Stanley Picker Gallery and creative writing collective Rhythm & Muse were pleased to stage Complex Spaces at Rose Theatre Kingston on Thursday 25 June as part of the Festival of Stories 2015. Our event, an evening of poetry, prose, music and visuals, was performed live by professional and ‘first-timer’ participants of a recent workshop motivated by Streetscape – award-winning designer Fabien Cappello’s collection of prototype street furniture, recently installed both at the Gallery and currently in experimental situ around Kingston upon Thames.
Cappello is inspired by the everyday and how we physically and psychologically negotiate our urban spaces and for his Stanley Picker Fellowship has researched the provenance, uses and contexts of street furniture around Kingston town-centre – from bollards and bike stands to public benches and bins. Navigation of the exhibition and locality formed the starting point of participants poetic, visual and performative explorations, which both question and complement Festival of Stories theme ‘The Untold Story’.
Those who took part in this enjoyable and eclectic evening include: Alison Hill, Cath Howe, Alice Thurling, Fran Thurling, Jenny Messer, Helen O’Brien, Jane Sherwin, Basil Hunt, Lily Jenkins, Alan Phillips, Judith Lawton, Mihaela McKendrick, Pauline Lindsey, and musician James Burton.
Listen online to a recording of the event and download and read Complex Spaces Zine – a printable souvenir booklet produced in accompaniment.