#and jesse is conveniently already there/low key doing the job

[incorrectlasthours]

So we all agree Jesse is going to be the next one to run the London Institute right

[themattress]

My Opinions on the KH OCs

SORA: I adored Sora from KH through KH2. But then I became disillusioned with him because they kept making clones of him, pushed his positive Messianic qualities to the extreme, and then went too far the other way in 3D by making him into this over-the-top childish idiot who screwed everything up and was denied Keyblade Master status, all amidst proclamations that he was a "dull, ordinary boy" who "the Keyblade didn't choose" (which is an outright LIE.) For the most part, KH3 brought my old love for Sora back by usually characterizing him the same way KH2 did...and then it basically killed him off in the end, punishing him for doing good, all while Xehanort gets rewarded by being able to go to Heaven even after a lifetime of doing evil without a shred of remorse. What. The. FUCK? When Sora faded away at the last minute, so too did any remaining interest in this series.

KAIRI: Loved her in KH, she was so damn interesting and relatable, and her role in the story was a perfect twist on the classic Disney Princess role. Her role and characterization in KH2 weren’t as strong, but her new design, actions, connections with other characters and endgame development made up for it, as did the fact that she was still voiced by the lovely Hayden Panettiere. Add to this how strongly she factored into COM, and Kairi was clearly the original trilogy’s emotional heart. Then that heart got removed and never put back, as Kairi was excluded from the games to the highest degree possible, all leading up to a horrifying bait-and-switch in KH3 where she was finally returning to prominence and looked to become a stronger character than ever before, only for the exact opposite to happen, not at all helped by the voicework of Alyson Stoner. What Nomura’s done is a travesty. #KairiDeservedBetter.

RIKU: Loved him in KH, where he was like a Final Fantasy character turned Disney villain and he played that role incredibly well. I thought he was fumbled when he starred in his own story mode in COM, but I never really blamed him for that and more the writing around him that pushed him into an unnatural position that even he didn’t seem to want to be in. Despite not truly appearing as himself until the endgame of KH2 and having flatter characterization, Riku still redeemed himself excellently through being a party member helping against the final boss, along with a beautiful reconciliation with Sora. Like his other friends in the Destiny Trio, things went downhill afterwards. Riku became so overexposed, shoved down our throats, and positioned as the series Deuteragonist who phased Kairi out of existence while being given more badass feats than Sora, that I lost my liking for him entirely and consider him to be a blatant Mary Sue. This sadly didn’t change with KH3, and it only looks to be getting worse.

ROXAS: Despite falling way short of the hype, I enjoyed Roxas in KH2. He was likable and sympathetic, and he did a good job servicing one of the game’s deepest themes. But then, because he was (confusingly, IMHO) uber-popular, he got his own game featuring his time in the Organization, and he never left that bland portrayal behind, with every subsequent game he appears in having it be Days!Roxas instead of KH2!Roxas, to the point where KH2!Roxas was demeaningly retconned into having “ceased to exist” when he fully re-merged with Sora despite what was said and shown to the contrary in KH2, all for the sake of giving him a shamelessly fan-pandering perfect happy ending. Roxas thus became one of the characters whom I most associate with the downfall of the KH series, and thus one of my least favorites. 

NAMINE: Namine was a character that I loved in COM and KH2, despite being pretty confusing even back then, since she had a real humanity behind her. I was very disappointed that afterwards, she became more and more of a convenient plot device and mouthpiece for Nomura’s convoluted lore rather than a legitimate character, with her characterization regressing to and being regurgitated from her debut appearance. The scale and scope of her powers got ridiculous, the retcon of Sora having promised to thank her when that was never the case is beyond stupid, and she fell prey to the same retcon Roxas did of “ceasing to exist” when she merged with Kairi and thus needing to be “saved” in order to cure her “hurt”. Naturally, she’s right up there with Kairi as one of the most frustratingly-handled characters.

XION: I was immediately turned off by this character due to how blatantly fanfic Mary Sue-esque she was, then warmed up to her considerably as I actually played the game and saw how she was utilized, only to be turned off of her again when Nomura completely went back on her firmly established tragic fate for the sake of a schmaltzy happy ending that neuters what was effective about the character, in essence turning her right back into just a fanfic Mary Sue. I don’t actually blame Xion for this, but she’s still my least favorite main KH girl.

VENTUS: Kind of the same deal as Xion - didn’t like him at first because he was a lazy retread of Roxas and whose connection to Sora cheapened things, warmed up to him after playing the game and seeing him in action (I especially love his voice by Jesse McCartney, which is very distinct from Roxas), only to go right back to not really liking him when we ended up never hearing the end of him and how he is the reason behind so many events and character motivations, especially once he was retconned into hailing from the X time period.

TERRA / LINGERING WILL: While I’m not too attached to him, I still low-key love this guy. Yes, he’s an idiot, but an understandable, well-meaning and likable one, who also has a very charismatic-looking design and is badass in combat. Everyone loves the Lingering Will, but I don’t think it would be as effective if it didn’t come from such a flawed screw-up like Terra. It’s uplifting that even if you do nothing but fail, your will to succeed can achieve some form of success in of itself. He may have got the shaft in KH3, but he made the most of what he had.

AQUA / ANTI-AQUA: In BBS, I felt Aqua was more enjoyable than Ven but not as much as Terra, making her a pretty fittingly balanced character in my view - I loved that she was the first fully playable female character in the series and did a lot of neat stuff in the story, but I hated how devoid of character development she was compared to her male friends and how her English voice actress constantly missed the mark in her delivery. In 0.2 BBS, she was put in a lousy story, but she became a much more interesting and developed character as a trade-off. Sadly, it all fell apart in KH3, where aside from her brief stint as the terrifying Anti-Aqua, Aqua became an incompetent joke of a “Keyblade Master”, jobbing in every major fight she had and jobbing badly, with that development from 0.2 BBS amounting to nothing. In the end, Aqua wound up right back where she began - between Terra and Ventus in my favor.

MASTER ERAQUS: Love his design, love his voice-acting, love his premise as a character - do NOT love him. In a story where all the heroes act like idiots, Eraqus takes the cake, and becomes outright unlikable when he attempts to murder Ven and Terra under very flimsy reasoning. And KH3 only makes him worse, with a severe disconnect existing between his younger self and his older self, and helping to contribute to the game’s bullshit ending.

DIZ / ANSEM THE WISE: I loved him as the tragic, Monte Cristo-esque figure as shown in COM, Days and KH2, especially when voiced by the incomparable Christopher Lee. He had the perfect send-off in KH2, which made it such a slap in the face when BBS’ secret ending retconned him into having surviving, only for him to do jack shit but be a plot device, and not a very good one at that. Bringing Ansem the Wise back was one of the series’ biggest sins, and stands as a textbook example of Nomura not knowing when to just let a character go.

HAYNER, PENCE & OLETTE: I like these kids, they’re a lot of fun in all their appearances.

MASTER XEHANORT: I really enjoyed Master Xehanort in BBS, when he was just a simple Darth Sidious expy voiced by the great Leonard Nimoy, a character whose chief purpose was backstory for the villain we already knew who went by the same name. But then Nomura decided that he was the main antagonist of the whole series and retconned that everything that ever happened was part of his convoluted master plan...a plan with very muddled objectives and motivations, not to mention contradictions at many turns. This turning of Xehanort into a Villain Sue had severe consequences in KH3, where not only was he weakly voiced by Rutger Hauer, but he was written terribly: only showing up at the end, fridging Kairi for no reason, being beaten in a surprisingly easy boss fight, having his entire motivation changed, and receiving one of the most audience-insulting endings that a villain could possibly receive, especially one as remorselessly evil as him.  The final slap in the face was revealing that he was a pawn to someone else, derailing the entire point behind the stupid-ass “Xehanort Saga” decision! So in the end, Master Xehanort was pretty damn pointless.

TERRA-XEHANORT: The original Xehanort introduced in KH2. While his origin is something of a headache (he’s an amnesiac Master Xehanort possessing the body and heart of Terra), it still works, IMO, and creates a character who is much more interesting than either of the two characters it took to form him, despite (or perhaps because of) his relative lack of screentime.

ANSEM: Terra-Xehanort’s Heartless is both the original incarnation of Xehanort in the series and both me and Nomura’s personal favorite. Sadly, Nomura screwed him up when he brought him back for the “True Organization XIII”, first going too over-the-top evil when part of his appeal was that he genuinely (and pompously) believed that he was the one in the right, and then suddenly being far less evil than he should be considering that he’s a freaking Heartless! The Ansem that I adore will always be the one from the original KH and Riku’s mode in COM, the hammy philosopher who is totally drunk on darkness and is seeking it for his own sake, not for the sake of some absurdly convoluted grand plan of Master Xehanort’s.

XEMNAS: Terra-Xehanort’s Nobody is the best villain in the KH series and the most consistently good of the Xehanort incarnations. While certainly at his best as the Superior of Organization XIII in KH, COM, Days and KH2, he actually managed to still be a captivating presence as part of the “True Organization XIII” in 3D and KH3 even if his character lost a lot of its depth thanks to the bullshit retcon that he was following Master Xehanort’s grand plan all along. He’s terrifying, loathsome, humorous and pitiable all at once...he’s just fantastic!

XIGBAR / BRAIG / LUXU: Oh, what a roller coaster this guy has been - I didn’t particularly care for him as Xigbar at first in KH2, then grew to really like him thanks to extra exposure in KH2:FM and Days, then came to love him as Braig in BBS, then went right back to disliking him when he became Xigbar again in 3D, and now am hardly able to stand him in KH3 when it’s revealed that he’s Luxu. Like Namine, he’s become a total vehicle for Nomura’s bullshit.

XALDIN / DILAN: I love Xaldin. He’s badass, intimidating, and despicable, and he really stands out by being linked so heavily with the Beast’s Castle and the Beast himself. His boss fight on the castle bridge is the stuff of legends. Dilan is a bore, though, especially in KH3.

VEXEN / EVEN: Somehow, this is one of the few characters who manages to remain consistently entertaining and well-written in all his appearances, helped out a lot by Derek Stephen Prince’s performance. As both the mad scientist Vexen and the well-intentioned scientist Even, he’s someone I just can’t take my eyes off of whenever he’s on screen.

LEXAEUS / ELAEUS: Boring but admirably power as Lexaeus, with the potential to be more interesting thanks to his intellect and rapport with Zexion. Just plain boring as Eleaeus. 

ZEXION / IENZO: Everything about Zexion had potential, but it just never came together properly and left him as an underwhelming villain. He has much more success as Ienzo, being very likable and interesting; honestly one of the best KH-original characters in KH3. 

SAIX / ISA: This character is one of the more frustrating ones to me. I liked him just fine in KH2, but not as much as I would’ve liked to. I liked him more when he got more scenes in KH2:FM, and I straight-up loved him in Days for being such an effective Hate Sink as well as a really interesting and tragic character. But I did not care for his cameo appearances in BBS and 3D, even though he still carries some of what I enjoyed about him with him in KH3, he also receives new baggage that makes his character less appealing...namely, the fact that his motivation all along was based around some random girl we never heard of until now. Still, if there’s one thing that remains consistent, it is that Kirk Thornton does a phenomenal job in the role. I honestly think most of Saix’s effectiveness comes from that badass voice.

AXEL / LEA: Sigh...you oughta know this one by now. I love Axel the Nobody, I think he was one of the series’ finest villains, and think he had an effective character arc despite some bumps along the road. I can’t stand his human self, who is a watered-down, obnoxious, whitewashed Mary Sue version of his Nobody self who is only here for fanservice, only given a major heroic role and his own Keyblade because Axel was a favorite of both fans and the development team. He’s sadly one of those characters who becomes the victim of his own popularity, with what made him popular to begin with lost as a result of increased exposure.

DEMYX / ???: He’s funny, I like him. Don’t have any stronger feelings than that.

LUXORD / ???: With his slick design, gambling gimmick, classy gentleman demeanor, and English voice by Robin Atkin-Downes, I’ve always liked Luxord, but I don’t think he’s ever truly lived up to his full potential...until KH3, where he’s a standout in both the Caribbean and the Keyblade Graveyard. I especially love his respectable rival dynamic with Jack Sparrow.

MARLUXIA / LAURIAM: A lack of clear motivations aside, Marluxia is an excellent villain. I love how he’s got flower powers, a pink sycthe, pink hair and a pretty-boy face and yet has this very masculine and imposing demeanor, not to mention a diabolically clever and manipulative personality. His battles and battle themes are also always impressive in every game he appears in. And while I don’t care for him being a Keyblade wielder, I actually like him as Lauriam too. He’s surprisingly sympathetic and is a neat contrast to his Nobody.

LARXENE / ELRENA: I love Larxene, she makes being the only female member of the Organization count by being one of the most aggressive, despicable, frightening, humorous and oddly endearing members all at the same time, getting a tragic death scene in COM and some softer moments in Days and KH3 that add depth to her while never causing her to lose her edge.  And like with Lauriam, I like Elrena despite not caring for the Keyblade angle.

VANITAS: Vanitas is awesome. He’s an evil version of Sora who does evil things because he enjoys being evil and has zero fucks to give about it. Haley Joel Osment really brings his gleeful brand of evil to life, making it always a pleasure to see Vanitas in both BBS and KH3. And thus I’m really glad he didn’t get redeemed in the end - pure villainy is his whole appeal!

RIKU REPLICA: Despite being an over-the-top retread of Riku’s role in KH for most of COM and having one boss battle too many, Riku Replica was still a good character and with one of the most tragic arcs in the series, which really made his death scene stand out. Of all the characters to ruin due to Nomura not letting go of them, I thought he was safe, but nope! He was pointlessly brought back in KH3, played a worse and more convoluted role, and had a much weaker “happier” send-off that clashed with how other aspects of the story were being treated and only reinforced Riku’s Special Snowflake status. Of course, even before that happened, the replica concept that he introduced to the series had spiraled into a much more needlessly confusing state, so I guess his legacy was doomed either way. Poor Repliku!

DARK RIKU: A confusing composite of all Riku’s alter-egos: Riku when he was possessed by Ansem, Riku Replica, and Data Riku, enlisted in “True Organization XIII”. I’m not sure what the point of this guy was. Or if he’s basically another version of Repliku, why not just make him the only Repliku in the story and spare us that convoluted nonsense with the other one?

YOUNG XEHANORT: Haaaaaaaaaate....haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate....

KAIRI’S GRANDMOTHER: In the first KH, but only a real character in BBS. But getting Kathryn Beaumont (original voice of Alice and Wendy Darling, and thus a Disney Legend) to voice her was absolutely brilliant and made her single scene stand out as the game’s best.

And that’s about it. The rest are all the datascape clones I don’t give a shit about (Data Sora, Data Riku, Data Roxas, Data Namine, and Data Sora’s Heartless) and the cast of X that I also don’t give a shit about (The Master of Masters, the Foretellers, Ephemer, Skuld, Brain...the only ones I like are Chirithy and Strelitzia, but only on the shallow basis that they’re cute.) 

And I am NOT sticking around this series to properly meet Yozora...

[ratreides]

I move into a little house called the Center full of wanderers and hippiedips in March after a horrible breakup and I would have been homeless if a mutual friend of the ex (Geena) didn't save my ass. I spend the summer trying to rebuild after being cheated on and having a turbo breakdown and quitting my job. For the most part I'm sad and trying to relax and get into therapy and become financially stable. As the summer goes on, center people leave, a previous center-goer Jess moves in, Geena and her boyfriend Jaime coincidentally enough move in. We get told the lease is up in December and G&J want to renew. I'm like fuck yeah. I love this place, love my room. Eventually it comes out that G&J only want to renew for downstairs because up is admittedly old and falling apart. They didn't tell me this at time, or literally until today, but apparently the deal with the landlord was lease downstairs or no lease at all. I don't want downstairs, I'm pretty attached to my window looking at rooftops and trees and sunshine and an elevated patio where people can't see me in my underwear judging them, drawing or whatever I want. Jess isn't fond of downstairs either but we also don't want to move so we say we're in. We all agree that an unstable roomie has to leave, she doesn't take this well and causes us all hell, leaves dishes everywhere, lights on, and is incredibly loud whether it's singing, or borderline physically fighting her boyfriend until 4 am most nights.

Jess and I want the same room, so we have to sort that out. I sit on discussing it with her, as I know the reason she wants it is the studs in the wall for her hammock, and I don't want to be That Asshole and say I'd like it because it faces the sun and I'm a depressed little plant that needs that to grow. Geena comes to us on October 17th with a potential roomie for us but only if he gets a certain room. If I take the room Jess and I both want, she takes potential roomies room. I'm put in a position where I can say I'll take whatever to save us some chaos because we're already at wits end with our crazy roommate, or, I can take the room that's preferable to me and out us a renter 14 days before a new lease is to be signed. I can't even view the whatever I'm taking because the landlord with the keys is MIA until just before movein so everyone knows what they're getting into except me. I know the room faces another building and I'm not happy but in trying to avoid disruption and MORE people moving out on short notice (a trend during the summer months) I don't say anything. I try to take one for the team. I want one where I can get sunlight and see trees, being in the city depresses me and I value feeling isolated and seeing nature but I don't say shit because we're all already losing sleep.

This eats at me until three days ago I come out about the way I'm feeling about it. I get flack for having sat on it this long which ultimately is my fault and I understand that, but I try to explain from a personal standpoint I'm worried about the way the room might affect me. Two days ago the landlord appears and we finally get the keys. The room is worse than I thought; weirdly shaped with an inconvenient curve and outlets, is quite small, the single window gathers little to no natural light and faces a brick wall about seven feet away and the neighbours compost bin, overlooking a pen where a tiny dog is telling all the time. I reinforce that it isn't gonna be good for me and despite desperately not wanting to that I might have to move because this just isn't a healthy option for me and I'm pretty upset by it. Jaime reasons with me and I appreciate his effort but he essentially tells my hermit ass to just spend time in the living room and on a patio where every average joe can see me, next to a parking lot.

It's obvious enough and everyone tells me that I didn't say anything soon enough, that I'm leaving four or so days to find someone to sign the lease and get out. Which is another thing I wasn't aware of until today. I thought I could take the room until I found somewhere else, and there was a new renter lined up, but it turns out we all have to be on the lease until it's up next June. That's probably a no brainer to most but as someone who's been on a lease once out of the five or so places they've lived in the city I wasn't truly aware and I thought paying my rent and deposit for the month while I potentially found somewhere else was suitable.

I do my best to explain that I was trying to be a good guy and avoid headache by saying I would take the room but as I hadn't seen it or gotten a feel for it there was no way to really get ready for living in a dimly lit oblong box. Talking to everyone doesn't help and they all say I should have spoken up sooner and while I ultimately understand that and take the blame for it I'm trying to elaborate on why I felt like I had no other choice. No one else had to make that decision, not Jess, not some dude who isn't even here yet. Me. I tried to be good about it and it was a mistake that I've now realized and I'm trying to be on the same page as them or seek some compromise.

We have a house meeting about it and I'm told my options are suck and sign, or get out in four days and fuck everyone. In group chats Geena elaborated on the struggle everyone's had here or coming here... Except for mine. She says today that none of them wanted to move again in the first place but they were pushing for downstairs, long before I heard anything about the landlord saying it was a make it or break it deal.

I was also apparently ignorant to the group chat while we were seeking a roommate to sign with us, because unbeknownst to me there was someone who didn't care what room they had. I don't know if it was a first come first serve situation but I do know that Geena was aware Jess and I wanted the same room and that Jess wanted different if I took it, so I question why someone who had no preference wasn't an immediate shoe in. I could have said this but I truly didn't read the chat, I suppose, and therefore didn't know about it. That is my fault, but again, I don't see why someone who knew rooms may be an issue wouldn't have reached out to someone who didn't care.

I don't want to move a third time this year. I came to this place for somewhere to rest my head longer than a year. I JUST got my storage and now I'm being told that there's plenty of storage to put it in. I'm on direct route to my only friends and my new job. Rent is affordable. I explain all these things including my point of view and the reason I took the actions I did to the best of my ability but by this point I'm worn out, sad, and feeling defeated and overwhelmed about decisions between taking care of myself and upsetting others.

Eventually the bottom line of the conversation and my decision comes down to Jess saying there's no studs in the room, so she won't take it because she can't have her hammock. So at the end of the day, I look like an asshole, when I was desperately trying to do the opposite, and I feel the people around me preaching new beginnings and community cannot seem to understand where I'm coming from and... Ultimately value someone who hadn't lived here yet and someone having a hammock over my potential wellbeing and seniority within the home. This led to me storming out and saying yeah, I'll sign on for a room with people who feel that way about me, because I really don't have any other options.

I'm trying to regain my ability to comfortably live among others and socialize and feel that I can work and function as an adult and my anxiety about coming out of my room has absolutely skyrocketed. Jaime has been patient to me for this time and I appreciate that immensely because it has been nothing but drama since he moved in but it doesn't shake the stomach upset feeling I have.

My mind works like dominoes and when one section crashes the entirety of the unrest I feel goes with it. I could be upset about my shoddy room and I am but with that I'm thinking about how many times people have indirectly fucked me out of my comfortable living situation, my social anxiety, my process through this year old trying to do what's right, my fighting with depression for years and years.

Not only does it make me angry, but sad. These guys are trying to protect their own asses and I'm empathetic to that but it doesn't change the heartbreak I feel about the current situation. I was amped on getting to know Geena more and working alongside her. We have the same mandatory training dates on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and now I'm too scared to talk to her, let alone ask for a ride or be there with her. I understand that it's my fault for not saying something sooner but I felt like I couldn't. She approached me about me signing the lease and moving out and creating a sublet. I was wiping away tears at the time and apologized for shouting, and (I could have worded it much better but was a little frazzled) that I was a little fucked up right now. I mentioned that I feel unstable and unhappy about living with people that are pissed at me she said nothing to either of those statements, furthering my growing need to barrel roll out of the nearest window.

I wanted to be on the same page as everyone else and excited for some kind of new beginning in a community home but if I was antsy about it before I'm just devastated now. I just want to hide. I feel like every time something shakes me my inner dialogue rips me to shreds. I question if I truly can get forwards in this world or if every event is going to cascade me into suicidal ideation and feelings of hopelessness.

I'll suck it the fuck up, I'll live in my shoebox with people I don't trust for the low rent and convenience to my values. I'm not a sketch like our ex roomie and I'm not going to be disruptive and bitchy on purpose. But if it really came down to studs in the wall being prioritized over my protest about the way I feel in small, dimly lit rooms, and how it can affect my depression (especially when it's cold and gloomy), I don't have the patience for kindness and compromises that weren't extended to me. And that makes me really, really fucking sad.

[caveartfair]

How These Small Galleries Are Surviving Despite Wave of Closures

Installation view of Nick van Woert exhibition "Organ Donor" at GRIMM. Photo by René Clement, courtesy of GRIMM.

The position of small to mid-sized galleries in the Western world’s major art centers grows ever more precarious in art hubs like New York City and London, as rising rents and a relentless schedule of expensive art fairs make it hard for smaller operations to compete with global mega-galleries such as Gagosian, Pace, Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner, and White Cube.

The art press has documented nearly 10 significant closures reported just since May, including Wilkinson, Acme, and most recently Off Vendome.

But a willful contingent of gallerists continues to thrive despite the middle-market squeeze. Often, the key to their success is an actual set of keys. Well-timed real estate decisions or tough choices to move off the beaten path have helped some stay afloat when so many others have fallen prey to skyrocketing rent.

In any location, the “how” of making ends meet comes increasingly through alternative means, which include renting out studio spaces to supplement costs, pulling in revenue beyond art sales, skipping expensive art fairs in favor of longer exhibition periods, or limiting artist rosters.

Lower Manhattan has seen a lot of ebb and flow on the small and mid-sized gallery front, with spaces such as On Stellar Rays, CRG Gallery, and Kansas all shuttering in the last few months. Yet Jorg Grimm of Amsterdam’s GRIMM Gallery, who just opened a location on Bowery in June, sees the shifting sands as an opportunity for non-New York galleries to break into the scene.

Installation view of Nick van Woert exhibition "Organ Donor" at GRIMM. Photo by René Clement, courtesy of GRIMM.

“The time felt right because there have been closures,” he said. “We had been looking for a space for about a year and actually found cheaper rents now than when we started the search.”

According to Grimm, setting up a New York outpost raises the profiles of his artists both back home and abroad. Grimm said about 80 percent of the artists on his roster didn’t have any representation in the U.S.; some had never been represented stateside, but others like Nick van Woert used to show with Yvon Lambert, whose New York location closed down six years ago, and had yet to show with another New York gallery.

“There’s all this talk about the physical gallery space being less relevant these days, but I really disagree,” he said. “I thought it was worth a shot.”

David Hoyland of London’s Seventeen also took a shot at a location on Bowery, down the block from GRIMM’s current space, but closed in February after just a few months due to strained investor relations. Although his toe-dip in the waters of the East River was brief, Hoyland has successfully kept Seventeen afloat for over a decade.

He had launched it in 2005, when London was rife with short-term project spaces that would stay open only a year or two. “I didn’t think it would last, to be honest,” he said. “I thought it’d be something to do for 18 months. I didn’t have a business plan, or even a good idea except to show emerging artists. It was kind of accidental and it’s just worked out.”

Installation view of works by Sam Venables at PLAZAPLAZA. Courtesy of PLAZAPLAZA.

Installation view of works by Gabriel Harley at PLAZAPLAZA. Courtesy of PLAZAPLAZA.

But Hoyland is as shrewd as is he is lucky for sustaining Seventeen for as long as he has. When he moved three years ago to Dalston, fleeing rising rents in now-trendy Shoreditch, he negotiated a long-term lease to ensure his rent wouldn’t get hiked up as the area develops further. Meanwhile, Dalston rents have soared in that short time.

“We worked really hard to get a good deal that would make this whole endeavor viable,” he said, adding that the gallery is in a building with no redevelopment break clause, meaning that if it sold, he has the right to remain through the end of his current lease. “But, that being said, it is in a shitty area in the middle of nowhere where collectors don’t want to come. It’s certainly been a tradeoff.”

Hoyland admitted he’s not too optimistic about the strained young gallery scene in London as he witnesses more small galleries and project places close up shop. Yet PLAZAPLAZA has remained in Elephant and Castle since 2011 thanks to four studios it lets to practicing artists. Started by artist Jesse Wine, the space doesn’t have a set roster of artists who show regularly  but instead showcases work by younger artists fresh out of degree programs who often don’t have gallery representation. This allows them to put on exhibitions when convenient, rather than tethering themselves to the typical taxing cycle of four- to five-week exhibitions. This cuts down marketing costs for openings, promotion, and receptions. It also saves artists from producing additional work under strict deadlines that may or may not sell.

Since 2015, the space has been helmed by artist Glen Pudvine, who used to rent one of the studios behind the small 10-by-13-foot street-facing exhibition space. “Without the studios and the practicing artists in them, PLAZAPLAZA wouldn’t be possible financially,” he said. It adds intangible value, too, in the interchange between working artists and the gallery’s exhibiting artists. “Being a young artist can be sometimes make you feel quite secluded. This kind of space opens up a dialogue and helps you network.”

Installation view of works by Patrick Cole at PLAZAPLAZA. Courtesy of PLAZAPLAZA.

The rental income from the studios covers the majority of the rent for the building, which Pudvine leases; the remainder of the cost of operations he supplements himself from his own earnings as an artist and studio assistant.

Inspired by London’s more malleable project space scene, Jane Harmon and Fabiola Alondra opened Fortnight Institute just over a year ago in Manhattan’s East Village. Like PLAZAPLAZA, they don’t officially represent artists and frequently develop shows around emerging artists, many of whom are located outside of New York.

They’ve also structured the gallery’s unusual hours around their work schedules so they could keep their respective full-time jobs, providing them with a financial cushion that allows them the flexibility to show lesser-known artists. “There’s a lot of unpredictability when an artist hasn’t shown in New York before. The fact that we both have income from other sources helps us survive,” Harmon said, especially since compared to London, New York is more commercially driven and it can be harder to be experimental. The duo is still figuring out their business model as they go. In addition to exhibiting work like a traditional gallery, they also produce and sell artist books and ephemera, although Harmon said their publishing arm isn’t a major revenue stream.

“Our main source of income right now is actually artwork sales,” said Harmon. “I guess that actually makes us more like a traditional gallery than we intended to be!”

Installation view of “Mason Saltarrelli: Acoustic Tulips” at Turn Gallery. Courtesy of Turn Gallery.

A few blocks away at Turn Gallery, Annika Peterson, who opened the space in 2015 on East 1st Street, said there’s a perception that only the big boys are booming on the gallery scene. “But around me, in my little pocket in the East Village, I’m sort of seeing people doing their own thing and doing it well,” she said, citing Fortnight and another neighbor, Karma, which doubles as a bookseller.

Peterson embraces what she described as a more relaxed approach to contemporary art dealing in her neighborhood.

“My walls aren’t perfect, I don’t have a polished concrete floor. That’s not an aesthetic I can afford right now,” she said. To keep her bottom line low, she relies on word of mouth and invests heavily in cultivating her Instagram audience, where she has roughly 28,000 enthusiastic followers, and keeps her roster and space to a size she can manage by herself so she isn’t saddled with staffing costs. Additionally, Peterson puts on longer shows than many galleries—six to eight weeks, generally—which she believes gives her artists added exposure, in lieu of doing expensive art fairs.

“I wanted to establish the brick-and-mortar incarnation of the gallery and invest more time in my artists before I started fronting big costs, like fairs and space renovations,” she said, explaining that she was more interested in slow growth over time in an era when small galleries are expected to expand quickly to compete in the marketplace.

“If you’re only looking for me in fair booths, or if you’re looking at my crooked floors, then I have bigger problems! I’ve already lost you. You should be looking at the work on my walls.”

—Margaret Carrigan

from Artsy News