An Area of Outstanding Unnatural Beauty / Richard Wentworth

"An Area of Outstanding Unnatural Beauty" 2002, put on by Artangel.

This bit of writing from an old Telegraph article seems to paint a good picture of what the exhibition was like was like plus the general motivations behind it -

"In his comprehensive deconstruction of King's Cross, Wentworth moves not only across the streets, up into the air and down under the ground, but also backwards in time. Among the historical maps on show is one made in the late 19th century indicating areas of poverty and affluence across London.....

When you have absorbed these lessons in urban history, it is time to take a few minutes to watch Wentworth's videos. These sound un-watchable but are actually well made and don't last long. One simply follows a plane as it leaves a vapour trail in the sky above King's Cross Station; another wittily documents the deft artistry of workmen from the highways department painting road markings.

In these films Wentworth metaphorically states the theme of the show: that London is a kind of blank sheet on which everyone is writing, all of the time. Every generation leaves its mark on the living, changing city. We make it our own.

Wentworth's installation for Artangel will mimic this process. What I saw on the day of the opening is just the basic structure of a work that will change and grow from day to day as more and more material is added to it.

To ensure that the display doesn't become museumy and moribund, Wentworth has set up a half a dozen ping pong tables and announced the first King's Cross table tennis tournament. Anyone can drop by at any time of the day and pick up a game. For the next few months at least, General Plumbing Supplies will function like a neighbourhood social club.

Thanks to Wentworth's engaging, humorous take on everything he touches, the show is hugely entertaining - so much so that I forgot to ask myself what it all had to do with art. Then, after I'd left the show and stepped out into York Way, I realised that the work of art wasn't to be found on the premises of General Plumbing Supplies, but in the streets around me.

As I walked back to my car, I noticed the Italianate villa from which taxis are despatched at the side of King's Cross station. I stopped to read faded signs for shops that vanished long ago, and peered into old-fashioned cafes cheerfully dishing up the kind of food the Brussels health police will soon make it a criminal offence to serve.

Above your head you see planes you hadn't noticed before, and at your feet you become alert to the sheer complexity of road markings we spend our whole lives obeying, and yet never really see.

Wentworth's genius is to make us see the world from the fresh and original perspectives that he does, and to make us aware that, if London is a living city, it is simultaneously a dying one. Places we have known all our lives will become a memory in 10 years' time."

Full article here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3582251/View-of-streets-we-never-see.html