Shunt

Installation by Christopher Sims at ShuntAs I emerge from the underground station, I veer right, following the signs towards the London Bridge. Across from the exit is an unmarked archway in a brick wall. The only indication that something exists beyond this entryway is that people are starting to congregate around it. Everyone is chattering and drinking in line, all trying to guess what’s going to happen inside. The line moves slowly. Once at the front, a man takes my identification to scan the photo into his computer. I feel as if I am entering a high-security government office. Once I am entered into the system, I move forward. A woman stamps my wrist, and invites me to take some glitter from a bowl on the table in front of her. With my cheekbones adorned with bright blue sparkles, I proceed down a dark hall. It’s hard to pick out anything at first, but a few more steps in and I realize I am walking down through a series of brick caves. A dim light streams out from a cracked door. I approach it, and peak inside. People are gathering around in seats to wait for a band to go on. A small bar is inside, and instead of taking a seat with the crowd, I continue on; there are endless more rooms to explore. I pass through a space in which people are sitting in risers, watching a black and white film on a screen hung across the walkway. I take a right, and all of the sudden I am met by a massive stream of bubbles gliding into my face. The bubbles clear, and I am in an enormous bar. A DJ is spinning electronic tunes, some people are dancing, others are sitting and talking at a series of tables, and a few more are even getting their photograph taken. I am in a total state of bewilderment, and slowly walk down another corridor of tables when I find a trick door. I open it, and walk into yet another series of caves. Jazz music is playing, and I see a bright white light a distance ahead. As I walk further, I realize I have stumbled upon some kind of performance. I quickly take a seat, and watch a group of people create a collective painting to the lyrics of a song. The resulting abstract canvas was actually quite stunning, and even cooler to view since I saw every step in its production. I have no idea how long I was in this place. It could have been five minutes or it could have been an hour. Once I emerged from the painting room, I found another wing of areas to explore. I heard psychedelic music playing, and then noticed that there was a rink on which people were roller-skating. Around the corner was a game room. People were playing foosball, pool, and other arcade attractions. At this point I was overcome by visual stimulation. I sat down at one of the tables underneath a projection of a whale swimming in the deep sea and spoke to a musician and an artist from east London. By the time I was ready to leave, I was directed towards a back exit. I stepped out onto a deserted cobblestone alley. I felt as if I had just fell down the rabbit hole, walked through the wardrobe, and flown through never-never land, completely overcome by what had just happened to me.
Such is the experience of Shunt, a space underneath the London Bridge in which new performance companies, artist collectives, bands, and DJs take residence every week. Each group transforms the various rooms and passages in different ways, so it is nearly impossible to describe the place in a concrete way, for one week it looks and behaves in a completely different way from the next. Is it a bar? A club? A music venue? A funhouse? A photography studio? An arcade? Shunt is all of these things, sometimes on separate occasions, sometimes all at once. That’s the beauty of it: you never know what you are going to find or whom you will encounter.
The next morning, a friend asked me where I went out the night before. I told her “Shunt,” and when she asked me what exactly it was, all I could say was, “It was the greatest place I have ever been. It’s indescribable, you just have to go there to experience it for yourself.”
Jazz Painting