ten years
while i think of it, smallritual.org was ten years old this month.
Steve Collins // Architect and member of Grace alternative worship community, Ealing, London.
Interests include: alternative worship & emerging church theory and practice, graphic and web design, architecture, mid-century modern and space age design, brutalism, contemporary art.
www.smallritual.org
i hope to get an actual copy from somewhere, there might be other photos used inside.
what a difference 13 years makes. here's matt at greenbelt in 1998, at the bottom of the bill with about four people in the tent, one of whom is me taking a photo:
and here's matt at greenbelt in 2011, using different technology and creating a dubstep mosh pit:
here are some children at greenbelt in 1998:
and here they are at greenbelt in 2011:
so, here are the photos of grace's short-lived 'you are what you eat' installation at greenbelt. since there was no obvious differentiation between it and the 'messy space' play area, children used it as a playground. it had to be closed after about three hours due to the mess. we were very angry. we had expected a certain amount of mess - eaten chocolates, squashed vegetables - we had cleaning materials and spares. however the children [it may only have been two or three] had opened half the contents and created a strange liquid mess in the mixing bowl. that seemed to be where the cucumber, cabbage and all of the peppercorns had gone. many things had been spoiled by being opened and having fingers stuck in them. we couldn't work out why some chocolates and cakes were eaten, but others not touched eg the fun-size mars bars and the crisps. the eggs were intact but the instant coffee opened.
the following morning we dismantled the whole thing. at the time we couldn't see how to make it work without spending more time and energy than we possessed. we had worked very hard to create it and were entirely dispirited. all the stuff that survived is in the process of being eaten, the racks will do for my shoes and books, the fridge went back to the recycling centre whence it came. i wish i had taken photos of the trashed version now, but i couldn't face it at the time. not a good way to start greenbelt - i was pretty hurt for a couple of days.
the clothes i wore to work yesterday were almost the same as the clothes i wore to work in 1988 - button-down check shirt, chinos, timberland moccasins. it was a good look in many ways - comfortable, practical, smart enough for the office but for a short while fashionable enough to wear to very hip clubs. and then it became something that your dad and jeremy clarkson wore. and this year it's the look again, for those who were being born at the time it was last in fashion.
the shoes i wore for the first time yesterday were bought in 1995. i had been out of work for a couple of years in the early 90s recession, bought my work-uniform shoes again when i got a new job - and never wore them, because they didn't go with anything any more. the shoes lived in their box in the wardrobe, too good to get rid of but not wearable. until now. my timberlands say 'made in the usa' inside. back in the 80s they were marketed as handsewn in new england. a couple of weeks ago i picked up a pair in a shop. it said 'made in the dominican republic' so i guess they can't market them that way any more. it's always a relief when what's fashionable can be worn to the office. it simplifies life. when i say 'fashionable' i mean not 'bleeding edge' but 'all you can find in the shops that doesn't make you look like a retiree'. when the general run of clothing isn't office-friendly you end up with two wardrobes, and one of them either makes you look old/dorky or is very hard to put together. the late 80s preppy stuff could be worn to work, but not rave-era sportswear. late 90s utility/workwear was great, 00s ripped and distressed no good at all. clothes for the office have to be restrained in colour and form, reasonably structured, not too tight or too loose. there is always the assumption that a man can wear a suit, but i find suits awkward and impractical - too cold or too hot, uncomfortable shoes required, overstructured jackets spoilt by backpacks and seat backs, not enough pockets, shape ruined by the things in the pockets. one thing i have wished for over many years is a shop that sold cool non-suit menswear for work - doing the donkeywork for me, curating a working wardrobe from what's current. maybe it exists but is in kensington and way too expensive. maybe fashion turnover is what makes money. maybe people who sell clothes are just too much into fashion to resist it. how about a section on one of the fashion websites that would pull a subset together?
