Heres a smashing review of Crunch & Dust from the lovely Emilia Rowley: Having just about recovered from Saturday’s Crunch & Dust spectacular, here is my recap of the day viewed through eyes that became progressively hazier as events unfurled. A somewhat late-to-the party attendee, especially with having a 31 degree sun blaze over proceedings, it was a welcome relief to eavesdrop on the late stages of @ARTBRASIL’s set within the cool cover of one of Spode’s numerous old factory buildings. After a brief bar stop, a queried look into @Valentine’sCuriousCloset’s Curious Cinema (showing local productions on a loop for your viewing pleasure), and it was outside to create and share a magical creature. We are not too old for this! @iseemagicalcreatures is an arts project originally hailing from Australia; where, once your magical creature is even more magical than before, you then share/gift him/her/they into the opening arms of another so that their journey can continue into far off lands. Based towards the opening section of Crunch & Dust, this lead to hours (yes, hours) of being ridiculously excited about making things sparkle. Atmospherically, it really is something else seeing the old Spode works put to good use by our local artists and entrepreneurs. A space that has been derelict for some years, is now seeing a new lease of life through festivals, events, shows, and exhibitions. There is an air of history that still lingers against the walls; a past of Stoke-On-Trent that continues to be present even through the collages and paint splatters. Enter your friendly neighbourhood artists, a wonderfully talented bunch whose mediums can delight all to name but a few: @BlastphemyArt, @ARTMURDOK, @richardredwin, @beckikremer and more (that I unfortunately don’t know the names of!) were abstract, textural, and metaphorical. Pieces were already embedded into Stoke’s history, where others were being worked on until completion throughout the day. It is a mesmerising way to spend an afternoon watching others’ creativity pour out of their bare – but later covered in paint – hands. Intermission upon us, it was time to refresh, restyle, and transition from day to evening (translation: the spirits were now available to purchase). The soundtrack was turned up a notch, with @Restoke DJs bringing infectious beats to dust-laden floors – perfect for shuffling. It was at this point that a new aura fell upon us all; a little less sparkle and a little more magic. To think that so many people passed through these buildings in order to supply our local industry, and for us to now enjoy the spaces that have been left behind with music, dancing, and art is something really quite special. For someone local, it took a moment for this all to sink in; but when it had, the realisation hit that we were actually dancing in Spode! As night fell and things became even more relaxed, there amongst the pieces an ‘interactive wall’ was inspired by penguin-garment appreciators: a perfect doodle reading “What if penguins had fists?” ensued. They would rule the world, I think that’s obvious. Numerous “what if this animal had that” anthropomorphisms followed, along with your more aesthetic floral arrangements, textual depictions, and a maths joke. There is a part of the evening that I almost forgot to mention. Amidst the crunching and dusting of the dancefloor suddenly appeared a hula-hoop. How this ring of wonder appeared I do not know, and I hope to believe that if you weren’t looking at it, it wasn’t really there. Cue a group of people huddled around one truly amazing hula-hooper – she again probably wasn’t real. And she was a lot better than all of us that had a go; sincerest apologies if you saw that. My point is that events like these are always unique; you never know what will happen, what could happen, what should happen. Artist exhibitions and performances are perfect ways to bring new life into our old facilities, whilst still bringing to the forefront what their original purpose was; a history that lives on within its locals. All proceeds have gone back into @Restoke, who along with other favourites @B-Arts and @appetitestoke, will bring together more performance events for us to enjoy. #crunchanddust
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 07:50:19 +0000
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