Engineering Shelter
A multi-media installation by Helene Kazan for the exhibition ‘Space Interrupted’ at Fort Brockhurst, translated as a film and online
project for Ibraaz
September 2015
project for Ibraaz
September 2015
The moment the ‘Morrison Shelter’ is destroyed in ‘Engineering Shelter’ by Helene Kazan during the re-enactment for ‘Space Interrupted’ at Fort Brockhurst in Portsmouth and later featured by Ibraaz.
Mining information from ‘before and after’ images of an experiment carried out by the British Ministry of Home Security in 1941, where a 350 pound concrete block was dropped on a shelter known as the Morrison shelter to prove the structures engineered capacity to shelter civilians during aerial bombardment. Engineering Shelter re-enacts the outlined experiment to test the claims of safety being made by the British government in recommending the use of the shelter. A live re-enactment of the experiment took place, the documentation of which formed part of a multi-media installation including the remnant outcome of the conducted experiment at the Fort Brockhurst, for the exhibition ‘Space Interrupted’ curated by Clare Sheppeard. The project was then translated as a short film and online project commissioned by Amal Khalaf for Ibraaz, a leading critical forum on visual culture in North Africa and the Middle East.
Project credits:
Written and directed by Helene Kazan
Audio recording and sound design by Vishal Kassie
Filming by Hannah Majid and Richard York
Technical Assistance from Liam Tickner, Robin von Einsiedel, Hannah Martin, Naty Lopez Holguin and Julie Graves
Commissioned as part of Space Interrupted, curated by Clare Sheppard and Sharon Haward
Commissioning editor Amal Khalaf, Ibraaz
With thanks and support from the Aspex, British Arts Council, English Heritage and Ibraaz
Engineering Shelter for Space Interrupted: https://spaceinterrrupted.wordpress.com
Engineering Shelter for Ibraaz: https://www.ibraaz.org/projects/116
Engineering Shelter, Short film, 3min. To view: https://vimeo.com/404578431
Related works:
‘The Right to Shelter’, Helene Kazan in conversation with Amal Khalaf for Ibraaz: https://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/176
Project credits:
Written and directed by Helene Kazan
Audio recording and sound design by Vishal Kassie
Filming by Hannah Majid and Richard York
Technical Assistance from Liam Tickner, Robin von Einsiedel, Hannah Martin, Naty Lopez Holguin and Julie Graves
Commissioned as part of Space Interrupted, curated by Clare Sheppard and Sharon Haward
Commissioning editor Amal Khalaf, Ibraaz
With thanks and support from the Aspex, British Arts Council, English Heritage and Ibraaz
Engineering Shelter for Space Interrupted: https://spaceinterrrupted.wordpress.com
Engineering Shelter for Ibraaz: https://www.ibraaz.org/projects/116
Engineering Shelter, Short film, 3min. To view: https://vimeo.com/404578431
Related works:
‘The Right to Shelter’, Helene Kazan in conversation with Amal Khalaf for Ibraaz: https://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/176