Helen Shaddock

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Most towns don’t have an Alasdair Gray or an Alex Kapranos to make a fuss - News - Scotsman.com

2012-02-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Most towns don’t have an Alasdair Gray or an Alex Kapranos to make a fuss - News - Scotsman.com

Published on Monday 20 February 2012 in The Scotsman

GLASGOW’S artists, writers and musicians made so much noise about the new Criminal Justice and Licensing Act last weekend that you could be forgiven for thinking the law was only going to affect that city, rather than the whole of Scotland. It took four more days for the rest of the country to wake up to what is potentially a bombshell for the arts.

In case you missed all this, as of 1 April this year all exhibitions will need to pay for public entertainment licences, even if they’re free and in a temporary space. If rigorously enforced, this law could destroy grassroots culture as we know it in Scotland – not just art but comedy, music, poetry readings, film screenings, parties, and any other events put on by people who want to express themselves, experiment, create a scene and inspire and entertain those around them, but who don’t have the money to shell out over £100 per event for an entertainment licence, or the time to get bogged down in weeks of bureaucracy.

It’s easy to see why Glasgow woke up to the problem first. Much of the city’s cultural identity, in recent years, has been built upon its world-renowned DIY art and music scene. Franz Ferdinand famously played their first gigs in a derelict warehouse called the Chateau, which staged gigs and exhibitions that were talked about internationally – and not just because of the Franz connection.

The Chateau went on to become part of the Glasgow International art festival, as did numerous artists and curators who had found their feet by putting on shows in whatever free spaces they could find, from disused shops to their own homes.

The sense of community and possibility created in a place like this, where Turner Prize winners and famous bands mingle informally with a younger generation of artists and musicians, passing on knowledge and contacts, is one of the main reasons why the city’s artists are so successful.

Glasgow City Council seems to recognise the value of this and looks as if it will take steps to protect it. This, hopefully, will set a precedent for decisions made across the rest of Scotland. At time of writing a national campaign is gathering pace, having begun not in Glasgow but Edinburgh, a city whose artists know all too well how difficult it is to create a thriving grassroots scene, as venues constantly close to make space for offices or flats.

Please support this campaign. Most towns don’t have an Alasdair Gray or an Alex Kapranos to make a big public fuss. Instead, they need emails and letters to councillors. Lots of them. So write one.

Scrap Arts Tax meeting number 1

2012-02-18T00:00:00.002-08:00

My head is still buzzing after today's Scrap Arts Tax meeting which was held at Glasgow School of Art in the Mackintosh Lecture Theatre.

As expected, the lecture theatre was packed with individuals from a range of backgrounds, interests, ages and locations. It was great that some people from Edinburgh had travelled through, emphasising the notion that this is a national issue rather than purely a Glasgow issue.

The meeting began with a number of introductory speeches by prominent people in their respective fields e.g. Francis McKee, Sarah Lowndes, Peter McCaughey (for the Scottish Artists Union SAU), Councillor Frank Docherty and Steven McGowan (director of Licensing at Lindsays law firm).

Some key points were:

Policies need to be made in consultation with those who will be affected by the legislation

The SAU are:
- supporting the petition
- wanting Scotland-wide policies to be implemented rather than local authority policies
- enabling students to become associate SAU members if they meet certain criteria (had several exhibitions)

Why did we not know about this licence before Thursday?

There needs to be some representation from Glasgow School of Art

Steven McGowan mentioned the temporary event provision which is used in England. Artists inform the council of their plans for a one off event and it is presumed that the event will go ahead unless the council get in contact to raise any concerns they have

We broke off into working groups each of which discussed a different topic and then we met together to report back from the working groups.

Some points of importance that I took from today:

1. Thursday 23rd February at 9:30am there will be a Glasgow City Council Licensing Board meeting in the Burgh court discussing the PEL. Artists are encouraged to have a presence at this. The entrance is via John Street.

2. All artforms should work together. I was really pleased that the meeting was attended by all manner of creative beings. I believe that we should work together - currently we are fairly independent; different unions etc

3. Get audiences to support the protests - we need to raise public awareness about the issue and how it will effect them. Once they know that their weekly watercolour class will be affected by the licence, for example, I think they will be outraged by the licence

4. Establish a web presence that is non-facebook - not everyone has, or likes facebook. Need another way to disseminate information such as a website

5. Continue to contact councillors

6. We need to decide how disruptive we are going to be - is striking a good option? do we do more of the activities that will be affected?

7. A different name may be more appropriate for the group - Arts is too restrictive, it is not a tax, not restricted to Glasgow, could be used for more than the licencing issue

So, lots to consider and plenty of work still to do.

An email list was circulated and the debate will continue.

Next meeting is on Saturday 25th February at 11am at Kinning Park Complex, Glasgow

Scrap Arts Tax Meeting

2012-02-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

There has been a slight change of plan for the Campaign against Glasgow Entertainment Licence meeting. The confirmed details are:

LOCATION - The Mac Lecture Theatre, Mackintosh Building, Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street
TIME - 12pm-3pm
DATE - Saturday 18th February 2012

Once we have all met there we will be breaking up into working groups so we can use space in the Union and potentially the Barnes building.

Be there!

Campaign against Glasgow Entertainment Licence on the BBC

2012-02-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Worry over licence fee for arts http://bbc.in/zN99uD

My lovely friend Ashley Holdsworth at Made in Glasgow clearly explains her confusion about the new Glasgow Entertainment Licence to the BBC.

Response from Nicola Sturgeon re Entertainment Licence

2012-02-14T16:24:00.001-08:00

From Nicola Sturgeon (Deputy First Minister):

Thank you for your email about Glasgow City Council's proposed changes to its policy on Public Entertainment Licences, which are due to take effect on 1 April 2012. I understand your concerns about this matter and wanted to take the opportunity to outline my understanding of the issue.

The Public Entertainment Licensing regime was amended by the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act 2010 to give local licensing authorities the ability - if they so choose - to include free to enter events within the terms of licensable activities. This change in the law was in response to concerns that had been raised about the lack of control that local licensing authorities had over large scale free-to-enter events such as raves.

However, it is important to stress that the new law does not mean that local licensing authorities are required to insist on free-to-enter events having a Public Entertainment Licence. The discretion lies entirely with the local licensing authority - in this case Glasgow - to determine what types of events they licence. The public entertainment licence is a discretionary licence. It is for the local authority therefore to decide whether to licence public entertainment and if they do, what specific types of entertainment they wish to include.

As I understand it, there is nothing whatsoever in the law to prevent Glasgow from exempting all or certain categories of free to enter events from the requirement to have a public entertainment licence. Indeed they already have exemptions in place in relation to school halls, church halls, fetes and gala days and there is no reason why other events cannot be added to this list of exemptions.

The cost of the licence is also for the licensing authority to determine and therefore, even if the local authority decided to insist on certain free-to-enter events having a licence, it would be open to them to charge a lower fee than would be charged for commercial events.

I share your concern about the potential implications of Glasgow City Council's new policy. I am also concerned that there appears to be a suggestion that the council has no discretion in this matter and that the detail of its policy is somehow mandated by the Scottish Government - that is not the case.

I have therefore asked for an urgent meeting with the Licensing department to discuss the concerns that are being expressed to me by constituents and I would be happy to let you know the outcome of this.

In the meantime - if you haven't already done so - you may also wish to write to your local councillors about the matter.

Kind regards

Nicola

Against Public Entertainment licence

2012-02-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today I found out that a bill has gone through Westminster REMOVING the need for licences in venues with a capacity below 200 people. This was after an impact study revealed that £1.9m a year was being lost due to legislation strangling innovation. Unfortunately, this only applies to England and Wales, so it could be argued that Scotland should be the same.

However, I am conscious that it could lead to galleries restricting audience numbers in order to save money on getting the licence, and this would limit the potential of art to reach many people.

Meeting to be held to campaign against licence changes for public events

2012-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

By Katy McCloskey

Campaigners have rounded against changes to licensing laws which will see organisers of free public events and shows having to pay.

A meeting is to be held next weekend to campaign against new rules for public entertainment licences in Glasgow.

As of April 1, new laws set out in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act of 2010 will mean that an entertainments license must be sought for any public shows, exhibitions and community events such as local festivals – even if the events are free.

Costs for the licence will range from £26 to £7,300, depending on the type of event and size of the crowd and the penalty for operating an event without a licence is £20,000 or six months in prison.

Activists across Glasgow have set up a petition against the changes and have dubbed it a tax on arts and entertainment. They say it will damage the foundations of Glasgow’s arts community – where pop up exhibitions and displays thrive in unusual venues.

Petition organiser Kris Haddow said: “Glasgow City Council must urgently review this and scrap the proposed fees, particularly those to be imposed on free events and on temporarily licensing small venues.”

Hundreds of people have taken to Facebook to condemn the changes, with comments such as “Absolutely ridiculous, counter productive, and plain idiotic. For a city trying to encourage the arts to put this kind of restriction in place is simply greedy and over complicated.”

Sinead Dunn, President of the Glasgow School of Art students' association organised the public meeting. She said: "This will have serious implications on Glasgow School of Art students. A subject we teach is art in the community and this change will have the effect of criminalising students for their work.

"Many of our students and recent graduates are doing what they do out of love for their work and not money. Stifling fees like this will close the art scene down.

"Many of our students often put displays on in disused shops and there has been no clarification over the official list of what's affected in the last couple of days."

Until now, a licence was only required for events with an admission charge and the arts community is worried that the time needed – six weeks - to apply for a licence could prevent artists from performing or displaying their work.

The changes come as the city prepares itself to host the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art.

Boxing events, judo and karate shows, circuses and discos alongside events in pool halls will also be affected, but gala days, fetes, events in church halls and school halls will be exempt.

The list of events or public activities which will be included in the changes was determined in the 1980s when the Civic Government Act was passed.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "This is not just an issue for Glasgow as the change to the law applies across the whole country.

"We were very clear in our submissions this change would lead to a wide range of free events that would require a public entertainment licence."

The public meeting will take place on February 18 at 1pm in the Glue Factory in Farnell Street.

Scrap Arts Tax Poster

2012-02-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

Please download and print a copy of this poster then display in prominently in your gallery, venue, space, living room window, workplace, union — ANYWHERE that the public might pass.

http://www.filedropper.com/scrapartstax

Campaign against Glasgow City Council Public Entertainment License

2012-02-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

The campaign is gaining momentum and word is spreading.

Here are some links to some recent articles/ posts/ information about the licence:

Katie McQuater explains how Glasgow’s ‘tax on creativity’ will destroy the grassroots culture which characterises the city’s art scene…

http://forpetessakeglasgow.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/opinion-glasgows-tax-on-creativity/

To petition Glasgow City Council to scrap the Temporary Public Entertainment Licence Fee, click here: http://www.change.org/petitions/scottish-government-scrap-the-temporary-public-entertainment-licence-fee

Council briefing note:
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/57F0A7CC-ADC8-4798-BC8B-9E7A5C97F9F0/0/BriefingNotePEL.pdf

Proposed fees:
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Business/Licences/Entertainment/TemporaryPublicEntertainmentLicensing.htm

Press coverage:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/news/home-news/warning-new-law-puts-city-art-scene-in-danger.16724126

PETITION - Glasgow City Council: Scrap Public Entertainment Licence Fees

2012-02-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

A petition has been created in response to the Glasgow City Council's decision to implement a new Public Entertainment licence.

It has already attracted a huge response with over 3000 people already signing it.

Some excellent comments have also been left giving reasons why individuals have signed the petition.

The petition can be accessed via

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-scottish-government-scrap-public-entertainment-licence-fees#

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Campaign against GCC Public Entertainment License Meeting

2012-02-11T04:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 18 February 2012
1pm - 4pm
The Glue Factory
22 Farnell Street, G4 9SE Glasgow

As of 1st April 2012, Glasgow City Council will be changing their 'Entertainments' License, to include all free events, including Exhibitions.
After this date, all proposed public exhibitions, regardless of scale, will need to submit a tedious application along with a hefty fee, 6 weeks prior to the date, as well as public notification, 6 sets of lay out plans, and will involve consultation with Strathclyde police, Strathclyde Fire Brigade, Building Control, Environmental Health, local councillors, local community councils, and local area management committees.

It's a ridiculously bureaucratic process which is being introduced at a particularly uncertain period, weeks before the start of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art - GI2012.

At a time were Glasgow creative community is the subject of extensive research, being branded the "Glasgow Miracle", and when 2012 is being marketed as the "Year of Creative Scotland", this will have a crippling impact on many small scale, non-profit, emerging organisations, artists and practitioners.

Outrage at Glasgow City Council Art Licence

2012-02-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

Please excuse the quality of english and grammatical correctness in the following post. There is a reason... I am angry and outraged

I have just found out that Glasgow City Council are introducing a law which states that any premises providing entertainment (and apparently Art is a form of entertainment) will need to pay £600 to have a licence for doing so. At the moment a Public Entertainment licence is required only if there is an admission fee to the premises hosting the entertainment, but as of April 2012, any premises offering entertainment, regardless of if there is an entrance fee will need the licence.

A number of thoughts are spinning round my head:

If premises have to apply for a licence, then does this mean that the Glasgow City Council has the power to reject an application and therefore impose some kind of censorship

Surely the council realise that Glasgow has built up its reputation as an exciting city to be an artist in because of the number of pop-up exhibitions, DIY attitude, artist run galleries etc, and that by introducing such a licencing law, these things will no longer be able to happen - those in the arts have no money!

The new law has been cunningly announced only a few months prior to Glasgow International, the major visual art festival that sees many unused buildings and public sites used as contexts for exhibitions.

Is art entertainment?
According to Dictionary.com entertainment is "something affording pleasure, diversion, or amusement, especially a performance of some kind".

I have been to many an art exhibition where I have not come out smiling nor did I find it a pleasurable experience - was I entertained at these galleries?

I strongly believe that the artistic community needs to, (and will) stand up to the Council.

Featured artwork in The List

2012-02-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

The latest edition of The List magazine was posted through my door this morning. With excitement and anticipation I flicked through the Visual Art pages, and on page 121 saw the small feature on my artwork.

Unfortunately the image is dark, and the colours of the sculptures do not appear as vibrant as they are in real life. All the more reason to try to see the work first hand!

commission installed

2012-02-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

I recently completed a commission to go in a lounge on the fireplace.

I was provided with a rough colour scheme and size guide to fit with the rest of the decor and in the space.

I have been sent pictures of the sculptures happily installed in their new home.

Please contact me if you are interested in a commission

helen(dot)shaddock(at)yahoo.co.uk

words of advice

2012-01-29T15:59:00.000-08:00

Delicate sculptures made from books

2012-01-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

Keith Wallace reports on the delicate sculptures made from books which have been appearing around Edinburgh.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/fast_track/9680129.stm

GIAB 2012

2012-01-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

Lots of exciting exhibitors lines up for GIAB 2012 - keep checking the website for details and images of their work - http://www.giab.org.uk/

Here is a sneak preview:

Kim Bevan

The Book Tree Press

Theresa Easton

Joanna Robson

Talk for 3rd year Sculpture and Environmental Art students at Glasgow School of Art

2012-01-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

A while ago, Justin Carter (3rd year co-ordinator) for Sculpture and Environmental Art invited me to give an artist talk to the 3rd year students.

I discussed how I approaches making work in different contexts, and illustrated this with examples of work made over the past 5 years. Initially, I talked about 'my quest to find a Shaddock', a public artwork that took place at the Barras market, Glasgow in 2007, and how it was presented in an exhibition at the Newbery Gallery, Glasgow School of Art. I then discussed 'Helter Skelter', a performance which was developed specifically for the 3 hour duration of Not Your Average Evening Event exhibition, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow in 2008. I also addressed making art in a more conventional gallery setting, by referring to my recent exhibition 'Strength in numbers', at the Briggait, Glasgow in October 2011. There was time at the end for questions, and I was pleased that students were engaged enough to ask some excellent questions.

I spent a lot of time planning what works I would talk to them about, and how I could make it most useful and pertinent to the students. It does not seem long ago since I was sitting in the audience of the Barnes Lecture Theatre and a Visiting Lecturer was stood behind the podium. I vividly remember my anxiety about doing the Public Art Project in 3rd year, and so tried to raise some of these thoughts and feelings with the students, and shared my successes, mistakes and what I learned with them.

Looking back at the work I made when I was in 3rd year was a very useful exercise, and it helped me see how my work has developed.

I thoroughly enjoyed giving the talk, and the positive responses from students and staff afterwards suggested that they found it most interesting and useful. I would really like to do more talks and would like to become more involved in teaching, so let me know if you (or someone you know) could provide such opportunities!

Featured Artwork on 50x50 showcase

2012-01-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

My recent Strength in numbers exhibition was selected by Central Station as their Featured Artwork in the 50x50 showcase.

Please have a look at the work and join this fantastic network of creatives

http://thisiscentralstation.com/featured/3050-strength-in-numbers/

Quote of the day courtesy of Howard Halle

2012-01-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

"Painting is a philosophical enterprise that doesn't always involve paint"

Howard Halle, "Photo-unrealism," in Terry R. Myers, ed., Painting:Documents of Contemporary Art (London and Cambridge, MA: Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press, 2011), 132

colour combinations

2011-12-20T17:28:00.001-08:00

Sculpture inventory on Behance

2011-12-15T15:43:00.000-08:00

I am developing an online inventory of all the sculptures that were included in my recent 'Strength in numbers' exhibition at The Briggait, Glasgow.

This can be seen on my Behance Network profile:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Inventory-of-Strength-in-numbers-sculptures/2689199

Please note that due to the vast quantity of such sculptures (over 140) the inventory is still being updated, so keep an eye on it as more sculptures are added.

The sculptures are for sale, individually and in sets. If you are interested in purchasing some of my artwork, please email me at

helen.shaddock(at)yahoo.co.uk

Behance

2011-12-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

I have recently joined the Behance network, the leading online platform to showcase and discover creative work. Creative professionals, from across industries, use Behance to create multi-media portfolios that showcase their work within the Network, as well as dozens of other partner sites and industry-specific, curated online galleries.

I have begun to load my artwork into my profile projects, and will continue to add my existing work to this in the next few weeks. My projects will expand as I develop new work, so please keep checking for additions.

Take a look at:

Martin Boyce wins Turner prize 2011

2011-12-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

So, another success for Glasgow

Making the studio my own

2011-12-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the lack of posts recently - been very busy dealing with some necessities of life e.g. finding a new housemate

I have, with the superb help of my Uncle Andy and his pal Howard, moved my stuff into my new studio. It will take some time to sort it all out and make it my own - particularly as I have injured myself and am on doctors orders not to move heavy sculptures, but at least I've made a start

GSA video Archive

2011-11-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

The entire GSA Video Archive is now at:
http://www.gsa.ac.uk/visit-gsa/video-archive/

The GSA Archive has grown to include 84 videos of public lectures and events organised by The Glasgow Urban Lab, Architecture Friday Lectures, Fine Art Friday Events, Exhibitions talks and events, and more!

You can now watch the entire series of Architecture Friday Lectures from 2010-11 and various Friday Event lectures dating from 2006-11 – including notable talks by architect Steven Holl, artist and kinetic sculptor Susumu Shingu, designer Ben Kelly, artist and GSA graduate Christine Borland, artist and GSA graduate Roddy Buchanan, Urban Lab lecturer Graeme Evans, artist Martha Rosler, and more! There are two talks each featuring Roger Wilson and Thomas Joshua Cooper, a fantastic research presentation by Alistair MacDonald, and two talks by recent UK Fullbright Distinguished Chair Ann Markusen.

Here is the very impressive full list of all that can be viewed:

Mackintosh School of Architecture Friday Lecture Series
2011
11 Mar Rick Mather, Rick Mather Architects Recent Projects
04 Mar Prof Robert Tavernor, LSE Cities Visualising the City
25 Feb Alan Pert, NORD Architecture Future Nostalgia
04 Feb Charlotte Frank, Schultes Frank Architekten The Lightness of Stone
28 Jan Neil Porter, Gustafson Porter Contemporary Landscape Design
21 Jan Jonathan Sergison, Sergison Bates Architects Concept Construction
14 Jan Julian Lewis, East Adjusting Places
07 Jan Emanuel Christ, Christ + Gantenbein Architekten Plans

2010
26 Nov Wiel Arets, Wiel Arets Architects Recent Projects
19 Nov Tom Emerson, 6a Architects We Were Never Modern
12 Nov Jonathon Woodroffe, S333 Architecture + Urbanism Projective Cities
22 Oct Stephen Witherford, Witherford Watson Mann Architects London Edges - The Adaptive City
15 Oct David Kohn, David Kohn Architects Jujitsu Urbanism
08 Oct Jonathan Speirs, Speirs Major Associates Light: Dark: Creativity
01 Oct Frank Barkow, Barkow Leibinger Architekten Digital Kraftwerk

Friday Event Lectures
2011
11 Mar Roderick Buchanan From USA '94 to London 2012
04 Mar Richard Layzell Falling Phoebe
04 Feb Louise Welsh Robert Louis Stevenson and the Theatre of the Brain

2010
26 Nov Madelon Hooykaas Revealing the Invisible
19 Nov Sonia Boyce LEAP into uncertainty
12 Nov Vanessa Place Notes on Conceptualism
29 Oct Professor Ann Markusen Creative Placemaking
22 Oct Eamonn McCann Putting the wrongs of the Northern Ireland conflict to rights
15 Oct Christine Borland SimBodies, NoBodies & Me
08 Oct Dr. Thomas Röske The Prinzhorn Collection - Past and Present

30 Apr Lewis Biggs Hello? Liverpool Biennial & the Visual Art Ecology of the City
23 Apr Maria Thereza Alves urgent and not so urgent possibilities
05 Mar Ben Kelly Ben Kelly Design: International Orange + Rural Studies
05 Feb Roshini Kempadoo State of Play: Photography, Multimedia and Memory
29 Jan Jimmie Durham The Usual Song and Dance Routine with a few...
15 Jan Steven Holl Recent Works
08 Jan Susumu Shingu How should we live tomorrow?

2009
20 Nov Siobhán Hapaska Artist Talk
27 Nov Mariele Neudecker The Air we Breathe is Invisible
23 Oct Kortney Ryan Ziegler The Creative Intellectual: Troubling the...
02 Oct Chris Wainwright, Thomas Joshua Cooper & Roger Wilson A Conversation Regarding Journeys

20 Mar Tetsuo Kogawa Pirate Aesthetics of the Mini-FM
06 Mar Faith Wilding Cyberfeminism Interrogates Biotechnology...
13 Mar Silvia Ziranek The Z of How
06 Feb Claire Doherty The Event of Situation: Contemporary Art, Place and Time
30 Jan Lauren Dyer Amazeen Art Performance

2008
05 Dec John Morrison Autonomy & Identity : Independent art in Glasgow 1955-1965
28 Nov Ron Broglio Minor Art: Becoming-Animal
14 Nov Martha Rosler Artist's Talk
31 Oct Craig Richardson Landscape as Conceptual Art
24 Oct Thomas Joshua Cooper The World's Edge: The Atlantic Basin Project

25 Apr Melanie Gilligan Recent Writing and Performances
22 Feb John Smith Lecture and Screening
25 Jan Yvonne Spielmann Video: A New Technology & a New Medium
18 Jan Ursula Biemann The Maghreb Connection: Counter-Geographies in the Sahara

2007
23 Nov Joanne Sharp Imagining the Subject of Geopolitics
16 Nov Damian Sutton Time (and) Travel in Television
09 Nov Jan Verwoert From Appropriation to Evocation
26 Oct Hayley Newman Performing Performance
19 Oct Eyal Weizman The Architecture of Occupation (Presentation of 'Hollow Land') (audio only)

02 Mar Chantal Mouffe Agonistic Politics and Artistic Practices
02 Feb Stephen Graham Dreams of Omniscience: Urbanization & the US Revolution in Military Affairs (audio only)

2006
1 Dec Oliver Ressler An Ideal Society Creates Itself (audio only)
24 Nov Andrew Hussey Paris Underground: Reading and Writing the 'Situationist' City
17 Nov Chad McCail Work
27 Oct Simon Starling Autoxylopyrocycloboros (audio only)
20 Oct Michael Albert Realizing Hope: Life Beyond Capitalism

Research Presentations and Collaborative Events
2011
18 May Stephen FarthingThis is Drawing
6 Apr Ann Markusen 'Arts & Culture as Regeneration: Four UK Cities Experiences'
21 Feb Graeme Evans Creative Cities, Creative Spaces? Form and Function
02 Feb Ülar Mark, Toomas Tammis, Martin Aunin, Margit Aule
BOOM. ROOM. New Estonian Architecture
26 Jan Claudia Zeiske with Nuno Sacramento the town is the venue

2010
24 Nov Art and Activism: The Aberdeen Climate9 jury trial
20 Nov Roger Wilson An Art School Perspective
17 Nov The Nine Trades of Dundee
28 Oct Simon Manfield in conversation with Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan (audio only)
10 Nov Barry Esson Music is about more than just music
06 Oct Henry Coombes Artist's Talk

26 Apr Simon Critchley Symposium: The Infinite Demand of Art
16 Apr Jan Verwoert Why are conceptual artists painting again? Because they think it's a good idea
15 Apr Joseph Leo Koerner Hieronymus Bosch: Enemy Painting
1 Mar Alistair MacDonald Designing with Ageing Populations: UK/Japan research Dialogues

14 Dec 2009
The Mackintosh Symposium Lectures and Panel Discussions
Andy MacMillan The Building as Document
Benedetta Tagliabue Mackintosh and Miralles
Pamela Robertson Mackintosh and Glasgow
Professor William J. R. Curtis Materials of the Imagination : The Glasgow School of Art
The Mackintosh Symposium Morning Panel Discussion - Part 1
The Mackintosh Symposium Afternoon Panel Discussion - Part 2

2008
7 May Chandraguptha ThenuwaraSpaces Giving Shade (audio only)

2006
16 Oct Dan Graham Pavilions

what to draw

2011-11-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

I often have an urge to draw, but then don't know what to draw...

Now I have the solution, kindly suggested by Amy from Pikaland:

genius!

Mindy Shapero

2011-11-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

My good friend Gary often sends me information about other artists, the most recent being Mindy Shapero who just had an exhibition at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York.

Breaking Open The Head
September 10 – October 22, 2011

Marianne Boesky Gallery is very pleased to announce Breaking Open The Head, its first solo exhibition of new work by Mindy Shapero. Featuring large sculptures, a grouping of smaller objects, and works on paper, the exhibition locates Shapero's labor-intensive process at an intersection where narrative and formalist impulses collide. In her practice, visual intensity often overrides the very forms it has been used to create, resulting in objects that dare to contradict their reasons for being. Accordingly, Shapero operates in a zone that can be read in relation both to art historical tradition and to outsider tendencies predicated on visionary experience.

The exhibition's title, borrowed from writer Daniel Pinchbeck's treatise on psychedelic shamanism, suggests the otherworldly qualities readily associated with Shapero's work. But it also refers more directly to the head-like forms that recur throughout the show. The head functions here as a primary symbolic representation of imaginative flux. When it is 'broken open,' it is revealed as a profoundly physical thing that has the paradoxical ability to transcend the physical plane –– by thinking, dreaming, and hallucinating.

This can be seen clearly in three new sculptures that treat the head as a state of becoming and/or dissolution. In one, a large shell-like form has been filled with small pieces of cut paper arranged into swirling rows; before cutting the paper, Shapero paints each sheet black so that hints of its original color can only be seen at the edges. While peering into the piece can feel like staring into a limitless void, upon further viewing it becomes apparent that its shape is in fact based on a giant face, and new questions about what it depicts begin to arise. Looking itself is treated as an ongoing process of transformation, a state of mind that allows interiority and exteriority to mix and become a single metaphysical continuum.

A second work features a similarly shell-like form with a luminous gold-leafed exterior, recalling a variety of ancient art historical antecedents. The interior, however, is filled with maze-like concentric rings of puffy paint in an array of colors. Though it has sculptural dimensionality, the paint flattens out the relief of its supporting surface and prevents it from being read as a head or face. If this is a representational artwork, its subject seems to be the interior of the imagination rather than an outwardly recognizable figurative form.

The third sculpture in the series completely inverts the relationships between form and formlessness proposed by the other two. Here, the exterior of the object is covered with barely translucent pieces of cut white paper that resemble feathers or fur. As they capture and reflect light, they obliterate the sculptural face that gives the piece distinctive form. Throughout these works, Shapero treats the absence and abundance of color as companion states in which the visual field is overwhelmed, and the viewer is forced to look beyond immediate physical reality into a space redolent of the unknown.

In another pair of sculptures that also make use of imagery based on heads, arrangements of bent metal rods introduce line, and therefore an element of drawing, to the work. One features a central form covered in colored paper; surrounding it are a series of stylized profiles formed from the metal rods. Gradually the central form reveals itself to be a continuation of the 'spinning' silhouettes, and the illusion of movement is juxtaposed with the teeming array of color that animates the work's visual anchor. The other piece reverses this arrangement, so that its striped, painted center recalls a spinning profile, while the rods that surround it continue the 'drawing' of the back of the head in space. Figuration, abstraction, flatness and volume switch places, and seem to illustrate the transaction between an object and the mental processes of the observer who perceives it.

The use of metal rod carries over into a group of smaller sculptures arranged together on a large pedestal installed in the gallery's front room. Reminiscent of arches, thresholds, and molecular structures, they take on performative characteristics when seen in combination, and create narrative associations that are indicative of Shapero's ability to use language as a generative tool. Because they recombine materials and techniques seen in the larger works, they also suggest that her practice draws in part from modernist notions of pure formalism. In the studio, the artist reconciles these two tendencies by developing fictional narratives as she works and allowing them to influence subsequent formal decisions.

Like Shapero's often elaborate titles, which allude to the evolution of such narratives, the works on paper on view reflect accretions of material and process. Stencil-like remnants of cut paper used to make sculptures are laid down as templates; after spray paint and leafing are applied, the negative spaces left in their wake demarcate dense layers of grids that confuse foreground and background. Though Shapero traces visual histories of materials being put to use, her relationship to the material world is not defined by sheer pragmatism. Rather, she perceives how tangible things are capable of transporting us beyond ordinary experience, so that the intangible is just within reach.

Mindy Shapero lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in Like Color in Pictures, Aspen Art Museum, 2007; Diptych: Jockum Nordström and Mindy Shapero, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, 2006;The Uncertainty of Objects and Ideas, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, 2006; Thing, New Sculpture from LA, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2005. Her work was included in Vitamin 3D, published by Phaidon Press in 2009.

Marianne Boesky Gallery is located at 509 W 24th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues. Our hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm. For further information or images, please contact Annie Rana at 212.680.9889 or annie@marianneboeskygallery.com.

Moving studio

2011-11-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

The time has come for me to bid fairwell to studio 122 at the Briggait and move to pastures new. I will miss the beautiful studio, Steph, Sparkles and Mungion, the new addition to the Spindler-Bell household, but I am looking forward to having my own studio at Osborne Street.

The address of my new studio is:

South Block
Studio 312
64 Osborne Street
Glasgow
G1 5QH

I will let you know once I have moved in, set up and am ready for visitors!

another list writer

2011-11-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

As a devoted list-writer, I was interested in these lists that appeared on Mrs Easton's blog.

http://melissaeastondesign.com/blog/

Postgraduate Presentation

2011-10-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today I did a presentation for a group of Postgraduate students at Glasgow School of Art. I was asked by Lesley Black to discuss how I use market research in my art practice.

I began by discussing Glasgow International Artists Bookfair; how Harald and I had the idea when we were participating in the Contemporary Artist Bookfair in Leeds, 2007 and realised that there was no event of this kind in Scotland.

We did a lot of market research that weekend, talking to other artists participating in the bookfair to assess their interest in our idea, and asking advice from the organisers.

I then talked about the market research we did when back in Scotland, and how we put a lot of thought into how we would make GIAB different from other artists bookfairs.

We felt there were things missing from other artist bookfairs:

- People exhibiting on their own do not get a break - provide volunteers who could relieve artists for a while to allow them to have a lunch break

- The artists don’t get a chance to look at the work of other artists - have an hour before the bookfair opens to the public for the artists to look at each others work

- No real opportunity to see any of the city in which the bookfair is taking place - organise a day trip for the day after the bookfair

- What if artists cannot attend in person? - offer a service whereby a volunteer would set up, supervise and then pack up the books ready to be posted back to the artist

I then discussed who we have collaborated with

and how we consider the climate in which we are operating in

The second half of my presentation was focused on my approach to market research when making my own work

Who do I want to view the work?

How do they encounter the work?

GALLERIES - look at which artists they represent, whose work they exhibit, what are the aims of the gallery?, does your work suit the gallery?

FUNDING - read the guidelines, is the opportunity suitable for you? Who has received funding in the past?

The presentation went down well, and some great questions were asked. It was also really good to meet Janine Matheson again. Janine co curates Sierra Metro gallery in Edniburgh, works at the Cultural Enterprise and is also working on a new project soon to be launched.

Glasgow's Turner connection

2011-10-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

In today's Guardian Charlotte Higgins investigates why Glasgow keeps producing so many Turner prize winners and nominees? She asks, could it all be down to David Harding?

read the article here:

http://gu.com/p/32kzt

Wasps Artists' Studios featured artist

2011-10-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Check out the Wasps Artists' Studios website

http://www.waspsstudios.org.uk/

I am their featured artist!

Interview on Sunny Govan radio

2011-10-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by Tess and Anna from Sunny Govan radio for their arts and culture programme called The Happy Hour.

Listen to it on soundcloud - http://soundcloud.com/the-happy-hour/the-happy-hour-october-2011

Talk for GSA Postgraduate students

2011-10-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

I have been invited to give a talk to the Postgraduate Students studying the Creative Entrepreneur elective at Glasgow School of Art.

Along with Janine Matheson from the Edinburgh Gallery Sierra Metro, we will discuss market research and how to learn from others.

AHM State of Play manifestos

2011-10-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

Documentation of the one-minute manifestos that were presented at AHM's third State of Play Symposium are now on the AHM blog.

More documentation from the event is to be updated soon!

http://theahmblog.blogspot.com/

Interviewed for the Happy Hour on Sunny Govan radio

2011-10-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today I was interviewed by the wonderful Anna and Tess from Sunny Govan radio about my forthcoming solo exhibition 'Strength in numbers' - listen out for the next edition of the Happy Hour:
http://soundcloud.com/the-happy-hour/the-happy-hour

manifesto at AHM Symposium 3 - Dundee

2011-10-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Art is, and can be many things

Art : political : art : captivating : art : public : art :

loud: art : thought provoking : art : light : art :

critical : art : colourful : art : challenging : art :

beautiful : art : permanent : art : enlightening : art :

intimate : art : poetic : art : huge : art : meaningful

: art : soft : art : moving : art : reflective : art :

sensual : art : controversial : art : tactile : art :

temporary : art : pertinent : art : complex : art :

humorous : art : difficult : art : inspiring : art :

quiet : art : engaging : art : emotional : art :

stimulating : art : important

Strength in numbers

2011-09-25T03:42:00.001-07:00

You are warmly invited to my solo exhibition Strength in numbers in one of the front project spaces at The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow

The preview is on Thursday 6th October from 6pm - 8pm.

The exhibition runs from Friday 7th October until Sunday 30th October 2011.

Hope to see you there!

Wasps Open Studios Weekend

2011-09-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

Wasps Open Studios Weekend 2011

Saturday 1st October 2011 11am - 5pm

Sunday 2nd October 2011 12pm - 5pm

Come and visit the Wasps Open Studio Weekend at The Briggait, Glasgow where you get an exclusive preview into the artists studios, meet the artists and have the opportunity to buy their work.

My Studio (122) is on the first floor overlooking the St Enoch car park. Although it will be open both days, I will only be there on Sunday as I am taking part in the STATE OF PLAY Symposium at DCA, Dundee on Saturday. If you do go on Saturday, by studio mate, Stephanie will be happy to talk to you!

For more information please visit http://www.waspsstudios.org.uk/

GIAB 2012

2011-09-22T04:27:00.000-07:00

Save the date : Saturday 28th & Sunday the 29th April 2012.

Glasgow International Artists Bookfair will be held again in 2012 at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

GIAB is a showcase of artists’ books produced by local, UK-based and international artists. Books as artworks, books about books, books about bookbinding, old-style letterpress books, audio books, funny & weird books and even books with nothing in them can be seen and bought.

It is a rare opportunity to access such artworks, meet the creators and purchase some original artworks, without breaking the bank.

There will also be the possibility of participating in bookbinding workshops.

Harald and I are busy working on the organisation of GIAB 2012, so keep checking http://www.giab.org.uk/ for updates

Artist manifesto at STATE OF PLAY Symposium

2011-09-20T04:21:00.000-07:00

STATE OF PLAY - Art and Culture in Scotland Today Symposium

Saturday 1st October
Cinema 1, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA)
11am - 4pm

Working as Research Assistant for AHM (Sam Ainsley, David Harding and Sandy Moffat), I have been heavily involved in the planning and organisation of this event. I will be performing my own personal one minute manifesto at the event.

AHM’s third and final State of Play: Art and Culture in Scotland Today symposium will bring together the main themes of previous symposia in a debate about the role of art and culture in shaping Scotland’s future. A key element of the day will be the spoken delivery of one-minute artist manifestos where artists have the opportunity to give voice to their concerns and ambitions about where they feel visual art stands today and what the future might hold.

Speakers are Gerry Hassan a leading writer and critic on culture and politics, Jenny Brownrigg Exhibition Director The Glasgow School of Art, artist Ross Sinclair and Jean Urquhart MSP.

More information can be found at http://theahmblog.blogspot.com/ or by contacting ahmglasgow@gmail.com

Tickets can be purchased from Dundee Contemporary Arts Box Office either in person or by calling +44 (0)1382 909900 Mon - Sat 10am - 8pm, Sun Midday - 8pm with a credit or debit card. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://www.dca.org.uk/

Urban Space III at the Briggait

2011-09-18T05:15:00.001-07:00

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It was super to see so many people enjoying Urban Space III at the Briggait during Open Doors Weekend. If you didnt manage to come this weekend, make sure you don't miss the WASPs Artists Open Studios on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October 2011.

Urban Space III installed for Doors Open Weekend

2011-09-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

On your trip to the Briggait for Open Doors Weekend, be sure to venture past the Artists' pigeon holes towards the staircase as I have installed a new sculptural installation titled Urban Space III.

The Briggait opens it's doors for Doors Open Weekend

2011-09-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

The Briggait is a beautiful Category A listed building in Glasgow’s medieval quarter, the Merchant City. Originally built in 1873, the Briggait was the city’s fish market for over 100 years. By the turn of the millennium it was clear the building was in severe need of some TLC; rain poured in and parts of the Briggait were entirely derelict. In 2001, Wasps Artists’ Studios set out on the long road to redevelop the building and it has now been transformed into a vibrant new home for over 80 visual artists and cultural organisations.www.waspsstudios.org.uk www.thebriggait.org.uk

A few artists will be allowing the public to have a peek into their studios.

Wasps Artists' Studios Website

2011-09-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

Check out the newly launched Wasps Artists' Studios Website

http://www.waspsstudios.org.uk/

You can search the different artists who have Wasps Studios and see images of their work.

Please note that plenty more images will be added in due course, so keep checking regularly!

Urban Space II at Vault

2011-09-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

Vault (from above)

2011-09-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

The Mutual and David Dale Gallery

LAPLAND and Market Gallery

The Mutual and David Dale Gallery

The Mutual, David Dale Gallery and Street Level

LAPLAND and Glasgow Print Studio

LAPLAND and Glasgow Print Studio and Glasgow School of Art

IRONBBRATZ

Glasgow School of Art

IRONBBRATZ

Briggait Artist Stand at VAULT

2011-09-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

The Briggait Panel selected a number of artists with studios at the Briggait to exhibit at VAULT.

Selected artists were:
Janie Nicoll
Stephanie Spindler
Karen Vaughan
James Hamilton
Helen Shaddock
Chris Wallace
Jane Mcally
David Sherry

We had a range of work - sculpture, video, performance, drawing, painting, collage, representing the broad range of working practices artists adopt.

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m54KyWRCOj4/TnXi3Xk46dI/AAAAAAAABFQ/uk1u1mSmP9M/s1600/vault-10-1.jpg">

Getting ready for VAULT

2011-09-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Since returning from Berlin I have been in VAULT mode -

casting more sculptures

coating them in polymer
filing them
painting the platform on which the sculptures will stand

photographing work
preparing drawings for the print browser
creating an inventory of works
writing a maintenance schedule
and all the associated paperwork and admin activities.

Today I assisted with installing the work of the Briggait panel.

Come along and all will be revealed!

VAULT ART GLASGOW
9 - 11 Sept 2011
The Briggait
141 Bridgegate
G1 5HZ

Fri 11am-9pm
Sat 11am-9pm
Sun 12pm-5pm

East Side Gallery, Berlin

2011-09-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

We ventured to the East Side Gallery, aptly named due to it's geographical position in Berlin.

The remains of the Berlin Wall which separated the East and West of Berlin have been painted by a range of artists, including Margaret Hunter.

Lineage at Edinburgh Printmakers

2011-08-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Lineage
Prints by Michael Craig-Martin, Ian Davenport and Julian Opie
at Edinburgh Printmakers

All three artists push the boundaries of printmaking in the work in this exhibition.

Michael Craig-Martin's line drawings aim to be objective and without a style, but this actually results in the drawings having a specific aesthetic and style in their own right.

Julian Opie has produced a "set of Lenticular landscapes, where six Japanese views are represented in three dimensions using a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images which offer an illusion of depth." Personally I found the works a little gimicky.

Ian Davenport's colourful 'Etched Puddle' prints are beautiful and are a great example of how a familiar printmaking technique (in this case etching) can be manipulated to produce unexpected results.

Similarly, in the Ovals series, Davenport has manage to create splashes and drips of ink in what is normally a highly controlled process. The thick layers of ink are visible giving a 3-dimensional element to the normally flat surface of screenprints.

There’s no E in book: 5 non-digital book-based innovations

2011-08-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

There’s no E in book: 5 non-digital book-based innovations

Chris Ward

Printed books will never really go away. They’ll be superseded by e-books, sure. They’ll become a minority interest. They’ll be treated as relics of a bygone age, one where you had to actually leave the house to, y’know, get stuff.

But just as vinyl records have survived in the sweaty-but-carefully-dust-gloved hands of music geeks, and cinephiles are ignoring the convenience of watch instantly video streaming in favour of the hi-def glories of a decent Blu-Ray restoration, there will always be an audience, however small and specialist, for a nice binding and a dog-ear, ready and waiting for publishers to peddle their wares.

Alternatively, publishers could decide they’re not content to punt such simple pulp-and-ink pleasures, and instead chuck gimmick after gimmick at the reading public until something sticks. Either way. Here’s five of the latter.

1. Flipbacks

Initially, of course, there’s disappointment at realising it’s Flipbacks and not flip books. Then, there’s further dismay that they have nothing to do with animated stick figures finally getting revenge on the thumbs that’ve made them dance jauntily from side to side across a page for years.

But with those hurdles cleared, these pocket-sized novels are certainly an attractive proposition for commuters, coming in around the size of the average phone, with text printed top to bottom rather than left to right, on pages as thin as rolling papers. So not only can you read Cloud Atlas, you can tear the pages out, light up and create your own.

2. Book as art/collector’s artefact

Working with the form of the book has long proved fruitful for visual artists, from William Blake illustrating, printing and binding his own writings through to the modern-day likes of Yorkshire-born, Glasgow-based Helen Shaddock, who incorporates artist’s books into her work alongside sculpture, installations and performance, has twice co-organised the Glasgow International Artists’ Bookfair and is in the process of organising her third.

‘I appreciate the intimate and personal nature of artist books, and enjoy their tactile quality,’ says Shaddock. ‘Sometimes I use the book as a means of documenting a work, such as “My quest to find a Shaddock”, which relates to the public artwork I did at the Barras market. Recently I have been making sculptural books, exploring the potential of hand-cutting and folding paper.’

Some of Helen Shaddock's work.

Incorporating such innovations and playing up the one-of-a-kind nature of these pieces is certainly a way for creative publishers to divert attention from e-books and offer the kind of experience that necessitates the physicality of real-world materials. Think of it as The Very Hungry Caterpillar for grown-ups.

3. Added value content

Because the joy of reading clearly is no longer its own reward (imagine! Reading a book just for the hell of it! Hah!), some authors, big and small, have started expanding their domains beyond the realm of the printed page and even the humble audiobook.

When Canongate published Nick Cave’s The Death Of Bunny Munro, for example, the audiobook came not just with the standard ‘read by the author’ hook, but with the promise of original music by the cult hero and his regular collaborator Warren Ellis, sound design by filmmakers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard – who have also been collaborating with Cave on a series of documentaries about his albums – and 3D spatialised sound by Arup Acoustics.

On the other end of the spectrum, and perhaps taking a leaf from the likes of Matador Records’ Buy Early Get Now scheme (encouraging pre-orders of albums from independent record shops), Californian kids’ graphic novelist Dan Santat came up with a pre-order package that not only included all manner of extras, from art prints to deleted scenes and other making-of material perhaps more commonly associated with film, but also benefited his local independent book shop.

4. Author as rock star

In 2007, venerable Scottish record label Chemikal Underground put out Ballads Of The Book, a collaborative album that saw some of Scotland’s finest indie acts set lyrics written by some of Scotland’s finest writers to their own music.

One unexpected result of the process was the taste for live performance developed by Alan Bissett, whose “The Rebel On His Own Tonight” was translated to record by ex-Arab Strap man Malcolm Middleton. Buoyed by positive reaction to the record, Bissett went on the road with Zoey Van Goey and Y’All Is Fantasy Island, performing excerpts from his fiction and specially created spoken word pieces in between sets.

The innovation here isn’t so much the act of performing as the context in which it took place: rather than read at a literary festival, Bissett took his pop-culture saturated work in front of the kind of crowd most likely to appreciate it, one already used to supporting stuff they like via the merch table and one who, much as they kept the turntable alive, would likely find a certain retro glamour in picking up a paperback to then sit and read ostentatiously outside a hip cafe, perhaps while nonchalantly smoking a page or two of Cloud Atlas.

5. Digital to analogue

Of course, if all else fails, turn the tables. Rather than passively watch the digitisation of every piece of printed material available, several publishers have taken it upon themselves to bring portions of the web kicking and screaming into the real world: cute photo blogs like Hipster Puppies and Sleeveface, cool web comics like Dinosaur Comics and Achewood, and even, in one confounding instance, the edit history of Wikipedia’s entry on the Iraq War.

Physical copies certainly seem to be the only way to turn a profit from such endeavours – who would buy an eBook version of a site when the site itself is freely accessible from any phone or computer? – and removing them from the unending bombardment of information that is web 2.0 (and beyond) gives readers a chance to appreciate them apart from the intrusion of IMs, pop-ups, and pop-ups pretending to be IMs.

http://bookmachine.org/2011/08/09/theres-no-e-in-book-5-non-digital-book-based-innovations/

Catalogue Available

2011-08-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

Leeds College of Art Vernon Street Leeds LS2 8PH

18 August - 9 September 9.00am - 4.00pm Monday - Friday

Alex Farrar

and Jayne Allen, Keith Arnatt, Jonathan Ashworth, Bob Cobbing, Georgia
Dennison, James Dixon, Lucy Freeman, Hamish Fulton, Joe Hancock, Howard,
Leeds United, Richard Long, Frank Lisle, Claire Macalister Hall, Harry
Meadley, Michael O'Sullivan, Helen Shaddock, Holly Stott, Eric Taylor,
Liz West, Lynn Wray

Catalogue Available

PRIVATE VIEW

17 August 5.00pm - 8.00pm

'Catalogue Available', Alex Farrar proposed that his exhibition
catalogue be expanded to include all the artworks currently in the
Vernon Street College building. The resulting publication reveals a
found-exhibition of 30 works made in the past 50 years by over 25
artists, present at the time of Farrar's solo exhibition.

Featuring the college's hanging collection and ongoing temporary
exhibitions, the catalogue also documents many clandestine projects
which remain in the building long after their makers have left. These
latent exhibits were researched by a group of former students,
responsible for collecting verbal accounts of the mythical works that
persist in the fabric of the building.

The project will be accessible through a single hand-printed book that
will be permanently shelved in the College's Vernon Street library.
During the preview of the exhibition, a one-off tour of the exhibition
will be led by Georgia Dennison.

The Briggait on Central Station

2011-08-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Central Station has posted a blog all about the Briggait and I am included as one of the artists with a WASPs studio in the building

http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/_The-Briggait/blog/4999229/126249.html

Vault Website is live

2011-08-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

Vault Art Glasgow is a new opportunity for artists to sell their work and for the public, collectors and galleries to buy contemporary art.

Twelve of the most innovative galleries and organisations have been invited to present a selected range of new art by emergent, alongside leading artists from Glasgow and beyond: a snapshot of one of the most original and exciting contemporary art scenes in Europe.

I have been selected as one of the Briggait artists and am making new work to exhibit. I am excited and curious about what the event will bring.

The VAULT website is http://www.vaultartglasgow.com/

Vault on Facebook is http://www.facebook.com/vaultartglasgow

Twitter twitter.com/VaultArtGlasgow

Festival set to highlight work of leading artists living in city

2011-08-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

In September I will be participating in Vault. This is what the Evening Times has to say about the event.

The Briggait is to host a new event set to encourage people to buy work by Glasgow’s world-renowned artists.

In September, the former fish market will host Vault, a festival involving 12 galleries from around Glasgow.

Artists living in the city have won international acclaim in recent years, with a number of Turner Prize winners and nominees living and working in the city.

Organisers of Vault want the public to support artists by buying their work.

Neil Butler is artistic director of UZ Arts, the cultural group organising the event.

He said: “We want this to be a major celebration of the exciting work being produced by Glasgow’s artists.

“At these times when it is difficult for everyone working in the cultural industries to make a living, it is important to encourage people to consider buying art.

“This festival will bring money into the city and, more importantly, create an economy which supports artists.

“When people make a decision about how their house should look, what better thing can they possibly do than buy a piece of work that makes their home a more interesting place to live and supports the person working to make that art?”

The show will be curated by Patricia Fleming, who was recently involved in Channel 4’s Big Art Project, which created public art projects around Britain.

She said: “Visitors can meet artists while engaging with innovative galleries, studios and artist-led initiatives not necessarily on the familiar gallery circuit.”

Councillor George Redmond is chairman of Glasgow Life, which is helping to fund the £40,000 event.

He said: “There has never been a more exciting time for the contemporary arts scene in Glasgow.

“Vault will see the newly refurbished Briggait building brought to life, and it promises to be one of the most popular contemporary arts events of the year.”

Glasgow artists Richard Wright and Susan Philipz won the Turner Prize in 2009 and last year, while Martin Boyce and Karla Black were placed on this year’s shortlist.

Vault is supported by Creative Scotland’s Own Art scheme, which offers the public interest-free loans of between £100 and £2000 to buy art and craft.

Jasper Hamill

The article was published in the Evening Times on Wednesday 3rd August 2011

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/festival-set-to-highlight-work-of-leading-artists-living-in-city-1.1115503?50571

AHM voice concerns

2011-08-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I am Research Assistant for AHM, the wonderful Sam Ainsley, David Harding and Sandy Moffat.

AHM, Ray Mackenzie and Ross Birrell have voiced their concerns about the 'massive piece of art dubbed the Star of Caledonia' by Cecil Balmond which has been selected by the Gretna Landmark Trust to welcome travellers to Scotland.

The letter was published in the Herald on Wednesday 3rd August 2012

Photos from Open Studios

2011-08-01T15:04:00.001-07:00

Artist Open Studios at the Merchant City Festival

2011-07-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Join me at the Briggait Open Studios Weekend as part of the Merchant City Festival

Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th July 2011
11am - 4pm

Studio 122
The Briggait
141 Bridgegate
Glasgow
G1 5HZ

I will be in my studio (122) both days and hope to see you there!

VAULT ART GLASGOW

2011-07-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

I will be participating in

Vault Art Glasgow
9 – 11 September 2011
The Briggait
141 Bridgegate, Glasgow

For more information visit
http://vaultartglasgow.com/vault.html

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tracey Emin on drawing

2011-07-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

"drawing is a solitary act; it's your own line, your own imagination, your own rhythm, your own blood flow and vision"

TRACEY EMIN

New Designers

2011-07-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

New Designers is a showcase of Design graduates from Universities all over the UK. It takes place at the Business Design Centre in London, and is split into 2 parts.

Part 1 features work by graduates working with:

Textiles, Fashion & Accessories
Contemporary Applied Arts
Ceramics & Glass
Jewellery & Precious Metalwork

Part 2 features work by graduates working with:

Product Design
Furniture Design
Visual Communications
(including Graphic Design and Illustration)
Spatial Design

I visited during part 1 and spent Saturday looking at the amazing work on show, wishing that I had more money to spend!

The amount of creativity and talent housed in one building was incredible, and I would certainly recommend going and supporting the recent graduates.

Transmission Gallery Members Show

2011-07-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have work exhibited in the following exhibition:

Transmission Gallery Members Show
28 King Street

July 5th - July 23rd 2011

London here I come

2011-06-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

I am just about ready for my trip to London this weekend. Tomorrow I hope to visit the Haywood Gallery to see the current Tracey Emin exhibition.

On Saturday I will be heading to New Designers to look at the wonderful work of many design graduates including my sister and her friends.

I have a long list of other exhibitions I would like to see, so hopefully I will manage to visit a fair few of them on Sunday.

Must get some shut eye now before my weekend of art!

drawings

2011-06-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Screenprinting at Transmission

2011-06-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

As a member of Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, I opted to participate in the Screenprinting workshop during the Transmission Summer School.

The workshop gave an insight into how artists can build their own screenprinting facilities and alternative methods of screenprinting to using light sensitive photo emulsion.

I tried experimenting with using vinyl stencils and, using blends of colour, created some rather interesting results.

Certainly could be explored further - watch this space!

Tina Webster blogs about my work

2011-06-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

See to read what Tina Webster has to say about my work

My artists books in the Here Gallery Bookshop

2011-06-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

To accompany my exhibition at the Here Gallery, I have a number of artist books in the Here Gallery Bookshop upstairs.

Testing install options in Here Gallery

2011-06-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

After unwrapping all my sculptures I began testing different ways of presenting the works in the space.

The moment of truth

2011-06-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

I was rather worried that after the 9 nine journey my fragile sculptures may have become damaged, and so on reaching the Here Gallery I had an anxious few hours whilst Rhianna, Christine and I unwrapped the contents of the car.

Brooches

2011-06-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Whilst making my sculptures the floor of my studio has gained some rather beautiful spillages of plaster. This inspired me to make a number of unique brooches.

If you would like to purchase any brooches, or would like to request a commission of a brooch, please email helen.shaddock@yahoo.co.uk

Here Gallery here I come!

2011-06-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend with valuable help from my kind friend Kara I managed to wrap all my sculptures to take to Bristol.

On Monday morning I collected the hire car and Steph, Anna and I carefully packed all the sculptures, along with the drawings, remnants, artist books and install equipment into the car.

Here Gallery here I come!

Coloured Matter - Here Gallery, Bristol

2011-06-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

The Briggait has reached the semi-finals of the National Lottery Awards.

2011-06-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Briggait, which houses over 70 visual artists (including me!), makers and arts charities, is competing against 9 other projects to become the UK's 'Best Arts Project'.

£2,000 is up for grabs, as well as the opportunity to appear on the BBC show.

There is tough competition from the likes of Tate Movie Project, Pangaa and The Smiling Sessions, making it vital that the Briggait gets the support that it deserves. Please vote to get The Briggait to the finals at:

http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards/best-arts-project/96/ .

Testing install ideas

2011-06-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

As I finish the sculptures for my exhibition in Bristol, I have been experimenting with install options.

Casting and Cooking

2011-05-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

I have recently become aware of the links between the casting process and baking.

There is a recipe to follow, (although ingredients can be altered in order to produce variations), weighing ingredients, mixing, stirring, spooning out quantities and waiting for them to set.

Initial drawings with plaster

2011-05-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

The drawings are most interesting when the outcome is not controlled.

Book of colours

2011-05-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

As Ive been making each tower I have been recording the colour of plaster, and thought I would see how this would work in book format.

It doesn't really work as book because the plaster cracks and the pages are too thick.

Drawing with remnants

2011-05-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have used fragments of plaster to create the circular image from the sculptures. I don't think it works because it is too controlled and contrived and feels very restrictive.

Layers of remnants

2011-05-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector

2011-05-15T03:25:00.000-07:00

I am thoroughly enjoying reading one of my new purchases, 'Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector' by artist Ellie Harrison.

Initially flicking through this small publication, I was attracted to the colourful charts and repetitive imagery, but there is a much more serious note to this book. It marks a turning point in Harrison's artistic career; a time when she decides to stop doing activities that her practice had previously revolved around in an attempt to 'stop making work about myself and start making work about the world'. In her own words "There is now such a ridiculous abundance of boring information about other people's lives on the internet, I felt obliged to stop adding to it."

The book examines the wider reasons behind Ellies actions; living in a culture of quantifying behaviour, Thatherism and performance measurement. She also draws upon artists who have acted in similar ways. In the style of a self help guide, motivational slogans sum up each chapter, giving ideas to move forward.

Knowing Harrison's current practice, I found it very satisfying to see how she has succeeded in becoming an artist with 'a healthier and more outward-looking practice'.

She produces work that is pertinant, uses humour intellegently, and is truely committed to everything she does.

I strongly recommend visiting Ellie's excellent website http://www.ellieharrison.com/
'
For Megan Smith's review of 'Confessions of a Recovering Data Collector' please visit
http://www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/1217118

Imi Maufe - World Atlas

2011-05-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

Imi Maufe invited the public to help create a World Atlas from memory during the BABE weekend. The work in progress was on view during the weekend, before being bound into a book at the end.

Bristol Artist Bookfair Event

2011-05-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

I timed my trip to coincide with a number of events going on in Bristol, and it was an action packed few days.

The Bristol Artist Bookfair Event (BABE) took place at Arnolfini on Saturday and Sunday.

Spread over three floors, more than 80 artist bookmakers, dealers and small presses from Bristol and around the world came together at Arnolfini to show and sell their work. There was a great variety of work, and it was lovely to catch up with friends from the Artist Book world, many of whom have participated in Glasgow International Artists Bookfair which I co-organised in 2008 and 2010.

Here Gallery Bookshop

2011-05-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Above the Here Gallery is the Here Gallery Bookshop stocking a wide range of very inviting artist publications, prints, collages, magazines and other art objects.

Site visit to the Here Gallery

2011-05-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

In preparation for my exhibition at the Here Gallery in June, I visited the gallery and admired the current exhibition 'Hostile Places' by Julia McKinlay.

Trip to Bristol

2011-05-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

I took advantage of the long weekend and made a trip to Bristol for a super weekend full of art.

The wonderful Christine (Gallery Co-ordinator at Here Gallery) was my host and did a super job at showing me the joys of Bristol.

Casting details

2011-04-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

Casting Progress

2011-04-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

Casting remnants

2011-04-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

I was throwing the remaining solidified plaster out the plastic containers in which i have been mixing my coloured plasters, and admired the arrangement of these remnants in the bin.

From then on I have been collecting the sections of dried plaster that get cracked out of the container once the plaster has been poured.

Casting records

2011-04-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

Whilst I have been casting, i have kept a record of the composition of every layer. I find these rather beautiful, especially when they are displayed together in rows.

Assembly at The Mutual

2011-04-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

I have a number of artist books in 'Assemble' A Members Led Resource Project at The Mutual.

17-22 April
Opening Event
Sunday 17th April
4-7pm

Ironbbratz Studios
84 Miller Street
3rd floor
Glasgow
G1 1DT

support at loop (international women's day)

2011-03-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the kind people who donated bras to me for my artwork at The Hidden Gardens, Tramway, as part of International Women's day. I was amazed by the generosity of people, and it made for a great installation.

Thanks also go to my great team of volunteers - Anna, Meera, Laura and Luisa who helped with the install and destall and were super enthusiastic.

When installing it was lovely to discuss with other ladies the ups and downs of being a woman, and we shared many a story about our bras - remember the first bra you wore? the occasion at school when you realised it was time to move from crop tops etc!

On the day of the event itself, the weather was dreadful - gale force winds and rain. The bras stayed put - a true sign of their resiliance!

I enjoyed speaking with a few people who did venture into the rain, and again, more womanly stories were shared.

Those few encounters were meaningful and I am pleased that the installation resonated with people.

The installation has been removed now, but those bras donated will go to a charity who supply women in need with bras.

100th International Women's Day

2011-03-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

Briggait Project Space Exhibition

2011-02-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

I was recently selected to have a solo exhibition in one of the project spaces, The Briggait, Glasgow.

The Briggait is a beautiful Grade A listed building in Glasgow’s Merchant City. It has recently been redeveloped as a new cultural space for the city. At the main entrance, there are two project spaces which are intended to be used for exhibitions that reflect the multiplicity of art forms created at the Briggait whilst enlivening the beautiful façade of the building.

A programming panel made up of arts practitioners based in the building has been formed to create a programme for the public spaces. The new programme of exhibitions in the project spaces will commence with an opening event on Friday 11th March 2011 at 6pm. First up, London based artist Heena Kim will be showing a selection of her paintings for the first time in Scotland. Full details of dates and times to follow.

Talk at North Lanarkshire High Schools Art Festival

2011-02-21T15:32:00.000-08:00

I was invited to be the guest speaker at this years North Lanarkshire High Schools Art Festival.

Tonight I went to the Tudor Hotel, Airdrie to "provide an inspirational talk" to the young people whose work was on display.

The standard of work was exceptional. Students ranged from 12-17 years old, and produced a wide range of work in a variety of media.

I talked about my journey from being a student at college and Glasgow School of Art to going on to have a studio and work at Glasgow School of Art (amongst other things).

I gave examples of how my artistic career has enabled me to travel, and my experiences of exhibitions, commissions and other opportunities.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and following my speech it was great to talk with lots of students and teachers.

Call for bras

2011-02-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the 100th International Women’s Day, on Tuesday 8th March I will be doing a performance in the Hidden Gardens at Tramway as part of loop | 100 events for the 100th International Women's Day. [* for more information please see address below]

The performance will require the use of 100 bras of any size and style.

If you have any bras that you could lend for the day, please drop them off or send them to Tramway or contact me (details below). Items will be returned at the end of the event.

Your support is greatly appreciated!

Helen Shaddock c/o sitandknitabit, Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, Glasgow, G41 2PE
Or contact helen.shaddock@yahoo.co.uk

* garterstitch100.posterous.com

Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

2011-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.

1. Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

2. Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

3. Process is more important than outcome.
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to
be there.

4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

5. Go deep.
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.

6. Capture accidents.
The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

7. Study.
A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.

8. Drift.
Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

9. Begin anywhere.
John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.10. Everyone is a leader.
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

11. Harvest ideas.
Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas
to applications.

12. Keep moving.
The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.

13. Slow down.
Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.

14. Don’t be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

15. Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

16. Collaborate.
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

17. ____________________.
Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas
of others.

18. Stay up late.
Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.

19. Work the metaphor.
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.

20. Be careful to take risks.
Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.

21. Repeat yourself.
If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.

22. Make your own tools.
Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.

23. Stand on someone’s shoulders.
You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.

24. Avoid software.
The problem with software is that everyone has it.

25. Don’t clean your desk.
You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.

26. Don’t enter awards competitions.
Just don’t. It’s not good for you.

27. Read only left-hand pages.
Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."

28. Make new words.
Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

29. Think with your mind.
Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.

30. Organization = Liberty.
Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'

31. Don’t borrow money.
Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.

32. Listen carefully.
Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

33. Take field trips.
The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.

34. Make mistakes faster.
This isn’t my idea – I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.

35. Imitate.
Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.

36. Scat.
When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.

37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.

38. Explore the other edge.
Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.

39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces – what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference – the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals – but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

40. Avoid fields.
Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.

41. Laugh.
People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.

42. Remember.
Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.

43. Power to the people.
Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we’re not free.

Richard Eyre: Arts cuts will result in cultural apartheid

2011-02-19T07:05:00.000-08:00

During the year of the Jubilee I was asked to make a short speech about the arts in the Queen's presence. As I spoke, the Queen standing beside me, she remained inscrutable. If she agreed with me that the government should increase its support for the arts, she kept it to herself. Only when I quoted this – from the art critic John Ruskin – did she respond:

"Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the other two, but of these three, the only trustworthy one is the last."

As I spoke the last sentence I turned to share it with HMQ. Her eyes were fixed with no great curiosity on a spot on the ceiling, her heart no doubt longing to be delivered from the tedium of polemic.

To me this assertion from Ruskin is a matter of faith. The book of our art lives in the empire of invention of our fiction, poetry, drama, dance, our music, films, fashion, TV, video games, advertising, photography, design, architecture and so on, and in the archipelago of our cultural institutions – libraries, museums, theatres, opera houses, galleries, concert halls, cinemas and arts centres. They'll all be eroded by the decision to leech the humanities from our universities, by Arts Council cuts and by the depletion of the training of musicians, actors and artists. And little by little the already large gap between those for whom the arts are a part of life and those who feel excluded from them will widen to an unbridgeable divide. The result: cultural apartheid.

Governments have always been wary of the arts because they're wayward and ambiguous and because they deal with feelings rather than facts. Napoleon said that teaching the humanities in universities was "glorified table talk". Lenin said he was afraid of listening to Beethoven because it made him feel like caressing people's heads when it was necessary to beat them. Most politicians in this country are more interested in having their own heads caressed and respond in wounded bewilderment when they discover that the artists that they've allowed to flourish through their patronage wish to retain the right to criticise them.

Of course it's irritating for politicians to have to endure the noisy dissent of an apparently arrogant and self-interested claque, but then it's always been hard for rulers to license the jester as well as the judge, or to acknowledge poets as the legislators of the world. After all, art is all the things that politics isn't: "Politics is the great generaliser and literature the great particulariser," wrote Philip Roth, "and not only are they in an inverse relationship to each other – they are in an antagonistic relationship. To politics, literature is decadent, soft, irrelevant, boring, wrong-headed, dull, something that makes no sense and that really oughtn't to be. Why? Because the particularising influence is literature. But how can you be an artist and renounce the nuance? How can you be a politician and allow the nuance? As an artist the nuance is your task. Your task is not to simplify ... "

Art is about the "I" in life not the "we", about private life rather than public. A public life that doesn't acknowledge the private is a life not worth having. David Cameron seems to grasp this and is keen to "start measuring our progress as a country, not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving; not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life." But how this could possibly exclude the arts and the humanities? Can't government for once be persuaded of the virtue of subsidising weapons of happiness rather than weapons of destruction?

We're assiduous in presenting arguments that it should: we say that the cultural industries are of enormous and growing value to the British economy; that a healthy cultural realm is a powerful reason for Britain's magnetism as a tourist destination; that British cultural excellence is a valuable element of British identity abroad. And, like a 19th century curate's wife distributing pamphlets to the deserving poor, we argue for the social usefulness of art: we say, for instance, that music makes schoolchildren better at maths or that drama makes our society more tolerant. These things may be true – I hope they are – but this utilitarianism takes away from art the very thing that makes it alluring: its mystery and its joy, its irresponsibility, if you like.

Any utilitarian argument for art will succeed only in diminishing the thing it's arguing for. Art is not an ethical medicine: it doesn't improve our behaviour or civilise us. Indeed, as the philosopher George Santayana said: "Music is useless, as life is"; but it's precisely our awareness of the "uselessness" of life that make us want to struggle to give it purpose and to give that purpose meaning. The arts offer us a commentary on being alive: how to make sense of the world and even how to change it. Change begins with understanding and understanding begins by identifying oneself with another person: in a word, empathy. The arts enable us to put ourselves in the minds, eyes, ears and hearts of other human beings. What we hold in our heads – our memory, our feelings, our thoughts, our sense of our own history – is the sum of our humanity. We carry on us what King Lear called the "smell of mortality"; art redeems mortality by giving us a glimpse of eternity. It briefly illuminates something that's more than human. By diminishing the opportunity to experience the arts or to study them and the humanities – literature, philosophy, history, religion, languages – we condemn future generations to a life a little less than human.

Telling stories

2011-02-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

Telling Stories

Preview February 11th, 6pm - 9pm

Open February 12th - March 6th Thurs - Sun 11am - 5pm

David Shrigley Frank Quitely

Gary Erskine Jamie Grant

Sorcha Edwards Stuart Murray

Anna Tanner Mitch Millar

Chris Connelly Penny Sharp

Curt Sibling Innes Smith

Evy Craig Lewie Wicksted

Helen Shaddock Honeypears

Graphic novels such as Kick Ass have recently infiltrated the main stream through their translation
onto screen. Market Gallery presents graphic artists contributing to this creative boom, juxtaposing
them with contemporary fine artists who also use storytelling and narrative to construct their own
unique worlds.

Scotland is world renowned for its story telling. This exhibition aims to celebrate this legacy whilst
examining the relationship between illustration, film and fine art and encourage discussion about
how these seemingly autonomous media share common themes and motivations.

Throughout the show there will be a program of talks and events.

Please see the website for more details.

www.marketgallery.org.uk

market@marketgallery.org.uk

334 Duke Street
Glasgow
G3 11QZ