Arcadia Amongst the Ruins

Author:

Andrew Dodds

Description:

In autumn 2008, Andrew Dodds worked with Jenni Roche, an ecologist from Trinity College Dublin, to document and produce a forensic biodiversity survey of the vegetation at two brownfield sites in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim. The project, Arcadia Amongst the Ruins, engaged the local population in considering the potential futures of both sites, one of which had been bought by a major supermarket chain and was earmarked for redevelopment.

Brownfield sites are often dismissed as 'wasteland', however, the project survey highlighted the ways in which flora & fauna often recolonise these sites once left to nature. In the gallery the artist displayed plant samples, field notes and video documentation of the working method. The survey results were published in booklet form and distributed for free to the people of Manorhamilton as a means of introducing an alternative way to conceive of land and property value beyond the predominant, economic frameworks.

Arcadia Amongst the Ruins continues to receive much critical and curatorial interest and has subsequently been exhibited at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, The Architecture Centre, Bristol, and online with Arcade.

Writers: Andrew Dodds, Jenni Roche

Editor: Andrew Dodds

Designer: Valle Walkley

Commissioner: Leitrim Sculpture Centre

Available from: Artist by mail order (mail [at] andrewdodds [dot] com)

Price: €20