Paw'celain Palace
Tottenhall Recreation Ground, North London
May 2023
We soon realised that this park was truly characterised by its canine residents. The artwork gained its personality from them too. The conversations we had with the public nurtured the narrative that; the dogs of the park own the park. The feeling of these pooches being indulged by their secondary people inspired us to make these canine figurines status symbols. They become silent kings of this place. Painting resident dogs as porcelain figurines allowed us to be playful with scale and character.
Tottenhall gave us a surprise with its enclosed, architecturally framed seating area; a stage of sorts. If you sit on the bench you become part of the scene. It conjured notions of a shelf, a place where one showcases fine china, or a cabinet open for all to admire.
Initially, we had the idea of inviting park-goers to be photographed on this bench, aiming to create a collective of porcelain figures. However, when we approached the public with this request, their response often was, 'No, but you can photograph my dog!'
Third from the right is a street chihuahua called Gucci, a bit of a celebrity in the park. He is actually tiny but became one of the largest dogs on the stage, mirroring his larger-than-life personality and reputation. The patterns around the dogs became a costume, adding to the feeling of luxury.
Here we took advantage of the abstracted use of pattern, the most abstract in the series. We used original brickwork, to create colourful patterns around the building.
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