Ballooning Futures

Sketch Provocation

London, UK, 2016

On arrival in London, our cohort was sent out to study the rituals of a neighborhood. My team chose the Isle of Dogs or Canary Wharf, the fast growing financial hub of London (and much of the world). Canary Wharf was the place where the Romans first landed on the island to create a settlement called Londinium. The city has grown from there and Canary Wharf has had a rich history of commerce and shipping ever since. Now, skyscrapers are midst-construction everywhere you turn and the neighborhood is characterized by "suits" hurrying through sterile surroundings. This is not a place for fun or culture, but we tried to change that just a little bit. We were lucky to find a gentleman named Jatinda who worked for an organization called Change Please. He had recently been homeless, and the previous evening the BBC had aired his episode of the reality TV show Famous, Rich and Homeless. He turned out to be an astute observer of the neighborhood and we interviewed him as he served coffee to customers. His voice provides the narration for this video.