Why Rush @ Temple Works Leeds

Why Rush is going to be a 3 day experimental and multimedia performance event held inside, Temple Works, a Grade I listed building. And if you have been inside the Temple Works, you will know why the building was perfect for this. Far from the hospital-clean, minimal and zen art spaces we’re used to with their unblemished white walls, neatly and compulsively labelled art pieces, and watched over by obnoxious and over-ly pretensious art zealots, the huge Temple Works will fully utilise its original characteristic floors – there is one that resembles a German military interrogation bunker setting with its solemn lighting and cubicle spaces, there is another floor with its bright natural lighting from ceilings and high, textured walls make like an abandoned pre-war ballet studio. Then there are the vintage toilets – some that could have been used for the setting of that freakish horror film Saw (the very first one) and the others cleaned-out and re-used into artist spaces. There are also the neat hidden stairwells and walls peeling from old paint, exposing stone and concrete, the history of the building peeking through, almost merging with the art.
It is, quite seriously, a setting and an experience that cannot be compared elsewhere.

Some of us may be familiar with Shunt, the well known collective of artists who do live performances in unlikely locations in and around London. You will find that a number of the performers, curators and artists at Why Rush will have affiliations, or have collaborated, exhibited or performed at Shunt previously. From what we understand, Shunt is no longer operating the space they used to occupy in London so Why Rush is a great oppurtunity to experience the artistic energy and spirit that made a name for the Shunt collective.

Why Rush will see electrifying performances by Carrieanne Vivianette, Anna Frisch (My Polar Disorder) performed by Laura Bradshaw, Caro Snatch, Dave Lynch, Il Pixel Rosso (and the birds fell from the sky), Melanie Wilson in Illustrated, Paul Green, Rachel Sweeney (in crow-glove / croagh-love), and Urban Geisha pushing the boundaries of art as a medium for communication, the aesthetic and the abstract colliding into beauty and mayhem.

Speaking of Caro Snatch, she has been likened to an avant-pop English version of Bjork:

Not forgetting also, live music by the likes of Jerico Orchestra, Lone Taxidermist, Monkey Punch Productions, Slim Bob Pro 6 and the Bobettes, Ten Benson, Ultra Humanitarian as well as an open bar and cafe to rest your weary feet, calm your excited hearts, and get drunk on the experience.

[Ultra Humanitarian - Pathfinders]

The presspack alluded to the mysterious and the mischievous and quite a bit of rock n roll. As they say, “When pianos drop… horns salute…taxidermists fly…mice poledance…clowns menace…geishas howl…men rock…heads roll… WHY RUSH?”

Tickets are on sale here and the dates are as follows: