“Aliens arrive in the East End”.
“Space Ship lands on the roof of six storey building
in Copperfield Road.
London E.1.”
From the high ground at the blocked off end
of Copperfield Road there is a clear view of Canary Wharf, the Barclays Bank headquarters
which forms the it’s architectural centrepiece like some massive monolith
reaching high into the sky.
A short cul de sac sandwiched between Mile End
Park and the Regents Canal, Copperfield Road was a hub of local commerce more
than 100 years ago when the site of Canary Wharf was a not very salubrious part
of the old London Docklands, but it has over the years had a somewhat chequered
history. The original red brick building,
erected in the late 19th century as one of the largest free schools
in London still stands on it’s southern corner and is now the home of the
Ragged School Museum, a regular tourist attraction for adults and children
alike.
An assortment of factories built mostly
during the 20th century lined the remainder of the road, including
that of Conway Stewart, the world renown manufacturers of top quality fountain
pens. This was the scene of an audacious
gold robbery in the 1950’s and was later on linked to a most vicious gangland
murder. The whole area that lined the
canal became run down in the early 1970’s with most of the redundant and now empty
buildings in Copperfield Road becoming, decrepit, dangerous and rat infested while vagrants and no-goods
roamed the old park after dark.
Things took a turn for the better in the mid
1990’s when the massive regeneration plans for the Ocean Estate and surrounding
area including the park and canal took off and a gigantic multi million pound clean
up operation began. The old factories
were gradually demolished and posh blocks of flats with roof top gardens and
modern offices sprung up in their place.
The road was once again in the news at the
start of 2014 when a space ship landed
high above the canal on the roof of Matts Gallery at number 44 . Not a real one
of course but sufficiently realistic to
hit the headlines - a very convincing full
size model and an incredible piece of installation art by Craig Barnes called
Revolver 11. And there the alien
transporter remained for the rest of the year, passers by craning their neck to
look up at it before it went off to Central St Martins School of Art and Design
at the start of 2015.
Matt’s Gallery, founded by Robin
Klassnik and named after his dog ‘Matt’ moved into one of the older buildings
in 1979 and began life as a place to support artists,
with the space and time to take risks. The purpose then was to test their
limits and surprise even their own intentions - and it still does - providing
the best conditions for experiencing art and continually challenging audiences.
Unusual as it undoubtedly is, primarily stocking
hard to find books by small independent publishers, this is much, much more
than just your regular bookshop.
There’s also a gallery space showing a range of modern and contemporary
pictures, two large installation areas, the owners workshops and a comfortable
friendly looking reception area complete with genuine 1950’s juke box, all
overseen by assistant director Laura Hensser, who invited me back to the late
night event taking place that evening.
It was a beautiful warm summer evening and
as I approached from the park I could see a huge crowd in the distance
completely filling the road and pavements outside the entrance to the venue with literally dozens of bicycles
lining the railings of Mile End park. As I got nearer I noticed the smoke from a
roadside barbeque and caught the tempting aroma of cooking meat.
Of all ages, from babes in arms to old age
pensioners it was a smart happy throng, including
lots of good looking men and pretty women some with fabulous hair styles - and
even the odd hippy looked as if he/she had made a special effort. My first stop once inside the building was
the main performance area, but I couldn’t even get through the doors as about 100
people stood shoulder to shoulder listening to the music. I
think it was some kind of Cello concert and there was a second recital later,
but by then I had got involved in something else.
An electronic music event was taking place
in the second performance room which was now gradually filling up as more
people came in from outside. Every player
here was unusual to say the least, some
with outrageous dress styles based on aliens of one kind or another, others practically
impossible to describe.
I always try to find the most unusual
exhibit to focus on at these events and it didn’t take me long to discover the
installation by Keith Harrison – an absolutely realistic looking full size set of drums which he had
made from ceramics during the day and was now undergoing its finishing touches
before his 9pm finale.
Keith is pretty well known in this niche
section of the art world, his last feature “Napalm Death” at Bexhill almost
setting fire to the venue and I believe was the event that brought him to the
attention of The Tate Modern. Everyone
that knew him and now being held back at a safe distance by stewards were holding
their breath, especially when he donned protective glasses as the witching hour
approached.
Music
began to play, quietly at first then gradually increasing in volume as Keith
fiddled about with bits of wire and some kind of generator. Then suddenly there
was an enormous explosion , the tops of each drum split open and flew into the
air showering everyone in the room with thousands of tiny pieces of silver
foil. Keith had yet to name this latest piece so I suggested “ Orgasm on
Ceramic Drums”. Watch this space ! The place was still throbbing as I finished
my beer and left, picking up just outside the doors one of the most delicious
burgers I have ever tasted and having enjoyed
a most interesting and entertaining evening.
Matts Bookshop is a fabulous place with a very special kind of ambience , which
is open Wednesdays to Sundays from 12- 6pm where there is generally always
something different going on.
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