Shunt: transforming raw spaces into creative havens

While in London, The Pink Line Project crew experienced one of the coolest, most creative arts venues in the UK. Shunt is a collective of 10 artists that produce large-scale performance events in unexpected, abandoned, or derelict buildings throughout London. Their current home is a 65,000-square-foot sprawling labyrinth of railway arches under London bridge station: a bonded wine vault for the last 100 years - now an independent republic with diplomatic immunity and a vast private army.

The entrance to Shunt is a single, unmarked door at the London Bridge Underground Station. Most would simply walk past this unidentified door and think it to be a janitor closet. No one would know that inside that single door is an artistic haven.

Shunt prides itself with its transformation. Each time one walks in, one experiences something different - maybe they have redecorated a room or put in a new installation, or there is a new series of performances. Without fail, you are being introduced to something you have never seen before. According to Mischa Twitchin, Shunt Founder Member, it's about creating that feeling that something else is still going to happen. "There is constant transformation of the space and what it feels like to be in that space."

This is where, I believe, the inherent joy of the space comes from - from all the ingenious things that happen when there is a place for experimenting with new artistic ideas. A typical night at Shunt is unconventional, to say the least. In a single night, one can experience a slew of creative ventures without even realizing it. While we were there, we composed a lighting symphony with an electric light organ. Over by the bar, a string quartet provided background lounge music atop a poetry shot bar. Throughout the night, burlesque dancers mingled with the crowd and pole danced on the bar to DJ jams. In another corridor, people created faux mustaches at a Facial Hair Workshop, and finally, performance troupes staged interesting scenes for curious patrons. The key to the entire night, however, was that we were never bored.

As Nigel Barrett, Associate Artist for Shunt, states, how do you make art for that group of people that come in the doors for the bar, but not necessarily for the artistic events happening throughout all of the corridors? "That became the experiment: could you do something strong enough to distract people from their night out? And be interesting enough to where they will get out of their seats and follow you?"

Throughout the years, I would say that Shunt has succeeded in their experiments. Pole vaulting, zip lining, film screenings, art installations, quirky performances, naked people running around covered in mud, foam parties, puppet shows, and live bands are just a few of the ways that they have used creative thinking to captivate patrons. 

According to Louise Mari, Shunt Founder Member, the exciting part of the Shunt experience is its take-away. "[People] come for a night out, to hang with their friends, to celebrate their birthdays. At the same time, they can't ignore the art. Even if they don't like it, they will talk about it. Then they go to work on Monday morning and someone asks them what they did on the weekend. And they will say, 'Well, I went to a bar and I saw this...'"

My first reaction to Shunt was: "I wish D.C. had something like this!" After pondering the capacity of Washington to host such a venue, I realized that while D.C. may be smaller in size, such a space has the potential be a catalyst for the city's creative community. Washington is full of curious, social individuals who would thrive in such a creative collision of ideas. Therefore, the goal for those in the arts scene is to create such experiences - to grab people's attention and draw them to creativity. In this environment, one can't ignore the art because it is the "surround sound" of the environment.