Around Town
This summer has seen an unusual amount of temporary projects springing up across London, from the grassroots pop-ups to the more usual corporate-sponsored affairs. Is it too early to say whether this represents the first stirrings of the DIY projects we’ve been assured would flourish in empty shop-fronts and offices? For the time being, here are some of the highlights:
A temporary boat-like pavilion, built from reclaimed timber and tarpaulins, Frank’s Cafe and Campari Bar (pictured above) is nestled on the top floor of a multi-storey carpark in Peckham. Open until the end of September, the cafe has some of the best views in the city (see top), and has a small menu of cheap simple food – all the more impressive as it’s ten stories up. ‘Bold Tendencies III’, an outdoor exhibition of monumental sculpture organized by the Peckham-based Hannah Barry Gallery, is installed alongside.
As part of the Barbican’s ‘Radical Nature’ survey exhibition (a full review of which will be in the October issue of frieze), Agnes Denes’ 1982 Wheatfield has been reconstructed at Dalston Mill, the first time that the pioneering work has been reconstructed in the UK.
Though only a fraction of the size of the original, Wheatfield has been paired with a new commission from French architecture collective EXYZT, which comprises a scaffold windmill structure that promises to grind the harvested wheat for pizza dough.
A more obvious effect of the recession is the reopening of Roger Hiorns’ 2008 Artangel project Seizure (for which he was nominated for the 2009 Turner Prize). For the commission Hiorns soaked a condemned council flat (151-9 Harper Road, SE1) with 90,000 litres of chemical liquid, leaving it three months until copper sulfate crystals grew, transforming the space into a bright blue cavern. The work was intended to be temporary, as the flats were scheduled for redevelopment, though the developers are stalled and the flats remain derelict. Seizure is open until 18 October.
The Savoy Cafe (240 Graham Road, E8) opened in Hackney in late July and has a busy programme of screenings and talks every Saturday until the end of August. Look out for the UK premiere of Keys to my Heart by Kalup Linzy on 22 August. (Watch excerpts of and read more about Linzy’s work here, first published in the April issue of frieze.)
Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japanese practice SANAA (best known for the New Museum, New York), the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 is intended to resemble a plume of smoke winding through Kensington Gardens.
The pavilion is open until 18 October and, of the eight pavilions built so far for the annual commission, is certainly one of the loveliest. The Park Nights series runs throughout the summer – highlights include music from Tatsuya Yoshida and Charles Hayward this Friday and a screening of Hubert Sauper’s Darwin’s Nightmare in a few weeks.
Antony Gormley’s One & Other project for Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth – for which a randomly selected applicant from the UK occupies the plinth every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days – is the most high-profile of these, having become an ongoing story in the broadsheets. Sky Arts is hosting a live feed from the plinth, the surprising success of which today prompted the Guardian to wonder whether this could mean something new for arts TV in the UK. As Sidney Smith pointed out in the March issue of frieze, something surely needs to be done about the current state of arts broadcasting here. Here’s hoping that this recent activity has a lasting effect…
This summer has seen an unusual amount of temporary projects springing up across London, from the grassroots pop-ups to the more usual corporate-sponsored affairs. Is it too early to say whether this represents the first stirrings of the DIY projects we’ve been assured would flourish in empty shop-fronts and offices? For the time being, here are some of the highlights:
A temporary boat-like pavilion, built from reclaimed timber and tarpaulins, Frank’s Cafe and Campari Bar (pictured above) is nestled on the top floor of a multi-storey carpark in Peckham. Open until the end of September, the cafe has some of the best views in the city (see top), and has a small menu of cheap simple food – all the more impressive as it’s ten stories up. ‘Bold Tendencies III’, an outdoor exhibition of monumental sculpture organized by the Peckham-based Hannah Barry Gallery, is installed alongside.
As part of the Barbican’s ‘Radical Nature’ survey exhibition (a full review of which will be in the October issue of frieze), Agnes Denes’ 1982 Wheatfield has been reconstructed at Dalston Mill, the first time that the pioneering work has been reconstructed in the UK.
Though only a fraction of the size of the original, Wheatfield has been paired with a new commission from French architecture collective EXYZT, which comprises a scaffold windmill structure that promises to grind the harvested wheat for pizza dough.
A more obvious effect of the recession is the reopening of Roger Hiorns’ 2008 Artangel project Seizure (for which he was nominated for the 2009 Turner Prize). For the commission Hiorns soaked a condemned council flat (151-9 Harper Road, SE1) with 90,000 litres of chemical liquid, leaving it three months until copper sulfate crystals grew, transforming the space into a bright blue cavern. The work was intended to be temporary, as the flats were scheduled for redevelopment, though the developers are stalled and the flats remain derelict. Seizure is open until 18 October.
The Savoy Cafe (240 Graham Road, E8) opened in Hackney in late July and has a busy programme of screenings and talks every Saturday until the end of August. Look out for the UK premiere of Keys to my Heart by Kalup Linzy on 22 August. (Watch excerpts of and read more about Linzy’s work here, first published in the April issue of frieze.)
Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japanese practice SANAA (best known for the New Museum, New York), the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 is intended to resemble a plume of smoke winding through Kensington Gardens.
The pavilion is open until 18 October and, of the eight pavilions built so far for the annual commission, is certainly one of the loveliest. The Park Nights series runs throughout the summer – highlights include music from Tatsuya Yoshida and Charles Hayward this Friday and a screening of Hubert Sauper’s Darwin’s Nightmare in a few weeks.
Antony Gormley’s One & Other project for Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth – for which a randomly selected applicant from the UK occupies the plinth every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days – is the most high-profile of these, having become an ongoing story in the broadsheets. Sky Arts is hosting a live feed from the plinth, the surprising success of which today prompted the Guardian to wonder whether this could mean something new for arts TV in the UK. As Sidney Smith pointed out in the March issue of frieze, something surely needs to be done about the current state of arts broadcasting here. Here’s hoping that this recent activity has a lasting effect…
