Arena at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas: Notes from a Passer-by
From flâneur to badaud. Notes taken between 12pm Friday 23 October 2015 – 12pm Saturday 24 October 2015 whilst in Cambridge during Arena - Night and Day.
These notes were taken by Will Finch, a postgraduate music student living and working in Cambridge. @WillLFinch
12pm Sits at desk in Christ’s College wondering if it is appropriate to watch the beginning at work. Decides it is. Line-manager decides it isn’t. Catches views of bells as Arena begins.
12.55pm Walks from lunch to John Lewis to buy an SD card in anticipation of evening. Walks straight past “Our thinnest ever 4K TV” playing Night and Day.
4pm Looks at Twitter and sees tweetpic of “Our thinnest ever 4K TV”. Curses himself.
5.25pm Cycles past King’s Parade screen. A few glance as they walk by.
“Excuse me, do you know what this TV is playing?
“Na mate.”
Night and Day screening in the left-hand window of the King's College Shop
6pm Arrives home from work. Cooks and eats eggs to Night and Day stream.
6.50pm Stands outside King’s Parade screen and attracts more attention taking photos than Night and Day. Decides to leave.
7.00pm Walks back and forth along Bridge Street. Cannot find venue.
7.15pm Sees Gardenia has started to stream the film.
Says to Anthony -
“I never thought I’d hear the Archers theme coming from Gardenia’s"
7.30pm Arrives at St John’s College Porter lodge. St John’s Porters maintain their reputation.
“Do you mind if I take a photo of the TV?”
“No, you need permission”
“Ah, okay. Can I stand here and watch?”
“No”
“Great, thanks for your help”
St John's, Porter's Lodge
8.15pm Arrives at The Mill. Michael Jackson is lending a sonic hand to a drum solo on screen. Sees man watching, wide-eyed at the screen.
“Do you know what you are watcing?”
“No, but I’ve seen more faces I know than I can remember”
“That’s great, it’s called Arena, do you know it?”
“No”
Buys drink and takes position near a woman with an open text book. Jack Nicholson appears on screen as she takes a “study selfie”.
8.35pm Conversation with Bar Manager
“Do you know Arena”
“Sure, I keep seeing things I remember from when I was younger. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but I remember”
A fellow documenter arrives and takes photo of the screen. Makes welcoming gestures - he leaves.
9pm Arrives at Hot Numbers, bearded solo guitarist sings with Arena projected in the background. I think I see BB King.
He sings “Non, je ne regrette rien” as a dog looks longingly at a plate of pasta behind him.
“Did you know you’d be playing infront of this?” “No, I’m touring to launch my new EP and got this gig. A few weeks later they asked if I minded playing in front of a screen. I said I love that kind of thing” “Did you know when I walked in I think BB King was playing behind you?” “No! That’s great.”
10.30pm Walks through Wolfson College. Salsa dance group blares music outside; TV in quiet study room goes unnoticed.
11pm Recieves headphones at Sidgwick site and hears the film with its soundtrack for the first time since dinner. Beautiful.
Dwells on the audience participation at Celia Cruz’s concert on the projector and audience participation in Cambridge tonight.
12am Spends time at King’s Parade. Most walk past without seeing the screen.
12.40am Watches stream at Christ’s College office desk.
1.15am Stands on King’s Street watching through window. Drunk students have an argument about “Who the hell is Natasha?”
1.20am Walks to Gardi’s. They’ve closed the laptop lid. Arena is now a blue login screen.
Orders chip butty and asks what happened.
“We closed the lid and it stopped, I don’t know who to call to get it started”
1.35am Eats butty on King’s Parade and catches another viewer watching.
2.00am Cycles home to watch more with sound and in bed.
5am Wakes up with laptop on bed blaring.
Outside projection of Arena's 24 hour film at the Sidgwick site, University of Cambridge
9am Walks to Wolfson college and eats brunch in the porters lodge. Graudating students arrive in gowns.
10.45am Visits Sidgwick site to see space without the screen.
11am Walks past Gardi’s the screen is now black.
11.15am Arrives at John Lewis. Fred and Anthony filming in front of “our thinnest ever 4k TV”.
11.25pm Accompanies Fred and Anthony to Cambridge City Library.
11.45pm Walks to The Mill, via King’s Parade, to watch the film end.
12.00pm Westminster Quarters sounds from Great St Mary’s, its home, and The Mill’s TV, now one of its thousand other homes. Day and Night begins again.