Soho / Chinatown
It was eerie yet energising to see my favourite part of town all boarded up. There is a hopeful paradox in this state of suspension, as the activity behind the boards has ceased, yet the street is hammered at and activated with intense works, the kind of which I have never seen in Soho. Construction noise will always exist in this city, even after the damn apocalypse.
Doors cease to allow access and windows disappear under opaque sheets of plywood, hardening the threshold between inside and out, and providing increased affordance for the display of messages. More boards = more active surfaces.
The opposite seems to be happening in residential areas, where the domestic has been spilling into the public, and transitional spaces are now becoming new loci for activity: the front steps, the balcony, the communal corridor, the windows and doors are open and porous.
Soho, on the other hand, as many nightlife areas in other cities I would imagine, has sealed off its entertainment spaces completely, which has activated its surfaces like never before. Bars and restaurants are closed but the energy is still there, and the overwhelming sense is of only a temporary suspension.
These surfaces are full of inspiration, energy and unrest.
Urban walls are magnetic callers and reliable archives.
Rainforest cafe in Piccadilly The Criterion in Piccadilly NHS <3 Regent Street freedom no ills New Groucho politics ply board x black board no more access shut down off limits closing in progress love is a rainbow, hate is a shadow to love is to be persecuted #maskup flyposting spray paint politics queer rights are human rights / porn is a human need stay safe but remail free Deanio X work everywhere GAY alert rainbows good spot boards and street works old boards, new boards Soho Theatre surface canvas active alleys half boards mixed boards masked queen black out no access protected Bar Italia is far NHS x ZIMA hidden out of sight closed New Loon Moon back soon no more gambling colour match Tories out “Raciest” Tories