Thursday 18 April 2013

Black Maria

It's been a long and interesting winter. Back in November 2012, Creative City started to manage a new commission in Kings Cross as part of the re-development of the Granary Building, and what an incredible project it was.

Richard Wentworth, British sculptor, was commissioned as part of the Relay art programme to create an artwork that would bring a sense of destination to this strange space called 'The Crossing', which feels like somewhere between a hall and a street, and acts as the entrance to Central St Martin's.

Wentworth had done a project with ArtAngel called 'An Area of Outstanding Beauty' in that very space 10 years ago. Rather than replicating the previous formula, he entered in discussion with a Swiss architecture firm called GRUPPE. Together, they devised a project, which was a space and a place, a plan and a platform, where one could encounter the in-expectable, create and experiment.

The project shifted and changed before committing to its existing form : Black Maria.

Nick Lobo Brennan, GRUPPE showing the model.
 Inspired from Thomas Edison's eponymous film studio, Black Maria hosted talks, film screenings, performances and events, and allows space for young curators, artists and performers to present their work. It also became a space where to hold an informal meeting, where to engage in conversation on any topic

By the end of the 28 days of Black Maria, the artists and professionals that took part had come from all over London and as far as Boston, USA.









This Pinterest board will give you some ideas of what happened throughout the month.