More people than ever live in cities, 'the engines of civilisation' that drive innovation and growth. For many 'the dream' is a powerful motivator. But cities can be very unforgiving places, as so many tales of hardship, injustice and inequality show. Preserving our identity, our sense of self-worth and our sense of humour is a constant challenge.
In Kaleidoscope City we are offered 'a chance moment to pause the greyscale journey'. With a shake of the kaleidoscope, we meet the buskers, baristas, taxi drivers, apprentices, pensioners, the fast-trackers, the influencers, the downtrodden. We walk the streets, we ride buses, bicycles, tuk tuks. We circulate from skyscrapers to street art, chic cafés to charity shops, factories to festivals. We taste the future with driverless cars and drones.
Turning the kaleidoscope again, we transform bizarrely into an orange on a conveyor belt, a baguette in a cartoon, a knife in a statue of knives, a crumpled beer can in a gutter. We fly from metaphorical basements to imaginary places on the moon. We flip the mosaic. We see the city, and ourselves.