A yearly adventure on Chatsworth Road, E5, where in true advent calendar style a new addition is discovered every day. This year contributions will reflect on who (or what) is getting us through the Corona crisis? Where are the rays of light this Advent? Follow us on twitter and instagram @chatsstarsE5
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Friday, 5 December 2014
Red star at night
No 5 is up. This one's Maya's.
Its the time of year that children start counting down the sleeps to christmas, dreaming of father christmas and adults start counting down the sleeps until the last day of work, dreaming of lie-ins and restful days.
The chats star folks also find ourselves out balancing on ladders, battling wind and rain putting up stars whilst others are safely ticked up in bed dreaming.
This is why my star is inspired by a dream catcher.
"You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" C. S. Lewis
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
This one's deep (man)
No 4 is brought to you by Lynda...
Just after we had the bike-tyre-star idea I found this material in a Hackney second hand shop. UKIP had just gained its first elected MP in the Clacton by election and the country was awash with immigration talk. It always scares me. The media hype, the lies lies and statistics that are bandied about, the real pressure and fear felt - both for those feeling unwelcome and those feeling 'swamped'.
Part of the reason I've loved living in Hackney these last 18 years is the diversity of the people who call it home. It feels like travelling the world without leaving your comfy square mile. What's not to like?
For some reason the Tory party were promoting FB posts in my timeline asking me for my opinions about immigration. I thought "Yes! I'll tell them!" I don't know what I was thinking - perhaps I thought it would be some genuine desire to hear the views of the electorate. I clicked through... The diatribes against people arriving at these shores were so shocking that I couldn't bring myself to add my thoughts at all. I just didn't want to be associated with those views even by proximity of post!
I thought the material a fantastic fabric representation of the melting pot of Hackney and the colour and wildness that many people from all over the world bring to this part of the UK. Hurray for immigration.. and the Hackney jungle with all its disparate views and shades and untapped potential.
To make the star I cut up a bright orange piece of fabric on which I had printed the words 'You are beautiful'. It's a little strap line promoted by a guy in the US and made into stickers which have been stuck in nooks and crannies all over the world. Does making it into stickers nullify this deep universal truth? I don't think so. You are beautiful. And you. And you. And you. You too. Beautiful people make up our world and live around here. Get over it!
Just after we had the bike-tyre-star idea I found this material in a Hackney second hand shop. UKIP had just gained its first elected MP in the Clacton by election and the country was awash with immigration talk. It always scares me. The media hype, the lies lies and statistics that are bandied about, the real pressure and fear felt - both for those feeling unwelcome and those feeling 'swamped'.
Part of the reason I've loved living in Hackney these last 18 years is the diversity of the people who call it home. It feels like travelling the world without leaving your comfy square mile. What's not to like?
For some reason the Tory party were promoting FB posts in my timeline asking me for my opinions about immigration. I thought "Yes! I'll tell them!" I don't know what I was thinking - perhaps I thought it would be some genuine desire to hear the views of the electorate. I clicked through... The diatribes against people arriving at these shores were so shocking that I couldn't bring myself to add my thoughts at all. I just didn't want to be associated with those views even by proximity of post!
I thought the material a fantastic fabric representation of the melting pot of Hackney and the colour and wildness that many people from all over the world bring to this part of the UK. Hurray for immigration.. and the Hackney jungle with all its disparate views and shades and untapped potential.
To make the star I cut up a bright orange piece of fabric on which I had printed the words 'You are beautiful'. It's a little strap line promoted by a guy in the US and made into stickers which have been stuck in nooks and crannies all over the world. Does making it into stickers nullify this deep universal truth? I don't think so. You are beautiful. And you. And you. And you. You too. Beautiful people make up our world and live around here. Get over it!
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
A shout out to Caballo
No 3 is a triptych brought to Caballo, in thanks for the recycled tyres, by Rhona. 
Monday, 1 December 2014
Thank goodness for the trees
No 2 is by Rachel...
100% recycled. 100% found.
Brian's string.
Jessie's spray.
Caballo's tyres.
Silk flowers discarded in the street.
With final leaves together ablaze - on a cold dark night.
Against the gnarled grey wood, number 2 comes with a warm glow, a happy spirit,
and flowers to match the curtains.
Sunday, 30 November 2014
Advent is here again...
No 1 was brought to you by Valerie...She writes...
In a month of Busy, one has to be deliberate about slowing
down, whether it is slowing to wrap cheap, acrylic wool around a bicycle tyre,
or whether it is slowing to see these little pieces of art/hope/life/love that
pop up around us in our homes and neighbourhoods.
Chatsworth Road changes so rapidly these days that those of
us who frequent the road take in new sights seemingly every week. So, will these stars stick out? Will they catch anyone off-guard, slow anyone
down? Perhaps they will solidify for some
observations of gentrification and ‘white-middle-class-craft’, and perhaps some
will see them as a nuisance…
An artist or craftivist leaves art in the public space as a
gift, and we have to leave it at that.
However these stars are perceived over the next 24 days…well, it’s out
of our hands.
Take it as you will, Chatsworth Road, and let us know if it
inspires you, angers you, or leaves you wondering what it’s all about.
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