JAMIE ANLEY FROM JAM INTERVIEWS GIOVANNA FORTE AND HAS A LUCKY DIP INTO THE CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE LOTS FROM THE SHOREDITCH BALL AUCTION WITH SOTHEBY’S, 15TH OCTOBER 2010 AT SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL
The Shoreditch Ball launched last year – how was it for you?
It was extraordinary. We seemed to attract everyone who was anyone together with everybody else. We had a true cross section of people from Shoreditch and beyond (yes, a few people came from Out West …). They all piled in and had an incredibly good time. The Blockheads blew our sound system at one point, but Phil Jupitus just kept going and no-one seemed to mind. The Sex Drugs and Rock & Roll took on a life of its own. This year we’ve gone a bit retro with jazz and swing, camped up with Jonny Woo and Pam Hogg. It’s all fairly “of the moment” as a two-fingers to austerity.
The first Shoreditch Ball Auction last year focused on art – what made you expand the remit this year into Furniture and Fashion?
With such ready support from the leading artists that live here, we were incredibly lucky – and grateful – and the Ball became established in a nano-second. Evolving the event, we felt it could do more to pay respect to the area’s traditional past. Artists belong here. By 1861 around 30 per cent of London furniture makers worked in the East End. The Chippendale workshops and showroom were on Curtain Road which, together with Old Street and Great Eastern Street were centres of the trade. And did you know that the London College of Fashion was founded here in 1906 as the Shoreditch Technical Girls’ School?
You say you’re reflecting the traditional fabric of Shoreditch but the Lots this year are not exactly “traditional” – doesn’t this conflict with your approach?
No – tradition is born of any era. Take JAM for instance, you’ve been here since the late 90s and can now be considered a founding father of contemporary design in the area – you’re one of the reasons shows like 100% Design became a bellwether for leading edge design. From products to brands, you pushed boundaries and made people think about function. And because you’re still doing that today with clarity and currency you’ve changed the wider perception of products – including furniture – from a single strand into something far more interesting and almost more importantly, you’re influencing a whole new generation of designers. We want the Shoreditch Ball Auction to convey all that.
So the Shoreditch Ball embraces design?
Yes of course. Shoreditch is about creativity. Every wave of immigrant culture that has arrived here has brought something new to the area making it the many layered and intellectual place it is today. The East End, Shoreditch and Hoxton in particular, foster ideas. It’s a breeding ground for new talent across Art, Furniture and Fashion. Talking about a Lot from JAM’s Crucifix light (below), that touches on the world’s oldest brand, in the same breath as a lamp from relative newcomer Tom Foulsham, who is exploring balance, light and motion in an interior setting is utterly refreshing. Why not? The Shoreditch Ball is here to raise money for those that made it what it is today – the elderly that have lived here for years as well as the new generation of locals. By promoting it as a special place, we’ll hopefully encourage a dynamic future, too.
Who is going to bid for these pieces?
Henrietta Thompson has curated a collection of design pieces that will attract serious collectors as well as people who appreciate cutting edge design or who might be looking for a statement piece for their own home. Representing both established and emerging talent, each piece is unique or from a very limited edition series and will prove to be a visionary investment for bidders. Our guests are made up of all manner of people. Last year our buyers included a Bond Street art dealer who snapped up a couple of bargains, a couple who bought Patrick Hughes’s rainbow piece for their son’s bedroom – because he loves rainbows – to a local bar owner who happens to be a fan of Cornelia Parker. The whole thing engendered a familial rather egalitarian atmosphere. Which after all, is what Shoreditch is all about.
Well, and shed-loads of escapism, fun and damn fine cocktails, which never go amiss.
The Shoreditch Ball takes place on 15th October 2010 at Shorecditch Town Hall.
Tickets in advance only, from www.shoreditchball.com
Auction lots:
Art curated by Nina Gehl Patrick Hughes, Nina Gehl, Gavin Turk, Alixandra Fazzina
Fashion curated by Philip Start, Erdem, Mr Start, Lucy Hutchings, Crockett & Jones
Furniture curated by Henrietta Thompson, JAM, Martino Gamper, Samuel Wilkinson, Tom Foulsham
Plus a Rogue Luxury Lot 13 from Karma Resorts
Tags: "JAM team", Alixandra Fazzina, Crockett & Jones, Erdem, Gavin Turk, Giovanna Forte, Henrietta Thompson, JAM, Jamie Anley, Lucy Hutchings, martino gamper, Mr Start, Nina Gehl, Nina Gehl Patrick Hughes, Philip Start, Samuel Wilkinson, The Shoreditch Ball, Tom Foulsham
