ARK: Road Vines
Date uploaded: May 14, 2009
You are in a tiny vineyard. As you walk through the plot you are surrounded on each side by verdant plants that grow ever upwards towards the light. In amongst the leaves maturing grapes emerge from the growing vines. You reach out to touch and feel a sudden jolt.
This is no earthquake, rather a mechanical movement of a truck moving forward. For this vineyard is not rooted in soil, rather it is placed within an articulated lorry. The vines grow from sterile containers rather than soil. The vines reach not towards the sun but towards artificial heated lights.
Everything needed to maintain the vines nutrients, light and water is supplied through a hydroponic system within the confines of the truck. This creates a contained ecosystem and climate independent of the conditions through which the truck travels.
It will be in a place but not of that place. A moving container that unfolds to create public space.
The Team
The project is strengthened by the presence of a strong, creative administrative and logistical team, a collaboration between ArtOffice, who has been at the forefront of the public art movement for 27 years and FrancisKnight the curatorial team behind Chatham Vines.
