Co-Producing PAR+RS
Creative Scotland has just formally announced that I have, along with Trigger (Suzy Glass and Angie Bual www.triggerstuff.co.uk) been appointed as Co-Producers for PAR+RS www.publicartscotland.com, Creative Scotland’s public art development project.
So I’ve got a provocative question to start the ball rolling, is public art a subset of visual arts or is it everything across all artforms that takes place outside the temples of art?
Creative Scotland’s press release is here.
What art have I seen?
At the Wellcome Collection this morning:
Bill Fontana’s White Sound: an Urban Seascape;
Felicity Powell’s A Charmed Life: The Solace of Objects;
Infinitas Gracias: Mexian Miracle Paintings;
and at the Freud Museum, in addition to his collection of sculptures, Barbara Loftus’ Sigismund’s Watch: a tiny catastrophe.
What art have I seen?
Museum of Everything Exhibition #4 at Selfridges and Gerhard Richter at Tate Modern
The Oablib Effect
Linlithgow, Burgh Halls, 2009
Oablib is a town in northern Spain, near Bilbao. Formerly an important centre it had, in recent years, lost much of its purpose. Lacking the brashness and political connections of Bilbao it decided against a big, iconic “regeneration” spaceship, dropped down from on-high, and instead looked to the vigour of its local culture and built heritage to re-invent itself.
It has not looked back.
You are warmly invited to “The Oablib Effect”, a presentation by Malcolm Fraser, the award-winning architect. Q&A and conversation will follow, for which Malcolm will be joined by Morag Deyes MBE, Artistic Director of Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance.
The presentation & conversation will be held from 6pm to 8pm on the evening of Monday 24 October 2011 in The Gallery, which is located in the Pavilion at Burns Cottage, Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway, close to the heart of Ayr town centre. Parking is available in the Burns Cottage car park.
Malcolm Fraser Architects have worked in and for ‘Oablibs’ all over Scotland, from Stromness to Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Malcolm would like to discuss how Ayr might discover its own Oablib Effect.
Following the presentation and Q&A, there will be the opportunity to converse with a drink and canapés by Su Casa, Ayr before a wrap-up session that looks forward to actions and future such presentations. A small charge will be made towards the use of The Gallery and refreshments.
Thanks to Robert Burns Birthplace Museum and Su Casa.
Would you kindly email your acceptance of this invitation by Thursday 20 October to Lianne Hackett who will produce a note of the evening with actions for the future.
If you have any questions or suggestions for participation, please contact Lianne Hackett on 07796466384.
What art have I seen? AHM State of Play
Ruth Ewan’s Brank & Heckle at Dundee Contemporary Arts.
There for the AHM State of Play symposium. Ross Sinclair’s rant by audio/powerpoint was very refreshing, Jean Urquhart MSP deserved a standing ovation and perhaps hit the nail on the head. The Manifestos were really good, especially Tara Beall’s.
Once again, and precisely because there was no policy agenda being promoted, one must think hard to understand the point. Most conferences are organised by bureaucracies seeking to promulgate their policy initiatives and secure adoption by practitioners. Conferences organised by practitioners tend to complicate and agitate.
So what were AHM attempting to complicate and agitate? The simple answer might be in Jean Urquhart MSP’s talk which ended with an invitation or a challenge for the artists to engage more directly with the political – get stuck in, get into the Parliament, get political, stop talking the talk and start walking the walk.
And this is probably true, although perhaps the ambition for AHM was more subtle and demonstrated through the one-minute manifestos. These were a platform for artists (in the broad sense) to articulate something, frankly anything, that they felt it was important to say. Over the three events, some were political, some humorous, some dadaist, some demonstrated their point through their form.
My manifesto was intended to set out what I think is important in doing what I do. I was glad to be able to be part of another two manifestos (in the end). I was part of Tim Collins Anthropocene Evolution Alliance and on the day I found myself being part of Tara Beall’s multivocal performance.
We all have stuff to say and we all believe that it matters.
AHM’s State of Play, Dundee
AHM‘s final State of Play event takes place in Dundee on Saturday 1 October.
As with previous events it will include a number of ‘One Minute Manifestos’. One of these has emerged through a collective process of writing initiated by Tim Collins and contributed to by a number of participants in the Values of Environmental Writing programme at Glasgow University.
Tim has asked me to post the manifesto and authorship, and to encourage anyone who broadly supports the manifesto, and is at the State of Play symposium, to come forward and share in the speaking of the manifesto.
“Who are we? Though the origins of this manifesto are the Values of Environmental Research Network conversations, this document is inclusive of all those who feel that the arts and humanities have a vital role in the effort to mitigate and prevent environmental damage.”
The Anthropo-scene Evolution
2011 saw the culmination of avarice that necessitates naming the human impact on all earthly things. In response we wish to reject humanity’s supposed dominion over nature and to take responsibility for wilful and excessive impact. Our intention is to constitute greater empathy between the world’s free-living things. As creative pragmatists committed to producing practical wisdom, we recognise a loss of humility and seek to reengage the aesthetic and the sublime, which provide interface and witness to spirit on earth. Cultural responses to the anthropo-scene realize that there are opportunities embedded in new constraints; but more importantly there is generative force amongst living things that must be engaged anew. We experiment with a new materialism and aim for new metaphysical purpose for the arts and humanities within the public domain.
Background
Draft1 scribed by Tim Collins (TC) with Reiko Goto, 18 June 2011, subsequently edited by Tom Bristow and Chris Maughan, with comments and encouragement from Aaron Franks and Chris Fremantle (CF). The AHM ‘State of Play in Scotland’ submission was initiated by CF. TC offered the first rough draft with proper word editing by Aaron Franks and Rachel Harkness, followed by strategic refinement by Rhian Williams, Kate Foster, Alistair McIntosh and Owain Jones. The full manifesto is a result of discussion that occurred on 17 June, 2011 with Aaron Franks, Owain Jones, Chris Maughan, Mike Robinson and Karen Syse. Tom Bristow and the ‘frog team’ were present in spirit if not in material form. The work was inspired and energized by presentations and dialogue with Alistair McIntosh and Gareth Evans all set within the wider context of the AHRC supported Values of Environmental Writing Network, organized by Hayden Lorimer, Alex Benchimol and Rhian Williams (2011).
What art have I seen?
Ingrid Calame at the Fruitmarket in Edinburgh
Martin Creed Work No. 1059, 2011
The Scotsman Steps, 2011, Photo: Chris Fremantle
Martin Creed Work No. 1059, 2011
What art have I seen?
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Lavoro at the Simon Lee Gallery
and John Burningham: an illustrated journey at the Fleming Collection.
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