I came across an article this week in Time magazine underlining the heavily stated fact that London is the centre of an exciting creative buzz at present. Unfortunately the very fact that this information appears in the worlds’ most widely distributed in-flight magazine means it is already established and therefore necessarily dull. Jurno’s always enjoy discovering ‘new things’. The world style press has enjoyed hyping London in the recent past, but like all hype it has to move on when the truth behind the hype has been realised.

Shoreditch is a good example. About three years ago Shoreditch, a former industrial area of London just north of the city began to change. Business and trade had largely moved out of the area for a number of reasons, leaving an enormous quantity of cheap industrial spaces in the central location. This climate of course was very attractive to artists who quickly inhabited the area benefiting from the large spaces for working and exhibiting in. A community was formed which found its focal point in projects like the late Joshua Compston’s, Factual Nonsense Gallery on Hoxton square.

At around this time The Blue Note was established on the ashes of The Bass Clef club, also on Hoxton square. Legendary nights like Ninja’s stealth, Metalhead’s Sunday Sessions and Talvin Singh’s Anokha secured its status as one of the worlds most progressive venues. The 333 club has since opened up around the corner to accommodate the increased influx of the global hip, seeking a new backdrop for their Saturday night out.

The recent history of Shoreditch looks somewhat different. In the same way that artists like cheap rent and Jurno’s like discovering new things, the young affluent population of any metropolis are obsessed with cool. This obviously motivates a huge change as the young affluent are more loaded than both the artists and the jurno’s. Cafes and bars, clubs, restaurants, an arts cinema and digital gallery have sprung up in nearly as much haste as the rent.

The artists have either moved on or stayed to enjoy the spoils.