“When is a Londoner not a Londoner? When does a long-term visitor become a Londoner? What makes people into Londoners? What must you know to be a Londoner? How long does it last?” Richard Wentworth, June 2005
Platform for Art is delighted to announce a new commission by Richard Wentworth made to coincide with this year’s Frieze Art Fair. This commission is an artist’s multiple which will be available free from the Frieze Art Fair and all Zone 1 Tube Stations from September 18-October 30. It is the third successive year that Platform for Art has collaborated with Frieze Projects, and continues Platform for Art’s commitment to commissioning work by established artists and distributing multiples to the broadest possible audience within the context of London’s transport infrastructure.
Wentworth has long been fascinated by the growth and development of London, and the various ways its inhabitants navigate and negotiate its urban geography. In 2002 he was commissioned by Artangel to produce a major project in a disused plumbing supplies warehouse in Kings Cross, entitled An Area of Outstanding Unnatural Beauty.
If London Looked in the Mirror prompts a consideration of how London has evolved and proposes a scheme for reacquainting Londoners with their city. The naming (and renaming) of London’s parts has a contradictory history. Through a rearrangement of place-names on a rethought map of the city and a proposal for twinning its many boroughs, destinations, villages and landmarks, Wentworth’s proposal aims to ensure that London’s inhabitants become thoroughly familiarized with previously unknown places.
To accompany If London Looked in the Mirror, Richard Wentworth has been commissioned to devise a unique tour originating at Frieze Art Fair, winding its way out into the local environs of Regents Park and beyond. Wentworth will offer commentary on the immediate surroundings and will expand on ideas proposed in If London Looked in the Mirror. Friday 21, Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 October at 2pm.
