ALL OF THE CRITTERS
Eloïse Bonneviot and Anne de Boer
Interactive installation at NeuLand community garden
20–28 July 2024
Opening: 19 July, 6 p.m.
Opening times: Wed–Fri, 3–7 p.m., Sat-Sun 1–6 p.m.
Location: NeuLand, Koblenzer Str. 13, 50968 Köln
In times of ecological disaster, heat in the city has become a critical indicator of socio-environmental justice and questions of agency. How can cities become more resilient against rising temperatures? Who decides about the measures taken to ventilate and cool down certain urban areas while others stay exposed to heat? And what does ‘climate resilience’ mean from a non-human perspective, for fungi, beetles, paving stones, rats, sewage pipes, microbes or weeds alike? What would urban planning look like if all of the critters had a say?
The project All of the Critters by Eloïse Bonneviot and Anne de Boer addresses changes in urban ecosystems under climate pressure. In this context, urban gardens make an indispensable contribution to the neighbourly relationship between humans, more-than-human creatures and the environment, both in their community-building function and as a home for a variety of species. Through a site-specific installation in an urban garden, a card and role-playing game, and an interactive digital landscape the project invites participants to explore different scenarios of (im)possible futures from a critter perspective as they become increasingly exposed to heat, flooding and drought.
Programme
19 July, 6 p.m.–10 p.m.
Opening with Eloïse Bonneviot and Anne de Boer as well as snacks by Marie Donike
20 July, 3 p.m.
Game session with Eloïse Bonneviot and Anne de Boer
21 July, 3 p.m.
Walk and game session from Pflanzstelle Kalk to the NeuLand community garden along urban green spaces.
The path between Pflanzstelle Kalk and the NeuLand community garden in Bayenthal becomes a game course: we‘ll explore urban space and greenery as we interact with more-than-human characters developed by Anne de Boer and Eloïse Bonneviot for All of the Critters. Various game scenarios unfold along the way. In between artist Marie Donike will serve site-specific snacks and give contextual inputs.
Meeting point: Pflanzstelle Kalk, Neuerburgstraße 21-23, 51103 Cologne
Duration: approx. 2.5-3 hours.
27 July, 3 p.m.
Game session at NeuLand community garden
28 July, 3 p.m.
Game session at NeuLand community garden
Duration: approx. 1.5 hours
Max. 15 people
Registration: info@temporarygallery.org
We are happy to receive a contribution of 3-5 euros for the game session/walk.
Curated by Nada Rosa Schroer
Curatorial assitance: Marie Donike
About the game
All of the Critters is a role-playing game designed for the NeuLand Community Garden. No prior experience is required to play. Participants take on the roles of organisms that live in, visit, or otherwise interact with the garden.
Each player is given a project to complete. To complete the project, participants move through the garden in search of tokens. All collected game cards and solved tasks can be added to a virtual model of NeuLand and then activated. However, one person's ideal habitat may be quite the opposite for another.
Image:
Eloïse Bonneviot and Anne de Boer, A devoured hedge burrows deep II, 2023/2024
Photo: Jan Kolský, courtesy: the artists.
Funding and support:
All of the Critters is funded by Deutsche Postcode Lotterie, Institut français and the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne. The project is part of Islands of Kinship, co-financed by the European Union. Thanks to the team of NeuLand for the kind collaboration.
