Longhouse

Chris and Keir

Chris and Keir — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:57:02 +0000

Chris + Keir are a collaboration. They produce work in public spaces and places. Two words that Chris + Keir often associate with Chris + Keir are ’slick’ and ’spoof’. They were recently mistaken for a couple, and although they occasionally share a bed together - all in the name of art - they would like to stress that they are not a couple. They simply make art together. They also work independently; their websites are www.keirwilliams.co.uk and www.chrispoolman.co.uk. Their joint website - www.chrisandkeir.co.uk - is currently under construction and will be available soon at all good toy shops. Two websites to look at in the meantime are www.protectourpubs.co.uk and www.digitalisdangerous.co.uk.

Beyond Bricks - Artists Wanted for Arts Programme in Lozells and East Handsworth

Longhouse — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:15:20 +0000

Beyond Bricks is a programme of temporary creative activities that provides opportunities for artists and residents to work together to respond to the social, economic and environmental changes taking place in Lozells and East Handsworth. The programme celebrates the culture and pride of local community, its heritage and its future.

The programme is an exciting collaboration initiated and led by Urban Living and Arts Council England, West Midlands. Delivery of the programme will be managed by local community arts organisation, Multistory. Beyond Bricks is currently looking for artists and arts organisations to deliver a series of temporary art works, in any discipline, to be delivered between November 2008 and May 2009.For further details or information on how to apply please visit www.beyondbricks.net or contact Karl Greenwood at karlgreenwood@multistory.org.uk or call 0121 524 2135.

Alicja Rogalska

Alicja Rogalska — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:29:47 +0000

The majority of my work is site & situation specific as well as process-based: each project starts with an idea of what I wish to explore, a framework and methodology rather than a decision about the medium to be used or a final outcome. I utilise various media including digital photography, installation, text and video. I am currently experimenting with live art. My practice also involves collaboration with both artists and people without a background in the arts. Since my own background is in cultural anthropology, I am particularly interested in issues of identity of people and places, the way culture influences our opinions and views and how we can challenge these preconceptions. I enjoy working in everyday situations, new environments/non-traditional contexts and public spaces, where the role of art and artist is not yet established.

Opportunity - Place, Space and Identity 2

Longhouse — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:27:52 +0000

Place Space and Identity 2 is a programme of temporary arts projects providing opportunities for artists and the general public to respond to the social, economic and environmental changes taking place in North Staffordshire now.

Place Space & Identity is a unique collaboration led by Arts Council England West Midlands co-funded by Renew North Staffordshire and delivered in partnership with B arts, AirSpace and others.

For more information visit www.placespaceidentity.net

Bad Paintings @ Airspace, Stoke-on-Trent

Longhouse — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:33:57 +0000

‘Bad Paintings’ is the second solo show by the Chester based artist Simon Kennedy. Kennedy returns to show his work at AirSpace Gallery after graduating from Staffordshire University in 2004.

Kennedy delivers work that is blunt yet poetic, he refuses to categorise his use of medium and as such enjoys the freedom of choosing whichever suits his subject. More recently he has been exploring the subject of celebrity, from the nouveau riche to the cursed genius. This, along with an increased desire to further examine the work of traditional painters, has led to ‘Bad Paintings.’

Please visit Airspace’s website for further information - www.airspacegallery.org

Res Artis - information on international residencies for artists

Longhouse — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:07:02 +0000

Res Artis is The International Association of Residential Arts Centres, a foundation based in the Netherlands. Its membership is made up of arts centres and artist’s organisations that encourage the development of contemporary art and artists through residential artist exchange programs.

Res Artis began in 1993 as a volunteer organisation to represent and support the needs of residential arts centres and programs internationally through dynamic exchanges and face-to-face meetings.

The website acts as a portal of information for artists seeking international contacts through residency programs and it operates a mentoring program that enables new member organisations to become involved in the critical issue of globalisation and inclusion central to the mission of Res Artis.

For more information on Res Artis visit - www.resartis.org

Public Art Online - a great resource for artists

Longhouse — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:25:10 +0000

Public Art Online is a resource which provides a wealth of information on how artists can contribute to the built and natural environment, regeneration intitiatives, sustainable development, architecture and urban design.

The site contains loads of really useful and intersting information including up-to-date news on public art and creative activity happening nationwide as well as case studies, advice and information on events, conferences, commissions and training. For more information on Public Art Online please visit - www.publicartonline.org.uk/index.html

There is an interesting article currently on the site which looks at Birmingham City Council’s ‘Lighting Places’ - a lighting strategy for the city centre and local centres of Birmingham. For more information on this go to - www.publicartonline.org.uk/current/policies/planning/birmingham.html

Also featured on the Public Art Online site is some fascinating information about a literature consultancy called Urban Words. Urban Words is interested in urban change and development and looks at the role of creative writers in the process of regeneration. For more information visit - www.urbanwords.org.uk/aplaceforwords/index.shtml

a-n Big Picture Nominations

Longhouse — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:39:39 +0000

a-n Magazine is currently compiling a list of artists to consider for the Big Picture feature in future issues. If you would like to be considered for this, you should have documentation of your recent work that can be reproduced at approx 297×420mm dimensions (landscape format) at 300dpi.Please email image files (under 5MB) and a brief biog by reply to this email. For larger files up to 20MB, please send to chris.brown.an@gmail.com, or on a disk to the Newcastle address below.

For further information on a-n Magazine please visit www.a-n.co.uk

Inheritance and Communities

Rachel Grant — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:56:42 +0000

Last year my first solo exhibition at Burslem School of Art “Viewing Change-Changing Views” was effectively the conclusion of a year (or more) of personal and community response to Housing Market Renewal in Stoke-on-Trent. In July 2008 I returned to the same venue with my second solo show “Heirloom”. This collection explored a deeper train of thought that related to more fundamental issues feeding my fascination with regeneration. My practice as an artist is one that is intrinsically linked to the place and the community that I live in. Sometimes the community seems almost like an exclusive ‘club’ that can be accessed only via a small number of routes the most important and of the most interest to me, is through inheritance. The ability to initiate and sustain intergenerational exchange within a community is often an inherited quality that is passed on through successful role models over a number of generations living in close proximity. The concern for me is that if you remove the housing through demolition, in turn you remove the role models and the same individuals transplanted into new areas may never manage to generate the same ethos without the original roots. The new collection of work that was included in the July 08 show was based on my interest in this notion of ‘inheritance’. The thread of inheritance runs through almost everything in our lives. We inherit from a previous generation, we then impress our own mark on the next generation and so it goes on, each repeating and mirroring the previous one.
This was examined in the knitted piece “Follow Me”. Each mitten is knitted from an old book of patterns that I inherited from my Grandmother (and she had inherited from her mother) and that was published in 1903. The ribbon threaded through each mitten is printed with the names of some of my female family members and ancestors. Each mitten is slightly different even though it’s worked from the same pattern. During the making process I often found fault with the previous one and tried to make the next one better. Each time I would alter the pattern just a little in order to improve the shape. In the same way each generation takes the pattern of its predecessors and alters it to improve it, all the while knowing that the next generation will go through the exact same process. Increasingly our drive for modernity is conflicting with this notion of inheritance and its importance in relation to identity.
It is often said that we live in a throwaway society. If something is deemed to have outlived its function we dispose of it and replace it. This fast turnover of belongings leaves little room for sentimental attachment. Items can appear to be redundant, outmoded or antiquated, particularly to a younger generation who remain absorbed in the process of perpetual advancement, where a resistance to change is interpreted as a lack of vision. It raises the question of how we judge value.

Often value grows out of personal narrative. An item of no relevance or importance can become valued if it’s accompanied by a story or some kind of personal link.
Included in this exhibition, for example, were a number of rusty washers. Some stitched into mixed media panels; others sitting comfortably on a knitted base within a wooden box that I inherited. These washers were discarded along roads and pavements in the area where I live. Sometimes I would find them myself; sometimes it would be my children, who have absorbed my interest in collecting discarded fragments. The washers have become of importance to our family routines, and finding one can lift an otherwise mundane journey. Therefore the washers have become valued by us whilst remaining insignificant to those who have walked over and around them before we ‘discovered’ them.
This being part of something or sense of belonging within a community is important in generating a greater sense of identity i.e. “I am a part of this place/community therefore this is who I am”. This is particularly important for a working class community who do not necessarily have a strong sense of personal identity and tend to adopt an affiliated identity. In post-industrial areas this throws up increased challenges in finding a social identity to replace the industry related affiliation. Sometimes it is the struggle for survival that actually forms the bond that holds a community together.

However, as with the rusty washers in the road the value of this is difficult for others to comprehend. The further into the past industrialisation becomes, the greater the temptation to romanticise it, the stories of our great ‘Potteries heyday’ for example whitewash over the extreme poverty and inequality of that time. However it seems that this intense focus on the past does in fact unify the city. Perhaps this is because the past offers a sense of security that the future never can.
We cannot live in the past but equally we cannot live in the future. It is easy to perceive the regeneration programme as a remedial process, with a defined beginning and end. Indeed the funding may have a clear start and finish but improvement is ongoing and cannot be defined by any one set of indicators.
This is echoed in my two linen panels titled ‘Unfinished’. The first, Winchester Cathedral, was passed to me from a Great Aunt who had begun to embroider over the transfer background, and my grandmother had then continued it. Included with the embroidery was a skein of matching thread, with the intention that I pick up where they had left off. In the same way I have created the second panel with a transfer of the new Sadler’s Park housing development in Burslem. The initial stitches are made, the matching thread attached, it is now ready to be passed on to the next generation for them to make their own mark.

My work in Stoke-on-Trent is ongoing and more information can be seen on my website where there is a link to my own blog.

http://www.rachel-grant.com/

Longhouse Action Research Blog Launched - ‘What this city really needs…’

Anna Francis — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:57:51 +0000

This blog will document the Longhouse Action research project which I am working on. The project began in July 2008; and runs until March 2009.
Anna Francis has received the Action Research bursary in order to carry out a dialogical project. The project aim will be to answer the question: ‘What Does This City Really Need?’ Through a creative consultation process with the people of Stoke-on-Trent.
The project will be in 3 stages:
STAGE ONE: Research and Development - where the artist will look at various artists and artist’s groups participatory and dialogical practices which operate within the public and social realm of Cities worldwide. She will gather information about best practice modes of engagement and issues relating to a dialogical approach in order to decide on her modus operandii.
STAGE TWO: Francis will carry out the project in the city of Stoke-on-Trent.
STAGE THREE: Francis will collate and evaluate the project and present it back to the people of Stoke-on-Trent.

GO TO www.longhouse-action-research.blogspot.com to follow the project.