After my first outcome, I gained a solid understanding of King’s Cross club culture and the widespread closures affecting clubs across London and the UK due to restrictive councils, foreign investment, and redevelopment pushing out marginalised communities. Encouraged by my peers, I expanded my research to a macro scale, mapping 18 influential clubs using articles, interviews, and accounts from former clubbers.
I visited these sites on foot, piecing together their locations. Many had been demolished or replaced by upscale offices, flats, or were left vacant. I documented each site with photos and notes on what had taken their place.
Using photos of the 18 closed clubs, I created a series of visual experiments inspired by Jeremy Deller’s work such as ‘Time Before Shopping’ which depicts a section of the Stonehenge with the title as a humorous caption below it to critique consumerist cultures. I cut out each building and made them black and white to highlight their contours while preserving important architectural details, as the changes to these buildings are central to the narrative of lost club culture. I paired each image with humorous captions referencing the club’s history, reasons for closure, or current state.
To distribute these experiments beyond a screen, I chose flyers, inspired by the way club posters and flyers were historically shared within club culture. I made a physical collection of perforated flyers bound with black electrical tape, printed on thin recycled paper to give a DIY, edgy feel that echoed rave aesthetics.
When presenting to peers, I realised many captions lacked sufficient context for wider understanding. This made me aware that improving the clarity and depth of my written communication was necessary for the next round of iterations.