JOY Café

by Joy Bomb London (Amy Broch)

48 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 5NE

Wednesday October 5 – Sunday October 16, 12pm - 8pm

Joy Bomb London (aka artist Amy Broch) returned in October 2022 with JOY Café, a pop-up site-specific installation where people could chat, play, laugh and nourish their ‘social biome’.

The artist once again transformed our shop front in Mayfair, central London, into a multi-sensory work of art and live performance.

Members of the public were invited to join Illuminate Productions and Joy Bomb London at the JOY Café. They could bring a friend, come alone or choose to chat with a JOY Bomb character.

Visitors enjoyed a 20-minute socially nutritious experience and visual treat over a drink and a snack and became part of this unique pop-up site-specific installation with live actors.

Participants could sit and relax in the shop window at JOY Café while becoming part of the show amid a kitsch kaleidoscope of vivid clashing colours, a fur carpet, inflatable dogs and messages spreading positive vibes to all. Numerous photo opportunities were provided, and visitors were strongly encouraged to capture their fun time.

The installation, which coincided with World Mental Health Day 2022 on Monday October 10, was designed to help people reconnect and reinvigorate their ‘social biome’.

According to Jeffrey Hall, professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, your social biome is the ecosystem of relationships and interactions that shapes an individual’s emotional, psychological and physical health. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown, social distancing concerns and the prevalence of home-working – it is likely to be severely damaged.

Amy, who was widowed during the pandemic in May 2020, invited members of the public to join her and Illuminate Productions at JOY Café. “Whether you are seeking some healing solitude or conversation – come and enjoy the benefits of a nutritiously dense social snack,” she said. “Daily interactions big and small make up your social biome. Small talk is more nutritious than we think - it helps to boost your social biome and banish loneliness.”

The installation was just a few minutes’ walk from Frieze London at Regents Park. This was the final installation at Illuminate Productions’ home on Brook Street, directly opposite the infamous Claridge’s Hotel, before the building was redeveloped. The building is stepped in history and was the former headquarters of hair salon Vidal Sassoon for 20 years.

Caroline Jones, producer at Illuminate Productions, said: “For our final installation in Brook Street we are happy that Joy Bomb is back! This time we’re not keeping the public at arm’s length but are instead inviting visitors to come, interact and socialise with us, while also becoming part of the installation. This is something we were previously unable to do due to Covid.”

In lockdown Amy created a series of kitsch, candy-coloured socially distanced shop front installations at 48 Brook Street, Mayfair, to celebrate ‘fun for fun’s sake’, including JOY Found Me and All I want for Christmas is…JOY. Life-size whimsical characters were brought to life by live actors and interacted with onlookers to create joy bombs – the artistic equivalent to photo bombing.

Last April she was also commissioned to create a series of Feel-Good artworks at London Bridge Station and the surrounding area spreading JOY, LOVE and positive vibes to all.

Joy Bomb London creates site-specific interactive installations that transform ordinary spaces into mini-worlds – playful explosions of sunny, squishy, furry, rainbow-filled delights. The artist draws from childhood nostalgia, pop culture and the irreverent contents of her shimmering, candy-coated brain. Her work provides opportunities to explore, connect and laugh.

Joy Bomb London’s creative mission is to celebrate FUN for FUN’s sake and to make memorable moments happy ones.

Participants were encouraged to share their JOY Café experience with artist Amy Broch on her Instagram page @joybomblondon

ABOUT AMY BROCH

JOY Bomb London was created by whimsical gangster and emerging conceptual artist Amy Broch after her husband Sean was diagnosed in 2018 with ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a neurological disease that involves the nerve cells that are responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements such as walking and talking. Learning that happiness was linked to better treatment outcomes and longevity for ALS patients was a big moment. Suddenly, the colourful, playful installations Amy had been creating and experimenting with for years had a greater significance - JOY Bomb London was born, and its creative mission became FUN for FUN's sake.

Proceeds from every installation support the Healey Center for ALS in memory of Sean, who passed in May of 2020. It is the largest hospital-based research program in the world and supports early stage trials of promising ALS treatments.