Myself, and a member of mima's Modern Times group, went down last weekend to check this free festival out, and we headed for Hackney Wick on the overground from Highbury & Islington overground station. Not knowing quite what to expect, we disembarked from the train to be led by improvised signs cable-tied to lamp posts, in the general direction of 'things' and 'happenings'.
First stop for refreshment was the Wick Cafe, run by an affable Turk, who, once having established we were from Teesside, became even friendlier, explaining he was a regular visitor to the Riverside Stadium, when Turkish International footballer, Tuncay, played for the 'Boro! Amazing who you meet on jaunts such as this. Huge portions swiftly followed.....and reasonable, too ! Not a bad start. This place is a favourite haunt of the resident artists, no wonder!
The Hackney Wicked Festival area is quite spread out, the best plan would be to do one area a day, to save on the shoe leather. After all, six hundred and twenty four artists live and work in this small area, (allegedly the greatest concentration on the planet today).
Centred around Hackney Wick rail station, the main areas are Wallis Road and Whitepost Lane, which comprise of the galleries at Felstead Street, Beard , Main Yard, Schwartz, Roach Road, Elevator and Canal Bridge. The second concentration of galleries is on Fish Island, a ten minute walk away beside the River Lea, the areas of interest here are: The Stour Space, Counter Cafe (run by a couple of nice Kiwi's), Kids Gallery, Vitoria Wharf, Forman's Smokehouse ( a salmon smokery with the gallery above) and 22 Smeed Road. Two further out locations were the Lighthouse Pub, (where Gavin Turk's Agile Rabbit show was located) and the View Tube, a gallery made from green shipping containers, showcasing the work of local 2D & 3D artists. The Container Cafe is located here, too, down by Pudding Mill Lane station. Vyner street is also another possibility with galleries not too far away, but not actually part of the Hackney Wicked Festival.
In addition, seventeen varied old industrial factory buildings house the numerous studios open for the Festival days, so one could have a nosey, and a chat with the artists, lubricated by ample booze provided in the various graffitied improvised bars, or ice buckets, located everywhere, for the copious (and mostly free) beer stocks. Mojihto's, Wine and Tequila were all offered (foc) on more than one occasion, too. Barbecue smoke permeated the air, whilst games of street basketball also took place on Fish Island.
The whole landscape is full of hidden spaces, with huge sofas randomly strewn everywhere, to plonk youself into, when the old 'plates' start to give you some gyp, or for the 'tired and emotional' to cat-nap back to alertness, from the indulgences of the night before....
Buildings several stories high, overlooking the River Lea and the new Olympic Stadium, had their rooves astro-turfed for the late night parties. Starting at about 6pm, silhouettes started gyrating to the cool sounds vibrating around the rooftops and elsewhere, giving a kind of surrealness to the whole affair.
Just off the train, we swiftly got chatting to an american sculptor and his mate, a carpenter who had just done work for the Royal Family in Bahrain. Free Corona's were duly decapitated and swallowed, whilst we chewed the artistic fat, before we decided to get more of a feel for the area. Rounding the corner from the station, a disused pub, The Lord Napier, was simultaneously being stocked with booze for a rave and spray painted in gold and silver shades. Queens Yard was to be the hub for shopping, dancing and eating (plenty of lebanese food and minted pea ice cream, to name but a few..). It was also home to one of the music stages dotted around the site.
Two things were apparent to me, the laid back nature of things, and the lack of policing......do the two go hand in hand? I wonder. As the Festival is frequented by almost exclusively artists and art lovers, a very free and easy, non-threatening atmosphere prevailed. Highlights were the open studio's, cutting edge artwork, including a couple of interactive workshops ( we made a 'news' brick, part of a wall to be built on Sunday). The whole area looks as though it has been squatted in after an air raid.....reminds me of a cross between Stalingrad and the New York brownstones, occupied by Andy Warhol and Co. back in the 70's. It makes 'Boro look positively posh! A true artists working commune.
My own personal experience of East Enders has always been good, and artists are always interesting company anyway, so it was a bit of a paradise for us. Further highlights included the work of Sardine and Tobleroni, Pussy Power, Ben Woodeson's
Basic Rough as Fuck Spinning Spring Jumps out of your Skin Hazard and
Schlagboher, a remote controlled lump hammer, that systematically desroys an Elevator gallery wall over the course of the festival, and chatting with numerous working artists, in particular Aly Helyer, and Canadian Ehryn Torrell, in the Maryland Studio's. Too much going on to mention it all!
Oh, and of course, the music, supplied by Little Eris, Wara, Trench City, Nila and the Rajas, Plubic Speech, Spiritwo, Dilanga, Cheeseburger, Outakes, The Cracked, Gravy Train, the Punk Choir serenading alighting passengers from the Overground trains, and last but not least, The Travel Agency.
Put this one down in your diary for next year, and try to encamp close by (Stratford or Hackney, perhaps?) so one can indulge in the rooftop raves and the many, many party opportunities that present themselves to be availed of. Ask at The Hackney Pearl cafe bar,It would be rude not to indulge..... get there before the Olympics, and before they over organise it, the flavours just right at present and for my money it's a rare, unpretentious insight to a real working artists hub. It's a must do for all artists !! Go while its still alive and kicking!! Will they burn another Wicker Chicken? hope so...all in all, Wicked stuff !!!
