No Fire

This is quite a tricky one to write because it isn't how I wanted to leave the Biennial. But I think it's worth doing. Wolstenholme Creative Space were never part of the mainstream Biennial spaces; they were very much out on their own creating magical landscapes for ridiculous dinner parties with a style that was designed to mess with your mind. And they succeeded by a very long way. Everyone we took into that space came out shaking their heads with a WTF sort of reaction. It was just brilliant.

So tonight was to be the final goodbye. With a big party and record launch (the soundtrack of the installation has been pressed onto 100 LPs) and general fun and mayhem. Until the Fire Authority came around yesterday and changed the locks because the building isn't safe. Presumably because it's got a woodland inside it. The notice on the door didn't elaborate.

I have some sympathy with the authority view in this case. The wood in there has been there for a while and is really dry now. It wouldn't take much to set it off. But it also highlights the widening gap between those who can and those who just do what they do. The Biennial artists flew in for the opening and then (mostly) skipped off again. The Independents Biennial artists don't have that luxury.

I proselytise about the Biennial, and probably, rightly so. But this sign on the door tonight gave me a completely different perspective.