Serpentine Gallery: Park Products2004

Park Products
2004

Artist-architect partnership, Kathrin Böhm and Andreas Lang were artists-in-residence at the Serpentine Gallery from July 2003 to September 2004. Böhm and Lang are interested in socio-geographical networks of exchange and in using and exploring existing social structures to make collaborative work with a broad range of people.

During their residency Böhm and Lang collaborated with gardeners, the general public, Pimlico Village Youth Project, dog walkers, catering staff, a local walking group, the Serpentine’s Gallery Assistants, scientists from Imperial College, pupils from College Park School and MA Design Product students from the Royal College of Art, to develop, design and produce a series of ‘products’ that used the raw materials of the Park and reflected the diverse interests of park users.

Resources identified during these collaborations ranged from compost and grass seed (the gardeners), to dog hair (the dog walkers), to brain power (the Gallery Assistants). The Royal College of Art students worked in close collaboration with the different groups to design and realise a prototype for each Park Product. The 11 products included a chocolate-bar shaped ‘Chompost Bar’ made from compressed Royal Parks’ compost, a litter bag with a built-in glove for gathering rubbish hygienically, and a range of shiny jewellery that attracts magpies.

Rather than being sold in a conventional way, Park Products were exchanged within a non-monetary economy, with ‘alternative’ currencies set by the groups involved. The distribution of the products through this economy was via a mobile stall designed by Böhm and Lang, which travelled to various locations in Kensington Gardens during the summer.

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