and so the weekend came and went, people played and we blistered our feet. PLAY took place last Saturday and Sunday in a soon to be demolished warehouse in Hackney, East London. Curated by myself and Emma Harvey, the show, the photos of the work of the other artists we invited to take part, the people who came along, the things that evolved over the weekend as well as my thoughts on the show and the weekend are over on the Organ pages. Meanwhile here’s a video made on the first day by the Whitesao team (thanks Whitesao)

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It all happened one minute from London Fields railway station and right by Broadway Market, by the park itself (and all that that involves on a summer weekend). The plan was a very busy two day art exhibition, a place to Play, artists coming together and doing it ourselves, doing it in a great big warehouse (guarded by a Burning Candy cat and sweet set of teeth, 2010 vintage rather then the fangs of now). We wanted to bring an unwanted building to life again, walls and floors alive with paintings, with sculpture, installation and more, street artists jousting with contemporary painters, sculptors juggling around installations, performance next to leaf growth, next to Emma Harvey’s bold red mouths or Julia Maddison’s Our Lady of The Chip Shop or the big banners of Danny Pockets … A two day art show in a great big beautiful shell of a (soon to be demolished) warehouse. A gathering of pro-active artists who had either exhibited work with is at Cultivate during the three year Vyner Street period or worked alongside us at other events in recent times. We were being very picky about who we invited to take part, we wanted the show to be balanced and considered, very much a curated thought out exhibition rather than a chaotic free for all, we wanted the exhibition to flow, you work as one whole, we wanted the black and white illustration of Mille Easton or Phillip Hawkey next to the intrigue of samuel Brzeski or India Roper Evans – but this was essentially artists coming together for a DIY punk rock style weekend art exhibition in a disused East London warehouse.. Egos and attitudes left at home, artists coming together to make something happen, a busy show, maximalism in the ruins of the fast disappearing East London playground and everyone is invited to come have a look and explore the walls and floors, explore the art and the people making it… more over on the Organ pages

As well as curating the whole thing (with Emma), directing the hang (and leaning up afterwards), I took over a corner for some growth as well as took on a bit of gardening outside in the yard.