Art

See Concrete and Glass music events

The creative East End may be gradually migrating further east, but it doesn’t take more than a quick search through Time Out’s listings to see that Shoreditch is still the place to tap into London’s emerging art and music scenes. So if you’re planning a creative showcase of both, it makes sense to locate it in Shoreditch. Cue the inaugural Concrete and Glass festival, a ticketed, two-day event with bands, exhibitions and performances, taking place in venues throughout the area, which will allow the audience to move from gallery to gig and sample what both worlds have to offer. The art programme features more than 20 newly commissioned exhibitions and events (many continuing after the festival); here are the highlights. Feature continues

'The Levitation of John the Baptist' by Martin Sexton

Heart of Glass
Thirty artists selected from open submission show previously unseen work in all media, in the dark and cavernous, bare-brick basement space of Shoreditch Town Hall. Among the suitably atmospheric offerings are Alistair McClymont’s indoor tornado of water vapour, Paul Archard’s horsebox occupied by audibly agitated stallions, Rosie Leventon’s ‘Welcome’ doormat made from human hair and Martin Sexton’s ‘The Levitation of John the Baptist’ (pictured). If it feels a little dusty in the subterranean labyrinth of rooms, spare a thought for artist Amanda Couch, whose durational performance, ‘Dust Falling’ (October 2 & 3 only), will involve her lying for several hours under a giant dust-filled sieve as its contents gradually fall on to her body.
Shoreditch Town Hall basement, 380 Old St, EC1. October 2-19.

Favela Descending
Standing inside Gerry Fox’s cube-shaped arrangement of six near-cinema-sized screens, viewers are immersed in a slow-motion trip through Rio’s notorious Mineira favela. The result of two days’ filming (only after negotiation with ruling gang members) is ‘Favela Descending’, which premieres at Concrete and Glass, detailing aspects of ordinary, everyday life in a place that’s a byword for drugs, guns and lawlessness. The high-ceilinged, converted Victorian venue was chosen by Fox as it would once also have been part of a slum, although the only favela here now is the Favela Chic club-restaurant around the corner.
Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, EC2. October 2-11.

Rubble Music
In a new commission by Measure, sound artist Thor McIntyre-Burnie is bringing the Arnold Circus bandstand to life – not with the sounds of brass but with the sounds of the soil. McIntyre-Burnie will be sinking a microphone three feet down and remixing the rumbling underground audio he picks up. The mound on which the bandstand and gardens sit was built from the rubble cleared to construct the Boundary Estate that surrounds it (London’s first council housing), so listeners will not only be engaging sonically but psychogeographically with London’s social history. An accompanying booklet, produced by the Friends of Arnold Circus, documents the history of the estate.
Bandstand, Arnold Circus, E1. October 2 & 3.

'Pianissimo' by Ceal Warnants

Make Believe
TV drama’s favourite location shoot – the disused Nicholls & Clarke building – provides the venue for work by ten up-and-coming artists who use a variety of materials to explore the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Ceal Warnants has constructed a visually convincing full-size piano from digitally printed paper and glue (‘Pianissimo’, pictured); Boo Ritson is exhibiting her photos of three-dimensional paintings – created by slathering real people and objects with thick, shiny paint; and Daniel Pasteiner shows paintings made by incorporating pieces of the track used for racing Tyco toy cars.
Nicholls & Clarke, 3-10 Shoreditch High St, E1. October 2-19.

Jim Bond's blinking glass eye

Creatures Great & Small
Presented by Kinetica Museum, this exhibition showcases ten British and international artists who experiment with different forms of mechanics and technology to give life to their work. London may not have seen much sun this summer, but Daniel Chadwick has employed solar power to animate his 12-part sculpture, ‘Multiple Organism’. It’s sea power that has inspired Reuben Margolin to create his undulating mobile, titled ‘Pentagonal Wave’. While for Jim Bond, it’s about blinking: a glass eye (right) set in brass, suddenly appears alive by the simple lowering and raising of its metallic eyelid.
Rove, 33-34 Hoxton Square, E1. October 2-19.

The Glass Onion
Hosted by A Foundation and presented by Riflemaker Gallery, The Glass Onion shows a selection of works by established artists who have been inspired by music. Included in the mix are Gavin Turk’s original silkscreen-print for ‘Faded Glory’, a composite of his own face with that of Elvis, and a Yoko Ono ‘I Love U’ participation painting where the audience can unleash their own creativity on to the blank canvas provided, plus musical scores by Sir Edward Elgar, Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage.
Rochelle School, Arnold Circus, E2. October 2-November 27.

Sponsored by Time Out, ‘Concrete and Glass’ runs Oct 2 & 3 from 6pm. Adm one day to both art and music events £22.50, student concs £18; two days £35, student concs £28 (entry by wristband, subject to capacity, over-18s only). More details and booking at www.concreteandglass.co.uk. Continuing exhibitions free from Sat.

See Concrete and Glass music events