‘WORM IS NO SELF-SERVING HIPPY IDYLL‘
endless negotiations with the local
council. and with the support of
development agencies. Worm was finally awarded management of its current home. though only on a temporary basis.
Part of the agreement with the council was that in no way should any structural alterations take
place either inside or outside of
the building. and that. in keeping with its transitory status. all fixtures must be removable. and must comply with local health and safety regulations.
Where such bureaucracy might dissuade less hardy souls in search of autonomous spaces. Worm enlisted the architectural
agency. 2012
Architecten. Under the auspices of
Cesare Peeren. Jan longert and Jeroen Bergsma. the company decided to trash the building. 01‘ rather to recycle materials to help transform a building already steeped in history into an even more unique space that looks and feels like the gloriously wonky result of some mad professor’s futuresonic workshop. Appropriated in this way. features are immediately recognisable from their former use. Bicycle handlebars are used as door handles. (‘ar tyres become chairs. Second-hand double glazing is used as acoustic dampening material. The unisex
toilets hold particular pride of
place. as. set off just beside the venues front entrance. what look like industrial work-place shower cubicles are actually former liquid tanks acquired from the nearby docks.
A snake-like array of pipes is in full view throughout the building. giving the feel of a Kalkaesque. underground engine room — one that has somehow been invaded by freaks seeking sanctuary from the ongoing homogenisation in Rotterdam‘s nearby city centre. the same process currently ripping the individual neighbourhoods across liurope in the name of progress.
However. Worm is no self- serving hippy idyll. For all its self- assembled mish-mash of bare wires. silver papiere-mache air- conditioning tunnels and the multitude of nooks. crannies and dark hidey holes throughout its Tardis-like expanse. Worm is run on necessarily pragmatic lines. liven with a constituted board overseeing a core team of lo who‘ve acquired an honourable assembly of like-minded sponsors. Worm is still watching its back.
Word on the street is that. as the
services of
heart out of
ongoing array of building sites close in. the council wants Worm to wriggle out of what’s now regarded as one of the most brilliant independent venues and art-spaces in liurope. (iiven the ease with which its interior could be taken down. this wouldn't be too much of a physical hardship. Spiritually. though. Worm‘s removal would epitomise how commerce and property seem to keep winning out over culture. The old site of Edinburgh‘s Bongo (‘lub on New Street was llattened in favour of regenerational money- making. and as lidinburgh l’niversity Settlement prepares to close both The Forest (‘afe and ()ctopus Diamond. Worm‘s possible eviction is an all too familiar tale for cutting-edge Scottish arts promoters. Were this iiber-cool umbrella for creative possibilities forced to close its secondhand doors for good. that really would be a waste.
Worm, Achterhaven 148, 3024, Rotterdam. Tel 00 31 010 476 7832 www.wormweb.nl. There are no direct flights from Scotland to Rotterdam, but Easyjet flies from Edinburgh and KLM flies from Glasgow to Amsterdam Schipol Airport. The shuttle train from Schipol to Rotterdam takes an hour.
OTHER MUSIC
IN OTHER HALLS
Our pick of Europe's alternative music venues:
De Player, Rotterdam
Sister space to Worm on Rotterdam's south side. De Player is an artist-run set~up situated in a former nightclub. With an emphasis on performance and interventions, ‘For Your Avant- garde Feelin'.‘ De Player says. ‘Hang’ em AII.‘ wwwdep/ayem/ Scheld’apen m, Antwerp Belgian venue for independently- minded creatives who dig free noise. underground films and other off-radar pursuits. No major names. but that's son of the point, isn't it? www.sche/dapen.be Isllngton Mill, Salford
Beyond the jet-set gloss of Manchester International Festival is an underbelly of red brick activity. This former cotton mill-turned- discount clothes warehouse is now a privately-owned network of artists' studios. which also hosts gigs in a speakeasy squalor.
wwvv. is/ingtonm/‘Il. com
1‘.) Jul-2 Aug; 190'.) ' THE LIST 89