All Aboard

September 2007: authorities surround the London 2012 Olympic Site with an 18-km blue wall and repaint daily any form of expression and of visual protest. Abandoned, empty paint cans revealing the code and name of the paint colour is reproduced by Adaptive Actions to perform an action. Under the premise “Only blue remains”, the action All Aboard is born: creating extensions to the Olympic Blue Wall by painting objects found in the vicinity. London Olympic Site. In the vicinity of the well-maintained blue wall lies an incredible quantity of rubbish deposited by passers-by, left over from abandoned constructions, some from the Olympic site demolitions. Through this repetitive activity, imitating a similar action done by others – walking around the Olympic perimeter and painting in blue – one progressively discovers the life around the site, its concealed aspects. Additional paint cans of the Olympic Wall colour were given to various participants to encourage reconfigurations of the All Aboard action.

All Aboard is an action which questions the status and character of the wall, the relation of things to context, the making and maintenance processes. It is meant to reflect on what is missing, on what was done, and initiate thought on what could be done through alternative ways in the present and the future. How can structures, even those restricting access, become permeable to change and accept existing realities, appropriations and support expression? Can the wall and Olympics in general become more then what it currently is, i.e. less about self image, but, on the contrary, a representation of the outside, where Londoners currently live? How can we give meaning to important periods of transitions such as the four-year Olympic construction site – which, even if temporary, defines our experience and memory of the city, is part of the legacy of the games?