HUNCH is a large-scale installation and performance through which the predictions of local residents are shared and debated to collectively imagine new futures. Commissioned for Parker’s Piece – a parkland in the city center of Cambridge, UK, the project traces a history of local prophesy and future thinking on this land from the Roman era to the present day.
The work was developed through a city wide programme of public events exploring the history of Parker’s Piece and its location in Cambridge including workshops, talks, history walks and wisdom cafes as well as a major public event to re-instate an ancient annual tradition of community skipping on the piece, the painting of Reality Checkpoint and an exhibition at the Museum of Cambridge to share the research.
The project involved thousands of local residents who were invited to contribute their ideas about the future based on things they have a hunch might happen but cannot yet prove. These predictions were programmed into an oracle machine that could be consulted by the public to generate hexameter poems to predict the future.
The work culminated in a large-scale oracle performance in October 2017. The work centred around a custom built hill and cave housing the oracle machine. A live performance work activated the site choreographed around the floor plans of historic feasts held on Parker’s Piece. The performance involved a professional and amateur cast including local residents and 300 children from local schools who performed the very first piece of music ever recorded at the origin site of oracle in Delphi played on its original instrument – the aulos.
Future visions were pronounced and debated with the public in an immersive performance experience.
The performance included ancient instrumental music and was accompanied by an ice cream feast, created in collaboration with professional chef Tristan Welch, to share flavours from the historic feasts staged on the piece.
The project included the creation of a project events website and publication.
This work was commissioned by UNIVERSITY ARMS CAMBRIDGE.