A busy week...

D Fuse @ the German Gymnasium

Pathways: King's Cross investigates how we remember and imagine a place and how we document change. Create KX and King's Cross Central commissioned D Fuse to reflect on this process in King's Cross. The group of designers and artists explore the relationship between image and sound. For Pathways they have drawn inspiration from the development underway in the area today as well as through stories and images from the past. Their interesting use of oral history gives the audience a unique and very personal experience of the changes in King's Cross. Its diverse nature is captured by the soundtrack of different voices revealing memories and tales from the past; the old Scala Cinema, now popular music venue, is given a humourous depiction as an old photograph is shown on the transparent screen. Their film of famous King's Cross landmarks taken from still images of old films and photographs is projected on to layers of transparent screen. A mirror image is then shown of the same view but from present time. This crossing of time and the layered visual effect depicts the concept of memory and history itself- as simply a reconstruction of what is rememebered and documented. As a King's Cross resident its fascinating to hear stories from the area, which otherwise would be missing from our understanding of history- Who would have thought Pentonville Road used to be referred to as the river Jordan!
Come and pop in and discover something a bit different about living in King Cross, on show until April 5th, opening times weekend 11am-5pm, Thurs/Fri 12pm - 7.30.

Big Chill House, 257-259 Pentonville Road, King’s Cross, LondonN1 9NL

The shock of summer sun last week meant that the The Big Chill's fun loving crowd all headed out on to their comfy roof balcony last Saturday night. Many a-sipping fruity cocktails whilst trying to convince their goosepimpled arms that this was how March in London IS. That is the great thing about the Big Chill house, its holiday vibe, a care free realm very distant from the grey city streets of King's Cross. Luckily, I ventured indoors in time to hear the amazing Laura J Martin. A very talented flute player who has brought Hip Hop to a different level. Soon to follow were 6ix Toys, a 7 piece funk band currently based and gigging out of Liverpool. Its jazzy beats really worked with the crowd, and their interactive performance enusred the whole room were hanging off every beat. Check out what the house has to offer on: http://www.bigchill.net/house/?site=house

'From Grass Roots To Virtual Worlds', VisitKX @ The Wellcome Collection.

It has been a busy week at CreateKX, with three different events being brought to the creative community of Kings Cross. This seminar looked at communications and the many varied and innovative ways of guaranteeing that your arts organisation/venue stands out in the crowd, particularly when the competition to attract visitors is becoming fiercer then ever. Led by social entrepreneur Jude Habib, founder and Creative Director of Sound Delivery, the very productive morning covered the wide ranging communication techniques available to us today and their essential utility to charities and small organisations. I think it was Jude's interactive approach to the morning's session which ensured we all went away with a practical approach to overcoming a few of our challenges...

1)How do you currently communicate? Websites, Yell.com - funky venues, E-mail existing customers, Advertising, Press Editorial, Leaflets in public places, Social networking sites, Print Marketing.

2)Challenges? Keeping clients, Growing, Content - combining critical interest with commercial viability, Attracting new customers, Footfall - off the beaten track?
Getting local press on board, Saturation of market, Speed of technology development

3)What are the options available to us? Different types of Social Networking: Bebo = for the younger audience, Facebook, mySpace = Music orientated, LinkedIn = Professional, Podcasts, Twitter, Useful approaches to Twitter; following Twitter/Blog's relevant to your work, responding to groups/ organisations who use Twitter in your local area and region in order to communicate with your target audience.