Six phases of thinking.....with six atmospheres. The first....a tableau of the "world of Archigram"....with the freedom and spirit of a dream sequence...where we are introduced to the Living Pod and the Walking City, the Cushicle, the Magic Tree and the Manzak.
The second....a 'retrospective' section....with the Robot in a mock honoured position atop a pyramid.
The third.....all the work made in the Instant City Program (which was funded by the Graham Foundation of Chicago)....culminating in the airshipped version of Instant City.
The fourth is an exposé of the more recent work of the Archigram Group...which is to do with metamorphosis...the constantly evolving organism....and to do with a surreptitious mingling of the natural (vegetable), the constructed (building), and the event (software and simulation and theatre).
The fifth...The Electronic Aborigine...is an extension of David Greene's writings and features the environmental effects of Television.
The sixth.....a version of the Archigram Opera (or 'roadshow') which concentrates on the time dimension...i.e. those aspects of Archigram work which use time and movement and restructuring in sequence.
“CHEER-UP – IT’S ARCHIGRAM” IS A CRY TO THE WORLD AT LARGE.…THE WORLD OF ARCHITECTURE AND THOSE WHO HAVE TO EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE.…A CRY….“FOR GOODNESS SAKE STOP BEING SO GRIM AND UNIMAGINATIVE….THE WORLD IS AN IMPERFECT PLACE….AND YES, THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT MUST BE CHANGED….AND THERE ARE WAYS IN WHICH THE OLD CONCEPTS OF “HOUSE”, “CITY”, “DESIGN”, “PROBLEM”, “PLACE”, “SPACE”, “ARTEFACTE” (AND THE REST) CAN BE EXPLODED, SHAKEN, PUMMELED, AND RE-INVENTED.
THIS IS REALLY WHAT ARCHIGRAM HAS BEEN ABOUT….AND WHAT THIS EXHIBITION IS TO ILLUSTRATE IN SEVERAL WAYS, WE ARE OPTIMISTIC….WE REMAIN OPTIMISTIC….OPTIMISM IS NOT NAÏVE WE BELIEVE THAT MOANING PESSIMISM IS A COP-OUT….WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF OPTIMISTS….AND TO OUR OWN NEXT GENERATION OF PROJECTS….
….MEANWHILE….
WE SHOULD LIKE TO THANK
THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN
THE GRAHAM FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO
MR. ALISTAIR MCALPINE
MR. ALVIN BOYARSKY
THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION OF LONDON
THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARTY ARTS OF LONDON
AND
RICK, MIKE, ANDREW, PAM, ORIANNE, LARS, MALENA, DAVID, SJUR, JENNIE, TERRY, JON, ALAN……FROM THE AA ETC. AND NIGEL AND JOHN AT THE ICA….
WHO HAVE MADE THE EXHIBITION POSSIBLE
ARCHIGRAM TEAM….
DENNIS CROMPTON, PETER COOK, RON HERRON, DAVID GREENE, DIANA JOWSEY, KATHY DE WITT, KEN ALLINSON, LISA SELWYN
