NIGHT 20

Night 20. Wed 7 December 2022

Defying wind speed predictions of relative calm, the tarpaulin flapped violently all last night making sleep scarce. The moon is bright and air frosty. I ‘ve put a blanket over the bedhead to reduce the chilled air currents around our exposed heads.

As the winter sun spreads the appearance of golden warmth I do not want to get up. But today is a big day. We are recording a song with the whole of Barn Croft Primary School.

We meet at 9am to set up the hall. We have assembled a crack team and have so far just had one meeting over zoom. I ‘ve seen Lizzy in action. She runs ‘Natural Voices’ with the tagline ‘taking the stuffiness out of choirs’ and I love her energy and how she pulls off sequin sparkled boots and dungarees with a jumper of my favourite forest green.  Our neighbour Angela talks of how being in her choir has changed her life. BBC London radio are visiting and they ask why we’re doing this song -  I say for the joy it can bring – in all this gloom of multiple crises to make something out of the ordinary happen and hopefully see its ripples. And, to increase awareness of the cuts that impact education and raise the money to make the school more resilient. I look over and see that Lizzy’s necklace says in bold colourful letters J.O.Y. and smile. She works closely with Stephen. He came to the rescue last minute via a call on Freelance E17. He’s a composer, sound designer and music producer and today, an audio engineer. I don’t envy his job, keeping so calm and methodical when dealing with the unknown and unexpected.  The children come in class by class. We’re recording ‘You’re the Voice.’ An 80s classic by John Farnham I must have missed at the time but came to know via an epic comedy scene in the film ‘Hot Rod’ about an amateur stuntman with crazy belief. Although we’re aiming for Christmas number 1 it’s not a Christmas song as such. It’s an anthem to rising up and being counted.   Nursery and reception come in first. They are so cute and Lizzy is great getting them clapping and stamping. Ms Pipe is getting into it, singing along and rousing spirits. Then years 2 and 3 - loving singing out ‘ we’re not going to sit in silence’ – verging on shouting but full of enthusiasm. As the school sets up for lunch we all make our way back to our house just around the corner and Dan distributes sandwiches. It feels good – the house/Power HQ full of people. Katie is here dealing with packing orders and Leonie too – mucking in making signs for later. Simon is back with us taking photographs after we met and worked with him through his daughter Daisy who was printing the greenback artwork/banknotes that continue to fuel the project. We last saw him roaming the Barbican and he even has a special Instagram ‘Barbican Bins.’  As we return to the school we leave a list of ideas for sign slogans for a planned shoot/demonstration later. Dan suggests – ‘Your orthodox economic theories don’t wash with us!’

The afternoon sessions see the older years coming in to sing. The after lunch vibe makes it harder to frame out the yawning from the enthusiastic singing but in terms of sound recording the team are happy that we have the tones and articulation for the mix. G is still mortified but manages a smile and is glad we’re quiet behind cameras. Natalie is fantastic at ensuring we get the shots we need and organising the children into groups for still shots and lines. Kristin and Leonie arrive with the cardboard placards and smoke grenades. Lets do this! We announce a meeting point outside the school gates and through a mixture of people coming prepared with their own beautiful signs (Nat’s lightbulb saying ‘don’t take away our power,’ Mabel’s ‘we need more’) and inviting/grabbing people there and then an anarchic march ensues. Red smoke trails against a glowing sunset and giant moon rising.  We take over the road – children with banners and fists in the air. It is a crazy, beautiful moment.

G’s cough is still here and so many children are off sick. Both schools send a letter out about strep A along with the offer of polio vaccinations as it has been detected in local sewage. Artist and Bank Job and Power money printing afficionado Alistair emails support from the aftermath of pneumonia. His words seem apt ‘All very Dickensian, which seems appropriate given the state of politics and the country in general.’ Natalie isn’t well, wanting to protect us from infection and pushing to make these films (both music video and documentary about the school) the best they can be. We’ve reconnected with Linden who worked with us throughout Bank Job and he will grade the music video from his current home in Barcelona. Jess is ready in Austin to produce the song – our hyper local and international team in different time zones.

E has a special trip to the cinema and we walk up with friends through the empty high street. The completely depressing blue Christmas lights are at least joined by some that twinkle more brightly.  We share a cup of tea and a chat whilst our girls shop for snacks and when we emerge into the night we gaze in awe at the moon. Everyone is looking up, mobile phone in hand as if at a rock concert. The moon has a massive graduated halo. When Dan shares a picture on the street hatsapp, Fanie says ‘halo around the moon is a sign of inclement weather’ – various snow and storm emojis. It prompts me to check the forecast. Tperatures minus 1. Chance of precipitation less than 5%. Wind gusts just 7mph so doesn’t look as though a snowstorm is due yet. NW winds.

I delay going up as we wait for E ‘s return. Digging out extra layers.  An email from Celia about PR reminds me we have another challenge  - of selling the golden ‘debt in transit’ van from Bank Job currently on show at the Fitzwilliam Museum.  I find a package and open it discreetly in case it’s a Christmas present for the children but find a book beautifully wrapped in paper that maps all our familiar haunts of East London and is sealed with the perfect golden fox. It’s from Hoxon Mini Press and the book ‘an opinionated guide to ART LONDON: see, make (and even buy) great art’ is by a daughter of some of the early, trusty members of POWER. It feels like a sign – a portal into an artworld we haven’t been part of, actively avoided but now wonder if it might be useful to infiltrate. We want to auction the van at Christies or similar established auction house – using this relic of a debt and fossil fuel powered economy to build a renewable future by enabling the work required for the POWER STATION to continue to develop and grow. To sell this exploded van on the art market opens up core questions of value when art itself is an asset class. Art, value and climate action and how they intersect have been frontline news. Soup and sunflowers. No Art On A Dead Planet. Art as active agent of change.

The plastic tarp is icy and I’m not sure if it is on the inside or the outside but then realise it’s all outside. I vividly remember pressing face against the windows of childhood when ‘Jack Frost’ had been and the nightmares this ominous character induced. I call to Dan to bring up salt. I’ve added a third layer and a neck warmer and keep the gloves on permanently. The moon has lost its halo and I’m not sure if its brilliant white glow is benevolent.  Natalie says that one of the year 4s suggested we get the song played in the international space station. I imagine the children’s voices enveloping the earth broadcasting on invisible frequencies ‘with the power to be powerful’ and I think of Ted Hughes ‘The Iron Man’ - a tale I worked with in a project of storytelling and destruction. In this strange narrative a space bat angel dragon sings ‘the music that space makes to itself. All the spirits inside all the stars are singing. I’m a star spirit. I sing too. The music of the spheres is what makes space so peaceful.’ He sings it so earth can hear and war can end.  

G enjoys opening the loft window to tell us to keep the noise down. He doesn’t want to tell us again.  A fox shrieks. We make sure we do the now established routine of checking crowd funder and posting on social media. Twitter is alive with outrage at the Government backing of the first new coal mine in 30 years.  As Caroline Lucas states, allowing a stranded asset mine is a crime against humanity. Ed Miliband writes - How can a mine be climate neutral? As he does his retrofit tour of the country we invite him to visit the roof but no reply – yet – we will keep trying. Joe Cox puts it more clearly: ‘The government are arsonists!’  What would victory for the miners look like now? Pioneering investment in technology. Massive scale training programmes in ‘green’ jobs and the creation of new ‘legacy industries.’ Investing in people and planet rather than short sighted greenlighting and greenwashing of extraction. 5am and we’re awoken by Tink barking and George saying he can’t get her to stop. It’s becoming a regular occurrence in this new routine.  Dan has temporarily lost any sense of humour. The roof and cars below are covered in frost. Any movement makes it fall from plastic onto sleeping bag and my hat is icy wet. As the comment piece top line states ‘Winter is here, the Tories are out of control and Sunak is running out of options.’ I take the option of snuggling down into the sleeping bag I am coming to love and falling back to sleep to the sound of phantom geese.