The artists’ collective !wowow! was founded in September 2003 in London, a loose group of all kinds of artists – most of them graduates of Goldsmiths or Camberwell Art College – who, in the best DIY tradition took their fate into their own hands and organised a first group show in a local pub under the rallying cry, "Art Is Everything! Everything Is Art!" Performance art topped their agenda from the start but over-styled White Cube galleries and museums did not appeal as venues. Something ingenuous and raw was more their aim. "It helped that [our actions] involved people getting raucously drunk. Instead of standing and musing about the meaning of life, everyone was cheering and dancing, which is a much better reaction to art," recounts founding member, Matthew Stone, whose Baroque photo-tableaux are increasingly finding favour with Britain’s young art scene.
Later they chanced upon a vacant commercial centre with enormous spaces – a fitness studio and sauna, a bingo hall, an old pub – the former owners of which seemed to have abruptly disappeared from one day to the next. !wowow! members quickly squatted it, set up studios and organised shows.
Soon afterwards they threw the first in a series of what were to become legendary illegal parties in the Laserdrome, an aptly named abandoned disco from the 80s that was part of the new squat. And word of a new "Factory" was not slow to spread. It went around like wildfire, luring more artists, performers, musicians and party crowds of up to 2000, making the !wowow! squat the hot-spot on London’s recently revived New Rave wave. Yet there were surprises in store for anyone expecting a typical rave: Bizarre actions and happenings took place alongside concerts and DJ-sets; walls were painted, rooms decorated and installations improvised. !wowow! events are spontaneous trash-glam-art-party-happenings, where anything and everything goes.
The !wowow! Boys – also known as Children of !wowow! – have meanwhile set up home in a former sewing factory in Peckham and now comprise an open collective of circa 40 young artists, fashion designers, photographers, filmmakers and performance activists, who consciously defy definition. Whoever invites !wowow! must be prepared for an incalculable "friendly takeover" without further terms and conditions ... which is why, tonight, it’s carte blanche for the Children of !wowow!
|
 |
