this is all a work in progress
Perhaps a bit of background is needed.
I'd been in the decor group since the very first meeting. I hadn't got involved in any decision making or planning groups till after M41, when the absolute need arose.
In my postion at the very cor of the decor group I had been given the brief:
Think Big.
Think six lanes.
Think of a trojan horse type thing to that could possibly house say, a sound system, or something.
And that alone was quite an awesome resonsibility.
We had a budget of £250, perhaps a bit more, and Limetrees drove Debora and me to this factory in Manchester and we bought rolls and rolls of beautifully coloured ripstop nylon, and we set to work in a dissused railway depot in Kings Cross known as the Battlebridge centre where we also had our weekly meetings.
These meetings were quite incredible in that they were huge, regularly more than fifty people would turn up, full of enthusiasm. I would marvel at how each week, I would read out a list I'd drawn up of with stuff that was needed, be it black gloss paint or jig saws or climbers or carpenters, and someone would would always raise their hand and provide the resources or skills. I even remember the meetings as fun, as well as being really productive.
Everday I'd cycle up from Brixton, and kind of be a a regular presence, It was great , like having a really ace job, facillitating all this creativity, handing out brushes and paints to volunteers, and getting to pour my own creative energies into giant appliqued flowered festoons of colour.
It was dead exciting.
Alongside the making of these gigantic fabric banners, the wooden women idea was worked out. A team of carpenters and designers worked ingeniously to build the collapsable moblie structures, each had to safely take the weight of the performer and stood on huge castors so that she may be wheeled around. Underneath her billowing skirts could hide anything.The costumes for the performers were lovingly designed and costructed, whilst the massive fabric skirts themselves were sewn and hung over giant crinolines made with liberated cable tubing. They were indeed magnificant.
It was the most wonderful creative experience, shared by a great many. The battlebridge was a hive of activity right up to the day of the street party....
