New London Architecture (NLA) has a new model of future developments in London. Paul Harrison and John Wood have created a model of a different city in their sculpture “A Film about a City” as part of their exhibition “An Almost Identical Copy” in London.  A surreal  of buildings have the fun of wooden building blocks bought in the toy shop, but with a subtle difference, some having hints of structures such as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris with crowds of white men and cars doing dangerous and unpredictable things, while in other rooms are items in unusual positions such as an upturned bench which all challenge our view of everyday objects and their place in our environment.

This is a city where people stand on the top of one building, filling every square inch without falling off the edge, stand at the bottom of another, while another has a tent on top and, another two are joined by springboards that enables a man to walk across from one to another.  There are buildings here made from items at home or in the schoolbag, or that would be structurally impossible – top heavy or standing at an angle. This is a theatrical city, a show city, a city of comedy  – would our cities be improved with a little fun?  It would be great to some of their sculptures, perhaps at a larger scale, installed in the city itself during, say, the London Architecture Festival or installed next to the New London Architecture model – that would create an interesting dialogue.

Are they artists, philosophers of showmen?  Their website is minimalist, comprising only words and images that intrigue and challenge and make the viewer make new associations. The exhibition at the Carroll/Fletcher gallery also includes videos about spraying paint, about falling, about a chair, about a car and about a car park.  This is “An almost identical copy”