Shuffle @ Finsbury Town Hall

On Saturday I went to Finsbury Town Hall to see a very interesting, and unique performance by a group of musicians collaborating with Christian Marclay. It was a celebration to launch the publication of his new work, Shuffle.

Shuffle involved a large group of graphic designers sourcing and photographing images on written music from around the work, and culminated in Saturday's launch performance which used these notes in order to create a new and totally random piece of music. I use the word music in a loose way. Really the effect was a very peculiar, and loud, and enduring, cacophany of noise. When trumpet, double-bass, piano, trombone, theramin, flute and more conjoin in a gallimaufry of noise, the effect is quite striking. Especially to the ear drum. As the performance continued, and the musical cards were shuffled and swapped, my interest was drawn to the actual audience: Was this an experiment in viewing capacity and audience behaviour rather than music? One woman was doing her hair, another was playing with her mobile, but most of the remainder were - although slightly fidgety - attempting to look (or perhaps they really were) enthralled by the piece.

My non-artsy boyfriend (brought along under forbearance) was not so difficult to read: He found the experience quite hilarious for the first 5 minutes, and then utterly tedious for the remaining 55. And I have to admit that - spontaneously unique and exciting as it was - we all made our escape in the interval between the 1st and 2nd set. I do wonder how many people made it back out of the bar and into the theatre for the remaining hour...

TranSylvania @ The Renoir Cinema

TranSylvania, a film distributed by locally based Peccadillo Pictures Ltd, opens this Friday at the Renoir Cinema in the Brunswick Centre. I'm totally sold on the blurb and director's intro, below, so plan to be there at the ready with my bucket of popcorn and dancing shoes!

And I thought I'd include a couple of Brunswick pics (curtesy of the Brunswick Centre), just in case you've been on a desert island and haven't seen it since the grand facelift...

After her lover is deported to his home country of Romania, Zingarina flees France with her friend Marie in order to find him. During a surrealistic pagan festival devoted to Herod in a small Romanian town, Zingarina is finally reunited with the man she loves. However, nothing is as it seems amidst the confetti and revelry. In the madness, the noise, the music and the inebriation of the celebrations, she learns that she is alone in the world. With no bearings, no mooring, she cuts herself loose from all connections and propels herself headlong into the Transylvanian countryside, to the very edge of sanity and back, and meets a man on her journey who, also without borders nor house, decides to give Zingarina a home.

A Word from the Director – Tony Gatlif
Ever since I was a child, chance has often made me a spectator of events tied to exodus, political, economic and racial expropriation. I’ve seen families forced to leave their land and their countries in haste: the departure of the Pieds Noirs from Algeria, Algerian immigrants, Gypsies from Jaen in Andalucia or from Adriani in Transylvania after the progrom in their village.
During a recent trip to Transylvania I, once again, witnessed the pain of expropriation and exodus in the peaceful ancestral village of Rosia Montana. Western engineers and geologists had discovered a gold mine under the village and immediately a company, directed by foreign capital, despoiled the inhabitants of the village, buying the houses through preemption and leaving the occupants homeless.

In writing this script about a young Romanian musician who had emigrated to France, I was inspired by real events. The story was of Florin who, only through his talent as a violinist, was able to keep his family alive. Before long, however, Florin was torn away from the young Frenchwoman whom he loved in Paris and found himself expelled from the country.
The love story of the prodigious violinist Florin fused with the story of Rosia Montana and its cursed gold mine to inspire the script for my new film, TRANSYLVANIA.

“AN EXTENDED EXPLORATION OF ROMANY GYPSY CULTURE AND MUSIC… BE READY TO DANCE” DAZED & CONFUSED

“IF YOU ONLY SEE ONE INTERNATIONAL FILM THIS YEAR, TRANSYLVANIA SHOULD BE IT”MYVILLAGE.COM LONDON

Internship Position @ CreateKX

Intern: Events

Our Events Internship will provide practical training and experience in programming and coordinating a diverse range of events: Skills and business development seminars, creative networking events, high profile advocacy events and creative showcasing. This position is ideal for people interested in event development and management, particularly within the creative and cultural sector.

Key areas of responsibility

• Assist with planning, coordinating and implementing events; including skills development workshops, seminars, networking events, and events within the CreateKX remit of the Arrivals programme

• Assist with monitoring and evaluation of events

• Provide clerical and office support, including mailings, copying, telephone, and collating materials in support of the events programme.

• Updating Website

• Researching and assisting the creation and distribution of the CreateKX newsletter

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Experience and a proven track record in

• General administration

• Skills in Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, Powerpoint & Outlook. Website editing experience (desirable)

• Events co-ordination experience (desirable)

Knowledge/Skills/Attributes

• Excellent communication skills, speaking and written

• Self-motivated, with a practical, hands-on ”can do” approach

• Commitment to equality and diversity

• Interest in regeneration and the creative economy

• Interest in the creative and cultural sector in London

Term of appointment: 3 months, at 2 days per week – to start early September. Please note that, due to the nature of event work, you will also be required to work a number of evenings.
Salary: We offer no salary for this post, although lunch and travel expenses (zones 1-4) will be covered.
Location: CreateKX, the British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

How to apply

Applications should be sent by e-mail to sian.james@bl.uk, or in hard copy to the above address, attaching a c.v. and letter of application explaining how you meet the requirements of the job.

Closing date: Thursday 9th August 2007.

Picture perfect

The CreateKX website is currently being redeveloped by the genius minds at Atticmedia. I've had a sneak preview, and it looks pretty impressive already. Our designer, Pete is after images of KX city/landscapes to incoporate into the sight. Has anyone got suggestions of places to snap, or heights to get a great view of the area from?

A county fair and a bit of history

The KX County Fair was lots of fun...
on a day when the rain stayed away and the sun shone. I took my 21 year old cousin along, who was less interested unfortunately - although she was temporarily distracted by a delicious cream puff from the Chinese food stall. We were also both very impressed with the Coram Fields' goat, who was quite undisturbed by the variety of bands and MCs on the nearby sound system.

Last night I was back in the same area, visiting the new exhibition at the Foundling Museum. The museum commemorates the first hospital established for abandoned children. Foundling Lives. The exhibition explores the lives of children who were cared for by the hospital over several generations. To make the exhibition all the more personal, I met a very interesting gentleman called Ted who was a foundling graduate himself. His story, and those of the other children exhibited on the walls, illustrated how attitudes to child welfare have changed over time. I'd recommend a trip down to the Foundling - it was also London's first public art gallery, and offers a wealth of British art including Hogarth, Gainsborough and Reynolds, as well as a fascinating insight into Britain's social history.

COMPETITION COMPETITION COMPETITION

Cross Section Magazine and CiF have launched a competition to co-incide with the Arrivals festival and the opening of St. Pancras International. Read on for more info:

PICTURE THIS
postcard competition

An invitation to everyone living, working and studying in the King’s Cross neighbourhood (Camden or Islington) to design a postcard portraying

KING’S CROSS / ST PANCRAS
PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE

Cross Section Magazine and Communities in Focus are hosting the competition as part of ‘Arrivals‘, an exciting events programme taking place in November to celebrate the opening of St Pancras International Station and the arrival of Eurostar.

We are looking for high quality and imaginative entries in any 2D format i.e. photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, digital media, or cartoon.

Eight designs will be selected by a panel of arts professionals including the artist Richard Wentworth and the director of Camden Art Centre Jenni Lomax. These will then be reproduced as high quality postcards, presented together within a specially designed folder … yours could be one of them! 2,500 commemorative packs will be produced for distribution, and an exhibition displaying the eight winning designs alongside other selected artworks will take place during the Arrivals event.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Artwork/photographs should be no larger than A4
Digital images will need to be CMYK, submitted as 300dpi tiff or jpeg files
In addition to the artwork please send in a title for your design, and a short statement about you and your relationship with the King’s Cross / St Pancras area

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS MONDAY AUGUST 27TH 2007

Please send entries marked ‘Picture This’ to Cross Section, 80 Cromer Street, London WC1H 8DR. Enclose an SAE if you wish us to return your original artwork


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
tel: 020 7812 1444
email: catherine@cross-section.org

‘Arrivals’ is produced by Create KX in association with St Pancras International.
‘Picture This’ is funded by Create KX and London Borough of Camden

Sex, Murder and a County Fair in KX

I took advantage of the flukey non-raining weather and walked up to Sadler's Wells on Wednesday to see The Car Man. I took a really nice route past Corams Fields, then Goodenough College and Dickens' House on Calthorpe Road - I felt cultured by osmosis even before I got to the theatre.

The ballet itself was excellent: Very beautiful, but also totally gripping in places - with images of bloody violence spliced with passion and sex. And my boyfriend didn't fall asleep, which is always a great compliment to the performance.

Taking a walk past Coram's Fields reminded me that this is the weekend of the King's Cross County Show, taking place on Saturday from 12-5pm. I can't find a website with listings, so I guess I'll just have to pop down and check it out for myself!

we love local

While I'm on the subject of keeping it local, I must introduce my new obsession: www.welovelocal.com. As everyone in King's Cross knows, this is an area with a whole wealth of great places waiting to be discovered. Our friends at eMomentum, who helped CreateKX go live with their website a few years back, have launched an excellent 'local service reviewing/ social networking + more' site. It's pan-London, but I'm going to concentrate on reviewing services in this area, so I can treat myself to lots of exhibitions, food, wine and shopping all out of selfless love for KX. I wonder if I can expense it....

Evenings Out

At the weekend I ventured up to the Cross Kings for a bit of light entertainment: A friend of a friend of a friend was playing a gig in this relaxed and intimate venue. I felt no guilt as I sipped on my 3rd (ok 4th) alcoholic beverage, knowing this was providing real support to a local independent King's Cross institution.

While I was there I discovered that they hold a whole series of events, from theatre and music to art and performance poetry. Tomorrow, Wednesday 11th, there is: Le Salon des Abandonées hosted by the Hanging Gardener of Babylon
Described as ' abandoned people, performance poetry, music , salacious undertakings, Virtue, Terror, difference, entertainment like no other. Surrender to abandon for an evening.'

Unfortunately I'll be otherwise engaged tomorrow - for reasons I will disclose in a minute (I know all about literary suspense), but I will be following their future calendar of events with interest. I enjoyed my night at the Cross Kings so much that I never made it to the Cally Festival the following afternoon. Let's just say I got a bit overenthusiastic in my support of local, independent institutions. I really regret not getting there as it promised to be a great community celebration - in the sunshine no less. If anyone out there did make it down, please do let me know how it went.

When I undertake the gargantuan task of composing the monthly CreateKX newsletter, I also have the difficult task of choosing the events to which I can go. One of the easiest selections this month was The Car Man - Matthew Bourne's interpretation of the classic Bizet opera Carmen. It's playing at Sadler's Wells over the next few weeks, and I am eagerly awaiting tomorrow night's performance, which I have tickets for. I'll give you a full round-up on Thursday.

Getting to the Heart of KX No.3

Technology triumphed!