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Simon Poulter Working in residence with Metal at Chalkwell Hall, artist Simon Poulter has been researching culturally specific information about the existing towns and communities that fall within the planned Thames Gateway regeneration. Deliberately working with the language of government measurement and regeneration planning, Demographics is a set of Cultural Development Zone Indices (CDZI's), and is a simple system based on 10 cultural indicators that can be applied to towns, cities and small defined geographic areas. The ten indicators are:
2 Artists and Activists 3 'X' Factor 4 Political Will 5 Vision and visionaries 6 Cultural Risk 7 Inclusion and Audience 8 Networking and Connectivity 9 Cultural History 10 Landmark cultural building
Simon’s research at the moment is focused on the Thames Gateway and Essex region. The Gateway runs from Lewisham in the West (where Simon lives) to Southend-on-Sea in the East and incorporates three regional development areas (London, South East and East). From the above indices a given city or geographic area can be scored or rated. Combinations of factors are important, as opposed to simple scoring – calculations of these combinations are currently being developed. Metal and Simon will take the CDZI’s testing phase out on the road in the summer of 2008, asking the opinions of people throughout the Thames Gateway, both on the street, and those holding the power to take decisions that affect our urban environment. We are ultimately aiming to create a board game that will encourage players to debate the value of culture and its place in our civil life, whilst having to create strategies for finding a place for it in the game's urban environment. For further information and visuals, visit http://www.viral.info/demo/ | |
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1 Landmark art work