In 2019 Steffi Klenz was selected as one of the artists to undertake the Camden Alive Commission. Camden Alive is part of the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture and is a Mayor’s Cultural Impact Award winner.
In 1971 Camden Council acquired 22 acres of land, just off York Way, London from the National Freight Corporation and built the Maiden Lane Estate. 200 years ago the site was farmland, with ‘Midden Lane’ running through it. This route into London from the north became notorious for highwaymen and footpads until the Midland Railway took over the area and used it as a depot for coal, cattle and sheep.
The Maiden Lane estate, designed by architects Benson and Forsyth, was a visionary, modernist scheme which included plans for 400 new homes, shops, sports facilities, a community centre, a primary school and open spaces. Due to financial pressures in the late 1970s the plans were not fully realised, resulting in a split site and years of practical and social challenges.
During 2019 Steffi Klenz spent time at Maiden Lane talking with residents and immersing herself in the architecture of the space. Her photographic practice has been preoccupied with the built environment, exploring the notion of place and spatiality. Her work unfolds in urban places and buildings but it is not architectural photography; instead it uncovers unexpected narratives and traces of history embedded in the place.
Tensed Muscles explores the relationship between the architectural promise of modernist living; of equality and opportunity, and the reality of living in Maiden Lane in the 40 years since its inception. Klenz layers images of the neighbourhood, mixed with architectural plans, archive material and hand-drawn medical illustration to unearth what is hidden beneath the surface of the site. Klenz is interested in the entanglements of the poetic, political and socio-economic aspects of the neighbourhood and uses the metaphor of the ‘phantom limb’ to present this. Medical drawings and images of Maiden Lane residents’ disconnected limbs signify something missing – something missing in society relating to inequality and social-economic trauma, represented through bodily trauma.
The use of the body in her work connects us with the site, animating modernist architectural plans which use the body to merely populate the space. Illustrations of tensed, spasmodic muscles suggests that these animated bodies (that society and politics might want to disappear) become visible, real and vocal. This idea is apparent in the images of disconnected hands. These hands are separate and disconnected from the main body politic through trauma, but are presented as significant tools of communication. In hip hop and rap hands become gestural instruments and, as presented in Tensed Muscles, capable of vocalising through sign language by shaping an alphabet. Klenz further explores communication by making correlations between Scriptio Continua (continuous writing), an early style of writing without spaces or punctuation which was performed rather than read and the fast-paced transmission of ideas through rap and hip hop.
Klenz’s complex abstract collages of images, photograms, Scriptio Continua, graph work and line drawing disrupt the discipline of architecture as a measured, rational and ordered space; interrupting this with human agency, interaction and the realities of life on a London estate.
First iteration of project: a music album which is available on Spotify for free and also on the 7th March 2020 Brownsilla and Boss B with a string quartet performed the album live in front of Klenz's large projection piece. There will also be a solo exhibition at the Camden Arts Centre and an Augmented reality app designed by Arcade.
In the Spring of 2019 Maiden Lane rap artists Brownsilla and Boss B collaborated with photographic artist Steffi Klenz. As artists in residence at the Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre, they explored the histories of Maiden Lane, using maps, newspapers, court reports and images.
Weaving these stories with their own experiences of living and being in London, the artists reflect on what has been, and of its relevance to lives today. The resulting album presents a complex view of Maiden Lane, one of tension and frustration but also of confidence and optimism.
Tensed Muscles is also presented through the new virtual Camden People’s Museum and through augmented reality on the streets of Camden. Klenz worked with immersive technology specialists Arcade Ltd developing a bespoke augmented reality app which was launched as part of London Festival of Architecture in June 2022.
The immersive augmented reality piece situates the work of Tensed Muscles permanently at the Maiden Lane Estate to be enjoyed by the current as well as future residents of the estate.
The approach to take to digital technologies in expanding and diversifying the audience demographic of Tensed Muscles and bringing the work ‘back home’ was an urgent request of the artist.
Tensed Muscles allows us to consider our histories, cultural heritage and contemporary stories in a new way; sharing meaningful, research-led creative collaboration. This project explores cross-disciplinary practice, not just across visual arts, photography, music and words but also digital technologies and the relationship between artists, audiences and augmented reality.
As part of the Photography Biennale in Brazil a catalogue was produced. Interestingly the catalogue functions as a mobile home exhibition which was sent out to thousands of homes. This mobile exhibition, printed in a publication format, containing 100 posters , presents a view of the artists' work participating in the biennale. It is a great way for many people to enjoy the work of the biennale without visiting the actual show. Each person can create their own version of the Resolving Images exhibition at home.
Tensed Muscles has also been selected by the curatorial team of the Peckham 24 Photography Festival. The festival ran from the 12th-14th May 2023. Tensed Muscles was presented in a site-specific installation of a wooden framework. In appreciation of how this year's festival theme connects to performative practices, a live performance by Maiden Lane rappers Brownsilla and Boss B (both were born and still live on the estate) took place as part of the Late Friday Opening Night program on the 12th May 2023.
In collaboration with Brownsilla and Boss B, I created a fold-out booklet which includes my artworks as well as the lyrics of the songs. The fold-out booklet was handed out for free during the live performance of Brownsilla and Boss B and the exhibition. Local residents of the Maiden Lane Estate were invited to the live performance of Brownsilla and Boss B.
Peckham 24 is a festival of contemporary photography that takes place during Photo London week across galleries and art spaces such as the Copeland Gallery, Bussey Building or Seen Fifteen in one of London’s most exciting and dynamic artistic quarters in Peckham in London. The festival is conceived as a curated program to extend the celebrations happening around the photography fair at Photo London at Somerset House. Peckham 24 is established as a vibrant festival that champions important and experimental voices in contemporary photography in a curated program rather than featuring gallery artists as part of a commercial photography fair like Photo London. The festival had an average visitors’ count of 6,250 over its 3-day duration (figure provided by Peckham 24).
