10.05 The Union Tavern. October 1993 - May 1994
The sixteen shows that
Exploding Cinema put on at the Union Tavern were the longest series of shows in
the Nineties. The Union Tavern is on the corner of Camberwell New Road and
Vassal road in South London. The Union Place community print workshop was next
door at the time.
The Union Tavern was a
slightly down-at-heel old music pub about quarter of a mile down the Camberwell
New Road from the Oval Tube. A narrow bar space gave way to an increasingly
wide back space with a large raised stage. At a push there was room for an
audience of about 200. This venue was a bit smaller than the Jugglers Arms. The
shows were fortnightly and it used to get 'jam packed'. You often couldn't get
in if you arrived after 9pm.
This was close to where I
lived in Kennington and so I went fairly regularly. The social networking was
lively and the audience were often vociferous especially in exchanges with the
MC. These regular shows seemed to generate their own ongoing energy. People got
used to them being on every month. There was a regular audience, which reduced
work on publicity but also induced a steady stream of films to show. During
this series alone over 300 works were projected on the main screen.
The first show was on 2nd of
October 1993. It included a packed programme of 22 works (1x 16mm, 12x Super
8mm, 5x VHS, 2x music events, 2x performances, which included work by Steven
Eastwood and Andrew Kotting both destined for future prominence. At this time a
high proportion of the work is still on Super 8 film. By April 1994 a change in
the balance of film to video seems to have taken place.[1]
At the show of 16th April in that year there were sixteen works of which only
four were 8mm film and ten were on VHS.
The high audience numbers
provided a good income and soon the collective were considering buying a van
and getting an office. The office was obtained by the end of November and
lasted until November 1994.[2]
No vehicle was bought until Colette bought the Cortina estate in October 1996.
Equipment was moved using cars owned by Anthony Kopieki and John Carr.
In 1993 Katya Rossini left
the group and moved to Belgium in which she was active in independent cinema
with Kino Trotter in Belgium. Paul Tarrago had joined the group in late 1992;
Colette Rouhier had joined in the spring of 1993 and Caroline Kennedy after the
Lido Show in August 1993. So by the beginning of 1994 the members who were to
provide the stable core of the collective in the next 6 years were in
place.
Little feedback on shows
exists in the minutes for this period and it seems people were putting all
their energy into the ongoing shows and had got used to the highs and lows of
putting on shows on a regular basis.
At a General Meeting on 21st
of April 1994, Jennet, Duncan, Danny, Caroline, Robyn, Anthony, Michael,
Dennis, Fiona, Hassan and Paul are present. Although the last show was
profitable Jenet reckons it was the most uninspiring Exploding Cinema ever with
an annoying 'beery' audience and a 'sparse' programme. Repeated shows at the
same venue were starting to feel 'like going to do a job'. People voted to do
just two more shows at the Union Tavern and then have a break.
The show on the 14th May
1994 was to be the last at Union Tavern in this series. Work included a
performance by Ian Hinchliffe and a 16mm film by tENTITATIVELY A. cONVENIENCE a
performance artist from Baltimore in the USA who had become famous through the
International Postal Art Network.[3]
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