Kino Sputnik FC

Brian Williams and Andy Eastwood
Art and film Installation inspired by exploring the Post Second World War European History
Baltic Quarter, 45 New Bird Street, L1

Open on the following days:
Wed April 6th 2-5pm
Fri April 8th 8-10pm
Sat April 9th 2-5pm
Tues April 12th 2-5pm
Wed April 13th 8-10pm

Reviewed by Tracey Dunn

I hadn't slept properly for nearly three days and had gone to bed at eight. I was listening to a programme on the radio about Star City in Moscow, the centre of the Russian Space Agency in the sixties, and they talked about Sputnik the first satellite in Space. At this point I decided to get out of bed and get down to see the opening night of the show as it felt like a sign.

I arrived disoriented and spaced out as I had also just taken some herbal sleeping tablets to aid my sleep. The venue was a huge warehouse in semi darkness with strobes and Sputnik soundtrack. Andy told me that it was probably a great way to view the installation!

There were two rooms at the back and one contained a huge 'birdcage' with a microphone on top and an amp under the table and was lit by a strobe. The other room was the cinema (kino) lined in soft black parachute silk and it had a free standing large screen which you could walk behind. On the screen to the sounds of Sputnik,ambient music and Deep Space was black and white film of Russian Cosmonauts in their spacesuits fading in and out. There was a pervading atmosphere of isolation and fear of the unknown with a hint of mystery too.

In the corner of the warehouse was a large table covered in a double row of old ammo boxes. Inside the black foam were many old army bottles, numbers and wires. This was a terrifying piece..the bomb! There was an old handmade go kart on the floor with a lantern on the seat to represent childhood memories and the 'Magic Chapel' which was a small locked shed with an eerie glowing screen inside which felt quite menacing. A possible 'serial killers' kit hung scarily on the wall adding to the brooding atmosphere. It included a crudely painted clown mask and rope.

A small caravan surrounded by a picket fence (not in white!) and strange garden with old electrical equipment was the focal point in the warehouse. Inside was eerie, almost all black,menacing and filled with old black amps and speakers. There was an old wanted poster for German Anarchists on the door. A row of white sweatshirts with odd patterns hung on the warehouse wall alongside it. One for each day of the week maybe!

As I left to walk home in the dark I hoped no serial killer was going to catch me. Catch the installation if you don't mind scaring yourself just a little bit.

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