London’s 2012 Olympic Park in Stratford is the epitome of contemporary masterplanning: the choreographed regeneration of a post-industrial area into an economically thriving zone centred on creative industries. The park itself contains iconic structures commissioned for the games: the Olympic Stadium, Velodrome and Anish Kapoor’s Orbit tower for the multinational steel conglomerate ArcelorMittal. Delirious New Wick explores the disjunction between the masterplan and the adjacent area of Hackney Wick, a place with an unusually high density of artist-run colonies. Teleporter Pavilions beam the player into inaccessible areas - up into the voids of Anish Kapoor’s tower and into the Velodrome flying over the town below. Here, the player can take a critic’s role, assessing the government-endorsed regeneration strategies as they witness conflicts between the area’s past and future.
Delirious New Wick (2014) is currently not available on any services.
Lawrence Lek
Victoria & Albert Museum