Havana 100 minutes final (review)

Monorex detail (click to enlarge)

Well, I was lucky enough to score a last minute guest list pass to Havana 100 minutes Secret Wars final at Village Underground's awesome 5,000 sqm space in Shoreditch last night (mucho gratsi Emma/Balance PR). The gig kicked off with the usual hour or so of schmoozing with free cocktails courtesy of Havana Club, fantastic finger foods from JJ Catering, and some pretty nice dj styles from dj Session & friends.

Celebrating street art and Cuban culture in a creative and original style, Monorex v Intercity art-off began about 8pm, and ran for 100 minutes with a giant projection of the logo on the far wall acting as the clock (1 of the 100 pieces disappearing every minute) until the final countdown. The cocktail barmen and waiting staff were run ragged as the arty/streety/trendy/wanky punters packed the space and consumed as much free shit as their little faces could manage.

Intercity detail (click to enlarge)

Style-wise, in my opinion, Monorex kicked Intercity's ass, with a strong, considered piece created by the 5 artists using a fantastic style and solidity of line and colour. Intercity seemed to have 5 artists all working independently of each other, using a weak, almost single weight of line and a definite naive aesthetic. The only apparent point of teamwork for Intercity was at the beginning, when they painted a giant target in the background of their area, and at the end, when they paint bombed their entire piece (and the audience) with watered down red acrylic paint balls.

Judging (click to enlarge)

Judging was carried out by some members of the judging panel, and by the audience (measured with a decibel meter.

Monorex detail (click to enlarge)

Monorex detail (click to enlarge)

The party rolled on into the night, a good time had by all. My camera is completely stuffed now, so had to rely on my phone for the pics from the night - sorry, even photoshop can't help a pic that's shite to start with. I'm sure more pics will be posted up by others soon, as soon as their rum hangover wears off...