STORE featuring The Rodina
Outdoor Canvas
and
Commissioned and curated by Company, Place for Oxford University Development, Outdoor Canvas is the
first work to be completed as part of ‘Another Landscape’, a new arts programme for Oxford University Development in Begbroke. Outdoor Canvas is a series of modular structures by the architecture and design association STORE, led by architectural designer Kaye Song in partnership with engineers Structure Workshop; the design was also developed alongside a series of workshops with students from Chilworth Upper School.
The canvases, modular and multifunctional, house an annual rotating art commission and, with the addition of a few hay bails, can be configured into a theatre for music performances or cinema screenings, creating a defined space for cultural activities within the surrounding landscape. The design itself takes cues from farming vernacular, lean, efficient and highly functional. The roadworthy structures are currently on display in Begbroke Science Park and will be relocated around Begbroke Innovation District as the site develops.
The inaugural installation featured on the Outdoor Canvas is ‘Ungrounding' by design studio The Rodina. The artwork explores technology used at the Begbroke site throughout time, telling the story of the landscape by weaving together data imagery from the University of Oxford’s Polymer Group: Department of Materials’ research with artefacts found during archaeological excavations in the area, ranging from Saxon copper brooches and axe heads to keys and horse harnesses. Combining cutting-edge materials research with relics of a bygone age – ‘the lab and the land’ – puts past and present into dialogue, painting a picture of the local landscape, and offering space for conversation, new ideas, and connections between art and science.
Images courtesy of Kaye Song
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