I have a question

In my research to understand more about climate issues for our next KlangHaus ventures, I came across the idea of vertical farms. Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers inside a building in a controlled environment. Our shopping centres in my home city of Norwich, Castle Mall and Chapelfield Intu are not thriving, MY QUESTION IS, could they become vertical farms? Could we as citizens become connected to the food we eat through proximity to seeing it grow, maybe we could help grow the food we eat? One problem with vertical farming is proximity to market. Another problem is a good source of labour. I’m sure you could sit with a piece of paper and write a whole stack of positives for having an innovative city farm. Of course there are the whole plethora of reasons why not.

I have spoken to folks about this idea of having city centre vertical farms, where we the citizens can help grow food for ourselves, or at least connect with it, walk amongst it, watch it grow, learn about it. Get the schools in, the allotment champions, have socials, have gigs and art installations. Their eyes light up.

With failing harvests, impoverished soils why use swathes of landscape to grow our food? If the land wasn't used for farming, what would it look like? What do you see?

Then, second push, turn our decimated north city concrete shopping precinct into an Eden project for the east... again, having farming as well as tropical plants, socials, gigs, art, dance, cross generational events, celebrations of food seasons, group meals. If it had the investment to start, at least a quarter of the country would come and visit it.

What are the steps to realising such ventures, would they work? Do people want it? What are the blocks?

I'm going to make a radio documentary following this line of enquiry. I want to use sound, play with sound and conjure up a future I'd like to be part of.

http://vincent.callebaut.org  french architects vision.

Apocalypse - The nuts n bolts

I'm really proud of the video we ended up with from the live stream event last Thursday... but just wanted to share the nuts and bolts. In order to pace out where we needed to be, we broke the song down into bars and eventually when filming just into seconds and minutes. Jon did a recording counting out the bars so we could take audio cues during practice sessions. I listened to it so many times that I can only hear the song in terms of where I should be.

We are really proud of the green screen section where we walk through a door in the Outpost building in Anglia Square out onto Cromer beach. The continuity was crucial and photos and diagrams were made as we were responsible for ourselves and the order and selection of items we were wearing. Everything had to be secured well for our walk into the sea. We did lose a kettle to the waves. Luckily not the same kettle I wore into the sea last September that, even though it was an electric kettle, it still works perfectly... 

Huge thanks to Nathan Clarke for directing, brain surgeoning the shots and putting the whole thing together with camera folks, Tom and Dhugal. Thanks to the wonderful Pasco Q Kevlin for his guest appearance and to Outpost for the commission to do this. 

Attention to detail lights my fire and I spent many an hour creating the Apocalyptic maps and charts... which are for sale here at Bandcamp. Sharing the process seems a good way to feel connected.