August in the Arts: Hackney Wicked
August in Art World is not a very exciting month. Most galleries are hosting group shows of assorted work by the artists they represent. Either that or they're just shut. Why is this? Well, probably because all the important people (i.e. the rich ones who are gonna buy stuff) have left grotty London behind and toddled off to their villas in Saint-Tropez. But the rest of us stuck here still need entertaining, so thank goodness then for Hackney Wicked.
A load of the cool art folk in Hackney Wick have clubbed together to organise a three-day festival of art, history and peculiar activities. As well as exhibitions at Decima, Elevator Gallery, The Residence and Mother Studios, there's also an 'Art Olympics' featuring Bike Polo with Gilbert & George and a game of cricket on Victoria Park with Aaron Barschak, the Comedy Terrorist.
It all sounds like fun, so I popped down to the Dolphin to meet up with David C West of Decima, Ingrid Z from The Residence and local Wick artist Louise Loudoun to try and find out a bit more.
Tom: How did the idea for Hackney Wicked first come about?
Ingrid: Well, about a year ago, at the Residence, my colleague Laura May Lewis and myself were sitting one afternoon and just talking about how it would be interesting to launch the Hackney Wick area in a show that would appeal not just to local people but also to people London-wide and internationally. There's so much going on here in terms of artists' studios and new galleries like Decima, Elevator, Schwartz... The name just came from a bit of graffiti on a street sign that said 'Hackney is Wicked'.
Tom: What was it that drew you to Hackney Wick in the first place?
Ingrid: I think the space first of all. The attraction for a lot of artists is that you could get a good size space for a reasonable amount of money.
David: And it's actually not too far away once you know about it. But it's kind of hidden away as well so you can get away with doing more.
Louise: It's like a little island surrounded by the motorway.
Ingrid: It's an area of real transition and you get a genuine sense of excitement to create your own projects here because it's still not established. If you were to start something on say Vyner Street or in the West End then you've already got a scene established there. So it's very much a chance to do something in-the-moment and contemporary.
There's a specific spirit to Hackney Wick too, a real spontaneity that's shared amongst the people there. And because London is such an international hub you automatically have the attention of the wider contemporary art world. I see London as a megaphone that speaks really loudly to the whole world.
Tom: There seems to be a trend maybe in the last year or so to get lots of people involved in art who otherwise wouldn't really be interested and to do something fun.
Ingrid: I think that's a trend in contemporary art internationally. The focus has shifted to the event, to do with audience participation, creating situations which engage the public. The public shapes the show in the end. But it's not just specific to contemporary art. If you look at television, media, with reality shows that the audience can join in, it's happening across all facets of contemporary life. It's also an excellent way to establish yourself and then you can become a lot more snobbish and more exclusive and have guest lists and not let in more than ten people at a time!
Tom: And you have to ring a doorbell to get in...
Ingrid: I reflected on this with my last show. I only let people into the gallery one-in-one-out. There wasn't even any art in there. They just came to hang out with the polysexual music/art It Crowd. It's about queuing. Things always look more important if there's a queue.
Tom: What was the thinking behind the Art Olympics?
David: Well, we wanted to organise an inter-gallery five-a-side football competition, which somebody actually did about ten years ago. We thought it would be quite a fun way to get all the galleries from across London together in Hackney Wick. But, because we're near the Olympic site, it's rather evolved into the Art Olympics.
Tom: And how did the idea for bike polo come about?
David: It was an Olympic Sport in the 1908 Olympics and Gilbert & George read about it in the Telegraph or somewhere and told us about it. It just sounded a really great idea. Everybody has bikes in Hackney Wick because the public transport is slightly lacking and cycling's easy. Polo is normally quite an exclusive sport, but cycling polo just sounded a really great idea. There's also dog racing and other things, like lying around doing nothing, sitting in the sun. Maybe a barbeque competition, who can make the best barbeque...
Tom: Dogs seem to be a running theme at Decima!
David: Yeah, it is really. I'm not quite sure why. People seem to quite like dogs, for no apparent reason. We've got these dog costumes – we did a dog male-voice choir, with the dogs singing 'New Dog, New Dog' like Frank Sinatra. And we did a dog fight at Elevator Gallery, a boxing match with people dressed up as dogs. It went down terribly well actually.
Tom: What else should people expect?
David: There's going to be a lot happening!
Louise: It's very timely because nobody knows what's going to happen to the area in the next few years.
David: Look out for Calum F Kerr – he's going to be doing a pole vault over the Olympic blue fence.
Tom: What are you most looking forward to about Hackney Wicked?
Ingrid: The glamour!
David: The glamour of Hackney Wick!
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So that's it people. Hackney Wick is where the glamour is this August, not Saint-Tropez. Who needs a yacht when you've got weird arty happenings, cricket and bike polo? Not I, that's for sure, and most probably not you either.
Hackney Wicked: 8th - 10th August, in Hackney Wick
www.hackneywicked.com
Click for a full transcript of this interview, in which Ingrid, David and Louise discuss, among other things, murder, Cliff Richard, water wastage and the importance of the mailing list.
Click here ro read Tom's review of Hackney Wicked.
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