Stubnitz at Bloc 2012. by David Terranova

When the Berlin wall fell, Blo travelled to the port in Rostock where the DDR’s fleet was being catalogued to assess its scrap value. The Stubnitz, two and a half thousand tonnes of raw industrial socialist nautical mayhem, was existing in an ownership vacuum between an ousted repressive regime and the future government of a reunited Germany. Via a series of complex negotiations now lost to history, Blo took possession of the Stubnitz in 1992 and quickly set to work. The hull of the ship was gradually modified to his exact specifications – both in terms of the performance space and the audio installation. An atrium gallery looks over a main dancefloor, creating an industrial, hi-spec venue inside a maritime monument to Europe’s recent, turbulent history. A second club space at the stern of the vessel as well as the deck are also fully kitted out for Bloc-specced throwdowns. Blo’s vision was not limited to music performance. He’d conceived of a platform for the arts, and the ships many corridors and rooms play host to multimedia installations from Europe’s digital art cognoscenti. Stubnitz is a maritime monument to Europe’s recent turbulent history, an amazing industrial themed space that has played host to live performance, art installations and the occasional techno DJ for the past twenty years. She’ll be visiting London for the first time to moor exclusively at Bloc 2012.