The second phase of the art project consisted of a series of local gatherings. Five of these were unfolded on site, with the participation from all sides in the reorganization – locals, relevant professionals, and civil servants. Their exchange supplemented and challenged the otherwise formal, municipal planning process, by being unprogrammed and informal, yet linked to the public planning process.
The aim for the artist was to secure a production of shared insights into the hyper-local conditions of the everyday in the area. Through the repetitive act of staging these smaller or larger conversations, she also wished to make an argument for a version of public democratic deliberation, gradually fading out of contemporary urban planning: The possibility of a co-production of space, in which a diversity of agents actually can bring their knowledge to the table, because they are regarded as capable of handling both complicated matter, and dissensus.
In three additional conversations, labelled by the artist Seven Mile Boots Meetings, professionals and municipal servants involved in the reorganization of the green were invited to the workshops in the artist’s studio. Their conversations turned into joint cross-consultations, and a sharing of optics on choices of designs. For the artist, this presented the opportunity to further priorities introduced by citizens, during the chain of conversations.
Above, a video clip (17 mins) introduces the artist´s strategy and the role of the art project, in relation to the planning procedure.
Video as minutes
Above you’ll find a video summary of Conversations in Sand. All assemblies were documented on video, now accessible for the public on the Danish version of this website. Kerstin Bergendal´s expanded description of the series of conversations can be found here.