No Vacancy Exhibition

Yesterday I travelled to the Wolstonholme Creative Space in Liverpool to see an exhibition of visual arts based on my good friend, Greg Gibson's, poetry, and I must say; it was fantastic! The exhibition itself was put on by Young Pines, a Liverpool and London based collective of illustrators, designers, and creative writing. It also featured work by Will Daw, Christine Gore, and Thom Isom.

At first I was a tad apprehensive - mainly due to the fact that Greg was busy and therefore I had to find this place, initially, on my own (yes, I got lost, even when another lovely friend of mine agreed to come with me) -  and because I had no idea what to expect, but moreso I was excited to see my friends hard work in an exhibition. 

Greg's poems explored overpopulation by imagining a crowded hotel used as a refuge by survivors of a natural disaster, with each poem being a different room. The building itself suited the pieces very well, as it seemed a tad run down (and it was extremely cold; I must admit I was shivering by the time I came to leave). 

Now poetry has always baffled me a little, even in my poetry modules at university, but these were brilliant, they effectively painted a vivid picture within each, of characters, point of view, and theme in all of the rooms. There was even a recording of an animated bus driver (turned preacher) on repeat at the very end, with pews to sit in and read another string of poems alongside of his speech.

Undoubtedly, my favourite part was the box that had a spy hole in it.


I peeked inside and was absolutely blown away; there was a tiny, dishevelled, bedroom inside! According to the guy who was working there; a lot of people who had come to the show had walked past it without looking inside. Fools! they missed out on something very special. 




One of the poems that resonated within me the longest was called 'Room 28 - You'. I think it stayed with me the longest because it read a little bit like a tongue twister and was repeating itself in my mind long after we had left. It had one line of the poem encased within a string frame on the wall. I loved it.

 

'There is an air between us, like static made of spiderweb that will tangle people if they get between, like catching flies.'  - Greg Gibson

This is definitely a must see, but unfortunately tomorrow is the exhibitions last day! So hurry up and get to Liverpool to see it if you can! If not, go to the Young Pines website and see if you can add your name to the list of receiving a hard copy.  

Needless to say I was overwhelmingly impressed and I am ridiculously proud of my friend!