As I was away for a few days, I asked Javi to keep us updated by email all the activity that's going on. Here's what he's been writing...
16.03.2009
hello everyone
today was a very productive day and got done much more than we all expected. We prepared the area between the pit and the wall with proper levels so we can get on that soon. We cleared the entrance/corridor chaos and rearranged the piles of materials that had been already organised for building partitions as they don't seem to be happening any soon. This way we advanced some of the work i mentioned yesterday. cesar, antonio, nigel, ana and david were there today, and got help from extra nice john (neighbour). We also cleaned and organised what was going to be martin's space and used the wall that divides that space and david's space for storing materials that we'll need to be accessible on thursday. The plan is to cover that area for friday so is not visible as it still needs lots of work and we are assuming that martin is not taking that space anymore (hopefully we weren't wrong on this one, but if we were, it won't take much time at all to put it back to what it was after friday).
My plan for the outside of the hermitage is not feasible so we need to get another skip. Anyone contributing to this one ? i think we also need to get rid of all the desks that are around. We have moved them countless times already, they are always in the way and no one seems to be planning to use them. Ian, could you help with this ? (as i was told they belong to the werks, perhaps could be of use somewhere else ?)
Tomorrow at around 1 nigel and alex 1 and maybe 2 are coming to help with the floor. Cesar and me will already be there as we've got a pitch to finish by tuesday and needs some more recording/arrangement. Ana will also make an early start with us and will keep organising / cleaning. John (neighbour) will probably also join and help for some while. any other kind bodies or minds will be most welcome.
I checked the times we are allowed to
pollute with construction noise and are as follows:
Monday - Friday 7am - 7pm (for noisy work 8am - 6pm)
Saturday 8am - 1pm (for noisy work 9am - 1pm)
Sunday and Bank Holidays - no works
that's all. have a good night
javi
17.03.2009
hi all,
today we kept working on the floor. kind tony came round, cesar and me were there and antonio helped for some time. In the meantime warren and alex concentrated on cleaning / organising our studio. It was very much needed as being the rest essentially a building site, our equipment could end up getting damaged (it's so dusty in there...). we now also have our second workstation set up and running, which multiplies by 2 (i think) the amount of ideas we can produce !
Ian and earthwise also came to the site for a bit. we'll have some professional help with the floor, but unfortunately it'll have to be on thursday (coincident with the big corridor day) as we need more ballast. This is a real shame as we were going to make a start tomorrow at 8 in the morning (i was hoping that the floor could be finished by thursday).
We now need 3 people helping with the floor on thursday + at least 2 helping david with the corridor. i'll try and bring people in, surely cesar, antonio, ana (as long as she's not performing or rehearsing as lately) and possibly nigel, alex1 or 2. i think tony mentioned he could do thursday as well. it would be nice to get the last burst of energy, we are really getting there...
Earthwise are coming tomorrow with wood and more hardcore. I talked to ian about the outside of our studio + david's, as now that is organised and nearly cleared up, it shines as a potentially amazing co-working desk space area, earthwise were considering if it would also be good for them. It would have a big desk area on one side, storage room on the other (big shelves, even cabinets with little locks for people to secure important equipment/documents on the other). It would allow for everyone needing a desk to share a nice, spacious and lighter (doors to the new backyard should let light in) space - i'm thinking of martin, earthwise, antonio, vincent... It can get done easier, faster and cheaper than building partitions. Tony said he would help with the electrics, we've got materials and a huge urge for getting things done... Ian was going to try and draw a plan for all this (hopefully tonight ?) That way the extra nice social area we've got now - from what it was the tools area on building festival 1 to where david's space starts, could be kept as open as it is now and people could have drinks in there, check emails, have a chat... Until in the future we can build a proper bar/kitchen that will be very much needed and can be a nice source of income for the whole site - think of every night there will be a performance / event / talk...
that's it for now. I'm not sure yet about how to make tomorrow even more productive. we need a skip and people !!
see you soon
javi
18.03.2009
hello there,
we got one more area done (really nicely, we're definitely getting better at concreting), ian came round for a while (which was good as i told him the need of a skip (or two) + our idea of hiring builders to get things moving fast), nigel came again to kindly help, cesar, ana, antonio and myself were there and clare came in the evening and further helped ana organising our new corridor...
The scaffolding, desks and metal parts are now in the space that I took down with john (at the back). It's all nicely piled up and covered with plastic. we'll see what to do with all that after friday.
CW is getting transformed. I'm so glad. i'll ask antonio to take some pictures as I am just a builder now (my days of photography seem to have happened centuries ago). it needs to be seen in 3 dimensions really to get the full blast. We all think that it should now be kept tidy and organised, we're a bit tired of moving the chaos around. Would it be possible to keep it clean and be responsible for any potential junk that might enter the space (and only let it come in if it's got a space to go and a purpose ? - this would be great)
There's a lot more happening tomorrow. if anyone could come and help, even if it was for a short amount of time, it would be amazing.
good night/morning
javi