WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.200 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I want you to 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:05.500 start today by just purging your mind of the 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:08.359 London you see on Instagram. Forget the brunch 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.199 spots, forget the shiny skyscrapers, and definitely 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:15.000 forget the, you know, polite, quiet atmosphere 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.699 of the Tate Modern. Yeah, we're going back to 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:21.120 a very specific moment in time, the early 2000s. 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:24.839 The internet is... I mean, it's barely a thing, 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:26.899 at least not in the way we know it. And London 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:28.519 is still a place where you could actually get 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:30.859 lost. And we are looking at a scene that was 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:33.880 gritty. It was chaotic. And it was happening 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:36.619 in buildings that, well, legally speaking, these 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:38.520 people did not own. We are talking about the 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:41.500 collective known as WOW. That's pronounced WOW. 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:44.500 And for anyone listening, just so you can picture 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:46.579 it, that's spelled with an exclamation mark at 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:49.020 the start and the end. It's a palindrome of excitement. 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.020 Exactly. So the mission today is to really get 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:54.990 our heads around. How a group of squatters in 00:00:54.990 --> 00:00:57.090 Peckham, and we should be clear, this is not 00:00:57.090 --> 00:00:58.829 the trendy Peckham of today. No, not at all. 00:00:58.909 --> 00:01:01.950 How they managed to build this cultural movement 00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:04.849 that attracted everyone from, you know, future 00:01:04.849 --> 00:01:09.450 fashion icons to literal U .S. presidential family 00:01:09.450 --> 00:01:11.670 members. It sounds like an urban legend, doesn't 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:14.569 it? It really does. But this is a documented 00:01:14.569 --> 00:01:18.609 history of a creative incubator that just operated 00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:20.689 completely outside the system. OK, but before 00:01:20.689 --> 00:01:23.989 we get to the presidential nieces and. the 10 00:01:23.989 --> 00:01:25.650 ,000 bottles of beer, which, by the way, is a 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:28.049 real number we will get to. A very real number. 00:01:28.049 --> 00:01:30.810 We have to set the stage. What was the vibe like 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:33.709 in the London art world before these guys showed 00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:35.989 up? Because my impression of the early 2000s 00:01:35.989 --> 00:01:39.390 is all very polished, high value, conceptual 00:01:39.390 --> 00:01:41.950 stuff. You're spot on. I mean, you had the tail 00:01:41.950 --> 00:01:44.849 end of the YBA era, the young British artists. 00:01:45.109 --> 00:01:48.129 Think Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin. Right. By 2003, 00:01:48.409 --> 00:01:51.129 that scene was the establishment. It was expensive. 00:01:51.209 --> 00:01:53.430 It was all white wall galleries. And it was really 00:01:53.430 --> 00:01:55.090 exclusive. So if you were a kid coming out of 00:01:55.090 --> 00:01:57.310 art school, you were basically looking at a closed 00:01:57.310 --> 00:01:59.329 door. You couldn't afford a studio in Shoreditch 00:01:59.329 --> 00:02:02.829 anymore. So necessity breeds invention. Or in 00:02:02.829 --> 00:02:05.409 this case, necessity breeds breaking and entering. 00:02:05.750 --> 00:02:08.469 Well, let's look at the origin. It starts in 00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:12.020 2003. And not even in a squat, but in the back 00:02:12.020 --> 00:02:15.599 of a pub. The joiner's arms in Camberwell. Which 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:17.580 is such a classic British trope. The revolution 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.500 always starts in a pub backroom. It does. And 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:22.780 this was a performance night founded by Hannah 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:26.099 Hanra and Matthew Stone. It was scrappy. It was 00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:28.500 fun. But it was, you know, limited. You can't 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:30.439 build a world in a pub backroom. You can only 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.520 visit it. Exactly. So the pivot comes in 2004. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.639 This is the moment they decide, OK, we need more 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.800 space and we have absolutely no money. And they 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:42.979 find this massive, derelict Victorian building 00:02:42.979 --> 00:02:45.199 in Peckham. Precisely. It used to be a co -op 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.219 department store. Yeah. And this is where we 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:49.060 need to get a little bit technical about squatting 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:50.860 because I think a lot of people picture like 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:52.580 smashing windows in the middle of the night. 00:02:52.659 --> 00:02:54.360 Yeah. How do you just take over a department 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:56.360 store without the police dragging you out in 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:59.680 like 10 minutes? So in the UK at that time, there 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.120 was this legal loophole. It wasn't a criminal 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:04.599 offense to squat in a commercial building. If 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:06.379 you could get in without using force. Like an 00:03:06.379 --> 00:03:09.740 unlocked window or something. Exactly. An unlocked 00:03:09.740 --> 00:03:12.520 window, a door left ajar, and you secured the 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:15.139 place, it became a civil matter, not a criminal 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:18.039 one. So you climb in, you change the locks, and 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:20.139 suddenly the landlord has to take you to court 00:03:20.139 --> 00:03:22.199 instead of just... Calling the cops. That's it. 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:25.259 They'd slap a Section 6 legal notice on the door, 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:28.659 which basically says to the police, we live here. 00:03:28.780 --> 00:03:32.360 This is our home. Do not enter. It bought them 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.419 time, sometimes months, sometimes years. That 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:37.639 is wild. It's like a game of cat and mouse, but 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:40.099 the mouse has a law degree. Sort of, yeah. So 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:41.960 they get this building. Who's actually moving 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:44.039 it? Are you talking about random punks or are 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:47.039 these, you know? serious artist. This is what 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.520 really separates from just a standard squat. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.960 Yeah. The talent density was absurd. You had 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.039 Matthew Stone, who we mentioned, Millie Brown, 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:57.919 a performance artist, Adam Faramawi doing video 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:00.039 installations. You even had Isabella Summers. 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:02.719 The Machine from Florence and the Machine. The 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:04.800 very same. Okay, that is a heavy lineup. But 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.860 the name that really defines the whole visual 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:09.800 identity of this era is Gareth Pugh. Okay, for 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:12.139 anyone listening who maybe doesn't follow high 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:16.910 fashion. Why is Gareth Q such a big deal? I mean, 00:04:16.930 --> 00:04:20.490 if you've seen early Lady Gaga or Beyonce's Run 00:04:20.490 --> 00:04:23.350 the World video or anything that looks architectural 00:04:23.350 --> 00:04:25.870 and severe and maybe a little bit terrifying. 00:04:26.089 --> 00:04:27.790 That's Pew. That's the Gareth Pew influence. 00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:30.449 He is one of the most significant designers of 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:34.269 the last 20 years. And back then, he was living 00:04:34.269 --> 00:04:37.069 in this squat, making clothes out of, well, trash. 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:40.079 Literally trash. Resources were scarce. And this 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:42.279 environment, it created this very specific look. 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:45.660 The group got known for this Harlequin -esque 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:48.300 style. Lots of black and white geometric shapes, 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.120 diamonds, masks. It was visual. It was loud. 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:53.639 And it was so distinct. It sounds like they were 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:55.560 creating their own reality. Like you could step 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:57.699 off a dirty street in Peckham, walk into this 00:04:57.699 --> 00:04:59.139 building, and suddenly you're in a different 00:04:59.139 --> 00:05:01.660 universe. That is the key. It wasn't just about 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.560 making art objects. It was about being the art. 00:05:04.579 --> 00:05:06.759 They wore the clothes. They lived the performance. 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:11.199 It was a 247 immersive thing. But you can't keep 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:13.019 something like that a secret, especially if you're 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:14.839 dressing like a geometric clown and living in 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:16.579 a co -op. All right, they needed an audience. 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:18.660 And they found one. Or rather, they built one. 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:21.560 Yeah. In 2003 and into 2004, they started throwing 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:23.939 these huge warehouse parties. And when I say 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:26.120 parties, I don't mean, you know, a clug in the 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.879 kitchen. The numbers here are just, they're staggering. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:33.139 I'm looking at reports of 2 ,000 people. 2 ,000 00:05:33.139 --> 00:05:36.949 people in a squatted building. No security, no 00:05:36.949 --> 00:05:39.810 official fire exits, just pure adrenaline and 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:41.829 word of mouth. I can't even imagine the logistics, 00:05:42.069 --> 00:05:44.430 the toilets alone. Actually, no, let's not imagine 00:05:44.430 --> 00:05:47.129 the toilets. But this brings us to my absolute 00:05:47.129 --> 00:05:50.189 favorite detail in this whole story. This is 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:52.490 where the grit meets the glamour in the most 00:05:52.490 --> 00:05:54.649 absurd way. You're talking about the Lauren Bush 00:05:54.649 --> 00:05:57.850 incident. I am. So you have this illegal rave 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:01.290 in South London. It's sweaty. It's loud. Probably 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:04.069 smells like cheap lager. And in walks Lauren 00:06:04.069 --> 00:06:06.519 Bush. The niece of the then -sitting president 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:08.560 of the United States, George W. Bush. And she's 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:10.759 not alone. Right. She didn't just hop on the 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:13.860 night bus. No. She was accompanied by two CIA 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:18.740 bodyguards. Just picture that scene. You have 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:22.139 Gareth Q in a corner making a dress out of balloons, 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:25.560 2 ,000 art school kids dancing, and then there 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:28.740 are two guys in suits with earpieces scanning 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:31.860 the room for threats, protecting the president's 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:35.149 niece. It's surreal. But it perfectly illustrates 00:06:35.149 --> 00:06:38.329 the magnetic pull this group had. There's a certain 00:06:38.329 --> 00:06:42.310 cachet to that kind of grit that high society 00:06:42.310 --> 00:06:44.870 finds irresistible. It felt dangerous. It felt 00:06:44.870 --> 00:06:47.550 authentic. Right. If you were at a wow -wow party, 00:06:47.730 --> 00:06:50.029 you were at the center of the cultural universe 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:53.009 for that one night. It's the ultimate cool factor. 00:06:53.529 --> 00:06:56.009 Money can buy you a table at some fancy club, 00:06:56.189 --> 00:06:58.509 but it can't buy you entry into a squat party 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:00.680 unless you know the right people. Though I guess 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:02.600 being a bush gets you in anywhere. Apparently 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.620 so. Yeah. But we shouldn't get too distracted 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:06.620 by the celebrity bit because under all the parties, 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:08.259 there was serious work going on. They weren't 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:09.959 just messing around. Exactly. They were putting 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.480 on proper art exhibitions. Let's talk about the 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.920 show in December 2004. This was in a new location, 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:19.689 wasn't it? Yep. 251 Rye Lane, another Georgian 00:07:19.689 --> 00:07:21.930 building, another former co -op. And again, they 00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:24.290 didn't just walk in. They had to gut the place 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:26.790 themselves. They were doing construction work, 00:07:26.889 --> 00:07:29.290 you know, refurbishing a derelict building just 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:32.050 to make it gallery ready. That's some serious 00:07:32.050 --> 00:07:35.730 sweat equity. And the art was eclectic. I feel 00:07:35.730 --> 00:07:37.470 like that's the polite word. It was a riot of 00:07:37.470 --> 00:07:40.129 styles. You had Chloe Duh Matthews showing these 00:07:40.129 --> 00:07:44.029 serene photographs of Lido's, you know, the outdoor 00:07:44.029 --> 00:07:46.250 British swimming pools. Okay, very calm. And 00:07:46.250 --> 00:07:49.350 next to that. You had Matthew Stone. doing digital 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:51.750 recreations of old master paintings, Rachel Haynes 00:07:51.750 --> 00:07:54.310 doing surrealist collages, and Booceville doing 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:56.769 these monkey paintings and incredible B -roll 00:07:56.769 --> 00:07:58.990 drawings. It sounds like total chaos, but I guess 00:07:58.990 --> 00:08:00.709 that was the point. There was no curator saying, 00:08:00.850 --> 00:08:02.670 does this fit the theme? The theme was just, 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:04.829 we are here. That's it. And the opening nights 00:08:04.829 --> 00:08:06.990 reflected that energy. It was not wine and cheese. 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:10.370 It was performance art mayhem. I have to ask 00:08:10.370 --> 00:08:13.410 about the shopping trolley Mardi Gras. What on 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:16.029 earth is that? It is exactly what it sounds like. 00:08:16.089 --> 00:08:19.360 A parade of decorated shopping trolleys. probably 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.959 stolen from the nearby Sainsbury's, just processed 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:24.560 through the space. It's taking the junk of urban 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.759 life and turning it into a carnival. And then 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:29.100 there was the thriller recreation. Oh, this is 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:32.019 legendary. Lolly Chetwynd, who now goes by Monster 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:34.120 Chetwynd, a Turner Prize nominee, by the way. 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.120 Yeah. She organized a full recreation of Michael 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.000 Jackson's thriller video. But not like a polished 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.799 Hollywood version. No, no, no. Think handmade 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.919 costumes, cardboard zombies, a whole troop of 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:49.289 friends committing 100. percent to the dance 00:08:49.289 --> 00:08:52.370 moves in the middle of a squat. It's funny, but 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:54.149 it's also really sincere. It's that sweet spot 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:56.470 between we're just playing and we're making something 00:08:56.470 --> 00:08:59.169 iconic. It feels like that specific energy, that 00:08:59.169 --> 00:09:02.269 serious play, it really hit its peak in 2005. 00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:05.129 That was the Children of Wow Wow era. Which sounds 00:09:05.129 --> 00:09:07.029 a bit like a cult, but maybe the best kind of 00:09:07.029 --> 00:09:09.629 cult. In November 2005, they pulled off their 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:12.750 most ambitious project yet, a week -long festival 00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:15.740 curated by Gareth Cadwallader. They took over 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:18.100 a huge warehouse and a bunch of smaller local 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:21.440 spots. And the programming for this week, it 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.159 just reads like a fever dream. They had a stolen 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:27.379 cinema. Which was literally them renting cult 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:30.179 films from the local video shop and just screening 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:33.159 them. Simple, but so effective. They had a play 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:36.259 called Factory Dog. And my personal favorite, 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:39.059 the Greasy Spoon Art Salon Breakfast. Hosted 00:09:39.059 --> 00:09:41.919 by Lolly Chetwin and Zoe Brown. I mean, taking 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.120 the most mundane British thing, the Greasy Spoon 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.659 Cafe, and turning it into an art salon. It's 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:50.429 all about... elevating the everyday. But we have 00:09:50.429 --> 00:09:52.730 to talk about the finale, because if the Lauren 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:55.929 Bush story shows us the who, the stats for this 00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:58.250 final party show us the how much. The numbers 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:00.929 are frankly dangerous. Okay, so 1 ,500 people 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:03.490 at the closing party, big crowd, but let's look 00:10:03.490 --> 00:10:05.789 at the booze. They went through 10 ,000 bottles 00:10:05.789 --> 00:10:08.470 of beer. 10 ,000. And 500 bottles of whiskey. 00:10:08.690 --> 00:10:10.889 Wait, hold on. 500 bottles, if you do the math 00:10:10.889 --> 00:10:13.950 on that. That's like a third of a bottle of whiskey 00:10:13.950 --> 00:10:16.389 per person on top of almost seven beers each. 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:18.370 That is not a party. That is a medical emergency. 00:10:18.690 --> 00:10:20.870 It was a festival of excess. They had 13 live 00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:23.169 bands, including the Long Blondes. It was just 00:10:23.169 --> 00:10:25.509 an absolute explosion of energy. So how did they 00:10:25.509 --> 00:10:27.830 sustain this? I mean, 10 ,000 beers aren't cheap. 00:10:27.970 --> 00:10:30.190 Where was the money coming from if they weren't 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:32.710 charging huge entrance fees? Well, sometimes 00:10:32.710 --> 00:10:34.769 they were charging a few quid on the door or 00:10:34.769 --> 00:10:37.190 selling the booze themselves. But the real economic 00:10:37.190 --> 00:10:40.409 engine. was what they weren't paying. Rent. Exactly. 00:10:40.610 --> 00:10:42.929 And this gets us to the core philosophy. Yeah. 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:47.769 The aha moment of why wow really matters. Matthew 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:49.470 Stone said something that I think just defines 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:52.450 this whole generation of artists. He said squatting 00:10:52.450 --> 00:10:55.129 was an opportunity to invest in what they actually 00:10:55.129 --> 00:10:57.870 believed in. And he contrasted that with the 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:00.230 alternative, right? Yes. He said the alternative 00:11:00.230 --> 00:11:03.289 was chipping off bits of our soul working as 00:11:03.289 --> 00:11:06.850 unpaid interns. That hits hard. I think anyone 00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:08.470 who's tried to break into a creative industry 00:11:08.470 --> 00:11:11.330 knows that feeling. You work for free for exposure, 00:11:11.570 --> 00:11:13.529 but you're still paying a grand a month for a 00:11:13.529 --> 00:11:16.789 tiny room. It's a trap. Wow. Stepped outside 00:11:16.789 --> 00:11:19.149 of it. Sohn's point was that by removing the 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:21.350 financial burden of rent, they bought themselves 00:11:21.350 --> 00:11:24.970 time, time to be playful. He said, and this is 00:11:24.970 --> 00:11:27.590 the key quote, serious ideas came out of that 00:11:27.590 --> 00:11:30.429 ridiculous house. Serious ideas came out of that 00:11:30.429 --> 00:11:32.509 ridiculous house. That should be on a plaque 00:11:32.509 --> 00:11:35.679 somewhere. It's the incubator theory. If you 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:38.179 lower the overhead to zero, you can afford to 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:40.759 fail. You can afford to dress like a harlequin 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.919 and make a dress out of bin bags. If you're paying 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.620 market rent, you have to make art that sells. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.340 You have to be commercial from day one. They 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:51.639 were pre -commercial. Totally. They even had 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:54.480 their own media arm to document it all. The fanzine, 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:57.519 fashion art leisure. They were controlling their 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.500 own narrative before that was even a buzzword. 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:01.879 But as with all good things, especially good 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:04.789 things involving London real estate. It had to 00:12:04.789 --> 00:12:08.330 end. The core group left that main Peckham building 00:12:08.330 --> 00:12:11.909 in 2006. Was that it? Was that the death of the 00:12:11.909 --> 00:12:14.250 collective? Not right away. The energy kind of 00:12:14.250 --> 00:12:16.409 dispersed, but it kept moving. They went international, 00:12:16.629 --> 00:12:19.029 did events in Dresden, Germany. And back in London, 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:20.710 they just kept finding the weirdest possible 00:12:20.710 --> 00:12:23.730 venues. They squatted a quick -fit garage in 00:12:23.730 --> 00:12:26.049 Camberwell. For an exhibition. From a Victorian 00:12:26.049 --> 00:12:28.970 co -op to a tire -changing shop. I love that. 00:12:29.190 --> 00:12:31.649 Yeah. Yes, I'll have an oil change and a surrealist 00:12:31.649 --> 00:12:34.110 collage, please. It proves the vibe wasn't about 00:12:34.110 --> 00:12:36.269 this specific building. It was about the approach. 00:12:36.549 --> 00:12:39.850 They did an event in Burningham in 2007. Millie 00:12:39.850 --> 00:12:43.450 Brown and Adam Faramaui kept the torch lit, bringing 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:46.470 in new people. So, zooming out, we're looking 00:12:46.470 --> 00:12:49.220 back at this from the mid -2020s. London is so 00:12:49.220 --> 00:12:51.539 different now. Peckham is so different. You can't 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:53.700 even buy a coffee in Peckham for less than four 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:56.340 quid, let alone squat a department store. And 00:12:56.340 --> 00:12:58.379 that's the tragedy and the lesson of this story, 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:02.179 isn't it? Wow. It's a perfect case study in what 00:13:02.179 --> 00:13:04.879 happens when you just give young, creative people 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:07.240 space. We talked about Gareth Pugh changing fashion. 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:09.960 The music, the whole aesthetic shifted from that 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:13.379 90s minimalism to this like maximalist new wave 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:15.759 explosion. A lot of that happened because of 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.259 this specific space. It's the business model 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:21.120 of Dohemians. High creative output requires low 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.039 living costs. When you gentrify a city so much 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:27.169 that a derelict warehouse costs millions. You 00:13:27.169 --> 00:13:29.409 kill the incubator. You push the weird out, and 00:13:29.409 --> 00:13:31.070 when the weird goes, the innovation goes with 00:13:31.070 --> 00:13:33.950 it. Exactly. You end up with a very polished, 00:13:34.190 --> 00:13:37.649 very safe, and maybe a very boring culture. It 00:13:37.649 --> 00:13:41.070 was messy, it was dangerous, and probably a health 00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:44.559 and safety nightmare. But it was alive. So here's 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:46.120 the thought I want to leave you with today. And 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.019 it is a bit of a provocative one. We live in 00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:51.960 this era of the side hustle. Everyone is trying 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:54.139 to monetize their hobby because rent is just 00:13:54.139 --> 00:13:56.840 astronomical. We're all those unpaid interns 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.279 Matthew Stone was talking about. We're all working 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.759 just to pay for the space to sleep with no time 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.100 left over to dream. Exactly. So in this landscape 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:08.679 of sky high rents and relentless hustling, where 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:10.539 is the next month to assault supposed to come 00:14:10.539 --> 00:14:13.210 from? Is it even possible to have that kind of 00:14:13.210 --> 00:14:15.570 ridiculous creativity when you literally can't 00:14:15.570 --> 00:14:18.110 afford the physical space for it to happen? It's 00:14:18.110 --> 00:14:19.769 the question that kind of defines the future 00:14:19.769 --> 00:14:21.169 of our cities. If we don't make space for the 00:14:21.169 --> 00:14:23.029 chaos, we're going to lose the culture. Something 00:14:23.029 --> 00:14:24.909 to think about the next time you walk past an 00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:26.889 empty building and wonder what could be happening 00:14:26.889 --> 00:14:30.309 inside. That's it for this deep dive. Thanks 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:31.929 for listening, and we'll catch you on the next 00:14:31.929 --> 00:14:32.129 one.