Camden Arts Centre's Big Rip Off fundraising event on the 17th april. Lottie Child devised a performance with reverse pick pocketing, trespassing around the polite residential area of Finchley Road finishing with breaking into Gallery director Jenni Lomax's office through a window that had been left slightly ajar. Particpants included a little boy who was thirsty, a small girl who was very enthusiasitic and kind to every one and an other small boy who wanted to lead us up every external fire escape we came to, his mum who is an artist and illustrator, two young brothers who knew all about the second world war and air raid shelters especially Anderson shelters, Richard Wentworth, Brett Rogers, an artist called Tom (Surname?) and Tracky from Coney.
We gathered in the street outside the galllery, I described the urban environment in terms of socially produced space and made reference to Henri Lefebvre talked a bit about spatial justice and how we take for granted that we can't go where we want and do what we want in the spaces of the city. After quick exploration of the meaning of the word trangsgression. I then proposed that if we are to tresspass we need to find reasons for our wanderings other than using the streets for shopping, going to work and walking down the street with our walking down the street faces on. Any Ideas? yes the children said do what you feel like doing. So Perhaps a slogan, said to have been chalked on walls in Paris 1968 and attributed to the Situationist innternational could be handy. I TAKE MY DESIRES FOR REALITY BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN THE REALITY OF MY DESIRES - chalked on the pavement, the word DESIRE was immediately driven over by a mini cab. What's pickpocketing? what's reverse pickpocketing? Asked to practice in threes and adopt distraction tactics in no time Richard's credit card, a £20 note and iphone where pilfered followed by a quick recap on the aim of the exercise. And off to the backside, arsend territories to discover the double abandoned mattress technique with extra scary crocidile cannyon. Then into a vast terrain that few people except rough sleepers, horny teenagers and sly foxes are familiure with. One person described it as being in Alice in Wonderland. Strewn with empty whiskey bottles, vibrantly alive with a multitude of twisting plants, rags and the very very black openness that even the most inquisitive child turned back from. Then we emerged into a quiet suburban street as if nothing else could exist. A quick history of art, ivy and noveau intricacies from Richard before we hit the Finchely Road and amused ourselves with distracting passrs by with nonsensical and spurious banter in order to provide cover for the children's deft reverse pickpocketing. As we approached Camden Arts Centre we noticed that the window of the Director's office was open so, sending the tiniest first, adults and children alike piled in through the ground floor window, we nonchalantly wandered back in to the gallery ignoring the incredulous looks on the faces in the adjascent open plan office.

www.camdenartscentre.org/fakemodern/programme.pdf
http://www.thisistomorrow.info/viewArticle.aspx?artId=311&Title=Spending...!