Ayr Converses Walk
Ayr Converses Walk, a set by www.dooks.org on Flickr.
Chris Dooks, Morag Deyes, Rob Close, Lianne Hackett and I were taken for a walk around the Ayr by Kevin Bell (Surveyor at J&E Shepherd). These are some images Chris Dooks took, particularly in the vicinity of Plot 9.
What art have I seen?
Richard Wright, Works on Paper, Kelvingrove Art Gallery with excellent documentation on the Modern Institute’s site.
Posted to ecoartscotland.net
Art after nature: TJ Demos on the post natural condition, in Artforum (April 2012) is, as Suzaan Boettger pointed out, important because it represents a key moment demonstrating that ecoart is impacting on mainstream contemporary art’s discourses (maybe).
Perhaps more importantly, the piece concludes with the work of artists who are at this moment, as has happened at key points in the past, choosing to position the focus of their work outside the artworld. Artists such as Nils Norman, whose work Demos focuses on, as well as Fritz Haeg, Superflex, Marjetica Potrc, Art not Oil, Allora & Calzadilla and The Yes Men all engage directly with the biopolitical and the eco-financial (though the work of many of these can be seen in galleries and museums pretty regularly, e.g. Haeg’s Animal Estates 1.0 was included in the Whitney Biennial in 2008). It would be trite…
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New Growth Walking from Renton to Kilmahew, 9 June 2012
Invited to participate in the Invisible College.
Walked from Renton to Kilmahew.
Looked for new growth.
Thoughts on VeloCity
PAR+RS will be covering VeloCity, starting with this piece. VeloCity is an ambitious programme for Glasgow’s public realm leading up to the Commonwealth Games, 2014, and looking beyond. Glasgow has used key events (Garden Festival, 1988; European City of Culture, 1990; City of Architecture and Design, 1999.
Work in Progress
Public Art Scotland ‘Work in Progress’ installed in The Lighthouse, Glasgow, for the Scottish Government’s International Summit on Architecture and Place, May 2012 (Photo: Chris Fremantle)
Tim Rollins and John Ahearn
Spirit of the Bronx at Frieze New York – FT.com.
Tim Rollins and John Ahearn: the contradictions of earnest and ethically engaged artists interested in beauty being part of Frieze NY.
Precarious Workers Brigade Alternative Curriculum
- ARE YOU UNSURE WHAT JOB YOU WILL BE DOING IN 3 MONTHS?
- DO YOU FREELANCE BUT YOU DON’T FEEL FREE?
- ARE YOU ANXIOUS DURING THE DAY AND SLEEPLESS AT NIGHT?
- HAS THE CARROT YOU WERE PROMISED GONE OFF?
- DO YOU THINK YOU WILL NEVER OWN A HOUSE IN YOUR F*&%$£ LIFE?
If your answer to these questions is yes, then the Carrot Workers Collective/Precarious Workers Brigade have produced Training for Exploitation: Towards and Alternative Curriculum.
Management response to ballot on strike action
Fremantle Consultants: Response to call for Ballot on Strike Action
Fremantle Consultants rejects the accusation of hypocrisy levelled by the workers.
Fremantle Consultants manages a portfolio of work across producing, project management and research.
Fremantle Consultants is currently co-producing PAR+RS, Creative Scotland’s national public art development programme, project managing the Therapeutic Design and Arts Strategy for the New South Glasgow Hospitals as well as contributing to the Art, Space and Nature MFA programme at Edinburgh College of Art.
Recently, Fremantle Consultants completed a Visiting Researcher project with Gray’s School of Art, supporting the establishment of a new research cluster. Fremantle Consultants worked with a range of staff to develop research trajectories and reflect on key issues.
Fremantle Consultants provided project management services to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde assuring the delivery of the public art strategies for two new hospitals, the New Victoria and the New Stobhill. Working with 11 artists on a range of installations, Fremantle Consultants delivered the programme on time and within budget.
Fremantle Consultants produced a major DEFRA funded Climate Challenge Fund project working with a wide range of partners across England.
Staff of Fremantle Consultants are encouraged to engage with community organisations and give their time pro bono to Ayr Gaiety Partnership as well as the Scottish Artists Union.
In the current economically challenging context, Fremantle Consultants is successfully building the business and delivering quality and impact for clients. The cultural sector must focus on building capacity in the creative economy and innovating in the provision of services to clients.
ayr converses Cultural Hustings
ayr converses flyer April 2012
ayr converses hustings focused on arts & cultural regeneration in Ayr in the 2012 local council elections.
A full note of involvement is available here, and video of the event can be seen here
Notification of intention to ballot for strike action
The cultural workers of Fremantle Consultants have called a ballot on strike action. They accuse the management of gross hypocrisy.
This email dated 24 April 2012 constitutes formal notification seven days in advance of the ballot. The ballot will take place on 2 May 2012.
Cultural workers at Fremantle Consultants’ offices at 21 Woodfield Road, Ayr, KA8 8LZ, will be balloted.
Subject to the ballot, strike action will take place on Friday 4 May 2012.
This strike action is undertaken as a ‘wildcat’ strike, not associated with any Union.
The cultural workers at Fremantle Consultants have been in negotiations with management since 27 February 2006, during which time no resolution has been reached.
Fremantle Consultants are accused of:-
- Believing in the value of arts and culture for their own sake, the importance of aesthetics and fun, whilst simultaneously basing arts and cultural development on the social, health, mental health and environmental impacts.
- Promoting localism and grassroots activity whilst simultaneously working on massively centralising public service projects;
- Articulating and supporting commons based and alternative approaches to knowledge and creativity whilst simultaneously developing projects intended to utilise copyright to financialise artworks.
- Critiquing corporate capital whilst being reliant on the self-same systems professionally and personally.
- Challenging the roots and effects of precarity within the arts whilst utilising processes and procedures which reinforce precarious working.
Organising Committee
Notes
- Only workers at Fremantle Consultants are entitled to vote.
- Because there are less than 50 people entitled to vote there is no requirement to appoint a scrutineer.
- The ballot paper is attached strike ballot as required and has been agreed by the branch secretary.
- Unison’s guidance as set out in Unison Industrial Action Handbook (2009) has been followed.
Arts & Cultural Regeneration Hustings, 25th April 2012
ayr converses hosts an arts & cultural regeneration in Ayr focused hustings for the three Ayr ward candidates in the 2012 local council elections. Download flyer: ayr converses a5_final please distribute.
ayr converses is hosting an arts & cultural regeneration in Ayr focused hustings on Wednesday 25 April 2012 at the Foresters’ Hall, New Road, Ayr KA8 8EX. The hustings is from 8pm – 9.30pm. All those who wish to see South Ayrshire Council place greater focus on the arts and culture in the regeneration of our town are welcome to attend.
The aim is to hear from candidates – party political & independent – on how the arts & culture – including the creative industries – can act as drivers for the regeneration of Ayr and what will be their policies and practice for the arts & culture over the next five years. Each candidate who wishes to speak will be given a set time in which to speak. Members of the arts & cultural community including Chris Taylor of Hipshot Theatre, Laurin Campbell, the new YDance freelancer in South Ayrshire & Chris Fremantle of Ayr Gaiety Partnership & Public Art Scotland will be given the same set time in which to share their vision for the future of our town. The hustings will be chaired by Karen Murray of Newton & Heathfield Community Association.
ayr converses has invited all candidates who are standing in the three Ayr wards – Ayr North, Ayr West, Ayr East – and has copied the invitation to all candidates standing in the other five South Ayrshire Council wards. Parties have been asked to put forward a spokesperson to speak on arts, culture & economic regeneration. The same opportunity has been extended to independents. A good number of candidates have confirmed that they will attend and participate with all parties represented. Independent candidates have also confirmed that they will participate.
There will be refreshments by su casa after the hustings to give those participating time to meet & converse in a sociable setting. Those attending will be asked to make a small contribution to a collection towards the cost of hall hire & refreshments.
notes:
“A hustings event is a meeting where election candidates or parties debate policies and answer questions from the audience … voters can ask candidates about issues that are important to them.” Electoral Commission
ayr converses aims to facilitate communication between individuals and groups in the town of ayr with the aim of acting as an ideas bank + soundboard, strengthening community ties and furthering cultural and economic regeneration. The website, which will be launched end April 2012, is open source – with input it will become a repository of ideas, suggestions & positive proposals that will point the way forward for Ayr and inspire all those who love to live, work, study and play in the town + visitors to Ayr.
for further information, please email info@ayrconverses.org.uk
What art have I seen?
George Wyllie: A Life Less Ordinary, Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde.
What Art have I seen?
Image from Electronic Arts Intermix
Mono Lake, Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, CCA Glasgow
There is an excerpt at http://youtu.be/lwyE2DxaN40
Smithson created one of his nonsite works with materials collected on this trip.
Funded PhD Opportunities
3 PhD Studentships (Reference IDEAS 12)
Grays School of Art, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
IDEAS Research Institute for Innovation, Design And Sustainability
Closing Date: 9th April 2012
Applications are invited from excellent candidates for PhD studentships in the IDEAS Research Institute at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. IDEAS is a multi-disciplinary research centre encompassing the disciplines of Architecture & Built Environment, Art & Design, Computing, Engineering and Environmental Science.
Theme: Creativity, Design & Innovation
Art in the Public Sphere: The Case of Feminist Manifestos
This PhD project will creatively contribute to the artistic and theoretical exploration of the unique interweaving of politics and poetics in this still under-researched genre of revolutionary discourse, the manifesto. The project will specifically address the contribution of visual art practice associated with second-wave and later feminist movements, focusing on lesser known British feminist manifestos produced in and since second-wave feminism, through the study of anthologised documents but also through archival research in libraries and special collections. One of the project’s aims is to not simply discover but also uncover feminist manifestos in unexpected forms and locations, in corroboration of the thesis that certain works of art, as well as the familiar written proclamations, may be considered as manifestos thanks to their reception, function and interpretation.
Dr Alexandra Kokoli: +44 (0)1224 263692, a.m.kokoli@rgu.ac.uk
Cultural Leadership, its role, processes and implications for cultural development
Applications are invited for a 3 year PhD to explore cultural leadership as a practice and its implications for social, cultural and economic development in a local and global context. Cultural leadership has emerged as a need that is sharply focused in particular in the fields of art and design. We do not sufficiently understand the practice of cultural leadership as it relates to art and design practices in particular in relation to coping with rapid change and increased levels of self organisation. This research will build on the AHRC funded Artist as Leader project (2006-8) initially mining this archive of 32+ in depth interviews with cultural leaders in Britain. The research will result in a framework for cultural leadership in Scotland that is informed by its rural culture. This research is timely because of the local initiatives in cultural development (City Gardens Project, related application for City of Culture 2017, national review of cultural delivery agencies, and emergence of new regional, lead cultural body: AB+).
The successful candidate will meet RGU’s criteria for eligibility and be able to demonstrate the potential to develop advanced research skills. They should hold a Master’s degree in Fine Art/Design, Art/Design History, Critical/Cultural Theory, or equivalent practice or policy experience. In the case of a practicing artist/designer or arts administrator, some experience in practice-led research would be an advantage. The prospective student should be highly self-motivated and have a keen and imaginative critical interest in the arts in contemporary life.
Professor Anne Douglas: +44 (0)1224 263647, a.douglas@rgu.ac.uk
Smart Textiles for Health and Wellbeing
Technologically enhanced textiles can respond to a range of physical and psychological health barriers, which have the potential to transform lifestyles. Smart textiles can help manage body temperature, incorporate antimicrobial properties, provide insulation, breathability, compression, re-shaping, moisture absorption, articulation enabling mobility, constrain movement and improve circulation. Current textile products designed for medical application often do not provide satisfactory solutions because they don’t address the full range of an individual’s needs, which includes both the physical and the psychological. In recent years a number of technical innovations have shown potential but have not been successfully applied to provide solutions that meet the needs of individuals. Current products are related to monitoring health rather than providing a more interactive system that builds a stronger connection with the wearer, which are both responsive and adaptive and take into account an individual’s emotional needs.
We are looking for a design graduate with technical expertise to undertake a PhD programme of research with the aim of understanding how textile and clothing solutions can be designed to improve the quality of life for individuals experiencing long-term medical conditions, which have a direct impact on their mobility, self-esteem and wellbeing. Through the application of advanced technology and design, this project seeks to explore new wearable smart clothing concepts with direct relevance to a range of mobility related health issues. The project will investigate a range of new technologies from micro-scale computing (speckled) to combined laser scanning and laser cutting, and new materials in order to develop advanced clothing concepts that can be used to alleviate the effects of long term debilitating conditions.
The project is suitable for someone with a first degree in product or textile and/or fashion design. They should also have some basic knowledge of materials science and computer based technologies.
This PhD research programme builds on the current work of the Molecular Imprinted Textiles (MIT) group (a project funded by the Scottish Academy of Fashion), a Scottish Govt funded project ‘Future Textile Visions’ (FTV) and an AHRC network application currently awaiting decision. The project will be headed by Josie Steed, Course Director for Fashion and Textiles, and Julian Malins, Professor of Design at Gray’s School of Art.
Josie Steed: +44 1224 263678, j.steed@rgu.ac.uk
Candidates for the studentship must have a high quality Honours Degree (preferably a First Class) or a Masters qualification (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline. Each studentship provides full university fees for UK/EU applicants and a tax-free maintenance allowance of £13,590 per annum for 3 years. Additional fee support may be available to students who are not UK/EU residents and who would normally be required to pay the full overseas postgraduate fee. The studentships start on 1 October 2012.
Applicants should Apply Online at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/researchdegrees/applicants/page.cfm?pge=26828. When applying, please click on advertised studentships and select IDEAS 12.
For further information on research at Robert Gordon University and in the IDEAS Research Institute, please see:
http://www.rgu.ac.uk/research/ideas
Informal enquiries may be addressed to potential supervisors or to the IDEAS Graduate School Leader, Professor Linda Lawton, + 44 (0)1224 262823/262473, email ideas@rgu.ac.uk
USUK Call for Artists
Image thanks to Coral Lambert
DEADLINE MARCH 15th 2012
The 13th USUK International Cast Iron Sculpture Symposium
To be hosted at Salem Art Works, Salem, New York and Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK.
US Component: Friday 15th June – Sunday 1st July 2012
UK Component: Friday 7th July – Sunday 22nd July 2012
The 13th USUK Iron Symposium will take place for the first time at two venues: Salem Art Works (SAW), USA and Scottish Sculpture Workshop (SSW), UK. During each 15 day symposium, internationally selected artists will produce work in cast iron with experimental and traditional sand molds using a coke fired iron cupola furnace. In addition to artists’ presentations, panels and technical demonstrations, artists learn from each other by working together in the critically engaged environment created by the symposium and its unique sites. Highlights of the 13th USUK Iron Symposium include a public iron pour and sculpture exhibitions at Salem Art Works, in Upstate New York and an iron pour with live fire performances at Scottish Sculpture Workshop, in the UK.
Founded in 1996 by sculptor, Coral Lambert, the focus of the USUK Iron Symposium is to provide a platform for artists to explore and push the boundaries of the cast iron medium in contemporary sculpture. No previous casting experience is necessary; artists from different disciplines are encouraged to apply. Past participants and collaborators include land artists, paper makers, biologists, archeologists and architects.
Over the past 16 years, the USUK Iron Symposium has been hosted by the US and UK in alternating years including venues in New Orleans, Minnesota, Suffolk and Wales. In 2012 this symposium will take place in both the US and UK for the first time. Salem Art Works and Scottish Sculpture Workshop both offer unique settings and facilities to host this year’s symposium. For more information please visit their respective websites at http://www.salemartworks.org and http://www.ssw.org.uk
Both SAW and SSW will provide accommodations, studio space, equipment usage, technical guidance, consumables and equipment for the iron pour at the following rates:
SSW: £350* + materials
£206 + materials for students and up to one year after graduation
SAW: $700** + materials (food included)
*Internships also available for the UK component, please contact the SSW office for more information.
**Scholarships may be available for the US component, please contact the SAW office for more information.
Mold Materials will be charged per amount of individual usage. Travel to and from USUK Iron Symposium is the responsibility of the artist. Limited group transportation will be available from the nearest train, bus or airport.
Artists may apply to either the US component at SAW, the UK component at SSW or both, please specify your interest. Digital applications will be accepted via email. Please email USUK Director, Coral Lambert at lambertc@alfred.edu by the March 15, 2012 deadline with the following:
Name, Address, Resume, Statement of Intent/Proposed Project, 4 jpeg images of your work
Please note: All previous USUK Iron Symposium participants are invited to exhibit work for the USUK Iron Olympic Show to be held at Salem Art Works in June 2012. Please send an image of your work to the above email by the March 15th deadline. Thank you, we look forward to receiving your applications.
Four Funded PhD Opportunities
Tim Collins, Acting Head of Research, recently announced that Glasgow School of Art hasa number of studentships on offer.
There are two Studentships within the School of Fine Art.
Areas of focus could include:
Society and Environmental Art
Prof Timothy Collins [t.collins@gsa.ac.uk)
Additional supervisors include artists Ross Sinclair and Sue Brind, Justin Carter, and Clara Ursitti as well as Dr Ken Neil.
Art and Curatorial Practices
Dr Frances Mckee (francis@cca-glasgow.com}
Additional supervisors offering support in these areas include critics, artists and curators such as John Calcutt, Dr Ross Birrell and Dr Sarah Lowndes.
Photography, Painting
Prof Roger Wilson [r.wilson@gsa.ac.uk]
Additional supervisors include artists Prof Thomas Joshua Cooper, Dr Nicky Bird, and Stephanie Smith.
We have one studentship in the School of Design.
Areas of focus could include:
Design and Innovation
Prof Irene McAra McWilliam (I.McAra-McWilliam@gsa.ac.uk)
Additional supervisors offering support include designers Jimmy Stephen-Cran and Paul Stickley, Dr Gordon Hush and Dr Ben Craven.
Design for Health and Care
Prof Alastair Macdonald (a.macdonald@gsa.ac.uk)
Additional supervisors includes Dr Paul Chapman, and Dr David Loudon, there is also co-support available in the MEARU research unit.
We have one studentship in the Mackintosh School of Architecture
Areas of focus could include:
Place, Memory and Practice
Prof Chris Platt (c.platt@gsa.ac.uk)
Additional supervisors include Prof Brian Evans, Prof Thomas Maver, Dr Robert Proctor, Sally Stewart and Prof Florian Urban.
Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit
Reader Tim Sharpe (t.sharpe@gsa.ac.uk)
Additional supervisors include Dr Masa Noguchi Dr. Filbert Musau and Dr Raid Hanna.
What Art have I seen?
Image from Stills
Ship of Fools, Allan Sekula, at Stills in Edinburgh
An Ecology Of Mind | A Daughter’s Portrait of Gregory Bateson
An Ecology Of Mind | A Daughter’s Portrait of Gregory Bateson.
There will be a screening and panel discussion of Nora Bateson’s film of Gregory Bateson,
Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture,
L1 Minto House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh
5.30 – 8pm on 23 February 2012
There will be a workshop on 24 Feb for students of any discipline, Masters level and above, at Edinburgh College of Art
Please email chris@fremnatle.org if you wish to attend the film.
This event is sponsored by the School of Architecture and the CORE research group.
Olid Nordhausen
Olid Nordhausen, notorious member of the Blue Cowboys, has created some new noise.
Occupy Museums: MoMA
Occupy Museums meeting beneath Sanja Iveković's "Lady Rosa of Luxembourg" -
Professors, Artists, Workers, and Activists Rally Inside MoMA.
So the question is, are museums part of the problem? What is the problem?
The problem is social and environmental justice. The problem is massively complex and multi-facetted. The problem is multi- trans- and inter-disciplinary. The problem is simple: it’s the financialisation of everything from the value of bees to the value of education, from culture as gentrification to the environmental externalties (the unquantified impacts, ironically the one thing that needs financialised). It’s so complex that it cannot be summarised into one or two sound-bites.
As Brian Holmes’ said in his post ‘Culture Beyond Oil‘,
The secret is out: less than 1 percent of our planet’s population is destroying our world for their profit.
So why are museums part of the problem? and for museums read major arts and cultural organisations.
There are at least a couple of issues:
One is about the ‘career structure’ of the artworld where a lot of people work for free or minimum wage (in their studios or communities or wherever) and a few people become incredibly rich (sometimes the artists, always the dealers). The Scottish Artists Union worked with the Scottish Arts Council and the resulting report showed that a very significant proportion of visual artists make almost no money from their work and have to support their practice from other work. The economy of the visual arts is very challenging and individual artists have always been some of the most precarious workers.
Another is the increasing corporate involvement in the arts – this has always been a factor in the US and the Art Workers Coalition campaigned on this issue forty years ago. In the UK it was significantly encouraged under the Thatcher government. One of the effective lines of critique is offered by PLATFORM with their challenge to BP’s funding of the Tate (as well as other cultural ‘majors’). They argue that this is a form of social license to operate. They need many different forms of legal licenses to operate, but they also need social permission. Cultural organisations, especially the large ones like Tate Britain and the Portrait Awards, are very effective means to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. Good corporate citizenship is not just judged on the funding of cultural majors, it is also a question of actual citizenship across the world.
Designated Drivers
In relation to the current campaign against censorship and in particular the proposed SOPA & PIPA bills its worth considering Temporary Services‘ project Designated Drivers (link to pdf), in which they asked twenty artists and groups to “each put up to 4GB of their archives, research, films, videos, software, images, etc on USB drives” – the visitors to the exhibition were “invited to copy everything!”
What are the key aspects of well-being?
The UK Office of National Statistics is currently consulting on a framework and headline indicators for measuring well-being. This is an incredibly important development, intended in the long run to provide alternatives to simplistic measures such as GDP.
The consultation tests the assumption that the following domains add up to a sense of well-being (quoted in full because of the importance of this work):
Individual well-being It is proposed that this domain should include individual’s feelings of satifaction with life, whether they feel their life is worthwhile and their positive and negative emotions. That is, this domain will include only the headline subjective well-being measures to be derived from the new ONS survey data. Subjective measures would be included with objective measures in the other domains.
Our relationships This was chosen as a domain because it reflects many of the responses received during the national debate and because many theories of well-being report the importance of this area to an individual’s well-being. The scope of this domain is intended to be the extent and type of individuals’ relationships to their immediate family, their friends and the community around them.
Health Includes areas which were thought to be important by respondents to the national debate. An individual’s health is recognised as an important component of their well-being. It is anticipated that this domain would contain both subjective and objective measures of physical and mental health.
What we do Aims to include work and leisure activities and the balance between them, all of which were common themes in the national debate responses. In this domain there are likely to be measures of aspects of work and leisure activities and of work-life balance.
Where we live Is about individual’s dwelling, their local environment and the type of community in which they live. Measures will be sought which reflect having a safe, clean and pleasant environment, access to facilities and being part of a cohesive community. ONS has taken Defra advice on the indicators in this area.
Personal finance Is intended to include household income and wealth, its distribution and stability. Measures within this would also be used during analysis to address the concepts of poverty and equality mentioned in the national debate responses.
Education and skills Various aspects of education and life-long learning were mentioned during the national debate. The scope of this domain is the stock of human capital in the labour market with some more information about levels of educational achievement and skills.
Governance Democracy, trust in institutions and views about the UK’s interaction with other countries, all of which were included in responses to the national debate, are intended to form the scope of this domain.
The economy Is an important contextual measure for national well-being. The scope of this domain is intended to be measures of economic output and stock.
The natural environment Is proposed as a domain in order to reflect areas mentioned during the national debate such as climate change, the natural environment, the effects our activities have on the global environment and natural disasters. It is planned to include measures which reflect these areas at the national level. ONS has taken Defra advice on the indicators for this area.
If you then look at the measures, the issues become more troubling. For instance, whilst generic issues such as climate change are referenced, there is no measure around access to greenspace within everyday life – the natural environment is remote.
The fact that there is no reference to culture is deeply problematic given the substantial research in the Nordic countries which demonstrates that participation in cultural activities has an impact on lifespan.
Finally, there is no reference to any spiritual dimension as contributing to well-being, and whilst modern over-developed Western culture is largely secularised, to omit this area is to diminish the scope of the understanding of well-being.
Responses to this survey need to be made by 23rd January 2012.
Art and Occupation
The Arts of Occupation | The Nation. Intelligent analysis of arts in Occupy Wall Street addressing the complexity of the issue, including art interventions, the aesthetic tactics of the movement, alliances with radical arts practices, and the work on art and labor that forms part of the occupy ‘enquiry’ into the relationship between the 1% and the 99%.
Art is not simply at the service of occupy, illustrating demands, but it is also not autonomous and ambiguous in relation to occupy. Rather it forms part of the tactics and challenge.
The Heart Sutra [2004] | Chris Dooks
Listen to this. The Heart Sutra [2004] | Chris Dooks.
It is a wonderful voice, one that might actually aid the meditation on emptiness.
What art have I seen?
Image from Gagosian website
Paul Noble’s Welcome to Nobson at Gagosian.
Image from Royal Academy website
Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915–1935 at the Royal Academy,
John Msinr RA, Installation in Weston Rooms at Royal Academy, Photo: Chris Fremantle
Artists’ Laboratory 04: John Maine RA After Cosmati
What art have I seen?
Hanna Tuulikki performed parts of her work Salutation to the Sun, first presented a few years ago, at the Sound Lab at the City Halls Glasgow. It was followed by the film The Crystal Liturgy about Olivier Messiaen and his interest in landscape and ornithology.
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.
IN CASE SOMETHING DIFFERENT HAPPENS
Fascinating rumination and art historical contextualisation by David Levi-Strauss published in The Brooklyn Rail on the relationship between Joseph Beuys and the Twin Towers drawing out the meanings of his remaking in the postcard (below).
Levi-Strauss shows how Beuys transforms the architecture from the symbol of global capital into something quite different by transmuting steel and glass into butter and by applying the names of two healing saints (Cosmas and Damian) he superimposes a different mythology.
Thanks to Linda Weintraub for highlighting this really provocative piece.
Blue
Rebecca Solnit writes about blue the way that Donald Urquhart paints blue.
Rebecca Solnit has been doing a residency at Roni Horn’s Library of Water at Stykkishólmur, Iceland. One of the published pieces, The Blue of Distance, is all about mountains, Renaissance painting, distance.
Donald Urquhart talks about the blue of a perfectly clear day. He makes it into art: paintings, sculptures, places.
Donald Urquhart, Sea Beams, Oak and paint, 2007
Tango on the Border
This is the current state of UK Borders: turning back artists, writers, performers. There is a buzz of disquiet and anger, but it needs to become a torrent of vitriol against stupidity, bureaucracy and fear. The video was highlighted in a short piece on PAR+RS reporting on an event which took place during a walk along the (open) border between Scotland and England.
I wrote to my MP ages ago (I use the web site Write to Them which makes it easy) and got an “Its all perfectly reasonable” civil servant reply. I’m going to write again because the video and the writing is brilliant – more pointed and elegant than mine. You can also sign a petition and read more.
CHRIS FREMANTLE 
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