Communities under Construction is a three year programme of residencies in which selected artists work within, and in response to, the villages and communities surrounding Wysing Arts Centre. During the summer of 2010, Wysing Arts Centre hosted a three-month long International Camp for Improbable Thinking. Christina Green was invited to curate four series of specially commissioned Weekend Camps on the subject of The Improbable.

During her residency, Christina aimed to creatively engage people from non-arts backgrounds, local researchers as well as the six residency artists that were especially commissioned for the summer programme of 2010. Making herself known to the local community, she primarily focused on establishing relations with the people and considered the social environment that surrounds Wysing Arts Centre. The result of her research and engagement period was the four weekend Camps in June 2010. These events were designed to shift the focus from the artist as ‘expert’ and make everyone equal participants during the three-month long International Camp for Improbable Thinking. The weekend camps were intentionally different in form and content, varying from improbable games with a 1.5m giant Red Ball, talks on night climbing with writer Ivo Stourton, an Improbable Walking Tour in collaboration with artist Emma smith, a bird Tango workshop, wild food hunting and experimental cooking with food forager Jacky Sutton-Adam, concluding with a medieval musical performance on the Wysing grounds. To broaden and fully explore the theme of the Improbable, Christina also made connections with local researchers from Cambridge University. Professor David Spiegelhalter introduced his mathematical research on risk and uncertainty, and Professor Nicky Clayton, part of the Department of Experimental Psychology, focused on animal cognition. Their studies, their personalities but also the sharing of their knowledge to a non-scientific audience resulted in the most improbable events and an intensive month of weekend Camps in which the public entered into an open dialogue, collectively took creative risks and experimented in new ways of artistic practices. Throughout her residency, Christina drew on her personal research, which explored relations between things and people, and the dynamics and processes that are involved in relational encounters.

Communities under Construction is funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England East. With special thanks to all participants involved in the Improbable weekend camps: Jacky Sutton-Adam, Professor Nicky Clayton FRS, Kim Chetwyn, Professor David Spiegelhalter FRS, Ivo Stourton, Emma Smith, The Cabin Band, Little Hands Nursery in Bourn, Abantu Café, Classworks Theatre, Paul Garofalo.