Inspired by an act of Parisian film director Jean Luc Godard’s benevolence, artist Cedric Christie has pulled together some of London’s most established creative luminaries for his charitable project Blank Canvas.

Director Godard, as part of the volunteer group Children of Don Quixote, recently donated a large amount of tents to Paris’s homeless community, which were set up all along the city’s Canal Saint Martin. The gift’s resulting shantytown caused such a wave through Europe’s press that the issue of homelessness was raised to a number one priority on France’s political agenda, during the run up to the presidential election.

Reading about the Canal and its pop-up village in a French newspaper, Christie was intrigued by the fact that one small act could make such a difference. “I read about Godard and I remember just being blown away by that gesture, by how you could do one thing and change so many peoples opinion,” he says.

Taking that as his starting point, the artist got in touch with as many of his friends and acquaintances as possible, sent them all a two man tent and asked them to customise it in a way that highlighted the homeless situation. The results, from the likes of Rachel Whiteread, Sarah Lucas, Gavin Turk, Peter Blake, Cedric himself and Vivienne Westwood, are being exhibited at this years Big Chill festival and later auctioned off with all proceeds going to homeless charities.
“I started to get in touch with people about the project and the reaction I got was amazing. Everyone has been absolutely involved, they have really taken the tent on and made it into their own work,” Christie explains.

Each of the artist's tents has become not only a representation of their take on the cause in mind, but also very much of the way that they themselves work. “Sarah Lucas has entirely burnt her tent out and scrawled on some of the remains ‘Tent is a Four Letter Word’. She hasn’t seen this project as a separate thing; she has seen it as an extension of her process. They all have, everyone involved has really made the tent into their own artwork."

While The Big Chill has always had a reputation for having a definite artistic focus, this year they have really pushed that agenda. Alongside the Blank Canvas artists London’s Art Car Boot Fair will be in attendance, featuring pieces from Gavin Turk, Stuart Semple and Tracey Emin. The festival’s arts curator Alice Sharp has also pulled in renowned sculptor Henry Krokatsis to build a large-scale site-specific installation and Dazed’s own Rankin will be on site shooting for his Rankin Live project.

“I’m not great on festivals but The Big Chill has always looked at its art as an actual element of the festival, as opposed to something satellite,” Christie explains.  “They have always wanted the art that they show to have some real weight to it and not just be an add on. For me, and for Blank Canvas, that just made it the perfect place to put this project together."