Is It All Black+White? Dilston Grove, Southwark, London, 12/09/2015

Last Saturday, we had the privilege to be invited to have a little stall at the second edition of a mini music festival organised by the band Autorotation at Dilston Grove, an unusual artistic space located in Southwark Park, Bermondsey and ran by CGP London alongside the Gallery by the pool situated in the same park.  
The Grade II listed Dilston Grove is a deconsecrated church, formerly known as the Clare College Mission church; built in 1911 and designed by architects Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton, it was one of the first poured concrete church to be built in England. The style is rather austere, which makes it the perfect "blank canvas" for art installations and cultural happenings. 

Asked about the unusual title of the Arts Council England-supported festival, organiser and founder member of Autorotation Igor explained: "We were kind of going with the "Son et lumière" idea. First, the music for the choir is written on white paper with black ink, but the choir are there to add the colour to the sound. Also, we ask them to wear black or white because if they're wearing black, the visuals don't show (they're in a "shadow"), but if they wear white, they become a "canvas" for the visuals to reflect off." 

The event mixed stunning projections and electronic/experimental/choir music in a very atmospheric environment; it was very well attended by an attentive and diverse audience who could also enjoy an array of hot and cold drinks and homemade cakes!  
As Matt ArtPix and I helped to man the merch stall and also had our own small stall in the outside hall/cafe, we only caught snippets of the performances, but we got to meet some very interesting people, including the multi-talented musician, performer and composer Kirsten Morrison (www.kirstenmorrisonmusic.co.uk and www.kirstenmorrison.co.uk), who is a member of the choir. 

Below is our section of the merch stall, with jewellery by Sabine T Art, cards by Matt ArtPix and my books published by Arcane Publishing! 

Below are pictures of the event with Alphabets Heaven, Green Army Choir, Cajita (also a member of Gabby Young and Other Animals), Autorotation, Aurora Lee and the always fabulous Jo Quail; 

The camera didn't like the low light, but then it has made the shots quite arty and I've tried to capture the fantastic projections behind the performers. 

Some superb pictures of the event can be found HERE (by Ross Hunter). 

Related reading (click on the events' names): 
Read my report of Autorotation's event Can You See Your Shadow? last February.

Read my report of Jo Quail's concert Nocturnes (also last February), featuring the Green Army Choir and Robyn Sellman. 

I will be going to quite a few things over the next few weeks (trying to do as many things as possible in London before I disappear off to Dorset for a month to work on my third novel), so expect quite a few blogs to come your way! 

All pictures by Carya Gish and Matt ArtPix.