Tonight I met some friends of mine at Shunt. This was my second time there. Last year I went to Shunt on a first date. Although I wasn't really taken by the person I was with, I fell in love with this space and what it offers.
Shunt is located in dark corridors and tunnels just off London Bridge station. I'm not certain of the history, so I will have to do my research. When we first entered tonight, we were met with a kind of Gregorian chanting, which echoed throughout the halls. It was romantically creepy. On the tables in this space were little scraps of torn brown paper scrawled with crayons inviting us to a 'tea party in the penthouse'. The penthouse ended up being a space cordoned off by pillars, strip of transparent material and lights from the rest of the venue. People, in clown-like makeup (white faces and big red painted on smiles), invited us in and acted like children and played childhood games. Mark A. and I were cajoled into a hula-hoop competition, which I won. My prize was a badge that said, 'Winner' and like our invitation it was scrawled in crayon on brown paper. We decided to leave the penthouse and head to the bar where we were entertained by some rather esoteric/eclectic dancers and singers randomly appearing in the audience. Eventually they went off and we entertained ourselves with conversation.
Later we happened into another area which was in another room off the main venue.
We were given headphones and sent into complete darkness, not being able to see the hands in front of our faces. What we heard on the headphones can only be described as artistic porn accompanied by a heartbeat which we felt inside our beings as well as heard inside our heads. It was odd, disturbing, fantastic, and amazing all at once.
And so now I'm home from all of this, but I knew I couldn't fall asleep without writing a bit about my eve. You'll have to excuse any mistakes in grammar as my eyelids are growing heavy and my fingers tired.
I wonder what my dreams will be like this evening.
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