bruvs, mates, geezers

Okay codeblooded, here in the UK. You’kay?

(my house)

Happy 2007 everyone. I’m spending the beginning of this pointy new year in London, doing a term abroad at Central Saint Martins College of Art and design, in the Fine Arts Program. Tune in here for hopefully somewhat regular updates in lieu of mass emails.

7 Redmans Road
11 Foundry Place
Tower Hamlets
E1 3BY, London
UK

home phone: 02077801574
(mobile to come)
Skype: bennett4senate

The arrival was a bit lumpy. Well, after the plane ride. Got a sweet upgrade to the upstairs lounge. You know the ads with the flat beds that let you sleep on the plane? Yeah, that. I felt kind of uncomfortable at first, considering the quality of service. And free booze, I felt out of place. But luxury isn’t that hard to get used to.
Guess my timing was right, I hear that British Airways workers are about to go on strike, hopefully they’ll get it together in time for my return flight.

Both the hostels I started at were over in the west end of London, in Kensington. Which I later learned is kind of the posh side of things. London seems pretty sprawling, not quite as dense as New York can feel, but without a car, I imagine my radius of travel will probably be largely the same. According to the map, I live about 3.5 miles east of my school. So class is about the farthest west I’ll generally be traveling.

My pre-trip research and questioning of Londoners paid off in terms of living. From what I understand the East End of London has been historically poor and packed with immigrants from day one, and also got bombed out a bunch during some of those world wars. The population right around here is largely Islamic, I think Pakistani? I get confused. The majority of immigrants are from West India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Much like New York, it seems that the artists and students slowly move farther away from the city center, paving the way for gentrification and ever-raising property values. I’m in Whitechapel, basically straight East of downtown, and other students live farther North in Hackney and Camden, as well as South in Brixton (aka ‘Brixie’). It shuts down around here at night, but it feels safe, and is quieter and more neighborhood-y that right downtown. But this is where the burgeoning art scene is at, the grimey playland of edgy, hip young art folk. Or at least thats what I keep telling myself.

(at my local tube stop, Bethnal Green. Yay!)

right at home.

I’m just off Mile End Road, a main 4-lane thoroughfare, not particularly beautiful or quaint. Lots of fake KFCs and a street fair every day providing any manner of cheap bathroom products, fruit, Bollywood movies, and mobile phones. But a little bit farther towards downtown you’ve got Bricklane which is a million curry restaurants on one street all vying for your attention, and Hackney’s got all the little new art galleries. And the 25 bus stops right out front and takes me straight to school.

A lot of the housing looks like this:

60s and 70s huge apartment complexes, yuk.

I’m on the top floor of this building:

It’s a nice modern apartment, and besides the lack of internet or phone service at the moment (coming back soon), it has big southern facing windows and one of those balconies, and on the days that aren’t completely clouded over (i.e. rarely), we get great light all day long right into the dining/living room.

For roommates we got Chris, the Belgian-raised physics student, 24. He and his sister own the place. But they just bought it before we all moved in, so there’s things to fix, housewares to buy etc. Chris is a bit quiet, and when you talk to him he makes this face where his eyebrow goes all nuts like you’re saying the craziest most dumbfounding shit in the world, and he purses his lips and stares at you. Kind of weirds you out a first, but you get used to it, cause he always does it.
Pierre is a 21 year old French student, doing an internship at a bank for a few months.
Then you got Mario, 24 year old Austrian masters student studying interactive media at Ravensbourne, another college that I had looked into. He’s tech savvy, helped me figure out that I needed a specific DNS in order to use the wireless at The Hayfield, this pub down the street that has been my refuge since it has free internet.
Everyone is cheery, easy-going, all good so far.

Feels kind of strange to be back in school already.

After the study abroad orientation day, I realized that I won’t likely see most of those people ever again, as the Fine Arts (me) and Fashion programs are in a different building from the other programs, and I’m only over at the main spot once a week for the seminar that comprises my only scheduled ‘class’ each week.
The first Monday was enough beurocracy (and stairs) for two months. Got switched from another program (“3D,” sculpture and such) into the one I had anticipated being in (“4D,” media art), went to a bunch of meetings, got a tour around the building, filled out forms, etc. We hit a nearby pub for a well needed pint(s) at the end of all that, and Jack, Ralph, and Dan confirmed what I had come to understand about the course: besides the weekly seminar, there are no classes. Basically you work on projects, at your own pace, with the occasional meeting with your tutor and group critique with your tutor group. And though the school makes the distinctions of 2D, 3D and 4D, you can basically work in whatever medium you want. You just have to have something good to show at the end of the term

So, its totally up to me to schedule my own work, and come up with my own ideas. No assignments, just like the ‘real world.’ Sounds fun. Daunting but fun. The faculty just encouraged us to come in every day (as you would normally in any other school) and just work on something, at least see who else is in the studio (4D has a big shared space). I’ve just been spending a lot of time trying to get to know what resources are available to me, how to get my hands on A/V equipment, etc.
I spend today and yesterday out in Epping Forest (like a 35 minute ride on the underground) out in the ‘burbs, doing some recordings of birds, nature, and myself. We have this Group Curatorial Project in 2 weeks, but more on that laters.

The program is small so I have met a lot of people already. I found the guys who ride track bikes, which is good, I have to get myself a ride soon. Then I can really start getting to know the city. Rob and Ruth live like 5 minutes from me just below Bethnal Green, with 4 other people, so I’ve got some cool neighbors. Josh and Rich took me to an abandoned building near college that some kids have been squatting in for about a month. They had a huge art show this weekend, which people were setting up for when I was there, but by the time I got there on Saturday night it was so packed that they weren’t letting anyone in. Squat culture seems like a more viable option in London than in New York. Apparently, as long as you don’t do damage breaking into the place (i.e. find it unlocked) you can put your own locks on it, set up residence, post some sort of ‘section 6’ notice, and you’re good to go, until the landowner or police really make a fuss and kick you out.
Josh lives in a kind of squat-like situation himself; an industrial/commercial space in Hackney Wick (think Bushwick, you know, all industrial, nuzzled between the dirty canal and the train bridge) that’s going to be destroyed when the Olympics come to town, so they paid basically nothing to the landlord, and make as much noise as they want. They had a huge party on Friday, complete with Ralph and his twin brother playing some super excellent, slow sludgy improvised stoner metal. Then a bunch of DJs after that. (They had good records but none of them could mix.) It was a great time, turned real sweaty and beer-soaked concrete floors peeing-behind-the-dumpster in the parking lot walk-home-at-5:30am cause there’s no bus or train nearby kind of affair. Just the introduction to the art school social scene I needed.

(Trafalgar Square! Wow!)

I kind of skipped the part where I do tourist-y London and instead got straight down to living and studying (i.e. ‘oh look, there’s London bridge the grocery store!’). But to be fair I walked by the Tower of London, over the Millenium Footbridge to the Tate Modern (which is fantastic, by the way. I had no idea it was only 6 years old!), through Trafalgar square (at night), outside the British Museum for a sec, into the ICA and a bunch of local galleries, and past like a million beautiful old buildings every day. And according to the plaque, famous sea captain and world circumnavigator James Cook (New Zeland, Pacific Coast, India) used to live right near me.
But yeah I’ve got to hit up all the museums and other things, just taking my time.

Things I have already leaned:
1. Don’t tip in pubs or bars, and only in restaurants if they haven’t already included a service charge. I would almost feel good about saving money, except the exchange rate is so crappy.
2. The whole driving on the other side of the street is confusing as hell, and has nearly killed me.
3. A “day planner” is a “diary.” So I’m not a sissy, I have shit to do.
4. Light switches are also reversed.
5. You can drink in public (basically), including on the bus, especially when surrounded by your posse of drunk friends.

"its not you girl, its me."

'til later everyone. Oh yeah, and the weather is crap.