Paradeisos

Paradeisos is an allegorical reflection on modern living. It examines the transformation of a post-industrial landscape (Bodelva Clay Pit in Cornwall) into a themed simulacrum of nature/culture (the Eden Project).
The exhibition consists of a series of photographs that address the significance of the contemporary ‘cultural landscape’ and the representation of ‘nature’. Shanahan has been working on this project since 1998, when Boldelva Pit was still a disused clay pit and before the contractors had moved on to the site. Today, the Eden Project is one of Britain’s most successful tourist attractions. This, whilst not strictly a documentation of the re-conquest of a man-made landscape in the name of an articially natural one, the project seeks to question notions of landcscape, ecology and the environment.