So what happened to that London Fields warehouse over in East London that housed the rather successful Cultivate curated Play show back at the start of June? Well the space has now been taken over by a sculpture collective and is currently known as the Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre. The collective are in there until the developers pull it down (start of next year I do believe), the collective themselves will start using it as a work and exhibition space from September, right now, until they kick in with their own thing they are letting other artists and curators use the space. There’s been a number of shows since Play, nothing that’s really inspired or excited us enough to want to cover it though, not until this we checked out the current show in the big space….

Unreadable is a group show, an exhibition featuring ten artists, an ambitious show curated by an artist called Chun Man Kuen Angel. The curator (one of the the ten artists), invited the diverse group (of Chelsea MA students) to come in and react to the space and to each toher., they spent the first three days working in the beautiful space and then on day four held an opening…

“Unreadable connects ten artists from various countries, including Georgina Hodgson and Stephen Hennessy from Britain; Guo Kai, Wu Bo, Yang Chang and Zhou Yuan from China; Min Hae Kim and Sang Sub Jung from Korea; Mari Tayama from Japan and Bijan Daneshmand from Iran. The curator employs the term “Unreadable” as a “sign” to explore what we understand as reality and boundary in artistic practices. The ten artists from diverse background and different age groups will response to this theme “Unreadable” by creating simultaneously their artwork on-site in the first three days of the exhibition. Being different from ordinary s group shows in which ready works are displayed, this experimental format will be a key feature of the exhibition.

The creation process will be recorded into video and played in the private viewing at 4 – 8pm, Saturday 4 July. Interviews about artists’ statements will be played next to their individual finished works on display from 4 – 7 July as part of the artwork and further elaboration of artists’ interpretations and practices on the theme. Taking the road less travelled, Unreadable incorporates elements of “timed” and “on-site”, thereby investigating their spontaneous inspiration on each others under the process of collective art making as well as a unique synergy effect in turn attained. During the seven days, viewers are welcomed to visit anytime to witness this exciting process of creation and cultural collision”.

The show works, it connects, the ten artists have reacted to each other and to the space in a rather powerful way, Unreadable certainly works as one strong whole, it fills the space, it uses the space, it celebrates the space, the show works within the walls and ghost marks of former food processing factory, this a show that hold the viewers attention.  As individual pieces the art works well, ten strong artists here, but it is as one whole thing that Unreadable really works. A highly recommended show and a group of artists considering and using a space (and using a smoke machine) rather well.   (SW)

Unreadable runs in the warehouse space until the 7th July 2015 (10:00am – 6:00pm) at the Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre,  45 Gransden Avenue, London, E8 3QA (Overground Station: London Fields). hopefully they put the excellent video from the first three days up on line.