CSM Time by Central Saint Martins

good bye

csm time to say

Hello Welcome to a very special springtime edition of CSM Time.

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Not only are we slightly smaller (so that we can be printed by our new neighbourto-be the Guardian), but we’re also gearing up for the final, final countdown to our historic move. In this issue we bid a fond farewell to our beloved buildings in Charing Cross Road, Southampton Row and Back Hill. It’s the perfect excuse for Drusilla Beyfus to take a walk down memory lane with Caroline Dakers and Willie Walters (p4 ). Staff, students and alumni have been busy documenting our current premises for ‘Hello, Goodbye’ at the Lethaby Gallery (p26). And Martin Schoberer, MA Communication Design graduate, has a personal pictorial record to share with us (p6).

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We also say hello to our new home via some fabulous images (p18). Plus, we give you the latest on our move plan (p16), and take a whistle stop tour of the best bars, clubs and eateries in King’s Cross (p24). Last but not least, we have a special supplement offering a taste of what it’s like to be a research student at CSM and UAL . See you in June!

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CSM Time is produced by Marketing and Communications editor@csm.arts.ac.uk in association with Rhombus Writers, and designed by Paulus M Dreibholz (alumnus and associate lecturer) and Sunny Park (alumnus). With thanks to Drusilla Beyfus and Ged Matthews. © 2010 Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design unless otherwise indicated. We have made all efforts to credit images correctly. Please contact us if we have omitted to credit or miscredited an image – amendments will be made in subsequent issues.

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT — 4 Private Collection — 6 In Exchange — 8 Student project update — 9 MAPPING THE MOVE — 10 INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPES — 12 LEAVING GIFTS — 14 KING’S CROSS NEWS UPDATE — 16 Hello to all this — 18 our kx community — 20 NEW KID ON THE BLOCK — 22 the Rough guide to kx — 24 WHAT’S ON — 26

csm time to say hello, goodbye spring 2011 issue

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

Drusilla Beyfus was a Senior Lecturer on our Fashion Communication with Promotion pathway for 19 years. A former features editor at Vogue, she contributes regularly to the Telegraph Magazine and continues to work closely with CSM on special projects.

Back Hill

Drusilla Beyfus asks CSM Course Directors Caroline Dakers and Willie Walters to describe what our buildings, soon to be consigned to memory, have meant to them As CSM staff and students contemplate the move to a new campus at King’s Cross this year, the prospect includes many tough goodbyes. Among them will be bidding farewell to the buildings that have helped to shape generations of alumni and educators. In many ways, these places contain the collective memory of the institution. To get a steer on what the buildings have meant to individuals I talked to two CSM Course Directors. It became clear that their recollections were as real as the bricks and mortar. Caroline Dakers has worked in at least three of the principal CSM buildings over a 30-year career at the College. For the past four years she has been located at Back Hill, Clerkenwell, where we met. Her course is humanities-based – BA (Honours) Criticism, Communication and Curation.

Charing Cross Road

Willie Walters is CSM’s BA Fashion Course Director whose territory is at Charing Cross Road. She became a part-time tutor at the college in 1990 and remained on site until the present day. Her first experience of the building was as a student, from ’68 to ’71. To Caroline, the history of the buildings is paramount. She said: ‘The more I know of the history of them the more they become attached to their historical background as well as representing what it is like working in them.’ She cited Southampton Row’s original arts and crafts tiles and fireplaces, the fantastic staircase with its ironwork and the Lethaby Gallery with a ceiling that depicts in stone carvings the four patron saints of the British Isles. ‘But at Charing Cross Road I know that Gilbert and George hung out on the stairs. And I like the idea that it’s purpose built. If you go right up to the top floor at the back where the painting studios are, you can catch the north light.’ As Caroline explained, her present billet has had a varied background of leaseholders, but always within a band of interests. Back Hill,

Southampton Row

a modernist structure, was built in 1928, and was known as Reveille House. It published the men’s magazine of that name. Later, it became the Daily Mirror Group HQ . ‘The newspaper put in state-of-the-art, pre-war printing presses, which accounts for the great depth of the building.’ Next, the London College of Printing (now the London College of Communication) moved in and a library and a dance floor were installed. Following on were the Holborn Studios, first of London’s photographic complexes. Caroline referred me to a chronicler of the studio who writes: ‘world class celebrity visitors were a daily occurrence’. The record shows that in the eighties, the studio was host to almost every outstanding name in cinema, theatre, fashion, pop music, advertising and photography. ‘All these different things have given the building its layering,’ Caroline said. She appreciates above all the liberal art school atmosphere of the interior, the studios with Blu-Tack on the walls, folding doors allowing for equipment to be moved about and the omnipresence of the students. The area

interests her too – Hatton Garden with its jewellery trade, and the bars and restaurants. Caroline has a private office complete with old GLC desk and extensive bookcase. Her plan is to take both to the shared office that awaits at King’s Cross. Appropriately enough, she takes a bullish attitude towards the future. Her specialism, 19th century cultural history, covers a period in our history that looked on new building developments as progress. But that’s not to say she is insensitive to what she is losing. Willie Walters holds affectionate, one could say romantic, memories of Charing Cross Road. We met at her orderly office. ‘I really love the building, the wood and glass in the design. I like the way the floors are staggered because between some of the floors you have tiny little stairs that go from one to the other.’ She says what she will miss more than anything is not her office but the special atmosphere of the place. Of her student days she relates: ‘It was a very exciting time. I was taught by Muriel Pemberton among other well-known designers. We had many

of the different departments here, graphics, fashion, fine art, sculpture. There were lots of parties, dances, and as well there was a student revolution going on.’ Willie remembers that all the students sat a formal exam for cultural studies and well recollects the challenging opening phrase ‘turn your papers over now’. Willie remembers copying a lot of ’20s and ’30s vintage fashion illustrations in magazines such as Vogue as there was no easy access to photocopying. ‘We were very low-tech,’ she said. They had lectures on dress design and ‘fabulous seminars on such subjects as humour and film.’ Her years coincided with the controversial ‘A’ course at the College, which focused on conceptual art, regarded as a new school. Willie met her husband Ted Walters, who was on the course. She said: ‘All the girls from fashion wanted to go out with the gorgeous boys in sculpture.’ She recollected that during their courtship, every day she would dress herself up in a new outfit she had made herself. They married during her final year.

‘On the whole we were more relaxed in those days. We worked hard on a project but we had lots of fun as well.’ An update on the story is that the two Course Directors have taken another look at their stamping grounds. Caroline set her students a project on Back Hill, an upshot of which was that she found it ‘a much more interesting building than I had realised.’ Over at Charing Cross Road, Willie has been looking at archival material that has only recently come to light including the discovery that interiors at the building had once been furnished as sitting rooms with fine rugs on the floor and a picture collection. My own memory of teaching the BA (Honours) Fashion, Communication with Promotion students on the 5th floor at Charing Cross Road (1989–2007) is fond but a far cry from carpeted days. The single radiator in an otherwise unheated room was a brute – very bad news in cold weather. However, a kind hand would appear in response to my appeal for a portable heater. Irrespective of the need, long may that spirit reign at King’s Cross.

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

PRIVATE COLLECTION MA Communication Design graduate Martin Schoberer’s photographic record of our buildings and spaces is also a meditation on the passage of time While studying at Central Saint Martins from 2007 to 2009 I developed an interest in creating a photographic documentary of the college. It was also around this time that one of my main creative objectives became clear – the visualisation or translation of the passage of time, now an important aspect of my work as a photographer. Although my initial intention was to cover and archive all CSM’ s buildings, the project ended up focusing on two sites, the Lethaby and Red Lion Square buildings. These images represent my personal take on some of the college’s unique details – details that also trace my journey and time as a student at Central Saint Martins. www.martinschoberer.com

All photographs by Martin Schoberer

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

Student project update IN EXCHANGE A recent exhibition by our first-year 3D and second-year BA Fine Art students showcased current work and used college archive materials to animate an open platform debate about what it means to be at art school today. As we say goodbye to one world and hello to another, ‘In Exchange’ at the Lethaby Gallery ‘pulled history forward’, inviting students, tutors, alumni, former tutors, friends of CSM and members of the public to add personal testimonies to ongoing conversations sparked by student work, archive documents and images. Conceived as a collaborative or ‘reciprocal’ project without authorship or ownership, the exhibition went beyond the mapping of history to consider how the learning and teaching experience at CSM has changed and is changing. Evolutionary landmarks and turning points in the story of the School of Art acted as

prompts for a debate about priorities and possibilities in areas like course structure, assessment, student-centred learning and the tutor-student relationship. With discussion taking place on site from day to day, the gallery became a research lab of ideas.

Oliver Guy Watkins

Limited edition Agnès b, designer and collector of contemporary art, is supporting MA Fine Art this year. Not only will the French fashion label donate money towards our MA Fine Art auction and degree show, it’s also offering students a great exhibition opportunity. MA Fine Art students are invited to submit a drawing or print image on A5 paper. All submissions will be shown at the Agnès b outlet in London’s Floral Street in June to promote our MA Fine Art auction, which takes place on 8 July 2011.

Miriam Kaab

It’s up to students to develop innovative ways to curate their Floral Street exhibition in the month before the auctioneer’s hammer rises at Charing Cross Road.

At the heart of the exhibition’s narrative was the idea of ‘building community’ in a context of limited social space. With many eyes on our King’s Cross campus, the project explored the potential for reclaiming or renewing the social capital and creative cross-over that helped define the college in its most distinctive era to date, the 1960s–80s. ‘In Exchange’ is about raising awareness of political and social histories that underpin art education. It didn’t set out to provide answers to a list of questions. Rather, it was a conversation – a conversation that continued at a new location in Theobalds Road, after the exhibition closed.

In addition, Agnès b will select one image to create a limited edition of 500 T-shirts with the winning image on the front and text advertising our impending move from Charing Cross Road to King’s Cross on the back.

Polly Yates

Wai Wong James

These T-shirts are sure to become collectors’ items in their own right. Agnès b has invited well-known international artists to create an image for her T-shirts in the past, and CSM ’s MA Fine Art T-shirt will generate brilliant publicity for the student chosen.

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

Over the past 12 months staff, students and alumni have contributed to a ‘warts and all’ record of a year in the life of CSM . To date we’ve amassed films, photographs, words, drawings and personal testimonies, and we’ll carry on collecting until we leave our buildings this summer.

All work submitted in support of our recording drive will go to the College archive for safekeeping. If you think you’ve missed the boat, you haven’t. Contact Judy Lindsay, Head of Museum and Study Collection (j.lindsay@csm.arts.ac.uk), if you’d like to make a contribution.

Adding impetus to this recording bonanza has been our ‘Mapping the Move’ drawing project, launched in 2009, masterminded by Andrew Hall, Senior Lecturer. Staff, students and alumni have made a physical and digital record of our Charing Cross Road and Southampton Row sites. For many former students the project offered a wonderful opportunity to revisit old haunts. © Caspar Hodgson

‘Mapping the Move’ tells the very personal story of our relationship with these historic buildings. Some of the drawings can be viewed on the CSM Snapshot blog and as part of our ‘Hello, Goodbye’ exhibition (see p26).

MAPPING THE MOVE

Visit the CSM Snapshot blog at http://blogs.csm.arts.ac.uk/ snapshot/ ‘Hello, Goodbye’ is at the Lethaby Gallery from 4 April to 27 May.

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPES Two CSM graduates have used our metalworking workshops in Southampton Row as inspiration for their latest ‘Industrial Landscapes’ fashion collection. Kristjana Williams and Kate Bônhote, co-founders of London-based fashion brand and concept store Beyond the Valley, created a series of textile prints. The striking results, which will be seen in the ‘Hello, Goodbye’ exhibition (see p26) at the Lethaby Gallery this spring, include a 3D print that also exists as a short film, allowing the would-be wearer to experience the garment in multiple contexts. There’s also a collage, inspired by ‘the vulnerability of the cold light of day’, of darkly mechanical shapes arranged as armour, and an ‘embroidery pattern’ that constitutes ‘something beautiful and flowing in the form of a draping collar’. Beyond the Valley hosts rotating collections and exhibitions, and is a showcase for innovation in fashion, jewellery, design, literature and lifestyle.

Kristjana Williams and Kate Bônhote

Beyond The Valley store, W1F 7RD

Kristjana Williams is a graduate of BA (Honours) Graphic Design. Kate Bônhote is a graduate of BA (Honours) Fashion Design with Marketing. Textile print inspired by CSM’s metal workshops

www.beyondthevalley.com

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

LEAVING GIFTS

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

To commemorate leaving our sites and for those who wish to buy a memento, we’ve commissioned a range of limited edition gifts paying tribute to our buildings. The range of gifts can be purchased online at http://estore. arts.ac.uk/david-rhys-jones, via email: gifts@csm. arts.ac.uk. Profits will go towards student support projects. Commissioned artist David Rhys Jones trained at Central Saint Martins (MA Design) and has exhibited widely, including at the V&A Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Courtauld Institute. He was joint winner of the Jerwood Prize in 2010, and his work is held in many private and public collections, including the Tate’s. His artworks are a form of social documentary that record the mix of cultures and architecture found in the modern day metropolis. David’s work is based on journeys or site-specific locations, and recorded in photographs and drawings; these are used to make sculptural, narrative work that reflects the experience of the journey. David has applied his concept and techniques to a range of materials and these books and plaques are two examples of his practice.

This set of books is part of a limited edition of 50 sets commissioned by Central Saint Martins in order to record the two main College buildings prior to re-location to a new site in King’s Cross in 2011. The ‘pocket’ of each book contains a folded book structure of photographs of the College and a timeline. One copy is held in the collection of the Tate and another one in our archive at CSM . For more info visit www.davidrhysjones.com

Postcards (50p) are available from the information office at Southampton Row

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

Where are we with the build? End of February marked completion of the first phase of base build – that’s the pouring of the concrete and the installation of services like heating and ventilation. With our fit-out contractors now on site, the focus switches to fixtures and fittings and the whole interior design phase of the project. The bottom line is we have 22 weeks to fit the building out before we move in. So we’re in the home straight now.

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

KING’S CROSS NEWS UPDATE

As base build gives way to fit-out, CSM Time caught up with King’s Cross Project Co-ordinator Matthew Barrett and MovePlan’s Jane Arthurs to get the latest on our move

What about furniture and equipment? In 2009 we went round the college asking people about furniture needs. Now we’ve gone back to them to check and confirm what they need. By getting down to the nittygritty we can calculate what it’s going to cost to buy what we need relative to our budget. Which items of new equipment can’t we live without? Do they all have to be brand new, or is there a more sustainable option? Ephemera or little pieces of history that somehow sum the College up – can we take them with us? Our procurement phase spans spring and summer, with new furniture delivered in August for installation, and equipment and machinery moved during July and August. What do staff need to know right now? The King’s Cross Steering Group has identified key people we’re calling our Move Co-ordinators. Move Co-ordinators are in

charge of co-ordinating and communicating with staff to ensure that clearing an area from an existing site and moving it in at the other end happens as smoothly as possible. Naturally, we don’t expect these key individuals to pack up crates on behalf of everyone else. Their role is to act as an important communication channel. It’s a two-way channel. Move Co-ordinators can collate queries from colleagues and raise them with us. They’ve been chosen because they have knowledge of the area and people they represent.

progress our move because of the holiday. But it’s also when Artscom presents its short course programme, which makes a vital contribution to college funds. So it’s about weighing all the factors to strike the best balance for the College. The parking and delivery requirement alone is a serious logistical challenge, with lorries leaving or arriving at sites throughout the summer. Then there’s co-ordination of scaffolding, cranes, crates, specialist removals, while keeping the buildings safe and open. And so on.

What do students need to know? We’ve decided to keep students up to date via the people they have most contact with and access to – their pathway tutors or Course Directors – as well as through the Students’ Union itself. Students have asked for simple, clear and concise information, so during the summer term we’ll be sending flyers to pathway tutors and Course Directors to pass on and discuss with their students. In June’s CSM Time we’ll be updating staff and students on opening hours, catering news, new smart cards and much more.

What’s our disposals policy? As a rule of thumb, if it isn’t fixed to the floors or walls we have to clear it. And if we’re not taking it with us, we’ll have to dispose of it – with all the responsibilities that entails. Definitive policy on this is being drafted right now. There are lots of issues, including health and safety issues, associated with selling items, passing them on to other colleges or inviting staff or the public to buy them. So we do need a disposals policy. It can’t be a free-for-all.

What’s the biggest logistical challenge? There’s no single biggest challenge. It’s more about pulling lots of elements together successfully on a number of fronts. To give you an example – summer is a good time to

What about archiving? MovePlan has calculated how much of our documentation is going to King’s Cross and how much will be stored off-site. Items of obvious interest will be housed in our new Museum & Gallery area or in our archive if

they’re of historical value. Student records will be stored off-site. Staff members have been invited to identify ephemera that will be allocated either to the Museum or the archive. What else is new? We’re close to agreeing on an Airstream caravan serving light refreshments in the Street – a bold design statement backed by the steering group and students. Signage and wayfinding is also a current priority and Phil Baines is working on this with a task force that includes Tricia Austin and Lee Widdows. We’ll have more on signage in the next issue of CSM Time. We’ve appointed a consultant to help us with furniture identification and procurement. For our reception areas we know we want soft seating. But what sort, in which colours and style? In some areas we think we might want high-backed sofas to create quiet areas, but which sofas? It’s an aesthetic process that builds on functionality work already done. One other key development – John Brennan has joined CSM as Director of Technical and Teaching Resources. This is a leap forward in planning how technical and teaching resources at King’s Cross will work and the team is planning for that now. Workshops, for instance – how exactly will they happen once they’re shared? When I get to King’s Cross, how will I book to borrow equipment

from the central loan store? Many of those ‘how will I?’ or ‘how will they?’ questions fall within John’s remit, and he has a wealth of up-to-date experience in answering them. Meanwhile the site is being transformed day to day in all kinds of ways, as the images in CSM Time show. Where can I find out more? For more information contact your Move Co-ordinator (staff ) or your pathway tutor (students), or consult the King’s Cross blog, or email our KX team.

Visit the King’s Cross blog at http://blogs.csm.arts.ac.uk/ kingscross/ You can email the KX project team at kingscross@csm.arts.ac.uk

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

hello to all this John Sturrock, official photographer at King’s Cross, has been documenting our site as it develops. Here’s John’s snapshot of life on planet KX. To view more of his images visit: www.kingscrosscentral.com/ gallery

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

Our KX community

INSIGHTS UPDATE CSM continues to work with Camden Arts

Centre on ‘Insights’, a series of workshops for young people designed to raise awareness of the arts, to explore career options, and to build a portfolio. Structured as three terms mixing discussion with practical skills, the project works with around 40 young people aged 14-19 over the course of each year.

EVOLVING ENGLISH Last year CSM set up a ‘dialogue group’ with the British Library to help our graphics and textiles students gain the skills and confidence to present their ideas more effectively. Designed by tutors Emily Wood and Laura Baker with Widening Participation team at CSM , the group’s programme is about sharing experience, honing presentation skills, and ‘jargon busting’. Because this year we’re also collaborating with the British Library’s ‘Evolving English’ project, student members of our dialogue group have become ‘readers’ at the Library. Our future involvement includes working with Jonah Albert, regional and community programmes manager at the British Library, on BL community projects.

NATURAL FORM

Says Emily Wood: ‘The ‘Evolving English’ exhibition was interesting because, quite apart from its fascinating content, we were able to explore how it communicated its themes and how difficult it is to display dialects, accents and the evolution of language.

BA Fine Art tutor Sharon Beavan is

collaborating with South Camden Community School on a 7-week project exploring drawing technique. Working with teacher Alan Cusack and Year 10 students, Sharon has just completed a session on ‘Natural Form’, creating a 3D collaborative piece on a large scale. Point of reference for ‘Natural Form’ was the RA ’s ‘Modern British Sculpture’ show, with

work by Richard Long, Hamish Fulton and others. Sharon took along some stones she’d collected ‘à la Barbara Hepworth’, and asked the students to interpret them in pencil. By grounding the project in observation, Sharon enabled participants to create work with strong tonal features and distinct qualities of pattern and mark. Finished drawings were cut out and grouped on the studio in a pattern of organic and manmade shapes. Alan and Sharon were both very pleased with the results and, more importantly, so were the students.

Natural forms

‘One highlight was the huge projection of text onto the walls, which animated the famous quotes echoing around the gallery. We were also drawn to the early examples of printed books, including a copy of the King James Bible, the first bible printed in English in 1611. Phrases it contains are still in use today: salt of the earth, the writing on the wall, go from strength to strength, eat, drink and be merry, fight the good fight.’

For recent ‘Insights’ workshops, groups of participants have visited CSM to explore printmaking, ceramics and photography, among other areas, with tutors and student ambassadors. In April around 20 young participants will take part in jewellery and design for performance workshops at Back Hill. Visitors will also have a chance to hear CSM students talk about their experiences. In May, an exhibition curated and designed by ‘Insights’ participants will feature current work plus video produced over the course of the year.

DESIGN MATTERS CSM ’s Design Matters has been invited to

NEW HORIZON

work with two of South Camden Community School’s partner primary schools on the My Space, My Place project. The project ties in with the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ scheme, a three-year programme that will see significant change to the school’s built environment.

Working in partnership with Central Saint Martins’ Widening Participation Programme, young people from New Horizon Youth Centre presented a Career Wear Fashion Show during their Opportunities Fair on 25 February. The Opportunities Fair engaged over 60 young people from the centre and community and created an opportunity for young people to learn about and sign up to various training and education providers including Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Foundation, The Prince’s Trust and Kings Cross Construction Skills Centre. Young people benefited from attending ‘Guru’ sessions presented by Olympus and Buzzacott, learning about careers paths within these businesses. Also, 17 young people worked one-on-one with employees from Buzzacott, improving their chances of finding employment by updating and improving their CV s. The Career Wear Fashion Show was introduced by NHYC chair Jon Snow, showcasing young people wearing various workwear outfits. A big thank-you to everyone involved in Central Saint Martins Widening Participation Programme who supported young people in co-ordinating the event at the centre and provided an amazing stylist who consulted with young people on their look and took them shopping for outfits. Also, the make-up artists and photographer as well as staff and young people from NHYC receiving training from Berni Yates on how to walk down a runway!

With construction already underway, CSM ’s project is working with Year 7 & 8 pupils – the first to start at SCCS within the new school environment. The sessions aim to introduce design for the built environment to pupils in the context of ‘welcoming’ and ‘safe’ spaces, and to support primary to secondary school transition. Workshops take place in March 2011, with an exhibition of designs by the two primary schools following in April for pupils, parents and staff. The project also ties in visits by contractor BAM to show how the school will look once construction is completed in 2013. My Space, My Place is a first collaboration between Design Matters and South Camden Community School. It marks the start of an ongoing relationship at student and teacher levels that includes an INSET day in 2011, creating discussion space for secondary and HE tutors in the areas of architecture and design.

Jon Snow at New Horizon

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK What impact will our new campus have on the urban neighbourhood we’ll soon be adopting? © John Sturrock

The spectacular new CSM campus is at the heart of a 64-acre King’s Cross site being developed by Argent. What will CSM ’s arrival mean for the cultural, commercial and community life of this multi-faceted area?

to become one of those iconic sites recognised worldwide by anyone wanting to pursue creative studies.’

The area already has a vigorous creative culture with the British impressionist Walter Sickert and writers like Charles Dickens once ‘The advent of 4,500 of the world’s brightest art and design students and staff is just about based here and Camden market still leading on vintage clothing. ‘CSM is an amazing the best thing that could happen to any regeneration scheme in London or any capital cultural addition to the district,’ says Sarah. city,’ says Argent chief executive, Roger ‘It’s fantastic when a respected institution, Madelin. ‘Having CSM here attracts business. renowned internationally, chooses to relocate to your area. I think it’s very exciting.’ Great art, design and performance are a real draw because they can help people to be more creative in their business lives.’ Says CSM Head of College Jane Rapley: ‘King’s Cross opens up lots of opportunities The new development, King’s Cross Central, for staff and students to engage with our boasts one million square feet of shops and new neighbours. We already have excellent restaurants and 2,000 apartments. CSM ’s new links through our widening participation team with local schools and through our staff site, designed by award-winning architects with local institutions such as the Wellcome Stanton Williams, will include the Grade II listed Granary Building, giving onto London’s Foundation and the British Library.’ largest new public square and the restored Our students, of course, will find their own Regent’s Canal. diverse ways of using and working in the The new studio buildings behind the Granary local area. And we hope that outdoor spaces will have a performance centre with a public like Camley Street Natural Park and the theatre, four levels of workshops and lecture Regent’s Canal excite them as much as more urban environments like King’s Cross and St theatres, an internal thoroughfare – the Street – lit by a translucent roof, a gallery and Pancras stations and our own buildings and their surroundings. a terrace overlooking London. To the west of the CSM campus, small retail units will house ‘We’ll celebrate some of these fresh graduate start-ups. possibilities in a series of public festivals during the 2012/13 academic year. Councillor Sarah Hayward, Cabinet Member Right now we’re looking forward to being for Communities, Regeneration and part of a really new community that will Equalities at Camden Council, is excited grow up around us over the coming years.’ by the prospect of CSM and UAL coming to King’s Cross. ‘The campus has the potential

Taken from the latest issue of Halo Magazine, the Central Saint Martins magazine for business

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

the Rough Guide to KX So, we’re on our way … but many of us still have no idea where to eat, drink or dance outside our own compound at King’s Cross! You’ll be pleased to learn that new venues are popping up all over KX. So to give you a helping hand we’ve expanded and updated our initial Rough Guide to KX. We’ll continue to check out more venues for you in the next issue, but in the meantime – cut out and keep! The Brill 6–8 Caledonian Road

Café Valencia 138 York Way & 74 Marchmont Street With its lime walls, chandeliers and minimal grime, this inspirational venue is so much more than a caff. Beans on toast was pretty standard but the salt beef sandwich was delicious, having just the right salt-to-beef ratio.

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

Hurricane Rooms Snooker Hall 368 Grays Inn Road Lincoln Lounge 52 York Way

Want to fool your friends into thinking you’re tough without putting yourself in any actual danger? Descend the steps of this 24/7/365 members-only snooker hall and be pleasantly surprised (or disappointed depending on what you’re after) at the gleaming facilities on offer. With 23 snooker/ pool tables, you won’t wait long for a game. The bar isn’t much to speak of, but it’s open 24 hours. Membership £15. Kings Place 90 York Way

Situated in an old Victorian bathhouse, this ridiculously delightful design shop and café bar sells products from emerging designers alongside vintage homeware. They offer lunch, afternoon tea, ‘cocktail o’clock’ and a variety of events (or ‘Do’s’ as they call them) such as ‘Knit Night’, ‘Play With Clay 80s Style’ and ‘Dot-to-Dot to Disco’. Love it.

Housmans Bookshop 5 Caledonian Road There is indeed such a thing as Great British Sadly, bookshops like cuisine – quality local ingredients served up Housmans are a dying without fuss, to very satisfying effect. The breed. Founded in 1945 building used to be an old corner shop, giving by Laurence Housman the restaurant a ‘poky but fun’ feel. Not the (Edwardian renegade, cheapest, but affordable enough for those illustrator and who fancy a splash. Lunch averages at £7.50. children’s novelist) this brilliant shop has a Café Express huge range of books, 130–132 York Way pamphlets and Someone should warn the staff here about periodicals. They hold the avalanche of pre-lecture/pre-work sausage regular talks and book launches and, as and egg sandwich orders that will soon they’re not-for-profit, they’re always looking descend on them. Perfectly situated for a for volunteers! quick and cheap snack, this good ol’ workers’ café (the ‘é’ is silent) will keep you running.

Named after the illustrious US president’s post-theatre slouch, presumably. We predict this intimate hang-out will become the CSM ‘local’. A perfect place for coffee, wine or pints. With a bookshelf overflowing with potboilers, a massive world map and the obligatory mix of ‘found’ furniture, this venue has a charismatic atmosphere that doesn’t try too hard. Oh, and free wifi. Millers 19 Caledonian Road

Drink, Shop & Do 9 Caledonian Road

looking for volunteers!

Home to the Guardian/Observer, the London Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, this arts complex is one of Europe’s leading cultural landmarks and provides a dizzying array of events. The two large auditorium spaces host classical, world and jazz music, plus comedy and the spoken word, while the galleries are dedicated to art of the highest quality. In the modern eatery, Rotunda, you can relax beside the canal in the luxurious Battlebridge Basin. If you feel you’ve earned it, they offer a champagne dinner at £65 a head.

They’ve done this place up recently, but fortunately for us it hasn’t lost its authentic, rough-around-the-edges, old boozer charm. They do have a couple of plasma screen TVs mounted on the walls, but you can’t win them all. Reasonably priced, great mix of locals, lost tourists and soon to be rammed with students. With friendly bar staff and a late licence – classic. Renoir Cinema The Brunswick, London

The Lexington 96-98 Pentonville Road

American retro lounge and whisky bar with an eccentric burlesque vibe. They have a live gig venue upstairs and hold various events throughout the week (a favourite being the rock and roll bingo night). The main student night is ‘White Light’ every Friday ’til 4am: punk, post-punk and electro, free entry.

The über-stylish Renoir has earned its credentials as a true ‘art house’ cinema. Part of the Curzon Group (run by film company Artificial Eye), they play a handpicked selection of international and experimental film, and you’re allowed to take your drink into the screening too.

Tattoo Parlour 185 King’s Cross Road The Rocket 120 Euston Road

Yes, it’s an ‘It’s A Scream’ pub. Yes, they do that dumb thing where they put your food order number on an empty wine bottle. Yes, they have a jukebox that’s unfathomably complicated. And, yes, they have decor that makes the place look like a Blue Peter set. However, they’re cheap and they also have the cleanest urinals we’ve ever seen in our entire lives. Star of Kings 126 York Way This newly-opened multi-faceted pub is sister to the great Star of Bethnal Green. Its downstairs club has a variety of events; from Mulletover-esque warehouse parties, comedy nights and live electronica/jazz gigs. Their biggest night is ‘Slippery’ every Thursday, hosted by some of the best techno/house DJ s from the UK and beyond. They also do a great lunch for only £5. St. Chads 6 St Chads place A converted Victorian mechanics workshop, this stylish bar is an oasis of cool in the hectic streets of King’s Cross – the perfect postwork hangout (especially on a warm summer’s evening). It’s not the cheapest place around, but for quality drinks, food, a good chance of a table and a sophisticated atmosphere, it’s worth paying that wee bit extra.

The perfect place for realising your own tattoo designs. Their professional but friendly resident artists cover all conceivable styles and begin at the reasonable price of £80. Vx Vegan Boutique 73 Caledonian Road Run by the Secret Society of Vegans, the Vx (pronounce “vee cross”) sells vegan cupcakes, éclairs, mozzarella pesto baguettes, wraps, energy bars, T-shirts, aprons, hoodies, bags, hats, calendars and … you get the idea. The Water Rats 328 Grays Inn Road This iconic pub/venue has been host to early gigs by many musical luminaries, such as Bob Dylan, the Sex Pistols and Oasis, and continues to showcase new bands every week – their secret weapon is a huge, crisp sound system. The pub at the front is decent enough and has a variety of good ale on tap. Wellcome Collection Café 183 Euston Road

One of the wonders of modern London, Sir Henry Wellcome’s collection has been dropping the jaws of adults and kids alike since 2007. Enjoy a delicious cake at their café (run by the fabulous Peyton and Byrne), a perfect location to meet friends, work on your laptop and impress your mum. But don’t let the shrunken heads put you off your short-crust pastry.

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

What’s on

csm time to say hello, goodbye — issue 9 / Spring 2011

‘Hello, Goodbye’ bids a fond farewell to our Back Hill, Southampton Row and Charing Cross Road sites, showcasing new artworks by staff, students and alumni including artists’ books, drawings, short films and sculpture. The exhibition also offers a glimpse of life at King’s Cross, introducing some of our new neighbours and charting construction progress at our new home. For the past year CSM staff, students and alumni have been busy creating new work in response to places they know well and spaces they have yet to inhabit. The exhibition includes a selection of drawings from our ‘Mapping the Move’ project (see p10), which explores the nooks and crannies of our current sites and discloses the personal meaning these spaces have for our artists.

A spring exhibition at the Lethaby Gallery, ‘Hello Goodbye’, bids farewell to our past while looking ahead to our future

Fifty Marc Atkins photographs document the environments at Back Hill, Charing Cross Road and Southampton Row, creating an intimate record of a world where paint spatters tables. A specially commissioned artist’s book by David Rhys Jones captures students at work, while Valerie Jolly’s ethereal tissue paper ‘casts’ of piping, plug sockets and light switches ‘plunder’ the architectural details from our sites. Bridging old and new is MACD graduate Martin Schoberer’s photographic survey Towards King’s Cross, which looks to our new site from the rooftops of our old buildings, plus other investigations by artists exploring ways to transport our identity and mythology.

Tommy Hilfiger in conversation with Lisa Birnbach

Also included are contributions from new neighbours, including the British Library and House of Illustration. And there’s a sneak preview of how Granary Square, ‘live’ site for the 2012 Olympics, might look with big screens, pavilions and more.

6 May 2011 Fashion Tutorial Studio, CXR , 11am

The Professorial Platform 2011: Professor Anne Tallentire 16 May 2011 Cochrane Theatre, 6.30pm

Jeff Wall in conversation with David Campany

18 May 2011 Rootstein Hopkins space, w1, 6.30pm

‘Hello, Goodbye’ is at the Lethaby Gallery from 4 April to 27 May.

, Hello

csm time to say