The Crystal Palace Group
Elevating the level of Consciousness, Creating Utopias
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The Power of a New Idea is an Engine that transforms the way we live and think. Ideas are the most powerful tools we have to change the world.Our ability to dream, to create and understand the meaning of our ideas is the most valuable Capital. Countries and Revolutions have been founded on them. We act as a catalyst, as an interface between dreams and reality, to make these ideas real. We are urban Alchemists transforming dreams into reality. We celebrate Collaboration, that enhances the human Experience. We believe in the power of Ideas, elevating the level of Consciousness. We evolve as One with the world. Affecting the Instant, creating Utopias. |
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Concept Athanasios Anagnostopoulos Johanna Maj Schmidt Jacquie Rosenbach Michelle Salomons Florence Stencel-Wade Performers Athanasios Anagnostopoulos Johanna Maj Schmidt Jacquie Rosenbach Florence Stencel-Wade Text by Johanna Maj Schmidt Athanasios Anagnostopoulos Costumes National Theatre, London Sponsored & commissioned by Goldsmiths University of London, Politics Dept Camera Michelle Salomons |
“The Crystal Palace Group” was an intervention and performance that took place in 2015 between New Cross and Crystal Palace Park, London.
Four “promoters” dressed in Victorian-era costumes, referencing the “original spirit” of Crystal Palace, and with a brassard, bearing the original design of the Chinese communist flag, travelled to Crystal Palace Park via the Overground. At the Park the performers set up their corporate promotional booth and distribute flyers announcing a new mega-development project to take place at Crystal Palace Park, one that feeds from existing rumours discussed in the eponymous area. The narrative followed is that a Chinese company plans on building a replica of the infamous original steel and glass palace as part of its Crystal Palace Park regeneration project. When asked about their costumes the performers-promoters refer to their role without disclosing any further information about the project or the rationale behind their outfits. Members of the public are redirected to a website advertised on the flyer, which is permanently "under construction”. Throughout the performance, a looped soundtrack, appropriating a promotional video by the Argentinian real estate company Faena, fills the public space with a seductive sound. The performance connects the Victorian imperialist project to the present spirit of capitalism and incorporates seemingly conflicting ideologies: Victorian imperialism, Chinese capitalist neo-colonialism, authoritarian communism. |
Nuclear Palace, postcard, 2015
© The Crystal Palace Group, TCP Group
