Collaboration strives to achieve that ‘special thing’; accomplishing a ‘eureka moment’ through the meeting of separate minds. Creatives have a tendency to be control freaks, therefore partnership for art’s sake must establish a connection: the elements need to create energy, a collaborative chemistry if you like. I know instantly if I can work with someone, there is an immediate spark of recognition, therefore when asked to be a spectator at the initial meeting for the forthcoming burn Yard™ project, I sensed it would sparkle but wouldn’t be straightforward.
burn Yard™ is an innovative creative forum. It aims to encourage leading exponents from art, music and sport to get together and form a cross-culture collective. The burn Yard™ programme provides a platform through which talent is nurtured. The outcomes will be showcased at burn Yard™ Live, the first in a series of events, which will begin in Budapest on July 26th, at what seems an initially unpromising venue, a dilapidated market hall outside the city: Against a visual environment created by acclaimed street artist M-City, internationally recognised artist Gerry Judah will design a skateable sculpture for world-famous Rune Glifberg to demonstrate his considerable skills. I was invited to see this collaborative project under construction.
I first visited Budapest, with a friend, about ten years ago. I’ve always remembered it as being magical, but not in an obvious way. Then, as a child, standing at the top of Castle Hill near St Matthias’ Church, the vista pulled off the trick of transporting me to a magical, exquisite kingdom. Just as I realised then that the view was transformative, this trip also promised be one to challenge perception and to treasure.
Used to London cabs, I assumed the driver would know where we were heading, but our driver clearly hadn’t done The Knowledge and we frequently went off-piste. That was fine, it was the quirkiness that made it memorable. On my first day in Budapest I was invited to watch graffiti artist M-City explore a train yard, somewhere that turned out to be nearly impossible to find. Eventually, after being escorted by another driver, we arrived. It felt amazingly adventurous at the time. I found myself at a place where there’s an almost deserted train museum and trains get fixed. Adding to the vibe there is a one-eyed cat, the result of a very sad fight, and 70s porn is still on the wall, but this place is not dead; this place exudes cool.
We are here because graffiti-stencil artist M-City is exploring the train yard, seeking inspiration. Well known and respected for his large-scale murals which are inspired by and pay homage to the industrial world. The problem is there is so much to cope with. It’s a real life ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’, you feel the dormant vehicles may come alive after dark; it’s surreal. I find myself trying to not chase that cat and concentrate on the boys’ toys, I am repeatedly saying that’s cool, that’s cool, that’s cool, I may have to ban myself from using the term cool – alternatives on a postcard please.
M-City – Poland’s most established street artist – is the kind of dude who takes stuff in his stride, his English ain’t great but he will try and answer you, amongst a few pauses and giggles. You think he’s shy at first then you realise that maybe he is laughing at you a bit. It’s better not to force answers and just watch him paint: M-City is sick. He picks what looks like a giant London black cab to have a muck around with. Suddenly the atmosphere changes, something is happening. He doesn’t so much dance around his subject, but rather attacks it, albeit calmly. He is prepared – he has his stencils ready – but he must concentrate. M-City isn’t getting lost in the moment, he’s methodical. He sprays, then admires. We’re waiting, the atmosphere is intense and we feel anxious, somehow something original is going to emerge from the predictable.
burn Yard™ aims to bring creative energy to discarded and obsolete objects and make them beautiful again, this is what M-City just did. After the day at the train yard I’m really starting to get it. The next day I’m scheduled to visit the venue, the abandoned building.
I am taken to the old market hall an hour, through dense traffic, outside the city. M-City, Gerry Judah and Rune Glifberg are also visiting for the first time. When I arrive I cosy up with world-renowned installation and self-described “project” artist Gerry Judah. He already thinks the place is “fantastic”; he is inspired by this urban, deconstructed and dilapidated space. He describes his feelings of exhilaration, as “the light playing on it, and the fact that it contains an element of history.”
Gerry Judah – one of the nicest men you could ever meet – first got into channelling beauty through deconstruction during the 60s and 70s, a period when London was witnessing a major rebuild. He became inspired by the demolished walls from which he felt human voices spoke. Asked if he feels sad to see a once thriving building unused, he agrees but then admits, he also “gets off on this.” He describes the market hall as “a heroic building, with the vaulted ceilings and streaming light”. He is also enthused by the generosity of space; the market hall is indeed massive. It’s obvious that Judah adores buildings, especially this one, he says, “too much care is given to people and not enough to buildings and space and vision, but that’s because I’m an artist so I’ve been sort of trained that way, but I mean I love these spaces, I really do.” He gazes at the gaping open windows, he loves the sound of the breeze. Giant flags can be heard beating against the colossal walls and mysterious trains again thump purposefully in the background. He says he will be using a lot of wood and an element of steel. I’m starting to feel he can imagine the space’s epic impending transformation.
Judah plans to make a sculpture that reflects the nature of the space and at the same time feels beautiful. He is aware that it needs to be functional and accommodate Rune’s performing needs. He wants to allow the skateboarder to “enliven it and give it its own soul.” He is also conscious of working with the younger generation, “guys who have their own language, in a space that’s got its own language” whilst being asked “to come up with something in my own language. So I think the collaboration is there, but I also think each of us has to have our own agenda”. Judah is excited that someone who is extremely good at his craft, “assured in what he is doing”, will skate on his sculpture. However, It’s quite a responsibility.
Judah is also animated about the prospect of the sculpture incorporating M-City’s graphic graffiti skills. An urban art fan he enjoys seeing graffiti in city-spaces. I feel pretty proud when he bigs up the studio space made from old tubes located on top of a building on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch, I had a desk there for a period. He says, “I like the fact that we have huge canvases of space, I mean we use the word canvases loosely for people to go out and express themselves, especially in a city”. He also proper digs London – I’m blushing now – arriving as an immigrant from Calcutta in the 60s, he enjoyed a wealth of opportunities. Leaving school as a young boy, finding himself doing a variety of jobs, he still got a different kind of education; he was still able to “go for it”.
Next up a chat with legendary Danish skateboarder Rune Glifberg. He is equally impressed by the magnitude of the space; he also describes it as “very unique” and as benefitting from “very good light coming in…a fluttering kinda light inside, which is really cool.” Like Judah he is taking photos and breathing the space in. Surveying the materials and the natural treatment the building is subjected to, whether it be the wind or the light; it stands abandoned but it is by no means ruined.
I question him about Judah’s role of curating his ride. He answers, “I think this is a super fascinating subject, super interesting and inspiring for me to be involved in something like this, and work with a guy like Gerry, stuff he’s done is pretty monumental…it is really a fantastic opportunity”. The respect for each other’s work is a really important part of the project to point out now.
Rune sees skateboarders as having a different set of eyes to other people. He sees tricks when he comes across buildings, set of stairs and hills, “our minds are always thinking of tricks and I think a lot of Gerry’s sculptures have definitely got that skateable look or definitely makes the skateboarding mind think about things and the opportunities… It’s just the way the shapes are, twists and turns. They’re very similar to the things you see in skateboard ranches, things that you wanna see so think it’s super interesting to work with him, to try and kind of manipulate his work into a more skateable sculpture.”
A little earlier we had all watched M-City stencil on one of the interior walls – Gerry and Rune stood closer to the action – I was a bystander whilst they were silent partners. Rune picked up on and found a connection with M-City’s selective approach, “he wanted to set his mark…so in that sense there’s definitely a connection…the thought process of like aww I’m not just gonna like do a trick anywhere…it has to be a special piece of art, something unique, not just something that anyone could do.”
Watching M-City paint, Rune skate and listening to Judah’s thoughtful account of the structural and artistic capacities of the space, I can’t help but feel that the guys are starting to create a bit of theatre here. Rune sees what he is doing as art but understands that his performance is also a one-off, “it’s definitely something that I do that no one can do like me, it’s a unique thing”. He enjoys the audience and says, ‘to me, having an audience is second nature… I’ve been in front of the camera and in front of crowds for over twenty years now and it’s just kind of part of what it is. But, sometimes it definitely gives you some drive to do better or do something harder…I’m a show off.”
The two spaces I visited in Budapest, the train yard and the old market hall appeared dead but held a secret beauty; they were just waiting to be revitalised, the magic wand to be waved. I didn’t know quite what I was expecting when I set off. I had my childhood memory and an itinerary. Somehow these knitted together living up to my expectation that Budapest is a place where dreams can become reality and artists collaborating imaginatively can produce something explosive. The three artists I met are inspirational. They all have the ability to bring energy to anything they touch, whether through stencil, skate or sculpture. They really are going to breathe life into the market building this July and there will be a captivated audience up for having their minds blown.
Watch out for my photo diary coming soon….
Tory Turk for FAD
Read Part Two: HERE
