THE HUMAN ZOO An exhibition by Alexander Lumsden

About

An Exhibition by Alexander Lumsden                 Westminster Reference Library

26 May – 13 June 2015                                          WC2H 7HP                                                                                                               westminster.gov.uk

Following on his London shows: ‘Overground / Underground’ (2011) and ‘Necropolis’ (2013), Lumsden continues to explore the human experience in the metropolis in the digital era.

The project draws on best seller ‘The Human Zoo’ written by Zoologists Desmond Morris (published 1969), which examines the nature of civilised society by observing the human animal, a super-tribal citizen desperately struggling to match his ancient inherited qualities with his extraordinary new situations.

Lumsden’s use of honeycomb structure and beeswax is a visual metaphor for the city. A giant super-organism linked up through our physical and virtual interactions.  

Each image sets out to explore the constant duality of our physical and virtual world.  The resulting picture is sometimes confused and confusing,  “..partly because we are involved in it in a dual role, being, at the same time, both spectators and participants”.

A golden honeycomb or a chain-link fence?

 Lumsden’s work challenges the perception of the city as a safe and secure environment.

 In the giant metropolis our basic needs may be taken care of, leaving us free to explore and grow – But at what price?

IMAGE: close up ‘City of Gold’

PANEL DISCUSSION Q&A

4 June 2015 6.30 to 8.30

1st floor Westminster Reference Library

Book for this event via eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-human-zoo-discussionqa-tickets-16922490625

Speakers: Alexander Lumsden (artist and exhibitor), Lewis Bush (photographer and writer),  Professor Michelle Baddeley (Professor in Economics and Finance of the Built Environment UCL Bartlett)

 TOPICS:

Being Human: Big city behaviour science.  An exploration of Super tribalism

The Metropolis as super organism:  evolutionary biology, wellbeing, value, urbanisation and the digital age.

Zoo or Gamepark?: The future of the Metropolis, who is it for? Dreams, aspirations and perspectives of the city

ART RESIDENCY

Random individuals interviewed and asked to map out their own personal tribe (family, friends, colleagues) on a honeycomb grid. Questions are then asked relating to their experience in the city.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

William Alexander Lumsden is a member of a new generation of emerging Swedish artists. Trained in the Caribbean at Altos de Chavon (affiliate to Parsons The New School for Design NYC.) rated by V Magazine one of the top 10 best art & design schools in the world. Lumsden currently works between the UK, Argentina and Sweden, producing work inspired by his immediate surroundings, with particular emphasis on contemporary culture and its physical manifestations

Lumsden has exhibited nationally and internationally in a number of commercial, public and artist-led spaces including District & Co (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic); Scheffer Gallery (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Gothia Towers (Gothenburg, Sweden), Green Rooms (Edinburgh, Scotland), the Menier Gallery (London). Lumsden has run a range of colour seminars around the world called ‘Chroma – Contemporary colours in use’ and in 2013 was guest lecturer at Singapore Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.