Maelfa, Spike Island, Bristol, UK. 2011
From the press release:
The Maelfa Shopping Centre, Llanedeyrn, situated on the outskirts of Cardiff, is the focus of Sean Edwards’ latest project. Built around a block of high-rise flats in a council estate in the mid 1970s, the Maelfa centre was once a thriving microcosm of the wider city but declined over the subsequent decades. Edwards undertook a residency in the centre ahead of its planned demolition, making a careful study of the still functioning yet near derelict space, creating a series of new works. Due to the recession, however, plans to develop Maelfa have now been put on hold with the centre still functioning day to day.
The central piece of the exhibition is a slow paced, silent video that touches upon a sense of poignancy associated with disappearing communities and failed utopian aspirations. The video is accompanied by an installation of photographs, prints, models and other ephemera relating to the project, specially commissioned for Spike Island's central galleries. Maelfa expands the artist’s interventions into everyday systems and is the artist's first major UK solo show in a public space.
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