience and the passage of time through the sculptural and photographic use of

a nature-based living material. Using the living grass as a photographic medium,

complex images are captured through the controlled production of the pigment

chlorophyll. In essence, the same principles fundamental to the making of a

photographic print are used and leaves of varied colour, from a rich, dark green to

a pale yellow combine to form subtly elusive tonal compositions.

In Delhi, the choice of seed was made after less successful attempts with barley

and millet led to conversations with local artist Pratik who suggested til or sesame

seed.

Our choice of subject matter for the 'til' canvases was portraiture. We

spent a day combing the streets of Khirkee looking for the right face,

eventually choosing the grandmother who lived upstairs at Khōj and a

young woman who lived and worked ironing clothes on the same street.

6ft x 4ft canvases were planted with til and 35mm Kodak projectors were used to

project the negatives of Geeta and Mamta’s portraits.

Initially, the til proved to be far more phototropic than grass, growing

towards the light at a horizontal angle from the vertically placed

canvas. A corona effect emerged as the yellow til attempted to grow

towards the light. We were struck by the fineness and quality of leaf.

The emerging positive print had an excellent resolution though

remained faint due to the weakness of projected light.

Selected Solo Exhibitions/ Installations 2010 On the Field, Mladi Levi International Festival, Llubljana, Slovenia 2009 Strata, Chalkwell Hall, Metal Culture commission, Southend-on-Sea, UK 2008 Here and There, Mostra SESC des Artes, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Twist, Newfoundland Gyratory, Cabot Circus, Bristol, UK 2007 FlyTower, Royal National Theatre, London  

Myles, Basha, Nath and Alesha, Big Chill, Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, UK Selected Group Exhibitions

2010 Terre Vulnerabili, Hangar Bicocca, Milan, Italy Artists in Residence, Dorking, Arts Alive festival, Arts Council England Trasparenze Art for Renewable Energy, M.A.D.R.E Napoli; MACRO Testaccio, Rome, Italy Unfold Kings Place Gallery, London, UK; University of the Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria Art & Climate Change, Cranbrook Academy Museum, Michigan, USA 2009 Earth: Art of a changing world, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK

Walking Forest, part of C Words, curated by PLATFORM, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

Environment 2.0, Futuresonic, Centre for Urban Built Environment, Manchester, UK

Darwin Originals, Natural History Museum, London; Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal; Shortwave Cinema, Bermondsey, London; Darwin Festival, Cambridge, UK

2008 Art & Climate Change, Cape Farewell, Miraikan, Toyko; Fundacion Canal, Madrid; Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany; National Conservation centre, Liverpool Biennale; The Ship, Natural History Museum, London, UK

2007 Bios 4, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC), Seville, Spain