Teddy Hall has solid reputation as a college for writers – and in keeping with the reality-twisting theme of the Urban Wonderland Ball, Saturday night will see the college taken over by a whole other kind of writing. Obens, Voyder, 3Dom, Magic, Deltron, Fusa, Real, Known and Jedi, possibly supported by Tars, Durz and Misk Moes, will be recreating Teddy Hall in technicolor.

urbanwonderland.seh has been given the amazing opportunity to showcase work by some of these artists (click the thumbnail image) and talk to Obens, a writer of some renown, about the history of the form, the influx of stencils, problems with legal painting, and Banksy.

Name and Affiliation: Obens CMS OMD
Gender: Male
Favourite Place: Madrid

What's your graffiti background? How did you get into the art form?

– I started sketching graff when I was about 13, a couple of my older sisters and cousins were into it. Tagging is the most primitive form of graff in a s... more

The Urban Wonderland Ball is officially sold out and urbanwonderland.seh is pleased to welcome 900 revellers to a night of glory… Tickets are being pidged at record speed so if you have not received your ticket, do not worry.

IF YOU HAVE PIDGED US MONEY during the last 24 hours you are likely to be among the last to get tickets. If you have pidged us during Thursday afternoon it may even be too late. EVERYONE who has pidged money WILL be contacted by Friday midnight to confirm whether or not they've got a place. If in doubt, remember to check both your email and pidge.

If you've pidged us earlier and have yet to receive your ticket, check your pidge, then email stephanie.hardy@seh.ox.ac.uk – she'll get back to you Friday midnight at the latest. There are a couple of illegible checks and some people who have not provided any contact address for ticket delivery. Since they've paid, however, tickets for these people will be held at the entrance to the Ball.

Also... more

With a week to go to the night of the year, the following acts have been confirmed for the Teddy Hall Urban Wonderland Ball:

The Brothers
Mr Henry
The Argos Disease
Oxford Belles
Magdalen Swing Band
The Shakes
Plus Special Guests
Zuby
Trouble Over Tokyo
Pimel Progressive

The wide variety of acts and genres promise something for everyone whether your tastes run to the ballroom or the gutter... A certain don't-miss will be the sweaty, pulsating night club scene. Chill out in the magical graveyard. Sass your class in our quad ballroom and shake your stuff to high-class acts…

A night of high jinx
Teddy Hall like you've never seen it before!
URBAN WONDERLAND BALL May 6th 2006
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW
Six drinks, food and live music included

It’s Alice following the White Rabbit to a fancy dress party in Victorian Oxford. It’s Neo following the White Rabbit into a nightclub and out of the Matrix. It’s an angel on a white horse at Studio 54, Ziggy Stardust playing his guitar, the Sugar Plum Fairy at Warhol’s Factory. It’s the green light in the magician’s tower on New College Lane. It’s taking a London shortcut and ending up in a secret garden.

It’s a dress curtsying behind your back at the Victoria and Albert. It’s the tube stop of the British Museum shut down in the 1920s because of the curse of the Egyptian Mummy Princess. It’s squatters emerging from a derelict house to find a century has passed overnight.

It’s a crowd of strangers walking to the beach erupting in a stirring rendition of Summer Times. It’s an out-of-body experience in spectral dance floor lights. It’s the sudden realization that there are no guarantees that the people surrounding you are human at all.

“All of Man’s wo... more

On Valentine's Day 06, Teddy Hall descended upon the Bridge determined to have a good time and sell as many small, blue, exiting raffle tickets as superhumanly possible. Cheers Lulu for making magic – and we're not even primarily referring to the outfit that channeled Titania through Top Gun, yet mystically refused to be caught on film...

In an exclusive interview, urbanwonderland.seh asks Claire Palmer, Co-President of the Ball Committee to prophesise about a magical night in Trinity…

The Teddy Hall Ball tickets seem very cheap compared to those of many other colleges. What will I get for my money?

– Apart from the six free drinks and free food all night, we've got loads of bands and DJs. A huge amount of really good live music from within Oxford, like the Oxford Belles (gown), and Pimmel Progressive (town), even bands from inside Teddy Hall like Plus Special Guests. Bands from London include Carmichael and Trouble Over Tokyo, who both have an album out, and Ivan Lasic. Plus, we've got some really hot DJs from the Zodiac.

What is it going to look like visually?

– I don't wanna give too much away but we're going to change everythi... more