Café Carbon
The Gluts
5-14 March 2010
The Gluts, ‘Café Carbon’.
What do we want?
Poetic action
Creative action
Poetic passion
We are fans of activism
We are fans of political action
We are artists and musicians
The video that begins with Kaffe sitting at a table in the snow and ends with tantrums on an empty London tube train.
‘Café Carbon’, by The Gluts was performed (with varying degrees of success) on the streets of Copenhagen during the climate summit. In Copenhagen, people were asked to choose a dish from a menu of songs, which The Gluts then performed. Short starters; Stone Cold Soup, Cheap Cheap Chicken and GMNO, followed by longer Mains; Rook Pie with Hoover Sauce and Spaghetti Carbonorama, and sweet desserts such as Arctic Roll, and Passionfruit Pie. Two current favourites are Locally Grown Worm, Cabbage and Potato Salad and Hairy Chest Pie.
Hayley and Kaffe are vegans, they ride bicycles and live their lives in a way that is in tune with climate activism. They are concerned about climate change and are keen to do something more to promote information and action about the surrounding issues. Gina drives her car, is a big fan of lights, which she collects in skip loads. Gina is concerned about climate change and has done absolutely nothing about it.
In the beginning, Hayley Newman asked Kaffe Matthews if she wanted to write the music for her burgeoning idea of a climate musical, Kaffe agreed. Hayley poured over texts, wrote reams and reams, threw most of it in the bin, and then came up with some great ideas and wonderful words. Songs began to emerge, but the idea for a musical was put on a back burner. Copenhagen was looming and the two of them planned a trip on the climate train to Copenhagen for the climate Summit and decided to perform in streets and cafes there.
Meanwhile, they met Gina Birch when all three were players at Jem Finer’s Longplayer Roundhouse performance in London, last Autumn. Hayley asked Gina if she would join them in Copenhagen and make a video of the trip. Gina said yes, wondering how she could really reconcile her lifestyle with this new role she was taking on and meanwhile Hayley and Kaffe plotted that Gina would also do some performing.
As she got immersed in the project, Gina started leaving her car at home, walking a lot more and changed her lightbulbs, ate less meat and took up knitting. She knew this would make little or no difference at all, but was aware that her change in attitude was a part of the whole process of a much bigger change.
So in the beginning, Kaffe made the music, Hayley wrote the words and Gina made the video, but all interconnect and change and transform and the resulting work is a collaboration of all of three, in all areas.
Eat, enjoy and begin to feel the difference.
Exhibition produced by AV Festival 10 and Vane. Supported by Arts Council England.
Part of AV Festival 10: Energy
International festival of electronic arts featuring visual art, music and moving image
5-14 March 2010
NewcastleGateshead, Middlesbrough, Sunderland