One mile squared: the river flows in many directions at the same time.

The River Flows in Many Directions at the Same Time is Richard Layzell's residency in one square mile of Xuhui District. This residency developed into an in-depth two month study with a range of outcomes that included two performance as lectures at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art and Xin Da Wei, several public interventions and a blog. The relationship to the blog as a working process was intense and became an exploration of process in its own right, forming the core content of the two performance/lectures.
Socially engaged practice was a relatively new concept in China and this project also had a demonstrative element in forming relationships with the community that were not thought possible by the host organisation. These include manual workers, residents and young people.
A Visiting Arts Commission and Residency in collaboration with Shanghai E Arts. One Mile Squared is a three year global arts, ecology and community programme that asks people to map the biodiversity, cultural diversity and aesthetic diversity of their local neighbourhood. One Mile Squared communities are linked accross the world through a website, www.square-mile.net where they share and challenge each others' ideas, experiences, perceptions and creativity.

Further outcomes include a video installation The Shed (filmed in Shanghai) shown at document|a King's Lynn in May 2010.