Digital-Natives

As part of my research for my MA thesis on digitalization and its effects on culture and photography, I set up a Flickr group with some of my A level photography students. It is called 'Digital-Natives', which is a term that was coined by Marc Prensky in 2001, referring to the generations who have been 'born digital' in Western society. Born after 1980, these 'screenagers' and young adults have not known life without the Internet and mobile phones... Whereas those of us born before the 'digital revolution' are 'Digital Immigrants', we have had to learn the digital language, secondary and have varying degrees of 'accents', such as printing off our blogs/emails... because we might not trust the Internet fully... for example!





As a teacher, it is important that I recognize the differences between my 'digital native' students and how they learn from the way I was taught... They do have shorter attention spans, for example, but this does not necessarily mean that they are lazy, they do things differently - often multitasking - being switched onto 4 or 5 different media at a time - rather than sitting and reading a book or just watching the TV without being online and listening to music at the
same time for example...
The idea behind the Flickr group, was to create a place where we could take discussion outside of the classroom, taking it to a higher level than the time we have in lessons allows for and to work on a collaborative project with no hierarchy. I wanted to involve students in some educational research - giving them a voice for a change. Aware that I may be learning from them as they are more 'connected' than me!
I started the project by getting all of my students to answer a questionnaire, asking them what photography was to them and how they use it... this resulted in fairly predictable general answers, such as "capturing a moment" and the fact that they don't print their photos very often, as it's cheaper and easier to share photos online and store them digitally... I was concerned as to how useful the analogue techniques and philosophies that I teach in class were to them... but it was unanimous that they were very keen to learn traditional photography and this is of great importance to them! I believe that despite the ever changing climate with digitalisation, it is integral to photography education, that learners start with basic analogue equipment and techniques - processing and printing negative-film in a darkroom, in order to understand how photography works and to learn its history...



The next stage was a series of lunchtime discussions and debates about photography, with a group of volunteers and from there we formed the Flickr group and have been continuing the debate and discussions online.
This is the first time I have worked with students in this way and it has proved to be quite fruitful in engaging them in issues in photography, outside off their coursework...
Although, I hoped that we would be equal, I have had to take a leading role, both in facilitating meetings and keeping things going online, but some of the students have shown initiative in starting new topics... Surprisingly the group has posted a lot more discussion than images; because the project is quite conceptual they seem to be finding it difficult to visualize and I have had to return to my 'teacher' role, briefing them on ideas... The fact that these students are giving their own time freely to the project is a very positive sign of their interest and commitment to the subject. Is this way of working more suitable for todays generation, rather than setting them a 'summer project' in a sketchbook for example? Or will the same dedicated students always put in more work regardless of media? I think that doing a project like this may tie in with the way young people use media - checking this site and adding comment, as often as they check their 'Facebook' and emails... it's just another 'page' to look at...



The Flickr group is open to people who want to join us and from august it will become 'public' (people wont have to join in order to contribute) I would be very grateful for any feedback on our Flickr group and whether people think it is useful, how intelligent it is... ideas for improvement... as I intend to incorporate it into my thesis exhibition as well, at the beginning of September... Please check it out by clicking here and join us if you're interested!


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My Site/ In Space

'My site/In Space is an ongoing series of site-specific performances. For each edition Switch hunt out an inspiring space and convene a group of artists. Their goal is to create performances in response to the space within two weeks of first encountering it. The result is an ephemeral moment, made in a flash and never performed again.'



On the night of the 'art and the internet' talk, during Live Week, I met a rather charming man, who told me how he was opening up his flat to a bunch of artists to do as they would for 2 weeks before then opening it up to the public for a weekend of performances... I was intrigued. Both by Justin, who I'd just met and by the performance or whatever it was! So I got myself a ticket for a tenner. Blimey to let people into your home like that must be exhausting and invasive, I dont think I could!
The evening began on broadway market in Hackney where we were asked to convene in the pub 'Off Broadway' and meet with a woman who would be wearing a flower in her hair. It was very relaxed, despite being sent a message saying 'time waits for no-one', and rushing to the pub, we had plenty of time to enjoy a cold beer before setting off on our adventure. Justin was no-where to be seen, I figured he'd be at home awaiting our arrival. We were welcomed to the flat with a cube of soda bread and asked to remove our shoes. About 15 of us crammed into the living room and awaited our next instruction, unsure of what we should be doing and feeling far removed from our comfort zones, particularly when 1 person was invited into a slim cupboard with a young woman, the rest of us shuffled about nervously avoiding eye contact, as we watched the throw on the sofa seductively but rather pathetically slink its way off and onto the floor. Others were shown to the cupboard, while the rest of us giggled and squidged. Gratefully, I was taken outside into the fresh air onto a balcony and given a massage, left to wonder what was going on inside and slightly worried about my friend who had come along for the ride. I was reluctant to get off the lounger and rejoin the others, surprisingly enjoying and relaxed by the tactile communication. "Where were they? What had become of my friend, hold on that's his voice reading a poem, oh no is he being told off? He does have quite a distinctive voice!" A slide show made from curled up strips of negatives, poetic and inspirational to the photographer, nostalgic.



Upstairs more sensory communication, in front of a bathroom mirror, the artist who had massaged me, now took us one by one and posed with us, as if in a photo booth, trying us on for size. A voyeuristic view from the bedroom of stockinged legs and a camisole, then back down in single file to put on our shoes and depart. All rather formal. Across red carpet, past grass cutting with scissors and a picnic for one on a traffic island, we were led to the park. Toilet humorous stop. Lost. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! "Ah there's Justin and he has biscuits! Starting to make sense now - 2 groups, 2 homes! So this is where he lives!" Ah the 'performance art' - physical, predictable. Many snapshots of this strange man who I met once and was intrigued to know better. Lots of leopard skin and eastern delights! The bed was prominent as we all sat round it like a vigil. Later a Skype piece that was beautiful, sensual, funny and futuristic. Err, a kitchen symphony, annoying, banal. 'Shower scene', a momentary glimpse of the nude, 'traveling water' led through walls as taps ran.
Ahhhh pub!

The evening was a concoction of mini performance pieces that responded to the flats and the people who lived in them, some were very sensual and inspiring for me, others were predictable and felt disjointed. I was more into the first flat as it was less directed (the artists decided to direct more in the 2nd half as they felt the audience required it). For me it was less about the individual interventions, but more about a general feeling of unease and intrigue, pushing my own boundaries. I think that the idea of letting people work so site specifically is amazing and worth exploring further than this. I think that it may work better with less artists though; it might become more fluid, or more artists, making it properly hectic and destabilising.
How far can you go in someone-else's home?

Check out other interesting stuff by Switch Performance.


And look out for The Art of Engagement, the new programme starts in august with residencies from Justin Allen, Clare Adams and others... John Jordan is part of the current programme by the way!


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Pick of the Week SPECIAL - Festival Guide 2009

If you’re in the UK and haven’t been hiding in a cave for the last few weeks, you’ll know that there’s something big going on in a series of muddy fields in the south of England this weekend. Yes, it’s Glastonbury time (haha listen to this), and right now you’re either there, wandering through the madness wearing wellies and a big grin, or are instead sulking at home/work, and wishing you were with the throngs of those eating overpriced festival food and losing their friends while watching some peculiar trapeze act. Well, banish that envy, Pick of the Week’s here to cheer you up… as with excitement and anticipation, we welcome you to Pick of the Week’s Guide to Summer Festivals 2009!



Here we present a selection of our favourite up-coming festivals, large and small (it’s all exclusive like, and not some bumper comprehensive guide), followed by some tried-and-tested tips for how to survive the ones you attend, personally passed on by the Artsbloggers. As well as being damn good fun, as advocates of high-quality creative activity we really do recommend you get yourself to a festival this summer. These magical weekends often provide a very unique space for liberation from ‘normal’ behaviour, and through this, can be particularly conducive to the fostering of new ideas and the partaking in of all things artistic. This shaking up of usual patterns of behaviour creates what cultural analyst Dragan Klaic calls ‘experimental zones of sociability’ – basically you talk others and participate in activities that you usually wouldn’t, thus opening yourself up to a whole host of experiences that would be beyond your reach in your everyday life.



SECRET GARDEN PARTY
A particularly good one for a proper out-of-the-ordinary experience is Secret Garden Party, which has been put forward for inclusion in the Festival Guide by Carly. Running from 23rd to 26th July this festival is all about getting back to nature and enjoying one great big playground in a field. Frolics aplenty as you participate in games, theatrical events, dressing up and having a laugh. Headlining are Rodrigo Y Gabriela who are A-mazing with a capital A. Carly saw them support Muse at Wembley, and they filled the Stadium with beautiful, fun and heart-racing classical guitar music. This will be a really relaxed and good time affair, she assures us!



LATITUDE
For another festival that’s ‘more than just a music festival’ (their tagline), Lindsey recommends Latitude Festival in Southwold, Suffolk from 16th – 19th July. Now in its fourth edition Latitude continues to inspire and innovate offering the very best from the worlds of music, film, comedy, theatre, cabaret, dance, poetry, literature and art. With stunning individual performance spaces dedicated to each of the arts, the arenas are treasure troves of talent, with open doors and inviting atmospheres. Sit back and be entertained by over 700 performers or participate and learn a new skill in the many workshops on offer, there are new experiences round every corner. Latitude encourages you to open your mind, embrace the unknown and try everything; a fun-filled, cultural adventure by the sea – sounds like the ideal weekend away.



DOUR FESTIVAL
A bit further afield, Joanne’s recommendation is Dour Festival in Belgium, which she’ll be going to in July. Running from July 16th-19th, (uh-oh, it’s this one or Latitude then…choose wisely!) this promises to be a treat of music new and old, from dubstep to reggae and from rock to hiphop. The festival takes place on the planes of western Belgium, shaped by the legacy of the coal mining industry. Punters from all over Europe traditionally flock to Dour every year, meaning the festival-goers in attendance are an interesting and varied lot. Join them and discover a plethora of new music to brighten your year until next festival season.



NEW WORKS NEW WORLDS
For something a bit different, Richard recommends the New Works New Worlds festival at the Arches, Glasgow (which yes, he is performing at, but I’m sure his recommendation is entirely impartial!), from 1st – 4th July. This festival is an overtly political event, encouraging artists of any discipline to explore links to global and political contexts in their work. The emphasis is on grass-roots experimentation, with a series of unique commissions staged in the dramatic setting of The Arches – the cavernous space underneath Glasgow’s Central Station. The website commands you ‘dare to imagine the world anew’ – we heartily concur!



SHAMBALA
Rosalie’s pick is Shambala, a great, small, creative festival that takes place in Northamptonshire over the August bank holiday weekend – although exactly where it is won’t be revealed until you get your ticket. Over 100 music acts are lined up to play across the festival’s three stages this year, and there’s plenty besides the music too, with a Cabaret Village, Multi-Media Blackout tent, Healing and Craft areas and a whole are dedicated to campaigns, workshops, cinema and debates. Get involved in the traditional Fancy Dress Carnival, the gurning competition or get wet in the hot-tub field.



Whichever you decide on, each of these festivals promise to be a unique and highly entertaining experience, we hope you’ve found our suggestions inspiring. To finish off, some of our Artsbloggers have provided their own handy survivor tips to make sure you get the most out of all the festivals you go to this summer, and can dance your socks off without getting trench foot.

Joanne:
My tip top tips for any festival is pack hardly anything! Forget the outside world and indulge in the temporary commune! Get messy, walk around by yourself for a while and see who you meet. At Glastonbury my mate went to bed triumphant that he had managed to find his tent and awoke the next morning to find he was in somebody else's!

Carly:
My number one festival tip is what I have dubbed, "The portaloo kit". First off, spring for some really nice toilet roll - not only does the nice stuff require that you use less, and therefore lasts longer, it's an excellent tool for booze bargaining when everyone else has run out. Second, invest in a mini deoderant/body spray - check out Boots or Superdrug for some good ones, and spray liberally in the portaloo before you go in. This is the only way not to suffocate in the heady mix of heat and unpleasant odour trapped in those things. Lastly, always takes baby wipes. Good for SO many things. Wiping the seat, wiping your hands, wiping your... self. These things will see you through the entire festival, not just toilet trips! Oh, and kids, always remember, never wear sandals in the portaloos. NEVER.

Sam:
Always venture beyond the main stages. You can go and see people in concert any day of the week, but you will only get that festival feeling when you venture into the magical orchards, adventure into the falconry and get lost in trash city. If you are heading to Glastonbury (in which case you’ll most likely be reading this on your return), I highly recommend going to see YOU ME BUM BUM TRAIN, who’ll be setting up camp in Trash City… head over to the Plane and enjoy the magic.

Hannah:
A good tip when considering the long trek from car (/bike/coach) to campsite is that space in your rucksack is key…with this in mind, pack loo roll but take the roll from the centre out so that you can pack it flat. Also, bring a compactable jerry can, its great to have a big pot of water near you when you wake up in a boiling hot tent at 11am. Finally, don’t be fooled into thinking that Pot Noodles suddenly taste ok, just because you’re at a festival. They’re nasty! Instead, always bring a portable stove and food, you can cook amazing things at a festival with just a little imagination and a few cool boxes – saving yourself a bag of money in the process. We have made beef bourguignon and ratatouille and rice in the past… can you beat that this year?



Are these tips useful? Do you have a portaloo horror story? Or want to share your recommendations for the best, most secret, most wonderful festival that we’ve missed out? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, we’d love to hear them!
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'Sneak Preview' the finale!

The end is nigh, as my show comes to its end, will it be a climax or just fizzle out into the forgotten?! I thought I would take this opportunity for one last self indulgent plug! COME AND SEE MY SHOW PLEEEEASE!



I do feel a little guilty asking my friends to come and do it all again - look at me and all my work, indulge me and support me! But I think I've earnt it over the years - going to their shows and various functions, its all part of the game - you come to mine and I'll come to yours and hopefully some other people will turn up too! Its been well worth the effort though - I have found myself an audience and I think doors have been opened! I certainly feel more confident about what I'm doing and people have started to take me more seriously as an artist/photographer, even though I've been showing them stuff for years, now its up on a wall it seems to mean something to them! Blimey I'm even being called an artist over a teacher! Its good to shake it up a bit and lose the labels! But come next week half the work will be packed away, hidden from view, taking up valuable storage space in my little flat, I wanna make more but what to do with it all? On the other hand I've actually sold quite a few and they'll be going up in new places, being seen by more people which is really cool! And exciting! Yes lets do more and have another show but where next???? Any offers?!

'Sneak Preview' closing party Saturday the 30th May 4-7pm EDVI public house, 25 Bromfield St. Angel N1 OPZ (open daily 12-10pm, Free)
See previous post titled 'Sneak Preview' in April for more details... Read more...

ARTSBLOG LIVE WEEK

After much preparation we’re all set, and frantic with excitement – welcome Artsblog Live Week! And what a programme we’ve got planned for you... with two fantastic live events, accompanied by a deluge of online activity, including videocasts, tweets, podcasts, blogging and more. It’s all aimed at exploring how artists and audiences interact with, talk about and create art works using the internet. More than that though, it’s also a celebration of the achievements of the Artsblog to-date. Have a quick scroll through the blog archive - with a huge range of live art, theatre and exhibition reviews, and coverage ranging from national service in Nigeria to un-appreciative Turner Prize visitors, the atheist bus campaign to performance art weddings...is it any wonder we’re rather proud of ourselves? Read on for full Live Week line up details...



NEWSFLASHES
Released at 3pm on Monday 25, Tuesday 26th and Thursday 28th May
Streamed live from 8pm on Friday 29

Log on to the Artsblog to see live videocast footage of the Artsbloggers preparing for the ‘Artsblog Live’ event on Friday, and then take part yourself on May 26th. Expect a quirky take on everything from promotion to some rather physical preparation, all with the comic and unusual slant of our diverse set of Artsbloggers. Newsflash 5 will be streamed directly from the ‘Artsblog Live’ event on 29 May, enabling an intimate insider-view of Friday night’s action, as it unfolds.

PODCASTS
Downloadable from the Artsblog, from 12pm, Wednesday 27 May

Download a podcast walking tour to guide you on your journey to the Artsblog Live event on Friday 29, or just to listen to and follow at your leisure. Choose from two Podcasts recorded by our Artsbloggers: a burlesque Jack the Ripper Tour or a soundscape DJ set, both based in the area around Commercial Street, London E1, with one starting at Liverpool Street Station and the other at Aldgate East Tube.

ARTSBLOG LIVE WEEK DISCUSSION
7.30pm, Tuesday 26 May, Brick Room, Toynbee Studios, free

Join us at Toynbee Studios or online, here on the Artsblog, for a round table discussion that everyone can get involved with. A group of performers, bloggers and artists will be invited to share their views on the relative merits and complications of using the internet as a space to present work, and will be open to your questions. We’ll discuss issues such as developing new audiences, questions of ‘quality’, notions of truth and representation, and the impact of all this online activity on ‘real life’ books, print media and art. The following group of individuals – who all spend their time writing about, observing and performing art works, music, fashion and current affairs on the internet – will be attending and giving their views:

Tassos Stevens (theatre-maker & game-designer, Coney)
Isabell O’Carroll (blogger, Catwalk Queen and Brandish)
Anna Goss (music manager, music blogger and blog PR)
Linda Duffy (artist, ‘Encounters’: Accidental Festival)
Holly Revell (teacher and photographer)
Ben Beaumont-Thomas (blogger, Bad Idea Magazine and playitasitlays.net)
Justin Allen (artist, Switch Performance)
Ant Hampton (artist and performance maker, Rotozaza & The Other People)
… and the Artsbloggers themselves (yes – you’ll be able to meet these cultured wordsmiths in person!)

ARTSBLOG LIVE – INTERACTIVE EVENT
7.30pm, Friday 29 May, Artsadmin Arts Bar & Café, Toynbee Studios, free

Witness the virtual and real worlds collide at the Artsblog Live interactive event. Come along and try out some surprisingly lo-fi versions of social networking tools, join us in creating an online collaborative piece of work, or even grab five minutes of fame by featuring in the recording of the final Newsflash.



ABOUT THE ARTSADMIN ARTSBLOG

The Artsblog was set up in September 2008 by Artsadmin and a group of participants from past education and participatory projects at Toynbee Studios, as a way of talking about the arts. It continues to be run by this group of young artists, students, teachers and performers, all of whom are driven by an interest in live art and performance. We all contribute for free, and no money is earned through advertising or sponsorship on the blog. The Artblog is fuelled by our passion for opening up the often small circles formed in the live art and performance world: we want to encourage conversation and debate. It is with these objectives in mind that we have developed the Live Week programme of activity you’re about to experience – get involved!

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'Sneak Preview'

It really is all consuming putting on an exhibition, I'd forgotten how much work is involved! The whole process of getting it organised and publicised has been quite stressful due to lack of time and this weekend was lost to framing and hanging; a tiresome task - bring on the day when I have my own minions to do such things for me! As if! I have been questioning why the hell I'm doing it and who it's really for - I feel a bit guilty for being so absorbed by it all - as if my work is so important! But I've committed - my head is on the block and it's gotta be good!


Here's a statement I wrote for it:
Emerging from collaborations and adventures with friends and muse, these photographic pieces seek to capture a child like innocence and a playful spirit within adult themes. Un-posed, subjects are caught semi-unaware in an attempt to capture intimate moments with themselves or a playmate. The work subverts the idea of a so-called masculine, feminine and 'gay-gaze', and concentrates on members of the gay community in London, to which the artist is drawn. The show also includes the beginnings of a project based on the artist's experiences and identity as a 'fag-hag' and invites other ladies and their gay friends to take part in a collaborative project. The artist also desires new 'muses' and welcomes any 'gorgeous' gay men to satisfy her artistic needs!




This is the first time I've exhibited in a while, since becoming a teacher over 4 years ago. The work I've been making is very different to that which I did previous to teaching and to be honest is quite the opposite to the more 'socio-political' work I try to advocate. Since falling into teaching photography as a subject, rather than general fine art, I have moved into a more photographic practice of my own and have been inspired to experiment with new skills and media... which is good for me and for my students and the resulting work is often quite beautiful to look at. I have always used photography but more as a documentary tool for my own performances and interventions or set up ideas and observations. I never made 'pretty pictures'; they were more like statements or comments.

So over the last few years I have collaborated sporadically with my friend and muse Nate, who is a gorgeous young gay dancer. He has been a great source of inspiration and encouraged me to get out there and show off the fruits of our labour. The work is quite self indulgent I guess, it's been fun to make and was possibly an escape from the reality of full time work. It is nice to look at (mostly) and I feel almost apologetic for that because there isn't a hard hitting message in there. It's quite ironic because I'm also working on some critical, theoretical work about photography and digitalisation for my MA in art and education. I have also worried (unnecessarily I think now!) about the content of some of the images which are a bit 'saucy', because of certain ideals of how teachers should be... and wondered whether I should invite colleagues and students - (I did in the end).
But what the hell - here I am exhibiting in what was once one of our locals and was in fact where I first met Nate when he was working behind the bar. And now it's all up and looking fabulous, i do feel quite proud and excited!
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Inanimate Live Objects

My visit to Glasgow a couple of weeks ago happened to coincide with New Territories, The International Festival of Live Art. I chose to see ‘Technological Phantasmagorias I, II, II’ by UBU (Quebec) at Tramway.

The peice was en promenade and three separate works were shown. As we were led behind a large black curtain I did not expect what came next, as my eyes were fooled and brain baffled. And when I re-emerged I was at a loss at how to define it. How do I talk about something like this? Well here’s my best...

When entering the first space you were faced with three tiny figures dressed in white sat atop a high ledge in front of a bright translucent white screen. The bodies were made of plastic and each head had a video projection of a human face cast onto a mannequin head. The preciseness of the projection was very deceptive; I thought that I was watching real people’s heads protruding out of a screen. I even imagined the actors standing on a block behind the screen, and then I realised that the screen was almost see-through! The projectors were well hidden and the lighting very crisp to outline the 3D figures.

The script for the peice was John Fosse’s play called ‘Sleep My Baby Sleep’. The characters sat chatting, staring into bleakness, their blank faces stayed forward and wide-eyed. They were talking of nothing and everything, of understanding everything and knowing nothing! They were asking existential questions about the state of being and nothingness. The use of ‘dead’ plastic objects with ‘real’ faces with pre-recorded script created a cold atmosphere. There was no live action but the objects existed in the present time and space. The peice felt endless as the characters went round in circles not knowing if they had just arrived there or had been there all their lives. The peice could physically be never ending; the technology allows for this and could carry on (pending power supply) without wavering.

The second peice was Samuel Beckett’s ‘Play’; the seated theatre space had three large terracotta pots with mannequin heads sticking out of them. The heads looked as if they too were made of terracotta. Darkness remained until one of the characters spoke and a bright light (from a hidden projector) transmitted a face onto the mannequin. The peice gave me a bit of a headache because we were sitting in near total darkness and according to my eyes I was seeing real people talking in the present. But my brain did not believe my eyes, as there was something not quite right about what was happening. I could not feel the energy of living, breathing human beings and as with the first peice, the work and performance space felt cold.

The actors spoke in French and the subtitles did not appear until half way through the peice. The three characters were in a love triangle, each talking about their experience; the light shining on the talking head highlighted the self-importance that each character possessed. But I did not enjoy ‘Play’, the words were spoken very quickly and the subtitles went by too fast to read. Sitting in the dark trying to work out if these faces were 'real' or not strained my eyes and overall I felt that the piece really isolated its audience.

The third piece ‘Blind’ was absolutely entrancing. Sitting again, in near darkness, 12 heads emerged. There were 6 males and 6 females but only 2 actors who had been recycled to create each individual. These projected images of hologram beings were suspended on stage, behind a clear screen. The ensemble were blind, they had been left alone by their minder from the hospice where they resided. The image of these heads in mid-air was rather haunting but incredibly beautiful. Each character talked about what they could hear and where they thought they were. The group were physically together but completely isolated from one another.

The coldness that I felt in the previous two installations was now replaced with peace, stillness but also a feeling of being lost. I felt for these technologically fabricated characters, which were lost in darkness. Using only the head of each character brought the focus onto the mind. Was I hearing their thoughts? Or their actual speech? The characters looked vulnerable in the blank space that surrounded them. 'Blind' came to a chilling climax when one of them realises that their minder has not abandoned them, but had been for some time sitting next to them, dead! I was submerged in this incomparable peice and the images presented and conjured by language will not be forgotten anytime soon.

The technology used by UBU gave life to the dead objects physically present onstage. It was a test for the brain. ‘Technological Phantasmagorias I, II, II’ did lack something and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But I now realise that it was missing a certain energy. The energy that is created between a live performer and their audience was absent. There was no sweat, muck ups, or adrenalin. This is not a draw back or negative but an unusual feeling, something that I was not used to. The brilliance and preciseness of the technology overrides this lack. When using pre-recorded material I think that one has to sacrifice the live factor. I was however suprised and pleased that I really felt something for the characters in the first and last installations. People that I have seen but will never meet, people that potentially coule be dead in real life. I do not know when these real people acted out the scenes for the first time in the past, that were then re-presented in the time and space in which I saw them. This technology appealed to my senses and I was amazed by this. Read more...

Sydney Thursday

Thursday night, as Thursday nights tend to do, hosted a couple of interesting openings in Sydney. The first I attended was Artspace's Between Site & Space exhibition of six artists from Australia and Japan. The second, at the Australian Centre for Photography (ACP), showed Sandy Nicholson's 2nd Place and Denis Darzacq's Hyper, below.
Between Site & Space is a collaboration between the Tokyo Wonder Site (TWS) and Artspace, Sydney. Three Australian artists, Alex Gawronski, Gail Priest and Tim Silver completed residencies in Tokyo in 2008, and were exhibited with Japan's chosen artists, Exonemo, Paramodel and Hiraku Suzuki, at TWS's Diorama of the City show. This year, the exhibit comes to Artspace to symbolise an ongoing relationship between Tokyo and Sydney.

The works are different here than they were in Tokyo, as the brochure and Artspace website reveals, and the space itself suggests; they have been "elaborated". I wondered as I wandered through the space if they felt more cohesive in Tokyo. Because there is a certain sense of ad hoc-ness, perhaps even a sense of dislocation, here in Sydney. Maybe this was the intention, the paradigms of location/dislocation in relation to place were mentioned in opening speeches, but I felt overall a little lost by the lack of cohesion between works and the way they had been displayed.

This is not to say the works themselves aren't interesting. I found Hiraku Suzuki's silver wall-painted 'Road Sign' truly beautiful and Tim Silver's 'Shooting tadpoles at the moon', three screens playing slideshows of a series of Manga-esque horror-movie-like stills, a fascinating way to depict still image while imparting a montage-like effect upon the viewer (see install-shot below).


Exonemo's wonderful installation 'Supernatural' explores the concept of time as a construct and subverts the restrictions it has placed upon us all by live-feeding footage of themselves (Kensuke Sembo and Yae Akaiwa) at home in Tokyo alongside live-feed of the Artspace gallery in Sydney. The two screens are bisected horizontally (that is, through both countries) by a large spoon. I very much like this notion of spooning with people who are in another country. This work lifted the exhibition with its literal embodiment of the concept, claimed by the organisers, of "facilitating contact" between Tokyo and Sydney.

Though, I must note, this contact was achieved rather hilariously when I accidentally kicked one of Paramodel's installation pieces, a toy truck, and it went driving across the room. This certainly fascilitated conversation when I had to apologise to Paramodel's Yasuhiko Hayashi and Yusuke Nakano for my clumsiness.

A still of Exonemo's 'Supernatural' installation:


Sandy Nicholson's 2nd Place at ACP was a lot of fun. His works show lightly ironic portraits of second-place getters beside images of them in action or close-up and large still-lifes of their trophies. The secondary 'portraits' contain printed text of a quote from the subject describing how they feel about coming second. These quotes shed insight onto the photo itself, which isn't often enough to decipher what the competition in fact was. For example, Bryan Bennett (pictured below), who came second in the Rock Paper Scissors World Series, says, "I knew I had lost before the final throw".


The juxtaposition of humorous competitions such as world gaming championships (that is, video gaming), hot-dog eating and nail-painting championships, with the serious demeanours of many of Nicholson's subjects creates an amusing and affirming exhibit of the people who aren't winners, something I think we can all relate to in one way or another.

Denis Darzacq's Hyper is a much more concise exhibit. It depicts young people hovering mid-air in public spaces such as supermarkets. Their bodies seem to hang as if by invisible string or by superimposition. But a video documenting Darzacq's process reveals it is all 'real', these young men and women are experts of the sport called Parkour or Free Running. Their immense physical skills, the ability to throw themselves into the air, flip, land in unusual ways and live to tell the tale, is diverted in Darzacq's photos, however. His images show only one moment in the intricate parkour move. So what we see, more than examples of astounding physical ability, is what looks like human helplessness in front of bright, shiny consumerism.

This reading is perhaps deep, but for me these limp, seemingly out-of-control bodies, hanging lifeless or possessed in shopping aisles, is representational of our overall lack of control, lack of escape-route, when it comes to consumerism. As a result, these images are incredibly powerful.

Three exhibits, three very different approaches. Another Thursday.
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Foundation Art and Design Trip to Berlin and Prague: Teacher Perspective

Now that me and the 17 foundation art and design students that i took to Berlin and Prague are all safely back in Blighty, I can breathe and say "Wow, that actually went quite well!"


Now that we've been back a couple of weeks, I've had time to digest our week away and pat myself on the back for organizing it all! Being my first time taking students abroad, I was quite anxious as to how it would go and convinced that I'd forget something crucial or lose a student... Of course there were some blips along the way but generally it went very smoothly and I was impressed both with the students and with myself!

It's such a privalidge for students and staff to be able to get out of the classroom for a week and have this experience,and although the main purpose is to give students the opportunity to witness art and design, galleries and museums in a different country experiencing other cultures... the overall educational benefit is far greater. It turns out that one of the main things our students took from the trip was mine and my colleague's ability to eat like hamsters at the all you can eat breakfast buffets in order to maintain enough energy to walk the many miles required each day! I don't know why but despite having enough money these days to pay for a decent meal, I still cant help myself if it's 'free'! Luckily by the end most of our gang of adolescents had cottoned on and we didn't look like such pigs in comparison!

Another lesson we all had to learn was patience and optimism! Particularly at points where we had no idea which direction to take or how to buy a train ticket - such situations can be trying at the best of times but when you have a big group all looking to you for the answers, you really feel the pressure! Having traveled alone quite a bit in the past, I tend to be fairly relaxed in such situations, knowing that I always get there in the end, despite my dispraxic tendencies! A solution to my poor map reading was to put the students in charge of navigation - a nice idea until we realized that most of them were worse than me and anarchy arose at the first crossroads, plus it was taking even longer to get from A-B! I also found that I was slightly oblivious to the sensitivities of others in the group at times - a leaning curve for me! As a large multicultural group from east London, it did not surprise or bother me that we attracted attention from passers by, taking a good look at us, but many of the students found it intimidating and thought people were quite hostile towards us, particularly in Berlin.

I think that such experiences are a significant part of their education and believe that they will grow from them and they are lucky to be able to do this with their peers and educators. Although some of the students returned feeling slightly jaded by Berlin for example, I hope that in time they will appreciate all that they witnessed and learned there and hopefully be inspired to return one day as there is so much more than we were able to fit in... I went on a solo mission to Berlin in 2000, whilst doing my degree and it is has changed significantly in the last decade with far more shops and finished buildings, it was like a different city but it still has plenty of edge to it once you get your bearings and delve into its nooks and crannies...

It may have been a little ambitious going to 2 cities in the short time we had, we certainly would have benefited from more time in Berlin as the 2 and a half days we had couldn't do it justice, but doing this gave us the benefit of 2 very different experiences and Prague really was quite magical. It was my first time too, a bit of a perk! We spent much time simply exploring the winding cobbled paths and bridges, soaking up its Gothic charm. For me this was where we found the most exciting gallery too - in amongst all the twee painting studios was the City Gallery showing '1960 - present: Slovak art + Czech Hosts'. It was contemporary but with a very different feel to anything I've seen elsewhere... and in the context of Czech history it was very interesting. The gallery itself was also quite wonderful, with extra rooms appearing here and there like a maze, with lots of hidden gems!

Overall I feel really proud of this trip and think that we saw a lot of stuff from warehouse art shows to holocaust memorials to dancing houses, and then some, not to mention the many culinary delights such as the goulash in Prague, a personal fav, that I enjoyed introducing some of the students to and the saurkraute of course, not to mention hot chocolate to die for and some very odd looking sausages served in a pot of water!

It's funny but the one thing that really stressed me out or made me feel anxious was worrying whether the students were enjoying it or felt that they got lots from it, that it was worth it etc. I really hope that now they've had time to digest it all, that they feel fulfilled and inspired, and confident to pursue more adventures...
Its so hard to tell what young people are thinking and I know it's uncool to show too much enthusiasm! I hope they can appreciate the stuff they didn't like as well as what they loved and understand the value of their experience!
It will be interesting to hear Lisa's student perspective of the trip (link to follow)
I'm interested to hear other perspectives on art school trips abroad from other teachers and students - what have you gained from such jaunts?

Last week I was back in London on an introductory trip to some west end galleries with my AS photography students, again anxious that they enjoy it and develop the confidence and passion to return independently... The photographic portrait prize at the National Portrait gallery was a squeeze just 15 minutes after opening it was packed with school kids... Cork streets Waddington gallery on the other hand was empty and spacious but unfortunately my east end teens were greeted with contempt by the gallery assistant and only 10 were allowed in at once, despite the amount of space.. they were then observed like shoplifters and we all felt very uncomfortable. I really hope that the students were not put off by this experience and I did explain that normally the smaller galleries are pleased to have us... They did find some compensation though (well the girls at least), in the 'hunk' up the road at Abercrombie and Fitch, who they were photographed with (some bizarre campaign)!
We ended our day at Liberty for the Photographers gallery off site show of Landscape photography, I was worried we might get more hostility but not at all - the show is a real joy and the balconies at the top of the department store provide a delightful viewing experience - see pick of the week.
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Art or entertainment and the joy of queueing for it!

Still slightly hungover from the festivities of Christmas and New Year, my friends and I found ourselves late at Tate last weekend in search of something more 'wholesome'! We were there to catch the Cildo Meireles exhibition before it closed.



Meireles' work is grounded in the social and political history of Brazil, he was part of the Neo-Concretism movement, which emerged during the late 1950s, taking inspiration from Merleau-Ponty's philosophies about art and life, it embraced embodiment and participation in art, opposing the 'extreme rationalism of the geometric abstraction' of the time. The exhibition was made up of some objects and a series of immersive installations, that stimulated the emotions before knowing much at all about the work. We (and the many other visitors) trampled over broken glass in 'Through' whilst weaving around barriers made up of various familiar objects such as shower curtains, fencing and fishing nets. Parents and their children played with rubber balls of varying weights, rolling them across the floor like a game of bowls in 'Eureka/Blindhotland' in an area masked off with red netting. I became tangled up and felt a little bit 'crazy' when I wound my way through the 6,000 rulers, 1,000 ticking clocks and 500,000 vinyl numbers that hung in the small room that was 'Fontes', it really did feel quite psychotic in there! From the tick-tock madness to a cosmic tower of 800 radios of varying ages stacked up high and all tuned into different channels, another manic experience. More children, this time in a tranquil 'magical' space, were sat round a rectangle filled with 600,000 coins, mesmerized by the treasure before them, above the ceiling was made up of 2,000 bones. The piece was called 'Mission/Missions (How to build cathedrals)' and is a comment on 'the human cost of missionary work and its connection with the exploitation of wealth in the colonies...' there was also a symbolic column of 800 communion wafers joining the bones and coins.

Finally the ultimate in 'duration' pieces - the queue to 'Volatile', a good hours wait, in which we and the hoards of fellow 'culture vultures' all politely stood in line so that we could have some kind of 'enlightening' experience that night! I have to admit, it was actually quite spiritual, once inside the talcum powder filled room. We chose to go barefoot rather than don the wellies and dust-masks that were on offer, the fact that only 4 people were allowed in at a time did make it a more powerful experience, detached from the rabble of other gallery-goers. Once the door shut behind us, we were immersed in the powder, that became kind of squidgy beneath our feet, it was dark and misty in there, a candle light glowering around the corner, it felt like we were somewhere else dreamlike, like Narnia. Although brief in comparison to the waiting time to get in there, the experience was intense and memorable and I hesitate to say this but i think it was worth the wait! However, we did miss 'Red Shift', a domestic environment where everything is red, due to the fact that we had lost the will as far as getting into another queue was concerned!

Queueing up to see art in big institutions is something that I have come to expect when visiting on a weekend, that and viewing it through gaps in the crowds of people that swarm to these 'blockbuster' shows. Why did art have to become so popular?! Of course it's a good thing that more people want to see art, but it has changed the way we experience it, sometimes making it feel more like a trip to the zoo or an amusement arcade! Does it matter how well if at all the audience understands the work, if they are having an enjoyable time? The children rolling the rubber balls for example were fully involved with the installation but it was more like a playground to them than something to contemplate... Participatory art like this has been criticized for being mere entertainment or a cheap trick to pull in the punters, one thinks of Holler's slides that dominated the Turbine hall in 2006/7. Personally I enjoy this type of artwork and find that the more I am allowed to interact with the art, the longer I will spend with it mulling over the ideas and making connections...

As art becomes more mainstream, the lines between art and entertainment are becoming more blurred, is this a problem or is it par for the course in a society that demands to be instantly stimulated by what it consumes in this 'fast-food-techno' age?!

And what with the broken glass, crowds of people and general hubbub, our evening of culture wasn't that dissimilar to a night down the pub!

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Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005

What most people know of Annie Leibovitz is her prolific work for Vanity Fair magazine. Iconic portrait after iconic portrait of ever-more iconic sitters: from George W. Bush to John Lennon, from R2D2 to Leonardo DiCaprio, from Cindy Crawford to Queen Elizabeth II, from Demi Moore to Patti Smith. They are all here. However, it is the other stuff, Leibovitz’s more personal work – of her parents, of her children, of her lover, Susan Sontag – that gives the National Portrait Gallery in London’s current photographic exhibition real depth.

This show, beautifully curated by Charlotta Kotik and coordinated by Susan Bloom, first opened in 2006 at the Brooklyn Museum and has since appeared in San Diego, Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Paris and, after London, will appear in Berlin. The success of the exhibition is evident in the string of renowned galleries and museums that have taken it on, and it doesn’t take a lot to see why they have done so.
Kotik’s successful blending of Leibovitz’s highly recognisable, super-glossy Vanity Fair images with her unknown and very personal works is perfectly executed. We see intimate snaps of Susan Sontag in the same series as a one of Leibovitz’s most famous celebrity shots: the pregnant Demi Moore. This could be jarring, but rather feels like it shouldn’t be any other way, a revelation rather than an obscuration. The personal works actually inform the professional works, giving them a resonance that perhaps wouldn’t otherwise be felt or recognised.

Likewise, we see how the professional works have affected the personal ones. Leibovitz’s relationship with Sontag, Sontag’s death in 2004, the death of her father, her relationship with her children and her relationship with celebrity over the past thirty years, are revealed to be intrinsically linked, each making up a very important part of Leibovitz’s oeuvre and, accordingly, life. This linkage is enhanced by the arrangement of works by feeling, rather than date, subject or genre. Kotik has allowed (no doubt with the input of Leibovitz herself) the emotion conjured by a photograph to precede any sort of curatorial dogma, which often dictates how a photographic exhibit is arranged.

Somehow, the pieces of the jigsaw are made to fit, with even the gigantic landscapes Leibovitz did for Conde Nast Traveller becoming personally relevant through the story Leibovitz tells of their conception. They, like all the works, only add further insight and scope to the exhibition, further depth to this very personal and profound portrait of A Photographer’s Life.

Perhaps the key to the exhibition’s success is the scrapbook room in which small prints of Leibovitz’s work have been tacked to a pin-board. This room, almost completely lined with (relatively) tiny Leibovitz works, is the nucleus of the exhibition. It contains personal photographs, out-takes from epic shoots for Vanity Fair and Vogue, and variations on works in the exhibit. The near-casual nature of their display (though I’m sure it’s well thought-out) encourages the feeling that this is a very personal display; even perhaps that Leibovitz has herself chosen where each photo will be tacked. This furthers the idea – whether grounded or not – that we are here privy to something quite personal: the inner workings of one of the world’s great living photographers.

All this begs the question, however; what is this exhibition about? Is it about Annie Leibovitz, the photographer, or about Annie Leibovitz, the woman? Is it Annie Leibovitz we are after, or is it her photographs? Why does it seem to work so well, having personal images alongside professional ones? Is Leibovitz’s life to be reduced to her photographs? Or are her photographs raised to the level of a life? Perhaps it is both: The photographs are her life and her life is the photographs.

Whatever it is, there is something here that is often missing from exhibitions: the feeling that the Great Artist is a person, just like us. Consequently, we feel a sense of accord with this illustrious acknowledgement of Leibovitz’s work and life. Likewise a comfort that there are two things that render us all equal: love and death.

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005 runs until 1 February, 2009. For more information visit npg.org.uk.

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Comlexity vs Simplicity

A Disappearing Number by Complicite and Mind Out by Station House Opera.

The Barbican Theatre is absolutely lovely, I hadn't been there in a while. The doors close the audience in, leaving the rest of the world far away preparing us to be engrossed in a performance. Unfortunately was not engrossing. It was rather shallow.

The piece told the story of an Indian mathematician in the 18/early 1900s and a teacher studying the mathematician's theories in the present day. The company used complex maths as the central topic. There was then a number of threads from this which were a relationship, the mathematician moving to Cambridge and an overall theme that everything in life is connected; something happening in India in the early 1900s is connected to an event in England today.

The piece constantly flipped between India and England, past and present. Flipped in a literal term as there was a screen in the middle of the stage where characters and centuries changed as the screen reversed and characters ran through it.

The play was very visually pleasing, projections of hundreds of numbers running across the screen and live video offering different perspectives of scene. The design was precise and well thought out. However this was the only part of the play that was precise. I found the transitions between scenes too fast and clunky. This play did not seem to have any heart, it was rushed through. I was waiting for a moment of climax in the piece, a moment of excitement but it did not happen. However the play was moving at an exciting pace but it felt that each scene did not have any time to develop. There was so much going on between set, maths, music and costumes that I could not connect with any of the characters which left the story quite, well, empty! The complex maths even more complex layering was just far too confused.

This was an extended run of this play, maybe it had been over done, so that it wasn't fresh? Did any one else seen the play? I would be interested to hear comments!

Mind Out by Station House Opera was incredibly simple and tremendously effective. Each performer was separated in mind and body. Each performer commanded an others actions and there were multiple relationships happening which shifted constantly.

The performance had a good pace with small situations building up to anarchic scenarios as the performers' evil side emerged. Identity and free will were toyed with and the characters personalities were built through their actions, commanded by another. Each performer determined situations to benefit themselves and they became selfish. The performers were all out for themselves!

Mind Out is rather surreal, the occurrence of three musicians with performers in a freeze frame, is a image that comes to mind. Pace, great acting, focus on content and extension of one idea made the piece very effective.

A Disappearing Number was so busy and complicated that I couldn't connect, couldn't feel anything because I could not get through. And Mind Out was honest (if that's the right word) by leading direct route to the heart of the performance as soon as you enter the theatre. No fuss, just performance!
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Shhh!

Audience Protocols
I was taken to see Alan Bennett’s play Enjoy at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. I went along with prejudices as I usually do. I don’t often enjoy straight plays (in the traditional sense), four actors talking and talking and shouting all on the backdrop of a room with one wall cut away. I think the only play that I have thoroughly enjoyed was at the Old Vic a couple of years ago featuring Kevin Spacey (I think it was called A Moon for the Misbegotten or something) and I think that I only enjoyed that because of Spacey, who was encapsulating, I think he put me under a spell, I really could not keep my eyes off of him!

Anyway, the characters were sitting in their front room shouting in their booming voices about being poor and being re-housed. It was supposed to be a depressing drama (as Allan Bennett goes) but I just didn’t get it. The actors were so focussed on saying the words in the script that the feeling was getting lost. There wasn’t enough action, and the audience was sitting silently with these two old people sitting in the same position just talking, I admit I was rather board.

In drastic comparison, I went to see Punchdrunk’s Masque of the Red Death in April this year; it was thrilling and the most interactive. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's story of the same name, the performance is set in a large house and you are free to wonder wherever you please, following whichever scenario you please. At the end everyone is brought to a large hall where the performers bring the show to a finale with aggressive ballroom dancing. The audience are placed in the middle of the action, almost part of it. It was close to immersion.

A lot of the audience had no idea what to do, where to go, one sheepish looking boy was led into a tiny cupboard by a seductive character and the rest of us didn’t know when he was to return. Punchdrunk are known for considering their audience in a particular way and for (forgive for the expression) ‘doing something different’. Why does this have to be different? Mainstream theatre is full to the brim of actors sitting in a room with one wall cut away, facing the audience because they dare not turn their back on us! How rude!

I also know the expression ‘too much of a good thing’, but I do not know if it would apply here and Punchdrunk do have a particular aim. What I am trying to say is that the audience / performance relationship needs to shaken up in theatre. In Shakespeare’s theatre times the audience used to holler and shout at the actors and throw things, I guess one can experience this sort of thing watching pantomime or stand up comedy, but that is a little different. When did audiences become so silent, so scared?

Protocols have been created and followed over years, whether set by the audience or the production. I was listening to Front Row on BBC4 (19.15, 15/10/08 by Mark Lawson feat. David Benedict), and it was said that when watching a performance, an amount of attention is required and when this attention is not repayed then boredom sets in. I think that sums up my thoughts on both of those performances and straight plays. It was also mentioned on this show about the recent deal for readers of the Sun, who went to see Don Giovanni and apparently there were laughs in places where before the audience were silent. This is a step in the right direction I suppose?

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Peter Saville: Accessories to an artwork

“It all looks like art to me now”. So says Peter Saville and, if his latest exhibition is anything to go by, he’s onto something. For his new exhibition at the Paul Stolper Gallery, Saville has taken a look at the plinth – art’s go-to support-method for props or objects in galleries, museums and studios alike – and turned it's function upside down, metaphorically, at least.

Saville has taken the traditional plinth and recreated it in white cardboard flat-pack, undermining this subconsciously revered object by questioning its status of supposed neutrality. He questions the plinth as an object just as one would question the art it usually supports. He questions whether there is a difference between plinth-as-object and art-as-object. What differentiates a white plinth and the objects we put upon them and label art?

But Saville has done more than reveal the fact that plinths are perhaps no less ‘art-status’-worthy than the things placed upon them. He has invited a series of creative types to display anything they want atop his flat-pack plinths. In addition, he is selling the 96cmx35cmx35cm plinths in an edition of 200, with the first 100 being sold for a clean £50. Not a bad price for the privilege of owning art, one might say. I do wonder, however, what will be done with the creatives’ chosen objects. Are they granted ‘art-status’ by being put up for sale as well? Or are they simply a support to the work, – the Accessories to an Artwork – the plinths? Who would want to buy the artwork’s support-method?

It is an interesting situation, particularly when we consider the names that have been selected to choose an object for the Saville plinths - Wolfgang Tillmans, Cerith Wyn Evans, Brian Eno, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Richard Kern, Jarvis Cocker, Slater Bradley, and Neville Wakefield, among others. One can be sure there will be people interested in buying the prop rather than the work. Or was it the other way around?

Lastly, and with a risk of sounding obtuse, it must be said one is automatically reminded of Antony Gormley’s work for Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth, One and Other. This jumped to my mind instantly, though others have mentioned Duchamp’s infamous Fountain, which was likewise a seemingly inconsequential object assigned ‘art-status’ simply by the artist deciding to assign it.

The difference, of course, between Gormley and Saville’s works is that Gormley has recruited volunteers to spend an hour each atop the fourth plinth and do what they choose. So the subject is being scrutinised, rather than the object. This subtle difference separates the works greatly. Where Gormley questions the subject’s role in stimulating the viewer to consider "diversity, vulnerability and the individual", Saville’s work ultimately begs the question: what is the value of an object?

Peter Saville: Accessories to an Artwork runs from October 10th to November 22nd, 2008, at the Paul Stolper Gallery, 31 Museum Street, London. For more information visit PaulStolper.com
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Hornsey sit-in

When I was asked to write for the this blog I was at a bit of a loss as to what I could write about, not through lack of things that interest me but rather a lack of clarity about what genuinely excites me in the art world. I used to be pretty clear about my ideas concerning art but with everything that's happened recently such as the voluntary work I took on at the beginning of the summer, moving house twice and being involved in the Summer School, I've had to re-think much of what I previously thought; what am I actually trying to convey by making 'art'? how can I do this? do I even want to do things that fall within the realm of being classified as 'art'?

I then read a little into the 'Hornsey Sit-in' (because of its connection to my university) and this really caught my interest...

There was an event held at Middlesex University at the end of last academic year to mark the 40th anniversary of the Hornsey Sit-in (the school of arts and education based at Cat Hill used to be Hornsey college of art before becoming part of Middlesex Poly in 1973) I knew a little about the Sit-in, what I'd been told by my peers, the talks at college spurred my interest further. Lisa Tickner (who spoke at the event at Middlesex) released a book this year; Hornsey 1968: The Art School Revolution which gives an incredibly lucid account of the events of the Sit-in, the aftermath and the reason why it occurred in the first place.

The Sit-in (which, according to Tickner was triggered by the freezing of student union funds and was intended to last only 24 hours) involved epic debates about entrance requirements, the education of art history, student's input on the curriculum and moved onto discussions about education in general. There were over seventy documents produced, MORADE (the Movement for Rethinking Art and Design) was formed (although this was short lived), a three day conference at the Roundhouse in Camden and an exhibition at the ICA took place as a result of the Sit-in. By many accounts it was an incredibly productive period at the college; there is the famous remark made by one of the students that they "learnt more in six week than they had done in three years".

What I found really compelling about the Sit-ins was the way in which students seemed to run the college themselves, pursuing art and design research projects, holding talks (often lasting from one day to the next) with guest speakers such as Buckminster Fuller. What also made it distinctive was that unlike much of the student unrest happening at LSE or Paris for instance, the large majority of those at the Sit-in were aploitical before it took place and it was the process of being there and participating that brought about student's political awareness.

Reading about the Sit-in has made me want to learn more about issues important in art education, this is imperative for me because I'm currently a student on the Fine Art course at Middlesex University, feel it necessary to have an awareness of these . I also feel it's important because education of course, can be such a formative experience in a person's life.
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A well hidden secret

The Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool is a rather masculine and heteronormative institution, therefore 'Hello Sailor' is a brave exhibition, as it reveals some of the hidden histories of gay seafarers and their 'floating gay havens'. I'd heard about it in a seminar about exhibiting the 'Other', and had it not been for that, I probably wouldn't have known about it or discovered this secret history.

On visiting the museum, I found the show itself was rather well hidden, but on my second trawl around the manly, navy blue surround, I saw a sliver of pink out of the corner of my eye and thought "ah-ha that must be it", immediately identifying it through a stereotype. The disposable flat-pack display with harsh lighting and pink candy stripe boards, stands in stark contrast to the somber darkness of the permanent exhibitions, making it feel like a bit of light relief from the preceding 'important' history on show. Most of the visitors I saw had stumbled upon it by mistake and were quite surprised, many finding it interesting and a part of history they'd not considered before, then there were the embarrassed sniggers and cliche homophobic responses, (sadly not surprising), although I think it's terrible that such history is still quite hidden and difficult to handle. A show like this should be permanent and taught as a significant part of history, aspects of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) life should be embedded in general history, rather than segregated as an 'other', then maybe other sexualities would be normalised and people wouldn't be so ignorant and fearful. It can be difficult to identify LGBT historical items though, without avoiding stereotypical kitsch, camp fashions, or pride memorabilia for example. Much of it is everyday and can be lost without cataloging and labeling, museums are often guilty of omitting information that may be seen as provocative or sensitive.

Hello sailor is dressed up in 'camp', with an installation of a gay man's cabin, as its centre piece, a flamboyant, bright orange feathered ball gown, swings from the wardrobe amongst feathered boas and other bits of frilly tat, posters of Rock Hudson and other sexy beefcakes of the time adorn the walls, and camp icon Kenneth Williams stars wearing his sailor suit in a photo pinned to the mirror. This is fun and entices the viewer in, but is it really an accurate portrayal of these seafaring men, or does it just feed stereotypes? Although dressing up and putting on cabaret shows was very much a part of life at sea for these men, their history goes far deeper...

My visit to the exhibition was very informative and enjoyable, it was intimate in the telling of stories and celebratory of the sailors lives. It was a step forward but could go so much further like the accompanying book does. Despite the stereotypical nature of the show, it does open up history and debate though. Is it ok then to use stereotypes in the teaching of 'other' cultures and histories? Is it avoidable? How far should the museum go in portraying an accurate account of what really went on, if it means being controversial and offensive to some? And what of so many more hidden histories and stories?

Hello Sailor is at the Merseyside Maritime Museum until January 2009.

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Sonia Blair: Playing With Myself

London’s Truman Brewery plays host to an exhibition of new paintings by artist Sonia Blair, aptly titled, playing with myself. The works explore childhood, memory, and self-sabotage through the recurring image of a little girl and with references to nursery rhymes and bedtime stories.

Inspired by these fables, Blair has used characters like Red Riding Hood and Alice in Wonderland to tell a more personal story of childhood and its consequent relationship with adulthood. The images associated with ‘child’ and those associated with ‘adult’ are juxtaposed and we are forced to consider our own feelings of what it means to be a child, in general and personally.

The already-dark undertones in these fairy-tales are enhanced by Blair’s mischievous character, who often sports oversized high-heels and a wry expression. The apparent irony is crucial to these paintings’ success, not least because Blair seems to be palpably aware of it. She reveals her graffiti-background in the characters rounded, almost manga-esque, features and the use of board rather than canvas, but the works have a much more serene impact than graffiti with their autumnal colour-palette, soft-focus and obvious brush-strokes.

With an unusual blend of darkness and light, desperation and humour, these works are genuinely beautiful and still manage not to take themselves too seriously. They signal a new wave; a visual art which has managed to combine the street, the gallery and (eventually) the home in an incredibly appealing, refreshing and reassuring way.

Playing with myself is on from 26 September – 5 October, 11:00-19:00, at Shop 14, Truman Brewery, Hanbury Street, London E1 6QL
SoniaBlair.com


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The Intriguing and Elusive Meaning of Entertainment - With Reference to the Astounding 'Miss Behave’s Variety Nighty'

Although it seems like such a long time ago, a time of wearing t-shirts and contemplating ice cream, it was only last month that I meandered my way in the sunshine to The Roundhouse to see Miss Behave’s Variety Nighty.

As an avid fan of all things kooky and cabaret, I was looking forward to the evening at hand, but disappointed that as a poor student I could only afford the £10 ‘Restricted View’ tickets.

Firstly, if you have never stepped foot in The Roundhouse, it is certainly a must. The very scope of the auditorium is amazing. It feels both cavernous and warming, plush and sparse, a real dichotomy of architectural gems. You can see why it serves as both a venue for high energy, crowd enthused gigs, and as a space for both intimate theatre and spacious circus. Oh, and yes, it is round.

As the audience entered for the show you couldn’t help feel that little tingle of excitement that comes from the jovial murmur of a large group of people out for a good time. My companion and I were shown to our shared table by Miss Behave herself, as she wandered through her adoring onlookers squeezed elaborately into tight red PVC. “Table 9?” she enthused, “You’ll love it, great view!” And she wasn’t just wearing the mask of gracious hostess… It turned out my lowly ten quid had got us prime seats right at the edge of the stage. Not only that, but table service too! Never has a tenner been better spent on an evening of theatre!

Although we didn’t have the traditional ‘proscenium’ view, it only served to heighten our experience. When Dusty Limits sang, it seemed he sang only to me. When Miss Behave swallowed a sword, we knew it was no trick. When the stunning aerial artists performed, they swung above our heads with ease and without fear – the gorgeous trapeze artist even climbed down a rope right beside my companion and kissed her sweat-ily on the cheek before darting off, much to my jealousy.

It was a fabulously well-executed affair, with performative stage hands, amusing and unusual acts, and Miss Behave served as an extremely able and knowing hostess, encouraging the laughs and berating the slightly too noisy lads. (Poor boys, the PVC, the burlesque, the booze – it was all a bit much for them… That’s what you get for going out for ‘team building’.­)

Though, the one thing that intrigued me the most about this event was not how Lucifire, Queen of grotesque burlesque, managed to escape her literally blazing routine unscathed and without burning the building down, but a small note accompanying the programme…

To paraphrase, it read along the lines of, “There is no message to this show. If you leave entertained, we have done our job.” A standard sentiment, it seems, for the genre – after all, that’s entertainment! However for those who have decided to focus their academic study on the recent resurgence of cabaret, burlesque, variety and their affiliates (ahem. Me.) I find I cannot help but find the ‘message’. Even if none is intended, how can I not wonder at the queer identities on show, the play of gender and of sexuality. The very fact it is on a stage ‘means’ something to me, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a jolly good old time watching the show. Perhaps it is thinking about these unintended, but nevertheless, always present meanings that makes it ‘entertaining’ for me personally?

In short, this leaves me wondering – in a Carrie Bradshaw style;
Does academia make you a bad audience for ‘entertainment’? Read more...

SHOWstudio: Fifteen Minutes of Fashion

Digital-fashion innovators SHOWstudio.com have produced a fascinating exploration of a side to London Fashion Week we don’t often see much of: the designers.

Portrait photographer Giles Price and curator Magda Keaney have collaborated with SHOWstudio, one of the world’s forerunners in new-media fashion, to exhibit a series of before-and-after portraits of British designers. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s famous citation that, in the future, everyone will have “fifteen minutes” of fame, Fifteen Minutes of Fashion enables us to see the designers’ faces five minutes before and after their catwalk show and consequently ponder the contrast so evident in them.

Unlike Warhol’s now cliché, however, these designer’s fifteen minutes of fame is a biannual occurrence, generally happening whilst the collective fashion-eye is wide open and scrutinising the catwalks of the world. Despite this scrutiny, the majority of people never get a chance to see the designer’s personal reactions to their show. Fortunately, these photographs give us that chance by shedding a private light on a relatively public moment. This is due to the implicit intimacy of the portraits, where Price has skilfully revealed a personal side to the designers, the overwhelming raw emotion such an event can bring about, without allowing us to forget they are in a room full of people.

The success of this project is evident in Keaney’s selected subjects, whose variety in age, gender and renown creates a perfect balance with Price’s superb spur-of-the-moment photography, providing viewers an alternate and intriguing aspect to the usual fashion week commentary.

It is this sort of project, where creatives put their talents into generating innovative ways of exploring and expanding our traditional media-models, which pushes fashion forward and challenges those who are reactive or ignorant to the exciting changes occurring in the industry.

To read about Giles Price, Magda Keaney, the Fifteen Minutes of Fashion project or SHOWstudio, visit http://showstudio.com/project/fifteenminutes

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