Artists Space

Anja Kirschner and David Panos:
Polly II - A Plan for a Revolution in Docklands

Screening & Discussion
November 5, 2012, 7pm

Anja Kirschner and David Panos’ first long-form narrative film stemmed from the experience of gentrification in East London, and the forms of collective direct action that had emerged in opposition to real estate development. Often working with amateurs and non-actors from their local area, these works transposed the principles of the Brechtian learning play, to the imaginary spaces of cinematic and televisual genres. Polly II – A Plan for a Revolution in Docklands (2006, dur: 30 min), conjured up a sci-fi vision of a drowned London where acts of piracy threaten the plans of scheming developers and local politicians.

A city skyline on fire behind black and white waves. Above that are four circular portraits of people and a title decal with the words "POLLY II: Plan for a Revolution in Docklands."
Poster from Polly II - A Plan for a Revolution in Docklands (2006). [A city skyline on fire behind black and white waves. Above that are four circular portraits of people and a title decal with the words "POLLY II: Plan for a Revolution in Docklands."]

Artists Space : Books and Talks
55 Walker Street

$5 Entrance Donation
Members Free
Limited capacity, entrance on a first come, first served basis

This screening of Polly II will be followed by a discussion between London based writer and contributing editor to Mute magazine, Benedict Seymour, and New York based sociologist Sharon Zukin. Seymour and Zukin have both written extensively about the effects of gentrification and regeneration in their respective cities and beyond.

Anja Kirschner (1977, Munich, Germany) and David Panos (1971, Athens, Greece) live and work in London, UK. They were the winners of the Jarman Award 2011. Recent solo exhibitions include Ultimate Substance, Secession, Vienna (2012); Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow (2012); The Projecting Stage, castillo/corrales, Paris (2011); and The Empty Plan, Kunsthall Oslo (2011). Their work was also included in the Liverpool Biennial (2012) and the British Art Show 7 (2010/2011).

Benedict Seymour is a writer, filmmaker and contributing editor of Mute magazine. He has written and made films about urban regeneration and gentrification with the research group The London Particular. He holds the position of Lecturer in Fine Art on the MFA at Goldsmiths College London.

Sharon Zukin is a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her publications include Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), The Cultures of Cities (Blackwell, 1995) and Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places (Oxford University Press, 2010).

Two people dressed in black looking down. Superimposed on top of them is a poster reading, "JENNY DIVER CALLS ON ALL PEOPLE OF THE FLOOD EAST ORGANIZE NOW! PEACE TO HUMBLE DWELLINGS! WAR TO THE PALACES!"
Still from Polly II - A Plan for a Revolution in Docklands (2006). [Two people dressed in black looking down. Superimposed on top of them is a poster reading, "JENNY DIVER CALLS ON ALL PEOPLE OF THE FLOOD EAST ORGANIZE NOW! PEACE TO HUMBLE DWELLINGS! WAR TO THE PALACES!"]
A woman with a hood looks diagonally upward, away from the camera. Behind her, a large building is on fire and the sky is dark.
Still from Polly II - A Plan for a Revolution in Docklands (2006). [A woman with a hood looks diagonally upward, away from the camera. Behind her, a large building is on fire and the sky is dark.]

Polly II - A Plan for Revolution in Docklands Program Booklet