"Parkens Anatomi"

Top: Valbypark, 5 color photographs, 30 x 45 cm and 35 x 52,5 cm.
Bottom: Østre Anlæg, 5 color photographs, 30 x 45 cm and 35 x 52,5 cm.

Valbypark

At the end of the 1930´s plans were made to develop Valbypark on marsh ground formerly used as a refuse dump near the water. Extensive areas of grass were constructed in accordance with the times to make it possible for the public to lead a healthy, outdoor life. In some places the lawns reach down to the water making the  park very open to the sky. However, the large empty areas also give it an appearance of wasted space. The grassy areas are enclosed by fences and bushes where you can find several groups of allotment houses which were built there before the park was developed. A rose garden was added in 1964 - a compact and circular area surrounded by trimmed hedges, theatrically and dramatically separated from the rest of the park. The rose garden contains an impressive collection of roses and is very well kept – order is what prevails here.  Another new addition is the frog park from 1995 – a unique area in one of the park’s outer areas. Four small embankments have been built here, surrounded by stones with an aim to giving the frogs the best conditions in which to live. The grass is neatly cut around the embankments and in the rest of the area flowers and grass are allowed to grow long. This area is quite a new type of landscape, less predictable than what is usually to be found in parks.
To a large extent, Valbypark reflects a social structure which today finds itself in an identity crisis. Care and reforms have resulted in unsuccessful forecasts. The resolution of its after effects are now being sought. As I walk through the Rose Garden I always picture an incident from a film - the end of a thriller I once saw. Two men who were some kind of policemen in civilian clothing, wander around the park. Together they review the solution of the film’s plot. This is about men at the top of society whom someone was forced to put straight. The two men have witnessed what has happened but cannot say anything because everything has been hushed up from the highest level. What impressed me at the time was how ordinary this scene appeared to be with the drabness of their clothes and the neatness of the park. Concealing something in order to maintain the system.

Østre Anlæg

Østre Anlæg is a park dating back to the end of the 19th century and situated where Copenhagen’s fortification once stood. You can still distinctly see the embankments of the former moat in the park.  Paths wind their way along different levels – in some places right down to the water and then straight upwards. At times it almost feels as though you are walking on water and at others you can look straight up through the treetops. As the grass edges are rather steep, they are unsuitable to sit down on and therefore vegetation is allowed to grow wild.  To a great extent this contributes to the park’s character that is dominated by being both wild and unrestricted. On the banks between the paths, the grass grows long and is mixed with all kinds of wild flowers and, down by the water, rushes grow extensively. The wonderful thing about the park is that everything is allowed to grow wild – the uncontrolled is permitted. It is gratifying to see that right in the centre of a city you can find a place that is not subject to control but which to a very large degree is allowed to take care of itself.
The park’s wild nature reminds me of teenagers, a state being neither one thing nor the other. I can picture a film about teenagers in the city during the summer taking place in Østre Anlæg. A dreary summer spent mostly hanging about. It’s all about friendship that resembles falling in love and the hidden disappointments that follow. It’s about strolling along the gravel paths and settling down in the long grass and almost disappearing. Confidences are exchanged and shyness is replaced by daring. The soft greenery feels reassuring when things get too complicated being wherever one is - bound for somewhere else. At the same time the noise outside the park reminds one of what is to come – tricky and tempting but above all - unavoidable.