[spectre] Mezzo moderno,mezzo distrutto 18-21 November 2009

[larisa blazic]

Gillett Square Art Commissions 2009, 
Gillett Square, Dalston, London, N16 8JN

18-21 November 2009, 5pm-1am

http://mezzodistrutto.e-w-n-s.net/

The installation will be the first major video projection to take place in Gillett Square and will be shown on a vast, custom-designed screen. The film will run continuously over the course of eight hours for four nights. It will re-mix footage of small, highly personal glimpses of streets and buildings captured by locals on their mobile phones. These 'minor' fragments will be blown up to a huge scale, inflating the personal view and giving it a new status.  

Blazic has collaborated with local people to create the work which portrays Dalston, and its East London surroundings,  through the eyes and minds of its inhabitants. The work aims to preserve in digital form the character and spirit of the place. It will feature a medley of rows Victorian chimney stacks, where contributors remember fires burning in the 1950's; new eighteen-storey tower blocks in progress; wonky pavements, retro restaurant signage; scaffolding; familiar blue hoarding; giant cranes and eerily deserted train platforms. In isolation these elements of the built environment may seem banal but collectively they add up to something distinctive, something recognisable. 

Helen Omand, a contributor to the film, explains "Every day you wake to find some huge new building at the end of your street. This was our chance of having a view about these permanent changes."

The installation will coincide with the London Jazz Festival programme at the Vortex Jazz Club, which includes highlights such as Mercury Music Prize-nominated Led Bib on Friday 21st November. Gig-goers will be able to view the installation from the Club and cannot fail to pass it en-route to many of Dalston's thriving night spots. 

The commission continues the new series of arts events in taking place in Gillett Square. Curator Emma Jones, of Hackney Co-operative Developments says "We are excited that Larisa Blazic is engaging local people in creating this new work which also serves to highlight the square as a major new, accessible cultural venue in East London."

Funded by:
The National Lottery through Arts Council England
Hackney Council
London Development Agency

Contact:

Simon Steven
Press Office
Tel: +44 (0)1843 596 194 (UK)
Email: simon at simonsteven.net



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