An art installation by Julian Walker - Peninsula Square
12 February – 4 August 2008
Julian Walker was commissioned by Art in the Public Realm Greenwich Peninsula to make an installation within the three display panels on the ‘story wall’ in Peninsula Square. The texts created were based on historical and personal records, geology, archaeology and natural history, snatches of conversation, literature and public notices; they were applied to a collection of found artefacts, objects and images, most of them collected locally. The work proposed a landscape of continuous reinvention, and invited viewers to create their own Peninsula stories.
The art work referred to the way the Peninsula has changed over the centuries. It is an area that has undergone almost continuous change over the past 500 years, and yet remains one of the least known parts of London. Though many Londoners know well the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road, and thousands of visitors go between North Greenwich Station and The O2, few walk the area between the south and north of the Peninsula, with its mixture of apartments, Victorian terraces, thriving chemical factories, retail parks, shadows of London’s industrial past, and unexpected open spaces.
The process of gathering the objects and texts involved beachcombing and collecting across the Peninsula, visits to local history archives and conversations with local people. The temporary museum of objects and information included names of current residents, workers and those who participated in the collecting process.
A programme of workshops took place with students at The John Roan Secondary School.
Read more about the artist. Read an interview with the artist.
A special thanks to Clare Bix, Anne Eggebert, Peter Doyle, Eric Frith and staff at Greenwich Heritage Centre.