The Floor is Lava
Wednesday 26th February 2025 – Sunday 16th March 2025 , 12:00pm to 6:00pm
Taking place in the ex-office spaces at Shaftesbury Avenue, The Floor is Lava presents a modular stage, inviting 40 artists to showcase sculptural works that disrupt and subvert the utilitarian architecture of the office environment.
Private View | 26 February 6PM – 9PM
Exhibition Open | 27 February – 16 March 12PM – 6PM (Thurs – Sun)
In the words of Timothy Morton, ‘everything emits time’; objects, infrastructures and spaces exist inherently at a human scale, inevitably cascading into redundancy. Positioning 200 discarded office lockers as a performative platform, The Floor is Lava confronts the strange banality of the workplace, challenging the greyness of transient corporate landscapes and creating instead a transformative playground for artworks. Repurposed and elevated, the platform extends the monotonous carpet tiles beneath, turning the floor into a stage that resists the language of function and efficiency.
Through these interventions, the exhibition creates a space for materiality, theatricality, and play.
The Floor is Lava is the third collaborative project of Rachel Mortlock, India Stanbra and Janek Nixon. Following Systems We Have (New Art Projects, 2022 – curated by Hsi-Nong Huang) and Testing Grounds (Filet, 2022), the series tests the boundaries of the exhibition space, exploring shifting encounters between the artwork and audience. Exhibiting as part of the Soho Connections: Artist Takeover at Shaftesbury Avenue, The Floor is Lava will take place alongside two weekends of artist-led events in March.
Exhibiting artists: Ekaterina Luzgina Laura Porter Katie Surridge Kavitha Balasingham JD Rooney Olivia England Mike McShane Ali Glover Lily Bunney Leonie Cameron Abigail Norris Oona Wilkinson Zoe Granger Leo Bant Charlotte Dawson Jadene Imbusch Henry Burns Rachel Mortlock Gabriela Pelczarska Arlene Wandera Sam Sangjani Wills Janek Nixon India Stanbra Simon Prentice Matthew Swift Lydia Porter Hsi-Nong Huang Rory Beard Elena Hoskyns-Abrahall Celeste Mcevoy Chloe Beddow Isobel Atacus Gavin Bell Eleni Papazoglou Gideon Pain Charlie Pritchard Camilla Bliss Eleanor Bedlow Dan Young Tom Coates
Access Information
Shaftesbury Avenue has step free access throughout from street level, including to an accessible toilet. The upper floors are accessible via lifts. This venue does not have a hearing loop system. Accessible parking is not available on-site.
If you have any questions regarding accessibility at this venue or event, would like to make us aware of any access requirements that you have in advance of visiting, or would like this information in an alternate format including Easy Read, please email shaftesbury@bowarts.com or call 020 8980 7774 (Ext. 3)
Access requirements could include things like providing equipment, services or support (e.g. information in Easy Read, speech to text software, additional 1:1 support), adjusting workshop timings (e.g. more break times), adjustments to the event space (e.g. making sure you have a seat near the entrance) or anything else you can think of!
Transport Information
Nearest train station(s): Picadilly Circus (Picadilly, Bakerloo), Tottenham Court Road (Elizabeth Line, Central, Northern)
Bus: 9, 12, 14, 22, 23, 24, 29, 19, 38, 88, 94, 139, 176, 453
Parking: No parking available.
Bike: No bike shed on site.
