Testbed

Twelve tonnes of gravel, shadow puppets, short film The Elephant Subway and an all-day doodle bar are just a few of the things that’ll be on show at the Taktal-curated experimental art space as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival.

It’s hoped that the people of Wandsworth will have their eyes opened to the previously rather unexplored Ransomes Dock through a series of installations that invite viewers to explore and interact with the space, which we’re promised will be transformed into an area of ‘visual splendour.’

Taktal at Testbed
Taktal at Testbed

Design and visual arts label Taktal has been commissioned to curate spaces including the Testbed1 experiment art space – an ex-dairy warehouse- and the Courtyard, using installations, interactives, short films and performances.

Brian Macken, Taktal founder, says, ‘The brief from the council was to engage with different places in the city that people are unaware of.

‘The notion of engagement is something that Taktal looks for in interpreting space and initiating creative responses, so it fitted really well.’

Action Space by Mary Ogunleye
Action Space by Mary Ogunleye

Among the installations in the space are Kite and Laslett’s Relay architectural light installation; Tetsuro Nagata’s Interactive Projection Two Way; David Di Duca’s Interactive Installation I Have These Two Faces; and an architectural installation from Warmbaby, which will be a sample section of their installation which they are constructing at The Burning Man Festival.

Untitled Cake Stand by Joey Carey
Untitled Cake Stand by Joey Carey

The festival will also be showing short films, including the aforementioned The Elephant Subway (Kaleidoscope Edit) by Jonathan Gales, and Paul Nicholls’ animation Royal Reformation.

Relay by Kite and Laslett
Relay by Kite and Laslett

Macken adds, ‘The people [we commissioned] create installations and push what they do. A lot of them are on a big scale and big job but look amazing and beautiful – it really helps people interact with the space.’

Necks of the woods shadow puppet rehearsals by Panflashtic
Necks of the woods shadow puppet rehearsals by Panflashtic

Taktal at Testbed1 will be open from 2 – 9pm, 20 May, at 33 Parkgate Road, Battersea, London SW11. Entry is free.

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