Artwork courtesy of Bob and Roberta Smith, 2007
Rose Shillito finds a cool alternative to the blockbuster show and the commercial gallery in a cavernous temporary space in Southwark.
In an up-and-coming area of Southwark just a stone’s throw from Waterloo station, some of the world’s hottest artists are giving London’s property developers a few lessons in regeneration.
An exciting new art exhibition called Climate of Change has opened in a gutted former office block and looks set to cause more than a few ripples in the global debates on the environment, poverty in Africa and the abuses of unbridled capitalism.
The show is an open submissions event that provides a platform for artists across all disciplines to have their say on global problems such as climate change. Running until December 31 2007, it features everything from art and video installations to sculptures and performance art - and even bicycle-powered (off-grid) live events.
© Cedric Christie. Courtesy Climate of Change
Refreshingly low-tech and low-spec - the perfect antidote to all those flashy West End and Southbank galleries - the 20,000 sq ft shell of cavernous space that has been donated by property developers Northstar 2000, twists and turns to reveal a show full of surprises.
One of the first things that strikes the visitor is that the majority of the artworks are not labelled, with neither the name of the artist nor the title of the work.
The organisers, Artists Studio Company (ASC) - a London-based arts charity set up in 1993 to promote the arts and provide affordable studio space - felt that the artists taking part should be presented as a kind of collective where individual egos have been sacrificed for the greater good.
© Elizabeth Manchester. Courtesy Climate of Change
In this atmosphere of anonymity it’s easier to relate to all the artworks in the same way - there are no preconceptions here that a famous artist has produced a better piece of work. Also, you think less about the artist that created it and more about the artwork itself. All that’s left is a democratic voice, the simple desire of one human being to communicate with another.
Big names are taking part, though, and it’s good fun to try to spot the contributions from established Young British Artists such as Sarah Lucas, Fiona Banner and Alexis Harding, themselves no strangers to controversy. Peter Blake and Gavin Turk are also expected to submit works in the next few days, too.
In the true spirit of democracy, some artists have chosen to reveal themselves - and in doing so make us think about the value of identity in a commercial world. One artist, Jenny Jones, asks us to ‘Re-use me’ by taking one of her remaindered published Women’s Diaries from 2003 in which her work was featured.
© Mark Hammond. Courtesy Climate of Change
By doing so, she’s asking to be accepted back into circulation after having time off for bringing up her child. The theme of recycling and regeneration becomes all the more pertinent when applied to people and human potential, we all need to be useful and wanted.
Other works include those constructed from found objects, recycled waste and household detritus. One of the most striking of these is what looks like a waste pipe covered in silver foil, which can be seen snaking its way all over the ceiling of the upper gallery.
When you eventually find the end of this pipe instead of sewerage or polluted air coming out of it, you discover a beautiful gush of clean blue water, complete with leaping fishes, made from hundreds of recycled plastic water bottles.
© Marq Kearey. Courtesy Climate of Change
Another impressive piece is a smart-looking wall-mounted box frame containing a pristine Shell garage receipt. Both the fact that it’s from Shell and the junk-food purchases listed on it - Aero, Ribena and Wheat Crunchies - speaks volumes about impact of big business and consumerism on our everyday lives.
Live events due to take place include Exploding Cinema on Friday December 16 and Big Green Ball, organised by festival environmentalists Big Green Gathering, on Saturday December 8.
When I casually remarked to a fellow visitor that the opening show had been a great success, she asked me how I defined success. This sums up the essence of the show for me and the role of art itself: ordinary people questioning the things that are all too easily taken for granted, be it the definition of success or the very survival of the human race and our planet’s fragile ecosystem.
£ Sophy Ashton. Courtesy Climate of Change
Climate of Change is at 235-241 Union Street, London SE1 OLR, open daily 11am-5pm until December 31 2007. For further information, visit www.climateofchange.org.uk
