2009 – Issue Twenty One – London
Tea is everyone’s cup of Coffee Poster print 2009 Lorna ‘Black no sugar’ Robertson in collaboration with Jacqueline ‘Soya milk, no sugar’ Colley
lorna@lornarobertson.co.uk www.kith-kin.co.uk
The Introduction “ The marvellous maturity of London! I would rather be dead in this town than preening my feathers in heaven.” Nicholas Monsarrat.
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n the end, Mr Monsarrat asked to be buried at sea, which just goes to prove that a person’s feelings about this city can change at whim. A suffocating tube journey, a glorious picnic in Regents Park, a lack of cabs when it’s raining or the sound of Big Ben chiming as you cross Westminster Bridge- what you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts. Our relationship with London seems prey to the fickle way in which the city shows its affections. That this metropolis is such a wayward companion is either what makes you stay, like a battered wife, or flee with exhaustion to quieter quarters. ‘Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner’ was written by Hubert Gregg in 1946 and originally sung by Bud Flanagan in ‘Together Again’. While the catchy ditty united post-war Eastenders in rousing sing-a-longs, it would mean little to the Grime lovin’ teens of Tottenham or the Balti boys of Banglatown. In a city of such girth and complexity, can anything really unite us? In this issue we’re exploring the hazy boundaries of what defines a Londoner. Is it the ability to step
over the homeless without a guilty conscience? An understanding that one should stand on the right on escalators? A demented love of noise, anonymity and sporadic sunlight?
and edited the hugely successful ‘capital-centric’ blog Londonist. com. A self-confessed geek, in ‘London 2010’ he ponders the latest developments in London’s digitalisation.
Despite being the editor of Hecklerspray, Stuart Heritage has managed to avoid the soot, high life and multi cultural joys of the capital. Until now. In light of this move, he shares his fears and hopes for a life in the metropolis in ‘The London Experiment’.
Princess Julia is a disco icon, fashion muse, DJ and doyenne of the capital’s club kids. Currently Music Editor at I-D and publisher of The P.i.X, she’s charted her life on the city’s fringes in ‘To the Edge and Back’. No stranger to the dramas of the London stage, we sent Phil Willmott to profile RSC Chief Associate Gregory Doran. It’s been a rollicking year for the Creatives in Residence, their ‘journey’ has been charted in these pages and there’s little doubt you’ll be hearing more from them in the future.
Nicholas Taylor’s father was a bona fide cockney, born within the sound of Bow Bells in 1923. Seventy four years later, Taylor came to London looking for the man who sired him and promptly fled. ‘The Guts of the Place’ is their colourful story. Anya Hindmarch, Matthew Slotover and Holly Johnson have all revealed their Secret London - the places they love, loathe and live for. In ‘Making Marks’ the RCA’s Áine Duffy has profiled Tracey Emin, whose work is amongst many featured in ‘10’- a collection currently showing on the 2nd floor. Rob Hinchcliffe founded
The Hospital Club’s 5th Birthday party proved a disco-tastic hoot and the photographic evidence can be found on page 28. Since the last issue, our website has evolved on many levels. To find out more and what to expect this year, please refer to the Club News & Events. Oh, and one more thing…have a rocking 2010.
Stephen Walter ‘The Island - London Series’
Area shown on the front and back cover
ON THE COVER
S
tephen Walter took over two years to ‘redraw’ the London map. It is full of historical, personal, comedic and often refreshing politically incorrect references. After which, he painstakingly deconstructed each of London’s 32 boroughs. Maps are normally used to help you get from one place to another. Stephen Walter’s map does this too: it helps you get from the London you see to the one he does. It’s fun to find the points at which his ideas and your own
intersect and bifurcate, like the trunk roads which take him from one observation to the next.
Stephen Walter
So Walter’s maps invite us to read a London we recognise but also to chart the topography of the artist’s mind. And it does something else that’s very subtle and exciting and a bit scary: it maps your personality, through your responses to the work. You get some of the jokes, but not others; you concur with some of the judgements, but not others; you spot the ironic posture of some fake prejudices, but not others.
These observations are playful in the way they juxtapose innocence and acidity, ranging around the contemporary mores of the city, taking a reading of its concerns, lancing its banalities and prejudices but also celebrating its vibrancy. The delightful experience of reading Walter’s handwritten comments especially in our digital age - both personalises and universalises the way London lives now.
They have appeared in many important collections including the
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Courtauld Institute and the V&A Museum and are in the permanent collections of The British Library, the Government Arts Collection and many other corporate and private collections. City of London, Archival ink jet and screen print on hand torn fine art paper, signed, editioned and dated in pencil and numbered on front and back by the artist. *Unframed 24 x 57 cm Edition of 50. Published by TAG Fine Arts *For sales enquiries contact alih@thehospitalclub.com Walter has also produced versions of the individual boroughs.
CONTENTS Features
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6
9
The London Experiment
22 Creatives in Residence
The Guts of the Place
25 Secret London- Matthew Slotover
Secret London- Anya Hindmarch
26 Club News & Events
Stuart Heritage is coming to town
Nicholas Taylor goes Daddy hunting
She misses the bus, you know
A year in the life…….
He believes in pedal power
What’s gone down and what’s occurring
10 Making Marks
28 Boogie Nights
11 London 2010
30 Members’ Profiles
Áine Duffy reflects on Emin’s legacy
Rob Hinchcliffe looks to the future
14 Illustration
18
To the Edge and Back
33 Members Film and Events Highlights
Princess Julia ponders the past
Secret London- Holly Johnson
The future, in words and pictures
36 Speed Dates
Frankie says…I don’t do pubs
19 From London to Stratford
Who’s who and wotnot
Calendars
Mathew Cruickshank...
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From New York to LA...
Where to be and when….
37 Concise Calendar
Phil Willmott profiles Gregory Doran
Dates for the diary in one handy glance
Fabia Palliser
Nick Taylor
Stuart Heritage
Editor
Stewart Who? Editorial team:
Phil Willmott
Oliver Morton
Fabia Palliser, Oliver Morton Princess Julia
Stewart Who?
Mathew Cruickshank
Rob Hinchcliffe
Lorna Robertson
CONTRIBUTORS
Sub Editors:
Suzanne Clode, Dan Thorne Art Direction, Design and Artwork:
topright.co.uk 01737 558 990
© The Hospital Group Ltd 2008. The copyright and contents of this publication are owned by The Hospital Group and no unauthorized copies of the whole or part may be made without express permission of The Hospital Group Ltd.
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Here’s an admission: I’m not a Londoner. And, if you’re honest with yourself, you’re probably not either. You’re really from Cambridge, aren’t you? Or Cornwall. Or Chichester. You just say that you’re a Londoner because you think it looks cool. I’m onto your game.
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ut I’m really not a Londoner. I’ve never been anything close to a Londoner. I live in Kent, where people occasionally smile at each other and there are trees and stuff. I know. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? When you don’t live in London, you get used to certain things. Two trains an hour. That half-baffled/ half-pitiful look you always get when you travel in for a meeting and have to tell people where you come from. Having a chubby red-faced shopkeeper for a mayor
seems like another universe. A universe that I’m quite happy to keep at arm’s length, thanks.
instead of the world’s poshest Jimmy Savile tribute scarecrow. And it’s OK that I’m not a Londoner. I don’t mind it. If I’m honest, London scares me a little bit. The way that your local news is invariably about gang wars instead of a slightly dirty hospital scares me. The two little black rings of snot that you honk into your tissue after you’ve been on public transport for more than half an hour scare me. Deptford scares me. It might only be 30 miles away, but sometimes London
Which is a pain in the arse, because I’m moving there in a few weeks. We’ll call it The London Experiment. For reasons not fully in my control, I’ll be spending the next two years of my life living in London. I’m not sure which part of London yet - although, if the property websites I’ve been looking at are any indication, it’ll be the
size of a mouse’s vagina, cost seven times more than I can comfortably afford and come decorated with the human faeces that the previous tenant smeared across the walls a few minutes before he ran out into the streets and started indiscriminately slashing away at people with the Samurai sword he’d just bought from eBay. I’ve already braced myself for a few shocks. For example, my local market is a car park with a fruit & veg stall, a man selling Sega Master System games out of a
The London Experiment 4
cardboard box and six old ladies. Your local market is Borough Market, where a billion arseholes - all wearing black-rimmed spectacles and all called Jeremy - elbow each other in the face to pay a million pounds for a loaf of bread just because it’s organic and comes from a country that possibly doesn’t exist. Your biggest tourist attraction is the London Eye, where people from all across the planet pay £17 each for an unparalleled ariel view of one of the world’s most famous cities. My biggest tourist attraction is the
at the tube station because my tatty little Travelcard got folded up in my pocket - I’ll be the turd who holds everyone up at the tube station because I don’t know how to work an Oyster card properly.
old man who sometimes stands outside Boots wailing tunelessly to the demo setting of his Casio keyboard while dressed up like the Pope. But at the same time there’s a giddy sense of adventure about my relocation to the big smoke. No longer will I have to turn down invitations to things because it’s a four-hour round trip - I’ll get to turn down invitations to things because they genuinely sound a bit rubbish. No longer will I be the turd who holds everyone up
I’ll get to legitimately sneer at tourists. I’ll get to pretend that having the Olympics in my home town is a gigantic inconvenience, even though I’m secretly really excited about it. I’ll get to swan around with an undue sense of superiority over
people who come from where I currently live. God damn it, I’ll be a LONDONER. It’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be scary. But for the next two years, I vow to open myself up to everything that London has to offer. It’ll probably be a bit like the Jim Carrey film Yes Man, really, except instead of getting off with Zooey Deschanel I’ll probably end up curled into a ball screaming for help in an alleyway while a teenager stabs me to death for my iPod or something. I can’t wait.
By Stuart Heritage Stuart is a regular contributor to the site. To read more of his work, join the ‘Magazine’ group at thehospitalclub.com
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THE GUTS OF THE PLACE By Nicholas Taylor
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E S F E E
I’d left college without a professional answer to the question ‘what next’? London was calling, not just for the obvious attraction of shops that never shut and clubs that didn’t open until 4 on a Sunday morning. The city beckoned me because it had been home to my father. The man who helped create me had disappeared when I was 6, in a divorce of such anger and bitterness it could have given the EastEnders Christmas special a choice of plotlines. At 22 the opportunity to know my father finally came.
V
ictor Taylor had been born in 1923 within the sound of Bow Bells in Poplar. A proper Cockney, he ducked and weaved his way out of the slums and terraces; fighting Mosley’s Black Shirts in the Battle of Cable Street; flying as part of the RAF during the Second World War; settling into post war prosperity by designing furniture for Heals. Embracing capitalism, he sold off the family business and moved to Wales where he married, set up home and had a child. Following my parents’ divorce, dad returned to his home, back to the wily edgy wilderness of Mile End. So that was where I headed. Ever the evanescent, my father vanished before I arrived. The minor matter of a heart attack in his Jacuzzi bath saw him winched to the London Hospital at Whitechapel where he was brought back from the dead. Now he was convalescing in Essex, tended by his third wife, who was unimpressed by a reminder from his previous marriage returning to locate him. No sooner had I arrived to rent his house in East London than he died again, this time with no medical miracle. Fatherless for a second time, I was also homeless. I remember something dad had said; had he been brave enough he would have
lived on Brick Lane. I walked with a housemate to the Lane and called up to a couple of decorators who were finishing off a flat above a curry house. It would be available in a couple of weeks. We had at least found a perch.
velveteen banquette from a curry house undergoing refurbishment. The market at the upper end of the Lane was a weekly source of the accidental and essential; arcane objects from someone’s dead attic displayed on a blanket; black market packets of tobacco; electronics and wholesale packets of Jaffa cakes off the back of a lorry.
We moved into Brick Lane in 1997, somewhere between the YBA ‘Sensation’ exhibition and Princess Diana dying. We were an odd rattle bag of talent at 134a. I lived with a film curator and a journalist, a painter and an actress. Our flat was a former sewing factory above the incredibly named ‘Le Taj’ curry house. It was a threestorey epic, with huge bedrooms and an enormous loft space at the top. Attempting to navigate the move from the domestic to the demonstrative, we would pack rucksacks to withdraw to the living space: less a retreat than an expedition. And beyond that, an extendable step ladder allowed access to the roof, from which we could see the spire of Hawksmoor’s church dwarfed by the blazing, smoking army of city giants that fortressed the horizon.
If it was a commune, it was haphazardly imagined. We were too relaxed to draw up a manifesto and too plural to have organised any sort of court. We had no knowledge of how we appeared to the outside world, but I caught a glimpse of how inseparable the dance between fact and fiction is. We were becoming mythic, the banality of our trips to Spitalfields Market for fruit and veg eclipsed by the legend of gatherings and parties; of artists taking up residence, of aspiring, published and awardwinning writers stomping up the stairs with their pillar box red banisters. This was how we lived, a feast of dinners with the heralds of New Labour, all-night squat parties and gum chewing chill outs; sex and drugs and then some - set to a Bhangra beat. We were embryonic as a bowl of sweet paste that had yet to be baked. The crowd of visitors had not yet become public property.
Living on Brick Lane was like living on the Rialto in the 13th century. It was an unfurnished, unfinished house, but things were always being washed up outside. We picked up plastic bucket chairs, tables, shelves, even a lame
Cont...
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Cont... One night I sat in the loft room and watched the moon arc across the temples of the city. I felt the Lane was like some important character from a novel who had been ignored for too many pages and was now being reintroduced. The gyroscope of London was shifting from Chelsea back to its walled City roots. For hundreds of years the East had been the unspeakable dirt that made the gleaming white sugar bowls and the immaculate stucco frontages out west. But Thatcher’s monetary revolution had changed that. The spotlight of attention was returning to the East and the artists who had made their home around the Lane of eternal refugees foresaw the impact first and scuttled away, like the dwarf cockroaches that regularly fled from us when we switched the kitchen neon on.
arches that once spilled junk were closed to make way for the extended East London tube line. The more respectable examples of finery were dry-cleaned and arranged artistically in boutiques. What the artists had fostered was now left to the banks and advertising agencies to clean up. The Lane offered up the truth of London for any of us who live there, stay there, who dare to find a roost and call it home. This city is bigger than all of us, an orchestra of voices and themes that plays out side by side. Here was the coffee house that hosted poetry nights next to the mosaic from the local school and the Tai Chi studio, behind the city farm, by the bridge graffitied by Banksy where a lorry dumped its mountain of old books. But Brick Lane also revealed the particular nature of its character: a quality my father had noticed and one that rumbled on despite its neat, re-cobbled surface. This place had guts!
The City was marching onwards. Gradually the warehouses were tidied up and made respectable to those City workers who wanted an easy commute and held their copy of Wallpaper next to their FT for insider tips. Spitalfields Market was the stumbling block to City expansion, but for all the protest it had no card that could trump money. The Truman Brewery ceased functioning as a home for the brazenly creative and evolved into digital office space, with directional hairdressers and asymmetric fashion shows. The Market Café closed, with turquoise eye-shadowed Phyllis no longer serving up soupy tea and fat sausages for breakfast from one in the morning. Derelict railway
The Lane that housed Huguenots, Jews and Bangladeshis showed the courage of those who fled persecution to make a home in a city that neither punished nor helped them. The guts of the Lane was tangible in the curry house entrepreneur who started off selling matchboxes on the corner; evident in the family that ran the Bagel bakery at the north end, which fragmented and saw the rival faction set up their own bakery next door but one.
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Not all the guts were easy to digest. Groups would come to gawp at the legacy of Jack the Ripper. Next to Brick Lane was the alley where Lizzie was eviscerated. And over a century later there was the same stench of guts. The abattoir vans for the curry houses crowded with hooked cadavers. The stomach of someone’s Saturday night vomited over a doorstep. And when the Truman brewery began to be redeveloped, the many skinless, cut-away corpses from Dr Gunter von Hagens’ ‘Body Worlds’ exhibition took up residence. We couldn’t avoid them, perched on horseback or playing chess, visible from our roof for two years. Living in Brick Lane was electric but it nearly killed me. I had come wanting to know my father, and realised it was my panic at admitting those unsavoury aspects that kept me running away from him. Brick Lane taught me to find the guts, not to be frightened of my inheritance: the ability to lie, cheat, hurt and flee. It helped me own them and find the courage to not be bound by them. The Lane was where this rebirth took place, defined by those important friends who stayed with me, nourishing me with their bravery and helping me appreciate the soundness that would outlast the saneness. During those seven years moored to the Lane, with its 3am chorus of horns, a bedroom view of a brick wall, co-habiting with rats, mice and roaches, and with an absence of silence and darkness, I left with my father inside me, and the guts he’d longed to find for himself.
Anya Hindmarch of handbags and nature collection sig r he d he nc er’s Bazaar in lau for British Harp Anya Hindmarch ng her first bag ni ing consumer sig us de ca r on te hi af accessories ched into eco-fas an br ch ar Not A Plastic m m nd ‘I’ edition canvas d 1991. In 2007, Hi ite lim e th by Boris d e launche Council chaired frenzy when sh Promote London e borne. th Os on ge s or sit Ge ch by Bag’. Hindmar Council chaired e ris rp te En w e Ne Johnson, and th friend staying 1) If you had a en to London, be r ve who’d ne ction would tra what tourist at ? to em th ke you ta with Fodor’s Explore London pecially on a es lks Wa on nd Lo ht. Try the nig on nd foggy Lo lk’ and see The Wa ‘Subterranean cret tunnels, ‘Cobra Room’, se ypts, lost rivers, cr s, er bomb shelt trains & drains. staurant for a 2) Favourite re romantic meal? e fire at Cheyne I love to sit by th My local Indian Walk Brasserie. Great Indian – is e Th – t an restaur r something Fo e. also a favourit Rock & Sole try t en fer dif tle a lit et, London’s re St ll de En Plaice on and chip h fis oldest surviving ed in 1871 sh bli ta es s wa shop. It ap up Wr . ing stl and is still bu tside under ou t ea d an rm wa ung from the coloured lights str trees.
would you give 6) What advice just moved to to someone who’d London? lages of Check out the vil Docklands, ll, ha ut So London se Hill, ro im Pr Clerkenwell, ton, Maida ing Isl , ea els Ch Old , Brick Lane, Vale, Westminster ad, Mayfair ste Highgate, Hamp in each. ch lun b pu a ve and ha in London e ibl ss po is Everything y, you sit er div and by seeing its is. th for g get a feelin favourite 7) What’s your (specialist or on shop in Lond otherwise)? urs browsing the I could spend ho ’s and adore fie treasures at Al e old men’s th of y An . Lassco s. me Ja shops in St.
‘local’ pub? 3) What’s your best sandwich e th ve ha n ca u Yo Head in gs Na e th lunch at but beware Kinnerton Street, dlord and lan y ar sc tly gh the sli e phone bil mo ur switch off yo ts! nu otherwise he goes
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on park do you 11) Which Lond y? love most and wh It is fun to rent a Battersea Park. ay morning and bike on a Saturd te afterwards. ola oc ch t ho have a 12) What makes creative city? Diversity.
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er (a) eaten 14) Have you ev en to Madame be ) (b pie & mash ent NYE in the Tussauds (c) sp .. d… West En Of course. ur most 15) What was yo t out in gh ni le ab or em m London…. it involved a Couldn’t tell but ess and the dn ke na me so boat, police.
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of the RCA likes of Chris Orr thoughts from the club.com to see ital osp heh w.t it ww on the website, vis a regular feature Secret London is
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ello Woolf and musician Oth
Tracey Emin, Layed Back, 2008
Making Marks Tracey. She’s a Margate girl isn’t she? You know Margate – seaside town, east Kent. Quiet little place. Definitely not London. Not really known for much – other than TS Eliot’s faintly damning “On Margate Sands, I can connect nothing with nothing’. Oh, and Tracey.
by Áine Duffy
Head of External Communications
Emin, that is.
W
hen Tracey Emin graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1993, the head of painting selected one of her artworks for the College Collection, a painting that featured Emin’s grandmother. As was the custom, art students left behind a work; everyone from David Hockney to Dinos Chapman. Disagreeing with her professor’s choice, Emin swapped the painting with another - pasting a letter on the back that read ‘Really sorry, but I love my nan too much to part with her’. Emin destroyed most of her other work from that period. Because of this, the painting she gave to the College is incredibly significant. What is of note too however is the letter - its self-confessional statement a precursor of what was to later become Emin’s trademark visual style. Her autobiographical needleworks, visceral line drawings, often-chaotic installations and advertising-copy neons representing a major shift from the ‘pure’ painting produced whilst at the RCA.
look back on her time at the College with anything other than anger. Earlier this year, in a column she wrote for The Independent, she once again said that the best thing about the RCA was her acceptance letter. This time however she added, tellingly, “But, of course, that’s not true. Twenty two years on from receiving that letter I look back at my time there and realise how lucky and how honoured I was to get a place.” She was right of course. London’s most famous art and design school, the College was established in 1837, one year before Queen Victoria came to the throne. Originally called the decidedly unsexy ‘Government School of Design’, the Royal College of Art as it later became known, is now recognised as one of the world’s leading art and design institutions. It is an incredibly vibrant place to work and practice. A microcosm of the capital, with 900 students from over 50 countries, the College is a cultural melting pot, attracting the very best young artists and designers from all over. Its alumni include Sir James Dyson, David Adjaye, Ridley Scott,
Emin’s relationship with the College has famously been of the love hate type. Make that love/hate for a long time/reassess and love again. As Emin wrote a few years back, in an RCA Summer Show Catalogue, “I have always said that the best thing about the RCA was the letter saying that I’d got in – after that it all went down hill.” Of course, it’s a lot more complicated that that. It often is. When Emin first arrived at the College she hated everything about the place. It was 1987 - Thatcherism was rampant. Emin’s first degree, in printmaking, was at Maidstone College of Art. That campus was, like so many others in the 80s, a heady mixture of student activism and Marxism. The Royal College of Art was, well, not. Painting – oil painting - ruled supreme, as did a decidedly conservative, macho culture. Emin felt trapped, suffocated, spending most of her time arguing with her tutors. And learning about painting. It took years before Emin was able to 10
Erdem, Zandra Rhodes, Christopher Bailey and Gillian Carnegie. Oh, and Tracey. Acquire an original piece of contemporary art by leading artists. The RCA in collaboration with The Hospital Club presents ‘10’, an exhibition featuring the collectable new print publication from the College’s acclaimed Printmaking Department. The bespoke boxed portfolio includes work by some of the UK’s most highprofile artists, each creating a limited print especially for the event. The artists are: Paula Rego, Michael Craig Martin, Tracey Emin, Chris Orr, Norman Ackroyd, David Mach, Boyd and Evans, Bryan Kneale, Stephen Chambers and Maurice Cockrill. All of the work featured in the exhibition is for sale, offering collectors an ideal opportunity to acquire original work. The work is sold to help alleviate student hardship via the Royal College of Art Printmaking Appeal Fund which helps to support emerging artists in the creation of new work. For sales enquiries contact alih@thehospitalclub.com
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Hey there! Rob Hinchcliffe is using Londoner. When I first came to London I remember standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, staring at the billboards. I watched as an electronic tickertape displayed the news headlines on the side of the building, five storeys up.
London 2010 This, I thought, is what the future looks like. 00:01 AM Jan 1st from RobH
The city has always been a favourite theme of the futurologists. From The Jetsons to Star Wars’ Sky City, from Mega-City1 to Bladerunner, the metropolis has provided a canvas upon which each new generation can project their obsessions. Inevitably those predictions have involved an inordinate amount of steel and glass, along with the odd jetpack and a smattering of skintight clothing. And, of course, when the future eventually became the present, those predictions were shown to be laughably inaccurate and fantastically overblown (Space 1999 anybody?). Because the slightly sad truth is that cities carry their own DNA which makes them highly resistant to any dramatic alteration. Of course their landscapes constantly shift as architecture is grafted on, natural disasters take their toll, and waves of inhabitants live, work and play among the nooks and crannies. But ultimately the core identity of a major city will weather these interruptions and maintain some sort of equilibrium (if you want to be romantic, you could call it a soul). 00:03 AM Jan 1st from RobH Continued over page
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00:03 AM Jan 1st from RobH Continued
It’s no accident that Tokyo, a city that we perceive as being inherently futuristic, had to be rebuilt from scratch after being all but destroyed during World War II. Tokyo is not futuristic, it’s just relatively new. And consider the fact that London celebrated the end of the first millennium with a huge fireworks display, a technology invented somewhere around the 7th century. Where, you might ask, were all the lasers?
In October of this year an exhibition entitled Sentient City opened up in New York to showcase the many and varied ways today’s metropolitans are interacting with their environment. Exhibits included the ‘smart trash can’ that happily digests aluminium cans but will spit out plastic bottles, and the park bench that forcibly ejects people if they’ve been sitting on it for too long. The idea behind the exhibition was to see “what might happen if technology went wrong in the city of the future” but the good news is that, at least for now, the sentient city isn’t being constructed by local councils or large corporations, it’s being built by the nerds.
What none of the soothsayers managed to foresee is that our urban environment would not come to be defined on a macro level with grand, architectural statements; but on a microscopic level, through our technological infrastructure. Whereas our recent ancestors were obsessed with large-scale modes of transport (flying cars, monorails, transporter beams), now we dream of influencing our surroundings in a much more subtle way. Today it is the way we communicate with our city (and the way the city responds to us) that determines what our future will look like. In short, London is talking to us and we finally have the means to hear what it’s saying.
Recently, Oliver Rokison, a computing teacher at St Paul’s School built a paper model of Tower Bridge. Then he took some open-source electronics hardware (and a bit of string) to connect the model to the real Tower Bridge’s Twitter account. When the actual bridge opened, so did Oliver’s model. When it closed, the miniature bridge followed suit (you can see a video of the bridge in action here: http:// bit.ly/F7Tgu). Of course, this
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isn’t an example that has many widespread implications for humanity, but it does demonstrate one point very well indeed: technology is now truly democratic. For starters, Tower Bridge has a Twitter account now? Yes, you can see it here http:// twitter.com/towerbridge, it feeds off the data broadcast by the real bridge and was built in less than half an hour by a bloke who thought it might be a laugh. Secondly, that data is accessible to any high school computing teacher with access to the internet and enough time on his hands to rig up a simple network. In fact, the toughest bit of this whole endeavour was probably constructing the paper model of the bridge. And it’s not just Tower Bridge that’s talking. London Bridge has a Twitter account too (it has regularly slanging matches with Tower Bridge: http://twitter. com/imlondonbridge), and you can now buy something called a Botanicalls Kit (http:// www.botanicalls.com/kits/), that allows you to give your houseplants their own Twitter personas so they can alert you
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Name London 2010 Location London
whenever they need watering. But, as fun as talking plants and bridges are, this trend goes further than inanimate objects vocalising through Twitter. Our cities are becoming increasingly linked, and mapped in ways that Ordnance Survey can only dream of. Take fixmystreet.com as an example. The site describes itself as a place where people can “report, view, or discuss local problems they’ve found to their local council by simply locating them on a map,” and from that simple premise a vast, user-generated database of the country’s pothole and parking preoccupations has emerged. If I want to report a drainage problem at the bottom of my road I no longer have to find out my local MP’s name or address, or the relevant hotline number, I just log on to fixmystreet, tell it my postcode, log the problem and they email my MP for me. Not only has this one site done more for community wellbeing and local democracy than any politician over the past decade, it’s given our pavements a voice. And what about the fact that our mobile phones come
into the sky, entire boroughs have a pulse, and history is visible through a smartphone.
fitted with GPS software that, until recently, only mountaineers and geological surveyors had any need for? Londoners are now walking beacons. Becoming lost in London is fast becoming a lost art, and instead we have the much-touted augmented reality. A way of annotating your environment through your phone’s video camera, augmented reality means that London is now a doodle pad on which we can project any data we like. Whether you want to see the nearest Tube, find the best bar within five minutes walk, or just want to replace your mate’s face with that of Optimus Prime, there’s an augmented reality application that will do that for you.
I’m going to end all this on a bit of a personal note. Three years ago I got married in a building in the middle of Richmond Park. The day before the ceremony I walked through the park, sat down on a bench and plugged my earphones into it. I don’t advise trying this in just any bench, you have to find the solar powered, Ian Dury memorial bench in the grounds of Pembroke Lodge for it to really work. As I sat there listening to a selection of Drury’s songs, looking out onto one of his favourite places in the capital, I thought about how many other London spots would benefit from an experience that was this personal, this immersive and this much fun.
This all might sound terribly geeky and inconsequential on paper, but as Londoners begin to create this data, broadcast it, mash it up, and visualise it in new and beautiful ways, our city begins to grow and expand like it has never done before. We get new maps, new games, new landscapes, and myriad new ways of experiencing a city that was founded in AD43. Buildings have mood swings, environmental data is projected
Just three years later we are a hair’s breadth away from being able to construct this idea of London, and the great thing is we don’t have to rely on conceptual artists, architects or the Government to do it for us. We can do it ourselves.
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Matthew Cruickshank is an illustrator, designer and animator. After studying graphic design and traditional animation via Bournemouth and Wales he moved to London to work as a character artist. He’s currently sculpting, painting and animating for an exhibition in the New Year. He can be contacted through his blog: www.crookiesblog.blogspot.com
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To the The streets glisten, damp, miserable but strangely full of hope. Baked dry, parched in the summer months. Windswept, icy cold wintriness cuts to the core and breaks for the spring with relief. The smells and faces are never the same, yet always familiar like a security blanket. The pavements I tread remind me of, twenty, thirty, forty years of treading and re-treading memories of journeys to exciting new places, familiar sites and dreaded appointments.
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pass places of my childhood and an eerie sense envelops me. It’s weird; suddenly I’m ten again, going to school in North London, waiting for the 217, Cambridge Heath Road. Then I’m sixteen, on the number 29 going to The Roxy, Neil Street, Covent Garden – a girl called Catwoman, another called Tampax, my mate Vi, short for Violet going to The Vortex when The Roxy closed a year later. Going to The Rainbow, Finsbury Park - Iggy Pop, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Heartbreakers. Going to The Blitz in Holborn early on, ‘hairdressers’ night’ and I’m a hairdressing junior. Biddy and Eve are singing, the Andrew Logan set are there; I see Luciana Martinez and Duggie Fields. Later, it became home of The New Romantic scene, but not for now, it’s ‘76-‘77, Punk Rock is on the up; Covent Garden is a boarded up graveyard.
Back then, it was a run-through maze. Screaming, we dressed up in nylon, bondage, rubber, tartan. The streets were empty back then, not so many people populating my town in those days. Things shut early, late nights at The Speakeasy, - but nowhere else to get drunk for a sixteen year old, perhaps Louise’s or The Sombrero for a disco. A year later went back to Covent Garden, aged eighteen, 1978. It’s still boarded up, ready for gentrification. I worked in a shop - P.X. There’s a rehearsal space downstairs, band music bleeds up, Chrissie’s down there with her Pretenders, she tells me all about it. One day Michael Jackson came by. Another time, some local kids locked us in for a laugh, it was Cameron McVey and his mates. I had a ‘look’ then, one of many. I hobbled around in tight, tight skirts and high, high heels from Seditionaires. I took speed and learned to smoke. I had a good
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beehive. What’s his name? Paul from up north, moved into Floral Street. Paul Howie and Lynn Franks had jumpers in Long Acre. There was nothing else ‘round there then shop-wise. We loved Bowie, we played Kraftwerk, we kept a lookout for new music, new makeup, the future. Dance moves, soul static robot. Berlin, film noir. London ‘79, cross-dressing melting vista of possibilities. No money, poverty breeds creativity, that’s what they say. Perhaps it’s true, especially in London where people seem to seek out an identity more vital than the one they left behind. I did the same, left north London and headed uptown, central, on the Piccadilly line. I went to New York ‘81. It was good- not as good as London. I went to Tokyo ‘82 - the Bladerunner days - it was good too, but not as good as London. I was glad to come back. That was
Edge...
Crowndale Road, N1. I had a knicker stall at Camden Lock. In them days, you just turned up early and got a good pitch. In 1983, I shared with Holly Warburton, she had the jewels and made films, took photographs. I got married to my friend’s boyfriend so they could stay together. Times change, two men getting married, I was the go-between for them. I liked Camden, it was a bit of a dump, we had The Music Machine on the corner, I saw Amanda Lear perform. Anthony Price had a fashion show there, it was an avant-garde palace in a way. We went to Heaven at Charing Cross, the biggest gay disco in the world. Ian ‘Piggy’ Levine DJ’d. They had a laser show, lots of lights, all the disco business. Pyramid, Cha Cha’s round the back, Scarlet, Trojan, Michael ‘Maria Malapasta’, Space Princess, Jeffrey Hinton, HiNrg.
the only time I said, ‘I really need to get out of town’- like you do. One day a woman came round to my home and asked me questions for a book she was writing, I lived in Camden then. After living at the Warren Street and Great Titchfield Street squats, we all got council flats that nobody else wanted – that’s London life. I had a flat with Stephen Jones and Lee Sheldrick. Anyway, she published her book ‘A Century Of Style’ and wrote me off… what will become of me? I was only 21. Depressing. That’s London too, make or break at 21. Nowadays I live in East London, where I was born, Hackney. Somehow I always come back here. I had a ‘pull’ in the late ‘70s, so I went to work at a factory at the bottom of Hackney Road. For six months, I was a ‘stitch bitch’ doing piecework at the Berketex Bridal Factory. I hung out with the ‘girls’; we went to pubs, lunchtime strips. I had another urge to leave after a while, but I learned to sew fast!
Leigh Bowery came to town…. and stayed. He gave birth to Taboo at Maximus, Leicester Square. It was more extreme, more drugs. Sue Tilley on the door, me on the coat check with Malcolm Duffy. Rachel Auburn, Mark Lawrence and Jeffrey Hinton were on the decks. Go-go dancing came from
All through the ‘80s, I lived in remarkable Camden, Godwin Court (The God Squad),
Michael Clark and David La Chapelle. They were good times. I think we all went a little mad then. Some people died after all that. AIDS was getting very ‘real’. Drugs too…MDMA, jacking up heroin. A lot of tinsel, that’s London, we love our veneer, we love our sleaze. Any excuse to have a party, go crazy, pile on the tat. We’d get the bus up town, hang out in Soho, go to The Pink Panther club for Christmas. When there was a raid, we’d walk round the corner and walk straight back in! Rent boys serving out-of-date beer and a DJ dressed like Gary Glitter. A hole covered up with old stinking carpet - don’t stand there. Falling over, getting back up again. We do that a lot and have a right good laugh about it. It’s all a bit seamy, but on the other hand, everything’s the height of glamour. Walk into a pub, down a street, pass somebody famous, look sideways and glimpse someone done up to the nines or a stinky beggar on the cadge for anything. Look up and see a London sky full of doom and strange optimism, changing skylines and beautiful, brutal reality.
and back By Princess Julia
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son Holly John Holly Johnso n is best kn own as the lead si nger of Fran kie Goes to Holly wood. Since the mid-90s, Jo hnson has w orked primarily as a painter. H is works have been exhibi ted at the Tate Live rpool and Th e Royal Acade my. He cont inues to make mus ic through hi s own Pleasuredom e label.
8) London ni ghtbuses are… For nighthaw ks, dirty stop outs or early birds.
9) What’s yo ur favourite sh op in London (speci alist or otherw ise)? I guess World ’s End (Vivie nne Westwood’s K ing’s Road bo utique). 16) H It has such a ave you ever history now, (a) eaten pie and many memor & mash (b) be ies for me. Th en to Madam e clock spinning back e Tussauds (c wards makes ) spent NYE 1) If you had me feel West En like I’m ente in th a friend stay e ring a time m d….. ing who’d never achine. been to Lond a) Yes there on us , what ed to be a loca tourist attrac 10) Favourite and Mash pl l Pie tion would yo market in Lo ace in Wands u take them to? ndon what do you worth Br id ge Road buy there? Tate Modern, North End R The London oad Market is b) Never fanc Eye, The Globe Th my ied the wax local, but I al eatre, The To so quite like Po Museum wer Of London, The rtobello Market on a V & A, Friday. I mig c) I think I w ht buy a vintage piec ent to Heave e of clothing n many 2) Favourite moons ago, w in Portobello an restaurant fo hen at the st d some fruit ra roke romantic mea of an m id d ni ve gh ge ta t l? someone perf bles in North End Road. or Nearly every med fe lla tio on me on the night, at my crowded house, a romantic mea dancefloor, it 11) Favourite l is served. w as so full of bridge - why? people, I coul Albert Bridge dn’t easily m , day or night ove or 3) What’s yo ex tr is ic ate myself . always a trea ur ‘local’ pub? t, it means I’m There are a co on my way out or ne uple of pubs arly home. It local to me, but I do 17) What was ’s cake decoration co n’t do pubs . your most lours and twin It used to be The Colh memorable ni kling lights always erne (Earl’s ght out in Lo m ak e Co m ur ndon when I first ca e feel alive . t) Performing at me to London Hammersmith …. , but that was clos Od eo n, 12) What do or Wembley ed down not you see in Lo Arena come so very long ago. to mind, Alth ndon that you don’ ough I probab t see anywhe ly don’t remem re else? The rare, red ber much ab telephone bo out 4) Which part my most mem xes, although I gu of London do or able nights ou ess they have you tend to avoid… Seeing ‘Turni t. them in Gibraltar, and why? ng’ at The Ba there’s somet rbican I don’t go Nor w ith hi ng A Ziggy Stardu ntony and Th so th of the Park st about them e Johnsons or South of the and more re . river as often cently, The M as I ichael should, but I Cl ar k Co 13 mpany danc ) Which Lond don’t really av ing to the on park do yo oid anywhere pa soundtrack of u love most an rticularly, ex m y youth, Dav d why? cept Hampstead H Bowie, Lou R id I guess that w eath after da eed and Iggy ould be Hyde rk, Pop. in case I mee Pa rk an d Kensington t The Ghost of Gardens, beca Cruisemas Pa 18) Why do yo of The Serpen use st. u live here? tine Gallery, Probably beca and various othe use Wolfgang r attractions 5) If you wer K uh ... le , my partner e in the West and manager End and 14 you wanted qu lives here an ) What makes iet contempl d he wouldn’ Lo ation, ndon such a t live where would an yw he cr re else . eative city? you go? The French Ca The Streets ar tholic Church e paved with , Notre Dame The CDs ‘Fra gold, but you have De France, ju nkie Say Gr to bend over st off eatest’ Leicester Squa by Frankie to pick it up. Goes To Hol re - to see the lywood Jean Cocteau Mur an d ‘Blast and It’s an answer al. Dreams That that springs Money Can’ to mind . t Buy’ by Hol ly 6) What advi Jo hn son are now ce would you available on give to someone w U ni ve 15 rs al ) What has been and MCA Rec ho’d just mov ed to London’s ords. London? greatest loss ? Get a job, pref The Routemas erably near to ter? Quentin where Tallu you live or, liv Crisp? lah? The patr e as near as po ons of The ssible to your place Admiral Dunc of work. Any an on Old Com thing else is false ec pton Street on that onomy, of bo terrible occa th time and money. sion..... I could go on and on.... Secret London is a
regular featur e on the
website, visit www.thehosp italclub.com to see thoug hts from the
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Secretn Londo
likes of Chris Orr of the RC A
and musician Othello Woolf
by Phil Willmott
From London to Stratford Gregory Doran explains to Phil Willmott why Shakespeare and the Royal Shakespeare Company are intrinsic to London’s cultural life.
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Stratford
The Tempest
Hamlet
Romeo and Juliet Titus Andronicus
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Coriolanus
King Lear
Othello Cleopatra
Macbeth
London
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ou search in vain for the big London speech in Shakespeare, an epic hymn to the hurly-burly of the teaming city streets, the great port, the awe inspiring towers and palaces. What direct references you find are merely passing geographical references. So did Will even like London? It’s the home of the Globe Theatre, of course, where “he”, whoever “he” was, enjoyed his greatest triumphs, but the metrocentric scenes in the history plays depict crime, squalor and rebellion with no hint of the obvious relish for “country matters” we find in the comedies. Yet despite this, Shakespeare feels inexplicably linked with London. Greg Doran
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is a man who may be able to help us understand this paradox. Associate Director of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Doran is also the author of a recent Shakespeare almanac. When I pose the question of his hero’s relationship to London, he’s bristling with fascinating facts about city life in the reign of Elizabeth and James I that stem directly from passing references in the plays. For instance, there’s that mention of a whale swimming up the Thames in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ – big, big news in its day. Doran’s also found evidence of an osprey colony cultivated to provide hunting quarry for the king; there was, he tells me, a busy whaling industry whose
whale oil lamps meant the city was one of the best lit in the world. These references litter the plays, so perhaps there was no need for any big set piece eulogy, perhaps a sense of London simply runs through these great works without further explanation necessary. The Royal Shakespeare Company itself has had a rather troubled relationship with the capital in recent years. When I began my theatre going in the 1980s, it was firmly ensconced at the Barbican Theatre. The Barbican was the RSC. Just as for the previous generation of playgoers, the RSC had meant the Aldwych Theatre, it’s home for many years. Since a controversial split with the Barbican, the company has struggled to find a London identity, moving around a number of West End venues, most notably the Strand Theatre. It was at the Strand where Doran directed a number of star led hits, most notably the recent production of David Tennant in Hamlet. Despite the RSC’s multi-million pound base at Stratford on Avon, Doran tells me he feels it’s important that the company maintains a presence in the capital, arguing that there’s an appetite for the company’s work here and a desire amongst the actors to be seen in their home town. That’s certainly true, but in my opinion with so much competition these days, an RSC production is often only as popular as its star. Doran disagrees, despite the fact that we’re about to get his production of Twelfth Night starring Richard Wilson. Actors like Wilson and Tennant, he explains, merely head an ensemble and it’s the quality of this ensemble acting that’s key to artistic success.
important to dramatise these dilemmas in order to make the play seem a fresh and living experience. If characters appear to behave as if they, like the actor, know what’s going to happen it can make for a deadly evening. For instance, he explains, if you play the first three acts of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ knowing the pair are doomed you miss all the comedy.
his partner, the renowned classical actor Sir Anthony Sher. The pair have forged an enduring professional and private relationship since they met in a production of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ in the 1980s. Doran was an actor back then and not surprisingly, those experiences have informed his approach to directing. He compares one production in which the director had failed to engage him with his experience in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ where he felt so involved and committed that the play felt as if it were about him.
So many RSC Shakespeare productions of the eighties and nineties were swamped by a design concept and Doran takes decisions involving set and costumes as late in the process as he can. He prefers to let the ideas to grow organically out of exploratory work with the actors. Doran began rehearsing his memorable, Sher led production of ‘Macbeth’ assuming that it would have a Jacobean setting. However, rehearsal room discussions on the nature of fear meant he soon swapped to presenting the play in modern dress in a contemporary world.
These days he has some fascinating director’s techniques to keep his cast engaged. I asked him if he has a “read through” on the first day of his rehearsals – a soul destroying process, often insisted upon by managements, in which the actors must sit in a circle and give a cold reading of the text at the very start of rehearsals. The leading actors are terrified whilst people in small parts are bored and feel undervalued. Doran spices things up by insisting no one reads the role they’ll eventually play, so a spear carrier might get to read the Hamlet lines, whilst the star reads in the first messenger.
It’s Doran’s astute casting and this creative flexibility which results in such fluid and exhilarating productions. Many people were
surprised when he wasn’t picked to run the Royal Shakespeare Company, when former and controversial leader Adrian Noble suddenly resigned. But Doran loves the freedom he has to stage productions without the added responsibility of running a huge business organisation. And although he admits he’d happily take some time out to direct a blockbuster musical that could make him a fortune, his passions remain very definitely Shakespearean. He’s just finished filming his David Tennant Hamlet, his Twelfth Night has just opened in Stratford before coming to us at Christmas and he’s currently directing an RSC related project in Japan. I predict his energy and commitment to bringing fine productions of The Bard to our West End will mean Shakespeare and his company remain at London’s heart for a long time to come. Gregory Doran’s production of Twelfth Night is at the Duke of York’s Theatre on St Martin’s Lane until the 27 February 2010 Phil is a regular contributor to the site. To read more of his work, join the ‘Magazine’ group at thehospitalclub.com
Doran then begins a long process where the actors divide their time between the very physical rehearsing of fights, dances etc, with a very cerebral analysis of the text. Each actor must interpret the lines in their own words ensuring a very thorough understanding of every scene. The moments Doran is most interested in are the “crossroads” where a characters’ options could take the action in a number of different directions. He feels it’s
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Doran does concede that casting the right people is central to his preparations for his productions. He can’t conceive of planning a revival of one of the great tragedies without first knowing who’ll be centre stage. In Doran’s case, the leading actor is sometimes 21
Year 1
October 08: Programme launch December 08: Lecture
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atching the process of free and creative minds taming the commercial world has proved quite fascinating to me, and The Hospital Club has been incredible in terms of the support and trust they’ve offered us. Many of the Club’s members and staff are involved in the residents’ lives and are committed to supporting their development. The programme helps the artists define their craft so they can develop a stronger direction necessary to navigate their way around the industry and commercial world. Throughout their residency, the artists are creating new work, challenging the Club and bringing new thoughts and inspiration into the building. Working closely with these incredible creative minds, constantly raising questions and putting things in different perspectives is extremely inspiring. Encouraging the residents to experiment and push boundaries, while making sure it resonates the ethos of the Club has proved challenging, but ultimately helps prepare the artists for the conditions they face in the industry and corporate environment. Also, this has enabled us, as a member’s club, to grow and come out of our comfort zone as the residents pushed us toward new and exciting visions. This programme is one of the most interesting and rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on and to everyone who is involved with the Creatives in Residence; I can’t thank you enough. Laurelene Chambovet (Lolo), Philanthropic Manager, The Hospital Club
February 09: Lisa Spirling’s show case
October 08: Programme launch March 09: Lecture
January 09: Lecture
Key Milestones ..........................................................................
to their resources they are supported in a journey that can be challenging but ultimately sees them delivering on their phenomenal potential.’
October ‘08
Beginning of October
Emily Man, Film Producer and Executive Coach
LECTURE: ‘The Art of Being Yourself’ with Caroline Sami, founder of IDOLOGY This was a great introduction to the scheme, a powerful lecture to help everyone remember that the essence of everyone’s creativity is within themselves.
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27 October
LECTURE: Goal Setting Workshop with Bob Griffith, Coach
December ‘08 13 December
EVENT: Launch of the Creatives in Residence Programme (CIR) The standard of applications was very high so we organised a showcase night to bring attention to the entire shortlist and to facilitate future collaborations between the young creatives from different disciplines. The residents were announced at the end of the evening.
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January ‘09 26 January
LECTURE: Personal Impact Training by Amanda Murray, Coach “Creatives in Residence makes you stay relevant in your own practice and really is inspiring the next generation of thinkers.”
End of October
EVENT: Coaches/Residents matching evening The residents were invited to present themselves and were introduced to coaches and mentors willing to support them. We used a ‘speed dating’ format, so that everyone spent at least 3 minutes with each resident. The residents met regularly with their coaches and mentors throughout the year. Mentors and coaches involved include Margaret O’Keeffe, Emily Man, Matthias Gruendler. Kevin Osborn, Nick Allen, Paulo Pisano, Noel Clerkin and Lee McCormack.
Amanda Murray
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February ‘09 4 February
COURSE: Simon Burrill took a place on Mike Figgis Masterclass held in The Hosptial Club TV Studio 18 February
THEATRE: ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ by Louise Ramsen Lisa Spirling, theatre director in residence,
‘Working with coaches and mentors gives the residents the opportunity to take their performance to the next level. Digging deep in
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explored with Tony Award-winning sound designer Gregory Clarke, the impact that sound design can have on performance and text during a full week of research and development funded by the Arts Council. Lisa Spirling also got the opportunity to work with Emmy Award winning casting director Gary Davy, a Hospital Club founder member who cast the play. The development work was showcased in The Hospital Club TV Studio in front of an invited audience of key industry players. As a result Louise Ramsen, secured an agent and Buckle for Dust (Lisa Spirling’s theatre company) are now in talks with London and Regional venues to stage the show in Autumn 2010. “I’m frankly blown away by the support and care that your team showered me with yesterday and in the preceding weeks; it reaffirms my faith in the world and the industry. They were truly wonderful.” Lisa Spirling 26 February
LECTURE: ‘Developing a brand: Brand Vision, Brand Ambition, The Marketplace’ - Target Audience - by Juliet Haygarth, Managing Director, Brothers & Sisters “I really enjoyed spending time with each of the residents. Our sessions were quite wide ranging, but they all focused on how we might put their creativity in a commercial context. Our chats stimulated them to think about what exactly it was that they offered, how they differed from their competition and how they might develop their personal brand and market themselves effectively. It was refreshing for me to spend time with such a talented bunch – we achieved a lot in a small space of time, mainly because of their creative and openminded approach. If only all clients were this easy!” Juliet Haygarth, MD, Brothers and Sister
May 09: Simon Burrill. A still from ‘Enjoy the Film’
April 09: ‘A squirrel eating a Nut’ Roxane Borujerdi
May 09: ‘Enjoy the Film’
August 09: Alex Nikiporenko at the BBC Proms
June 09: Vera Bohl EP cover
May 09: Vera Bohl editing
Photo Credits 27 October 08 - Guy Stephens 16 May 09 - Black and white image Lou Marcelin June 09 - Jayne Helliwell
May 09: Vera Bohl in the Music Studio
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March ‘09 25 March
LECTURE: Tax and Book Keeping - Fruit Cake or Sponge Cake by member, Sydney Levinson, Partner at Rhodes & Rhodes “The Creatives in Residence are the DNA of The Hospital Club, nourished by our membership; they are an inspiration to us all and our hope for a new generation of creative and cultural entrepreneurs.” Sydney Levinson 26 March
LECTURE: Intellectual Property by member, Tom Cowling, Partner at Swan Turton Solicitors Tom Cowling helped the residents to better understand the notion of intellectual property...Thinking ahead about protecting their work and avoiding conflicts. ..........................................................................
April ‘09 09 April
VIDEO ART: ‘A Squirrel Eating a Nut & Behind The Scenes’ Roxane Borujerdi produced a video featuring a squirrel in the Forest Room – a project which proved highly entertaining; ‘I’m thinking of confronting the artificial ‘natural feel’ of the Forest Room with natural life and bring some animals in there, what do you think?’ she asked us. Watching her trying to behave seriously in front of the ‘pet’ provided much hilarity. This end result was featured in her solo show.
23 April
Nova Dando and Selina Robson planned fashion week and Nova’s new collection...
EVENT: Launch of the Website The Creatives in Resindence website was designed by Antoine Choussat and Zamir Antonio, graphic designers in residence and Alex Nikiporenko composed the music for it. On the evening of the launch, Alex Nikiporenko improvised a beautiful piece and Roxane Borujerdi performed a spontaneous translation of an extract from “A la recherche du temps perdu” by Marcel Proust - French to English
“From our initial meeting our working relationship moved very quickly from our 1st introduction having afternoon tea to sitting on her bed having a production meeting at 07:00am, 3 days before her event. It is her dynamic energy and committed approach, which made for a great experience to oversee as well as take part in.” Selina Robinson 24 May
FILM: Simon Burrill shot ‘Enjoy the Film’ in the Cinema ‘Enjoy the Film’ is a site-specific film, shot and presented in the Hospital Club Cinema. By turns sexy, horrific and humorous, the film throws a couple of surprising curveballs, and plays with ideas of possibility and voyeurism.
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May ‘09 06 April
LECTURE: Presenting a creative idea by Juliet Haygarth The more cutting edge the idea, the more professional we need to be.
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June ‘09
16 May
MUSIC: Vera Bohl recorded her EP in the Music Studio and made a documentary of the recording. “Solar Management and The Hospital Club gave me the opportunity to record my first EP in the Club’s Music Studio with producer Paul Grady (The Kooks, Howling Bells, Peter Gabriel). Finally my basement recordings were taken to the next level! We had an exiting time in the studio, where the likes of Radiohead and Beck have recorded!” Vera Bohl
Beginning of June
Music and Graphic Design: Vera Bohl met graphic designer and photographer Jayne Helliwell. They are now working together and we commissioned Jayne to design Vera Bohl’s EP cover and press images ......................................................................... .July
‘09
04 July
19 May
THEATRE: Lisa Spirling’s workshop in the Club Rehearsing her show ‘Terminal Four Play’ all week in the Club before taking it to Latitude Festival.
FASHION: Nova Dando, Fashion Designer in Residence, met mentor Selina Robson, Brand Communication Producer
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14 July
MUSIC AND PR: Alex Nikiporenko met member, Kathleen Alder, Founder of WildKat PR WildKat PR is an agency specialising in classical music. Kathleen Alder represented Alex Nikiporenko for the last few months of the residency and acted as his mentor. “The main thing I have achieved this year is artistic focus –I decided to concentrate on writing music strongly influenced by improvisation, therefore combining various sides of my musical personality into one image! I’ve learned the skills I need to put my music into practical content, how to work with people within and outside the industry, how to plan my time better, how to approach people, how to speak in public and many more!” Alex Nikiporenko 24 July
LECTURE: Alnoor Ladha – Mother (Advertising Agency) Understanding the world of advertising and how to go about contacting agencies. ..........................................................................
August ‘09 07 August
EVENT: Proms Intro Young Composers’ Winners Day at BBC proms Members of the Aurora Orchestra perform commissions by 2008 winner (Alex Nikiporenko) of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition. Edited highlights broadcast by Radio 3 following the Prom on 19 August
Cont...
October 09: Alex Nikiporenko scores Simons Burrill’s short film
October 09: Think Shoot Distribute
October 09: Roxane Borujerdi solo exhibition ‘Out of The Blue’
September 09 Nova Dando, Fashion Week showcase
October 09: Still from ‘A Missing Pillow’
Photo Credits 18 September - Suzie Blake 03 October - Matthew Stone 26 October - Suzie Blake December 09: Graphic Design Installation, Antoine Choussat & Zamir Antonio
11 August
LECTURE: Talking to brands - Maria Nicholson, Head of Marketing and Membership at The Hospital Club Brands and organisations are increasingly turning to collaboratiions with artists and creatives from different backgrounds, to give them a creative edge and point of difference. It is important for young creatives to understand how best to enter this dialogue, so they know how to value their contribution and to ensure that the both sides feel they are taking part in a mutually beneficial partnership. 20 August
LECTURE: Introduction to PR with member, Nicola Stephenson, founder of Mission PR Nicola Stephenson, one of our founder members spent a long time helping the residents understand the world of PR and leverage PR opportunities. ..........................................................................
September ‘09 18 September
FASHION: Nova Dando, Fashion Week showcase Nova Dando opened Fashion Week and took over The Hospital Club’s TV Studio presenting her collection in a video entitled “Rainbow Collection” which also played host to live performances from Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominee, La Roux and performance by dance troupe the House Of Dangerkat. The Club provided financial, technical, organisational and PR support for the event.
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find a way to start putting my personal work to the forefront in my career, and I’ve got some pretty good strategies to make that happen now. It’s been empowering groundwork for the next stage of my career.”
October ‘09 03 October
EVENT: AvantGarden Alex Nikiporenko performed with artist Matthew Stone. The performance featured: prepared piano, detuned autoharp, glockenspiel, ducktape, drum machine, wine glasses and various noise-making toys! This was the result of a new and exciting collaboration between the artist and the composer. The project explored how we experience time in relation to music. Drawing on archaic techniques associated with shamanic ritual this recording documents one of their largely improvised live performances.
Roxane Borujerdi will have a show in March at Gallerie Lucile Corty, one of the best up and coming galleries in Paris and has also been asked to participate in Art Basel. Roxane will be showing work in June at The Young Art Fair in Basel.
Simon Burrill
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VISUAL ARTS: Out of the Blue, Roxane Borujerdi’s First Solo Show The show offered the first comprehensive presentation of her work while also being an opportunity to broaden the range of topics she examines through collaborations with other artists. Roxane Borujerdi received production support for the show as well as PR support from Borkowski and a beautiful catalogue designed by fellow residents Antoine Choussat & Zamir Antonio.
23 October
FILM: Simon Burrill ‘A Missing Pillow’ at the BFI As part of our partnership with The London Film Festival; Simon Burrill showed a beautiful short film (that the Club helped him produce) on all the plasma screens at the BFI during the festival
“As an artist, it was a very new and unique experience to do a residency at The Hospital Club, which is not a place dedicated to contemporary art but all people from the creative industry. Very stimulating... It was a challenging year” Roxane Borujerdi
23 October
FILM: Simon Burrill attended ‘Think Shoot Distribute’ Simon Burrill was accepted onto the prestigious industry programme ‘Think Shoot Distribute’ – an intensive week long blitz on all aspects of feature production and distribution, with the cream of UK talent and other upcoming directors.
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Antoine Choussat & Zamir Antonio’s installation in the lobby ‘The Hospital Club team has been extremely supportive and sustained a level of attention that is hard to even imagine! In other words, we just felt very lucky having the opportunity of being able to have this experience.’ Antoine Choussat & Zamir Antonio End of the Creative in Residence Year 1!
Special Thanks to all the team at the Hospital Club, the members involved in the programme and Bert Meijers who’s been assisting the production of the Creatives in Residence book.
10 November
VISUAL ARTS: Roxane Borujerdi met Gallerie Lucile Corty in Paris.
For more information please visit www.thehospitalclub.com/cir
November ‘09
THEATRE AWARD: ‘Cotton-Wool’, Lisa Spirling’s first major production won the Meyer-Whitworth Award.
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End of December
The programme wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for the support from our members and network. From the odd bit of informal advice, to the loan of equipment, or the full on commitment of mentoring, there are lots of different ways people can get involved. However much or little time you have, if you’d like to support Creatives in Residents, please get in touch. loloc@thehospitalclub.com
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“The Residency has helped me establish fantastic contacts and collaborators, and understand how best to position myself and my career. I wanted to
December ‘09
Matthew Slotover is the co-publisher of Frieze magazine and co-founder of the London art fair of the same name in Regent’s Park. 1) If you had a friend staying who’d never been to London, what tourist attraction would you take them to? Tate Modern, then Borough Market 2) Favourite restaurant for a romantic meal? The Providores 3) What’s your local pub? The Lord Stanley, Camden Square 4) Which part of London do you tend to avoid and why? Oxford Street. Pure hell. 5) If you were in the West End and you wanted quiet contemplation, where would you go? Home! (Or is this where I say ‘The Hospital Club’?)
6) What advice would you give to someone who’d just moved to London? Transport is the city’s biggest problem. Get a bike, it’s the fastest way to get around, and use London Transport’s bike maps and website to find routes off the major roads. 7) What’s your favourite shop in London (specialist or otherwise)? Neal’s Yard Dairy, Monmouth St Coffee, Steve Hatt Fishmonger, Dover St Market. 8) Favourite market in Londonwhat do you buy there? Borough Market. As well as the cheese and coffee above, it has good fruit and veg, and meat from the Ginger Pig. The chorizo sandwiches from Brindisa and Falafel Wraps keep you going as you shop. 9) Favourite bridge - why? It is not beautiful but I find Blackfriars the best way to get north to south.
10) What do you see in London that you don’t see anywhere else? I think London’s parks are worldbeating. 11) Which London park do you love most and why? Regent’s Park - it’s my local, the most beautiful and it’s where we do our fair. 12) What makes London such a creative city? A stubborn unwillingness to go with the flow. 13) What has been London’s greatest loss? Mobility 14) Have you ever (a) eaten pie & mash (b) been to Madame Tussauds (c) spent NYE in the West End .. Yes, yes and yes, unfortunately. 15) What was your most memorable night out in London . The night I first dated my wife and launched Frieze magazine (the same night!)
over t o l S w e Matth
Secret n Londo
Secret London is a regular feature on the
website, visit www.thehospitalclub.com to see thoughts from the likes of Chris Orr of the RCA and
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musician Othello Woolf
Club News
& Events We’ve got another jam-packed schedule for the year ahead, so make sure you tune in, log on and synchronise your diaries. For the first time in our history, the club opened on New Year’s Eve and what a party that proved to be. To see the decadent evidence, be sure to check out the photos on the website in the party groups section. Of course, we’ll be sending you the fortnightly newsletter to remind you of forthcoming events, but be sure to join some of our online groups and follow us on Twitter to ensure you’re first on the clue train! Website
General Media, Internet, Media Policy, Print, Telecoms and Technology...
We’ve had some dramatic changes on the website and in addition to the technical tidy ups, we continue to publish articles from some of our favourite columnists such as Hecklerspray’s Stuart Heritage, Cult Beauty’s waspish Elspeth Waters and theatrical genius Phil Willmott. The online Groups are constantly updated with heaps more uploads to feast your eyes and ears on - the Barclaycard Mercury Sessions, regular music downloads, streamed music videos and movie trailers.
There’s also a new Classified Section, allowing users (including local businesses) to promote resources and special offers. There’s already a plethora of tempting deals online, so have a browse and if you’ve got something to sell or share, get posting. We’ve streamlined the search option on members’ profiles to enable easier networking. Previously, there was little option for freelancers, who now have their own section. It’s also possible to search for people by business, company name, industry or even by tag words in their profiles.
Art This year we joined forces with the Royal College of Art to bring you work from a selection of leading UK artists including Tracey Emin, Michael Craig Martin and Norma Ackroyd. We’re also exhibiting new work from artist Dominic Beattie. Influenced by tribal and pop art, he’s cultivated quite an enthusiastic fan base with his eye catching Totems featured in the club window.
Creatives in Residence (CiR)
A new year and a new band of creatives are currently being selected by a panel of esteemed judges. The achievements of last year’s creatives have been We’ve recently launched the first documented in the Creatives in of a series of creative campaigns in Residence Book to be launched conjunction with jotta.com. Part of early this year. Alternatively, the campaign is a competition where head to www.thehospitalclub. entrants have been given the theme com/cir for more information. for the next magazine, participants Thank you to all the members then design artwork inspired by who gave up their time to help this brief. The winner’s work will be shape the programme. We’re exhibited in the club and will featured very excited by the prospects of online and in these very pages CIR 2010.
There’s new layers of editorial content in the shape of our weekly Culture at Large section courtesy of the Hospital Club’s highly discerning Suzanne Clode. It offers a convenient and snappy guide to what’s hot in the capital. For those who need to keep on top of the media world, we have The Morning Briefing - a daily news feed in conjunction with the Press Association. Sectors covered include Broadcast,
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Upcoming events We have more colourful party nights planned in the shape of Back to Ours. Last year we saw a range of themes including ping pong, cabaret, ‘80s revivals and even an acoustic tip, so keep an eye out for forthcoming shindigs. Possibly the most glamorous night on the schedule is the monthly Studio 24 with resident discohead Stewart Who? If you’ve always wanted to meet more club members, then you should drop by our Members Night, hosted by your favourite Membership duo. Creative Capital continues to offer a platform for members to share ideas on the future of the creative industries. Also worth looking out for are events such as the Underground Rebel Bingo, spoken word from One Taste, Comedy, Variety and Cocktail nights. They’re all scheduled for 2010 and offer prime opportunities for fun, entertainment and partying.
next lot of Sessions. The show is co-produced with the illustrious music prize and US3 productions and screens every couple of weeks at 12:15am. It’s already featured amazing performances by Florence and the Machine and Mr Hudson.
I’ll use my profile for more than just booking into all of the wonderful events. I’m going to take advantage of the incredibly easy-to-use uploading facilities to make my profile the talk of the Club with lots of dynamic media attached to it.
Films and screenings
I think it’s time that I followed the Hospital Club on Twitter and Facebook, after all I am a social network deviant and I live for information!
As you know, last November we screened extra films on Monday nights. In a nod to the forthcoming awards season, we’re going to continue this trend and screen two possible prize winners every Monday, the first at 6:30pm and the next at 9pm. We’ll get the ball rolling with ‘Up in the Air’ and ‘Precious’. To avoid last minute changes to our schedule, we’ll no longer list screenings in the magazine. Instead, we’ll create a monthly film calendar to be viewed or downloaded on the website.
Music Sessions
With the over indulgence of Christmas a hazy memory, it’s time for the New Year resolutions! Could we be as bold as to suggest a few?
One of the hottest nights in the Club looks particularly promising this year with a range of great acts in the pipeline. These gigs can be now relived on Channel 4’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize Sessions, but in case you’ve missed our debut, there’s still a chance to catch up on 4OD or simply make sure you’ve booked in to the
I hereby will join a minimum of two groups on the Hospital Club social network; this will allow me to not only to have a portal/ soap box to communicate with other members, it will also make me privy to those last minute updates that keep me one step ahead of the game.
see www.twitter.com/ TheHospitalClub or http://tinyurl.com/yfklws7 We will soon be launching the next Questionnaire and want to hear any gripes or ideas for improvements that you may have; or if you simply want to shower us with praise, then we’d love to hear that too! Finally, congratulations to all our website competition winners. There are far too many to name, but you know who you. A big, drunken shout also goes out to those who won the cocktail competitions and have seen their creations grace our trusty Hospital Club drinks menu. Perhaps 2010 could be the year to have a drink named after you!
Marketa and Oliver Membership
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Can’t spot yourself in one of these birthday shots? Well, we didn’t have space for everyone but all the pictures from the night are online. Just head to the Party Group on thehospitalclub.com
Boogie NightS 29
a >a
>b
Amiram Bukowski Company
“B-612 UK” Industry
Film Industry But come on, what do you actually do?
I mainly write and direct my own projects and do camera-work and visual effects for other productions. I also teach Digital Filmmaking at a private film school in east London. What projects are you currently working on?
I’m currently trying to raise funds for a short film I wrote called “Soul Mate”. It is a dark love story of a man whose love for his wife is so great, so unconditional, that when he discovers he has cancer, he devises a plan to make her hate him so that she will leave him and never have to live with the pain of seeing him die. Are there any people you’d like to collaborate with?
I love working with people who think visually and love
Karen Welman
b
Company
experimenting with form and content. I use sound as a strong storytelling tool and hence collaborating with like minded greats such as Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Woody Allen, and David Lynch.
The best one of course - Design and Branding
SAB Miller, Unilever, Cadbury, Green and Black’s - to name but a few. From the Weston dynasty to Woolworths in South Africa, for us it’s all about the creative opportunity.
But come on, what do you actually do?
Are there any people you’d like to collaborate with?
Pearlfisher Industry
What’s your ultimate, “Don’t miss” in London?
I thought that I would get someone else to fill this one in here’s their response.... “Karen is totally hands on to the business and is never happier than when working on a project, designing or creating a new product innovation. Karen is a do-er, an incredible networker always ready for the next challenge.”
Greenwich Market in the summer time; having a port at Gordon’s wine bar on a cold December evening; a romantic dinner at ‘Le Gothique’ French restaurant, located inside the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building in Wandsworth; live concerts in Hyde Park; the annual ‘photographer of the year’ exhibition at the Natural History Museum.
What projects are you currently working on?
We currently work with, Jamie Oliver, NUDE, The Coca Cola Company, Crabtree and Evelyn,
What’s your porn star name (pets first name and your mothers’ maiden name)?
“Boner”, which is also what I always wanted to call my dog… Website: http://www.flyingvertigo. com, http://www.imdb.com/name/ nm3300671/
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Any of the top people in all industries that are brave enough to disrupt category normalities and are successful for that reason What’s your ultimate, “ Don’t miss “ in London?
I hate missing anything! The Martini Expresso in the Hospital Club goes down a treat. What’s your porn star name
Silky Horne Website www.pearlfisher.com www.37degrees.com
c
c >c
Kwame Knight Company
Accelerate Productions Ltd- Mr K. Knight – Choreographer & Creative Director. Industry
d
Tonic Music Ltd Industry
What’s your ultimate “Don’t Miss” in London?
But come on, what do you actually do?
What’s your porn star name
Just got back from Romania, working with a new Universal Music artist on her music video; then putting together an Adidas fashion dance show related to the London 2012 Olympics.
Company
I would love to work with Prince
At the moment a night called ‘Jet Black’ at The Den. Starts at 3am on Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat and even Sun. What a blast they have- snake charmers, fire artists, pole dancers, aerial performers, dancers on the bar. It’s like Las Vegas in London.
What projects are you currently working on?
Susan Stone
Are there any people you’d love to collaborate with?
Live Entertainment Specialist- providing the finest choreographers, dancers, models and specialist acts for Film, TV, Music video, fashion & Live events.
Yes, I know it’s hard to believe but I get to deal with talented people everyday.
>d
Music Supervision & Curation But come on, what do you actually do?
I run a creative music agency of music supervisors and inspired composers…but if we were in high school we’d be the music nerds! We also host a record club, run a music blog and attended approximately 643 gigs last year. We work alongside our clients early in the project to create the most authentic musical soundtracks.
Mother’s maiden name is Knight and I’ve never had a pet, so I guess I’d be The Knight. Website: www.accelerateproductions.co.uk
What projects are you currently working on?
We’ve just started consulting on ‘To Have & To Hold’ by goosepimple.co.uk. It’s a film on the history of vinyl. I’ve also just finished supervising a great Polish film & soundtrack, ‘Blind Date’.
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We’ve just wrapped the gorgeous O2 Priority campaign, featuring artists like Tom Jones and Florence & The Machine on screen. Are there any people you’d love to collaborate with?
My dream is to work with a brand to design their entire music strategy for in-store music, advertising, events, content and digital. What’s your ultimate “Don’t Miss” in London?
London is all about experiences. Some that really stands out are the Prohibition & Blitz parties held in the Arches in EC2. The nights involve the finest attire to suit the era - cocktails in tea cups, roulette tables, B&W films on projectors and fabulous music from some hand-picked bands & DJ’s. What’s your porn star name Fluffy Shepherd. Website: www.tonic.fm
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Precious
Ponyo
Director: Lee Daniels Starring: Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, Lenny Kravitz, Mo’Nique USA / 2009 / 110 min / Icon Genre: Drama
A critical hit at this year’s London Film Festival, Precious is a story from the point of view of a beaten down and abused girl, Claireece Precious Jones. Growing up in Harlem, illiterate, over weight and suffering sexual abuse from her parents, she lives in a fantasy world of imagination and tries to get her life back on track through education for the sake of her children.
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Director: Hayao Miyazaki Cast: Yuria Nara,Hiroki Doi Japan / 2009 / 101 min / Optimum Genre: Animation
Ponyo the tiny mermaid fish wants to become a real girl, and makes befriends a human boy called Sousuke when she gets washed up on the shore. Sousuke vows to protect her forever and help her fulfil her dream. Awww! Aquatic Anime adventure from Japanese cartoonists Studio Ghibli.
Creative Capital Creative Capital is a monthly meeting of the minds where experts are brought in to discuss hot button topics of today ranging from media and business to design and its social impact. Recent subjects have included entrepreneurship, the film industry and philanthropy.
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Up in the Air
January
Members’ Events Highlights
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Branchage Film Surgery
Does your short film need emergency first aid attention? Or perhaps you are feeling a little queasy about film distribution? If so, have your short film examined by film industry specialists at Branchage’s Film Surgery, delivered in association with independent film makers network Shooting People. Put your film on the operating table to get hands-on life saving counsel.
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Director: Jason Reitman Starring: George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga USA / 2009 / 109 min / Paramount Genre: Comedy / Drama
Corporate downsizing. It’s the flavour of the month, or rather the last year or so. Ryan Bingham is the down-sizer, which of course is a tactful way of saying his job is to travel around the country firing people. He’s especially talented at pretending to care and letting people down easy. But his cherished life on the road looks to be threatened by a new employee who sees him as expendable. Ah, the sweet irony! Can he survive the chop, and will he learn his lesson?
Quiz Night Food & Wine Special Our monthly Quiz Night takes on a one-off epicurean theme. Do you know your claret from your Beaujolais? Do you have a keen nose for cheese? What’s your favourite flavour Monster Munch? Can a man live on just beans on toast? Come along and give your taste buds a workout.
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February
1
Invictus Director: Clint Eastwood Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon
highligh 8 17 USA / 2009 / 134 min / Warner Bros Genre: Biography / Drama
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Invictus focuses on Nelson Mandella’s challenging first term as president of South Africa, still divided by the aftermath of Apartheid. After 27 years in prison, Mandella (played by the ever-charismatic Morgan Freeman) is released and is elected president. He attempts to use the 1995 Rugby World Cup to bring the people of South Africa together to support a common cause with the help of the national team’s captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon).
Comedy Night
We’ve brought you some of the sharpest comics on the comedy circuit, with some of the highlights of the Edinburgh fringe. Edgy laughs came from likes of Andrew Lawrence, Pete Johannson and Jack Whitehall and there’s plenty more where that came from. Make sure you arrive late for the best seats of the house – the dreaded front row. Hecklers beware.
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Lovely Bones
Director: Michael Moore
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Michael Moore
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz
USA / 2009 / 127 min / Paramount
USA / 2009 / 135 min / Paramount
Genre: Documentary
Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Horror
Self proclaimed saviour of America Michael Moore is at it again, this time homing in on capitalism in all its greedy excessive glory. Those darned fat cats with their devil may care attitude and the causes of the financial crisis of recent years are his bug bears this time around, having dealt some crushing blows with previous documentaries Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling For Columbine. Moore chases down the men in suits for some answers.
Peter Jackson’s back, let’s hear a big cheer from Middle Earth! A little girl is murdered in 1970’s suburban Pennsylvania and perched up high on heaven she looks over her family and the killer responsible. She’s trying to get someone to discover her body and solve the crime, but in the meantime her family are going through some trying times and anguish, in this grim tale of redemption from beyond the grave.
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Music Sessions Working with our friends at the Barclaycard Mercury Prize, we’ll continue to bring you a series of exclusive live sessions, with some of the most exciting names in music. We’ve been blown away with performances from the likes of Florence & The Machine, Roots Manuva, Golden Silvers and The XX. You can check out video highlights on our website and expect more innovative musical excellence on a monthly basis.
Back To Ours with Frog Morris Back To Ours is our monthly artistic and performance themed party. In February we’ll be profiling Frog Morris. Previously of Shunt and performances at Tate, Frog specialises in Mexican wrestling action painting. This is all you need to know.
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Members’ Events Highlights
March
1
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Director: Niels Arden Oplev Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace Sweden / 2009 / 152 min / Momentum Genre: Thriller / Mystery
hts5 hig In 2008 Swedish crime novelist Stieg Larsson was the second biggest selling writer in the world. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is based on the first part of his best selling Millennium trilogy, published after his death in 2004. A journalist investigating the family of a wealthy Swedish family slips into the role of a detective investigating the unsolved death of a young girl, and along the way acquires the assistance of a rebellious young female punk computer hacker. Their progress is hindered when mysterious and influential malcontents insist that the past should stay hidden.
Faber & Faber ‘Principles of Screenwriting’ Principles of Screenwriting is a oneday course from the Faber Academy. Led by an experienced Script Editor and commissioner participants will address the writing of screenplays by examining three approaches: Inspirational: where students will discuss and explore the potential of movies; Practical: the ‘how to’ of writing and developing a screenplay; and
Pragmatic: the realities of the industry and guide to Swimming with Sharks.
Principles of Screenwriting will be a short intensive course aimed at individuals who have written, or are writing a screenplay, and wish to learn some of the fundamental steps behind bringing their seed of an idea to fruition.
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Crazy Heart
Director: Jeff Bridges
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Collin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal USA / 2009 / 112 min / Fox Genre: Drama
Fans of The Wrestler will find plenty to enjoy in this downbeat tale of an old grizzled country singer whose years on the road, hard drinking and reckless lovin’, have taken their toll. Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) opens his heart to Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who wants to unfurl this weary old dog’s history and get his show back on the road. Yee haw!
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Green Zone Director: Paul Greengrass Cast: Jeff Bridges, Collin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal USA / 2009 / 112 min / Fox Genre: Drama
Bourne trilogy chums director Paul Greengrass and his main leading man Matt Damon reunited once more for this topical portrayal of Iraq’s military Green Zone and the search for the elusive Weapons of Mass Destruction. Roy Miller (Damon) assists the CIA in their quest for proof of WMD’s. But now he’s fed up with following orders and, as the popular phrase goes, he’s gone rogue! Uncovering the truth and the agenda behind dubious intelligence reports, this one man A-Team is on a mission to find the truth before the very grumpy powers that be catch up and send him to bed with no dinner.
Members Drinks
If you’ve always wanted to meet more of your fellow Hospital Club members then this is the night for you; hosted by your favourite Membership duo with assistance from a very special guest compere. There‘ll be some fun and games; whether you are looking for work collaborations or a more personal connection, this is the evening for you.
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Studio 24
Studio 24 continues to create a buzz amongst the clubbing cognoscenti. Could it be the fact that it’s a magnet for the beautiful, slightly wild and quirky people? Is it the unbeatable mix of stomping disco, high-NRG and Motown classics? For most, it’s the chance to show a leg, let your hair down and dance to uplifting grooves. With a mix of A-list glitterati to the avant garde freaks, this is an unmissable mixed grill of fun.
London
Speed dates
January
February
March
4-5 Incandescence – ‘Dreams Are Real As Long As They Exist’ Red Gate Gallery, London.
12 - 17 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter Trafalgar Studios Theatre
Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa British Museum
Mr Pinter sadly passed away in 2008, but that didn’t prevent the hugely influential playwright from being included in this year’s Hospital Club 100. The Caretaker was Pinter’s first big hit back in the fourties. Davies the down-and-out is taken in by two strangers into a dilapidated London flat, but may have taken on more than he bargained for.
Dream on, dreamer. ‘Incandescence’ is an installation by video artists Sam Sutcliffe and Marlon Diamond with contributions by folks from all walks of life, in the form of photos, videos, and audio. The exhibition aims to ‘explore identity, showing a pure yet ambiguous facet of who people are without limitations’. As they say, you’ve got to have a dream. If you don’t, how are you gonna have a dream come true?
www.trafalgar-studios.co.uk
16 The Brit Awards 2010
www.redgategallerylondon.co.uk
The fickle world of pop burps up another Brit Awards, celebrating the magical world of synchronized dancing, miming karaoke acts and assorted glitz, glitter and razzamatazz. The recording industry’s big annual knees-up is consistently entertaining as we find out which ex-X Factor contestant will win big, and is there anyone left worth awarding the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award? After all, The Boomtown Rats have already had theirs. Where do we go from there? King Cowell will no doubt be sitting upon his golden throne frowning and deeming the worthy with his magic wand of stardust.
til 17 La Clique Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London
La Clique, ce’st chic. You may’ve enjoyed several members of the La Clique collective performing at The Hospital Club at recent events, and been astounded, amazed and possibly aroused. The multi talented performers of the jaw-dropping variety continue their run at the Roundhouse throughout January… www.lacliquelondon.com
13-17 London Art Fair Business Design Centre Islington
21 The BAFTAs
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts annual film awards ceremony, celebrating supreme awesomeness on the big screen and small screen alike. Will your favourite flick be given oodles of kudos? Certainly this year there’ve been quite an embarrassment of riches in Hollywood and some cracking UK films too.
Modern British and Contemporary art show for collectors and first timers buyers alike, plus installations from up and coming artists and several European galleries, practice your head tilt and chin stroke then get your art fix here in January.
19-23 London Fashion Week
www.londonartfair.co.uk
13-31 Jan London International Mime Festival
According to fashion designer Alice Temperley the London girl is the epitome of cool right now. Miss Moss urges the world to ‘get the London look’, presumably not meaning the bedraggled pale rain soaked faces most of us see crammed into the Tube on the daily commute, rather the high society Martini sipping elite decked out in fabulous frilly colourful things. Yes, colour is back, the youth are not afraid to be expressive and break out the neon. The main venue for the festivities will be Somerset House.
A recent Hospital Club magazine celebrated the many facets of silence, and at the London Mime Festival you can enjoy a wide ranging program of international performers in venues across the city including Barbican, Royal Opera House and the Southbank. Rest assured that the out of work actors dressed as robots outside Covent Garden tube station will (hopefully) be barred. www.mimefest.co.uk
Go and see this important collection of sculpture from 12th- 15th century kingdom of Ife, on loan from the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria. Naturalistic human figures from all ages and social backgrounds who were part of this African influential cultural centre. Sculpted in brass, copper, terracotta and stone, this promises to be an impressive installation. www.britishmuseum.org
9 Love Never Dies Adelphi Theatre
Or Phantom of the Opera 2: The Fairground Revenge. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long awaited musical sequel to the phenomenally successful Phantom of the Opera is heeeeerrrre, and promises to be a spooky gothic thrill. Set ten years after the original, The Phantom is pining for his long lost love Christine and attempts to lure her to his Coney Island fairground and freakshow for a jolly sing-a-long and possibly some dramatic cape-flapping. www.loveneverdies.com
15-16 Social Media Worldforum Europe Olympia, London
What’s going on in the Twittersphere? Have you RT’ed my hashtag and updated my Face in your Book? What the hell is a Twittersphere anyway? If any or none of this makes sense maybe you need to get with the social media branding and build yourself a social network. It’s what your business needs, of course, foolish outdated Luddite! Lean about how to build an online community around your widget manufacturing business with smiley faces, bells and whistles, or you’ll be missing out on…well something important for sure. www.socialmedia-forum.com
11-14 The Affordable Art Fair Battersea Park
Depending on your definition of the word ‘affordable’ (in this case it’s £3000 and under, which is frankly not enough to feed the cat, dear boy) this is a chance to pick up some arty bargain paintings, sculpture, photography and prints. They’ve got activities and workshops too, so you can learn how to be an artist in just a couple of hours (possibly) and have a good chance of scooping the next Turner prize. www.affordableartfair.com
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Concise Calendar
Monday
04
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
01
02
CLUB CLOSED
CLUB CLOSED
05
06
07
08
09
12
13
14
15
16
Poker Night 7pm (FR) Branchage Film Surgery 6.30pm (SR)
Quiz Night - Food & Wine Special 8pm (GR)
20
21
22
23
January
Writing Salon 7.30pm (L)
11
18
19
Creative Capital 7pm (GR)
25
26
27
28
February
Book Club 7.30pm (L)
02
Writing Salon 7.30pm (L)
Quiz Night 8pm (GR)
08
09
10
Comedy Night 7pm (FF)
Poker Night 7pm (GR)
16
17
04
03
23
Studio 24 9pm (ML)
05
06
11
12
13
18
19
20
24
Back to Ours: Frog Morris 8pm (ML)
25
26
Book Club 7.30pm (L)
01
March
15
22
27 Studio 24 9pm (ML)
02
03
04
Writing Salon 7.30pm (L)
08
30
Members Drinks 7pm (GR)
Creative Capital 7pm (GR)
22
29
One Taste 7pm (FF)
01
15
Back to Ours 8pm (ML)
05
06
Faber & Faber ‘Principles of Screenwriting 10am-6pm (L)
09
10
Quiz Night 8pm (GR)
Poker Night 7pm (GR)
16
17
18
Creative Capital 7pm (GR)
Members Drinks 7pm (GR)
24
25
23
11
12
13
Back to Ours 8pm (ML)
19
20
26
27 Studio 24 9pm (ML)
28
31
29
30
Book Club 7.30pm (L)
Variety Night 7pm (FF)
Members Event (SR) Screening Room (TV) Studio (ML) Martini Lounge (FR) Forest Room (GR) Games Room (BB) Bellini Bar (G) Gallery (CR) Club Restaurant (RR) Rocket Room (FF) First Floor (2nd) Second Floor (L) Library
Most Members events can be booked one month in advance and screenings two weeks in advance. To book or to see what screenings are coming up visit thehospitalclub.com and check out our monthly film calendar, now online. Free admission.
If you have to cancel your booking please use the online booking system so that another member can take your place. 37