CRASH? BANG! WALLOP£

With Britain’s housing crisis only getting worse and the recently-announced threat of a US-led recession hanging over everybody’s heads, being an artist in the capital isn’t easy. Building a career, history and a name for your-self whilst simultaneously earning enough hard cash to cover London’s astronomical living costs is becoming so impossible that arts students and graduates across the city are foregoing dreams of Hoxton studio-flats and getting in on the squat scene. Far from the traditional perception of squatters as lazy good-for-nothings, regeneration has become as big a part of the scene as occupation. Old factories, Cinema’s and showrooms have become prime target for a new generation of artists and curators in search of a space to exhibit their artworks and installations. With the inherent freedom brought by regenerating completely decaying, previously unused buildings as opposed to exhibiting in traditional galleries, the space itself in many cases becomes a living, breathing piece of the artwork. We decided the best way to highlight this phenomenon was to call up Stefan and Maya a.k.a the Click Click, the youngest most fresh-faced artists we know and destroy any hopes and dreams they may have had for their future as artists with the harsh reality of the artist’s desperate struggle for survival in hyper capitalist modern-day Britain the day before their debut single release ‘My Dunks’ (they can thank us later).

Notable quotes:

“So you’re going to get kicked out?”

“I spent most of this morning in court. We definitely have to be out by January regardless of whether or not we’re actually causing a nuisance so they can knock the place down and build a block of flats.”

“Yeah I live with my parents as well. I will probably be taking a gap year next year.”

Words and Pic: SX