If you missed the live broadcast of me talking about all things artED, eating distress, autism and OCD with Anna Foster this morning on BBC Radio Newcastle, here is the link to listen now
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jm2x4
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Monday, 30 December 2019
So Many Books, So Little Time - BBC Radio 4
Since my Mum is a retired Librarian and my Dad is a self-declared book hoarder, it is hardly surprising that I am also fond of books. One of the things I was most excited about when moving into my current flat, was the possibility of being able to have a bookcase on which all my books could be united and housed. I took great pleasure from gathering all my books together, measuring them and designing my very own bookcase in which they would fit (with a little room for expansion, of course!)
I am drawn to the book as a physical object, hence my decision not to have a kindle or other electronic book device. I have many books that are more than their contents, there is a story behind getting the book - such as if it was bought for me and has a note inside. There's something about owning a book, being able to look back at it, refer to it when you have forgotten something, or being reminded of the time of your life when you first read the book.
Yet I hold my hands up high and admit that there are many books on my bookcase that I have yet to read. But I intend to read them.
I enjoyed listening to Mark Hodkinson discuss his relationship with books and the act of collecting books in this Radio 4 programme, 'So Many Books, So Little Time'.
Mark Hodkinson ponders the nature of our personal book collections, why and how we gather books, what it says about us, and how we ever expect to find time to read them all.
Author Mark had just moved house. By far the most difficult task was carrying, storing and alphabetising his collection of 3,500 books. It made him stop to think. If it took, say, four days of solid reading to finish a book, he’d need 38.3 years to go through his collection. He would have to make his way through 315 million words. And that’s if he didn’t take time off to sleep, eat and have the occasional night out.
Clearly, it was a challenge too far.
So Many Books, So Little Time is an autobiographical, impressionistic audio odyssey. Mark considers that he might be afflicted by bibliomania and visits consumer psychologist Lisa Edgar to see whether owning thousands of books is normal. He calls at his local bookshop and meets its owner, George Kelsall, who has ten times as many books as Mark and has bought a large house solely to accommodate them.
He visits fellow writers, such as Austin Collings who tells Mark he is in grave danger of becoming merely an aggregate of all his books and will eventually lose his own writing voice. Trevor Hoyle tells Mark that he views books as time capsules and, pulling copies down from the shelves, he can tell Mark when he bought them, what was happening in his life at the time. Joanne Harris, the million-selling author of Chocolat, tells Mark she has filled her house full of books because she can’t bring it upon herself to throw any away.
Practical concerns are not forgotten – Mark visits a carpenter, Ashley Deakin, who previously made a bookcase a week but now does one or two a year. ‘‘People don’t want to put books on their walls any more. They just want these bloody huge televisions,’’ he says. Ashley then remembers that he built a shelving unit just a few weeks ago.
"But it was for shoes,’’ he says.
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
Yet I hold my hands up high and admit that there are many books on my bookcase that I have yet to read. But I intend to read them.
I enjoyed listening to Mark Hodkinson discuss his relationship with books and the act of collecting books in this Radio 4 programme, 'So Many Books, So Little Time'.
Mark Hodkinson ponders the nature of our personal book collections, why and how we gather books, what it says about us, and how we ever expect to find time to read them all.
Author Mark had just moved house. By far the most difficult task was carrying, storing and alphabetising his collection of 3,500 books. It made him stop to think. If it took, say, four days of solid reading to finish a book, he’d need 38.3 years to go through his collection. He would have to make his way through 315 million words. And that’s if he didn’t take time off to sleep, eat and have the occasional night out.
Clearly, it was a challenge too far.
So Many Books, So Little Time is an autobiographical, impressionistic audio odyssey. Mark considers that he might be afflicted by bibliomania and visits consumer psychologist Lisa Edgar to see whether owning thousands of books is normal. He calls at his local bookshop and meets its owner, George Kelsall, who has ten times as many books as Mark and has bought a large house solely to accommodate them.
He visits fellow writers, such as Austin Collings who tells Mark he is in grave danger of becoming merely an aggregate of all his books and will eventually lose his own writing voice. Trevor Hoyle tells Mark that he views books as time capsules and, pulling copies down from the shelves, he can tell Mark when he bought them, what was happening in his life at the time. Joanne Harris, the million-selling author of Chocolat, tells Mark she has filled her house full of books because she can’t bring it upon herself to throw any away.
Practical concerns are not forgotten – Mark visits a carpenter, Ashley Deakin, who previously made a bookcase a week but now does one or two a year. ‘‘People don’t want to put books on their walls any more. They just want these bloody huge televisions,’’ he says. Ashley then remembers that he built a shelving unit just a few weeks ago.
"But it was for shoes,’’ he says.
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Industrial designer Marek Reichman meets graphic designer Peter Saville
In this episode of Only Artists on BBC Radio 4, the industrial designer Marek Reichman meets the graphic artist and designer Peter Saville.
Marek Reichman has designed cars for some of the world's best-known marques and is currently chief creative officer at Aston Martin. Born in Sheffield, he graduated from Teesside University with a degree in industrial design and continued his studies in vehicle design at the Royal College of Art.
Peter Saville was in his mid-20s when he created renowned album covers for Factory Records' bands including Joy Division and New Order. Since then he has worked with leading fashion designers and musicians and was appointed creative director of the city of Manchester.
I really appreciate the work of Peter Saville (see my previous blog post about him and his work), and this radio conversation gave me a better understanding of the systems he uses in his design process.
I was particularly fascinated to hear about how he transformed the alphabet into a colour system.
It was his interest in computers that lead him to allocate a colour to the numbers 1-9.
Saville explained: “The colour alphabet came from the fact that I understood the floppy disk contained coded information and I wanted to impart the title in a coded form - therefore I converted the alphabet into a code using colours.”
e.g.
1 = A
2 = B
3 = C
24 (2 and 4) = X
25 (2 and 5) = Y
26 (2 and 6) = Z
This was then used for the Blue Monday album cover.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006dqn
Marek Reichman has designed cars for some of the world's best-known marques and is currently chief creative officer at Aston Martin. Born in Sheffield, he graduated from Teesside University with a degree in industrial design and continued his studies in vehicle design at the Royal College of Art.
Peter Saville was in his mid-20s when he created renowned album covers for Factory Records' bands including Joy Division and New Order. Since then he has worked with leading fashion designers and musicians and was appointed creative director of the city of Manchester.
I really appreciate the work of Peter Saville (see my previous blog post about him and his work), and this radio conversation gave me a better understanding of the systems he uses in his design process.
I was particularly fascinated to hear about how he transformed the alphabet into a colour system.
It was his interest in computers that lead him to allocate a colour to the numbers 1-9.
Saville explained: “The colour alphabet came from the fact that I understood the floppy disk contained coded information and I wanted to impart the title in a coded form - therefore I converted the alphabet into a code using colours.”
e.g.
1 = A
2 = B
3 = C
24 (2 and 4) = X
25 (2 and 5) = Y
26 (2 and 6) = Z
This was then used for the Blue Monday album cover.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006dqn
Friday, 22 November 2019
Only Artists - Writer Tracy Chevalier meets ceramicist and author Edmund de Waal
I came across a fascinating conversation between the writer Tracy Chevalier and the ceramicist and author Edmund de Waal when catching up on older episodes of the BBC Radio 4 programme, Only Artists.
Tracy Chevalier has written eight novels including the international best-seller Girl with a Pearl Earring. Her latest book 'A Single Thread' is set in Winchester Cathedral.
Edmund de Waal is a ceramicist and author. His book 'The Hare with Amber Eyes' is a family biography about the loss and survival of art objects through time. His porcelain installations often respond to history, museum collections and archives.
The conversation took place sat at the potter's wheel in Edmund de Waal's studio. As de Waal demonstrated the process of making a small cup, he spoke of the importance of touch and the connection with the material.
Chevalier agreed and the two authors discussed how, when writing they use pen and paper as opposed to using a computer because their mind is connected to the hand which is connected to the paper, and they think at the pace of writing, not typing. Chevalier also noted how she likes to be able to see the 'road maps' of edits - the bits that she has crossed out, the mistakes and edits. Although 'track changes' does a similar job, she finds these hard to follow. Both shared the importance of feeling what they are doing without overworking it; for de Waal this is in clay, for Chevalier, this is in words.
Chevalier spoke about the importance of authenticity, and remarked that she can't write about something well unless she has done it herself.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00094hg
Tracy Chevalier has written eight novels including the international best-seller Girl with a Pearl Earring. Her latest book 'A Single Thread' is set in Winchester Cathedral.
Edmund de Waal is a ceramicist and author. His book 'The Hare with Amber Eyes' is a family biography about the loss and survival of art objects through time. His porcelain installations often respond to history, museum collections and archives.
The conversation took place sat at the potter's wheel in Edmund de Waal's studio. As de Waal demonstrated the process of making a small cup, he spoke of the importance of touch and the connection with the material.
Chevalier agreed and the two authors discussed how, when writing they use pen and paper as opposed to using a computer because their mind is connected to the hand which is connected to the paper, and they think at the pace of writing, not typing. Chevalier also noted how she likes to be able to see the 'road maps' of edits - the bits that she has crossed out, the mistakes and edits. Although 'track changes' does a similar job, she finds these hard to follow. Both shared the importance of feeling what they are doing without overworking it; for de Waal this is in clay, for Chevalier, this is in words.
Chevalier spoke about the importance of authenticity, and remarked that she can't write about something well unless she has done it herself.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00094hg
Friday, 12 April 2019
Beginners Mind
Beginner's Mind
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00040gl
In this BBC radio 4 radio programme, 'Suryagupta, chair of the London Buddhist Centre, explores the Zen Buddhist concept of Beginner’s Mind, which encourages the viewing of the familiar with fresh eyes.
She discusses the first time she discovered the benefits of Beginner’s Mind, at a retreat in Wales. While meditating, Suryagupta became fascinated by the sound of birdsong, feeling as if she was hearing it for the very first time. This meditation encouraged her to experience life anew, through help from texts such as Suzuki Roshi’s classic title Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
Suryagupta considers the obstacles that can hinder Beginner’s Mind, such as pressure and the burden of expectations. She suggests that attempting to return to the simple and spontaneous innocence of the child’s mind can help us overcome these obstructions, in order to experience moments of revelation and wonder. She concludes with a quote from Henry Miller, who celebrates the benefits of sharing these discoveries with others. In doing so, we can connect deeply with one another, and experience an interdependence that is freeing and refreshing.'
I found this way of thinking to be hugely helpful in my studio practice and in life more generally. In the arts there are no answers and so it can be difficult to get a real sense of achievement because the artistic process is always evolving and has no set end conclusion.
Tuesday, 5 March 2019
Penelope by Anthony Howell
I have been listening to the Heroine episode of Words and Music on BBC Radio 3,
and the following poem grabbed my attention
PENELOPE
To do what you undid
The night before
To undo what you did
The day before
The night before
To undo what you did
The day before
To undo what you undid
Again the next night
To do what you did
As you do the next day
Again the next night
To do what you did
As you do the next day
Only to undo it again
Just as you did
The night before
In order to do it again
Just as you did
The night before
In order to do it again
Just as you did
The day before
The day before
Just as you did
The day before
The day before
Just as you did
In order to do it again
The night before
Just as you did
Only to undo it again
The night before
Just as you did
Only to undo it again
As you do the next day
To do what you did
Again the next night
To undo what you undid
To do what you did
Again the next night
To undo what you undid
Anthony Howell
Friday, 15 February 2019
Silence - Episode 2 - BBC Radio 4
“We live in the age of noise. Silence is almost extinct.”
Philosopher and adventurer Erling Kagge, the first person to reach the ‘three poles’ of North, South and the summit of Everest, explores the power of silence. Struck by a vague angst about his constant need for distraction and reluctance to hold still for a single moment, the explorer asks how we lost silence and where we might go to find it again.
Some of the main points of discussion in this second episode were the following.
Silence can be boring, uncomfortable, scary, a sign of loneliness or sorrow
We experience silence when we keep quiet when there is something that one does not want to talk about
Silence can also be a friend and comfort, reassuring
It can be daunting, one may rather do anything else as opposed to filling the silence with oneself
The problems faced by humanity stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone
One searches for fresh purposes that draw our attention outwards, away from ourselves
Such opportunities for interruption have increased dramatically over the last century
We live in the age of noise
Noise comes in the form of distracting sounds and images and as ones own fleeting thoughts
The more we are inundated with noise, the more we seek to be distracted
A chemical in the brain called opioid is meant to create the feelings of happiness that one gets when one has completed ones goals.
Dopamine is a chemical that helps regulate movement, attention, learning, and emotional responses. It also enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.Dopamine is stronger than opioid, and is the reason why one is never content that they have fulfilled their desires.
It is more fulfilling to anticipate and seek rather than to value and appreciate the fact that you have fulfilled your desires
This form of noise engenders anxiety and negative feelings.
The basic business model of social networks such as twitter is to create a need for you to use an app, which the same app should then fill, but only temporarily
FOMO - Fear of Missing Out or fear of missing a special moment
Silence is the opposite of all of this. It is about experiencing rather than overthinking, allowing each moment to be big enough, shutting out the world and creating your own silence
Philosopher and adventurer Erling Kagge, the first person to reach the ‘three poles’ of North, South and the summit of Everest, explores the power of silence. Struck by a vague angst about his constant need for distraction and reluctance to hold still for a single moment, the explorer asks how we lost silence and where we might go to find it again.
Some of the main points of discussion in this second episode were the following.
Silence can be boring, uncomfortable, scary, a sign of loneliness or sorrow
We experience silence when we keep quiet when there is something that one does not want to talk about
Silence can also be a friend and comfort, reassuring
It can be daunting, one may rather do anything else as opposed to filling the silence with oneself
The problems faced by humanity stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone
One searches for fresh purposes that draw our attention outwards, away from ourselves
Such opportunities for interruption have increased dramatically over the last century
We live in the age of noise
Noise comes in the form of distracting sounds and images and as ones own fleeting thoughts
The more we are inundated with noise, the more we seek to be distracted
A chemical in the brain called opioid is meant to create the feelings of happiness that one gets when one has completed ones goals.
Dopamine is a chemical that helps regulate movement, attention, learning, and emotional responses. It also enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.Dopamine is stronger than opioid, and is the reason why one is never content that they have fulfilled their desires.
It is more fulfilling to anticipate and seek rather than to value and appreciate the fact that you have fulfilled your desires
This form of noise engenders anxiety and negative feelings.
The basic business model of social networks such as twitter is to create a need for you to use an app, which the same app should then fill, but only temporarily
FOMO - Fear of Missing Out or fear of missing a special moment
Silence is the opposite of all of this. It is about experiencing rather than overthinking, allowing each moment to be big enough, shutting out the world and creating your own silence
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Art on prescription on Front Row
Last Thursday's episode of Front Row on BBC Radio 4 included a feature about Art on prescription. 'Earlier this month Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that "arts on prescription" is an indispensable tool in tackling loneliness, mental health and other long-term conditions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001bqn
The programme features Wellcome Research Fellow Daisy Fancourt, Gavin Clayton, head of the Arts and Minds charity and GP Dr Simon Opher, and they discuss arts and healthcare.
It is based on the thought that changing people's environment can have a positive effect on mental wellbeing. Although ideas like this have been around for some time now, it is believed that about 20% of GP's are now making use of "arts on prescription." Sometimes artists are based in the doctors surgery and the GPs refer the patient directly to the artist, and other times the patient is directed to an organisation such as Arts and Minds that are based in museums and run workshops for groups that involve making art inspired by the heritage artifacts.
Something worth noting is that the government seem to acknowledge the importance of the arts for health, but its status within the school curriculum and in libraries and museums are under threat.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001bqn
The programme features Wellcome Research Fellow Daisy Fancourt, Gavin Clayton, head of the Arts and Minds charity and GP Dr Simon Opher, and they discuss arts and healthcare.
It is based on the thought that changing people's environment can have a positive effect on mental wellbeing. Although ideas like this have been around for some time now, it is believed that about 20% of GP's are now making use of "arts on prescription." Sometimes artists are based in the doctors surgery and the GPs refer the patient directly to the artist, and other times the patient is directed to an organisation such as Arts and Minds that are based in museums and run workshops for groups that involve making art inspired by the heritage artifacts.
Something worth noting is that the government seem to acknowledge the importance of the arts for health, but its status within the school curriculum and in libraries and museums are under threat.
Friday, 12 October 2018
Bobby Baker talks about Great & Tiny War on BBC Newcastle Radio
Follow the link below to hear Bobby Baker talking about her Great & Tiny War on BBC Newcastle Radio on Monday morning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06lrmg2
It's in 2 parts - listen at 10.20 and 10.38.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06lrmg2
It's in 2 parts - listen at 10.20 and 10.38.
Friday, 25 May 2018
Orla Kiely on BBC Radio 4 Front Row
The exhibition is at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London and is said to "explore all aspects of Orla’s creative output, from lifestyle and fashion ranges to use of colour and detail and the geometry of pattern."
The exhibition draws "on an archive of over 20 years of work, offering visitors unparalleled insight into her methods and concepts, exploring sketches, mood boards, samples and a range of making techniques."
http://www.ftmlondon.org/ftm-exhibitions/orla-kiely-life-in-pattern/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b39v7b
http://www.ftmlondon.org/ftm-exhibitions/orla-kiely-life-in-pattern/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b39v7b
Monday, 30 April 2018
Word of Mouth - Not My Type - The world of fonts on BBC Radio 4
The episode of BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth programme on Monday 23rd April was titled 'Not My Type' and focused on the world of fonts. Some of the questions asked include: How do fonts change the meaning of a message? What was Comic Sans invented for? Why was Obama's first election campaign so typographically bold? And which font would make you buy one chocolate bar over another?
Michael Rosen was joined by graphic designer, author and the font of all knowledge when it comes to fonts, Sarah Hyndman, to discuss the psychology of typefaces.
Sarah is the author of 3 books, including 'Why Fonts Matter' and 'How to Draw Type and Influence people'. She is also the founder of the Type Tasting studio, which aims to change the way we think and talk about typography through interactive and sensory experiences.
Hyndman talked about the link between fonts and taste. She reported that anything in a round font, especially if it is in red, makes you think that it is going to be sweet. Conversely, a jaggered font is associated with food and drink that are bitter or sour.
She also talked about some of the fun tests that can be done through her website. For example, viewers are shown 9 small paragraphs, each one with a different font. and are then asked which one they would date, which one they would choose as a friend, and which one they would ditch. All these decisions were based on choice of font. She then goes on to explain what characteristics each of the fonts suggest. Very interesting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09z4k9v
Michael Rosen was joined by graphic designer, author and the font of all knowledge when it comes to fonts, Sarah Hyndman, to discuss the psychology of typefaces.
Sarah is the author of 3 books, including 'Why Fonts Matter' and 'How to Draw Type and Influence people'. She is also the founder of the Type Tasting studio, which aims to change the way we think and talk about typography through interactive and sensory experiences.
Hyndman talked about the link between fonts and taste. She reported that anything in a round font, especially if it is in red, makes you think that it is going to be sweet. Conversely, a jaggered font is associated with food and drink that are bitter or sour.
She also talked about some of the fun tests that can be done through her website. For example, viewers are shown 9 small paragraphs, each one with a different font. and are then asked which one they would date, which one they would choose as a friend, and which one they would ditch. All these decisions were based on choice of font. She then goes on to explain what characteristics each of the fonts suggest. Very interesting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09z4k9v
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Writing for the page and writing to be read aloud
Last night's BBC Radio 4 Front Row programme examined the difference between writing for the page and writing to be read aloud. This is something I have thought about when deciding whether a work is a spoken word piece or if it is to exist on a page to be read. It is also a topic I have discussed with my colleague Jennifer Richards with whom I am organising an event to debate such issues.
Audible is launching three new podcasts featuring original short stories written exclusively for audio. Ben Okri, Booker prize-winning writer of The Famished Road, and bestselling author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris have both written new short stories for Audible. They discuss the particular challenges and joys of writing to be read aloud, and consider the impact of the increasing availability of audio content on the popularity of short-form fiction.
Ben Okri explains that he tends to write with more intensity and clarity when writing for the ear.
He believes that the ear and imagination are more closely linked than imagination and words on a page. When Okri writes, he uses his inner ear to listen to the words internally. However, Joanne Harris reads her writing aloud as she writes. Everything she writes is for the ear and everything is supposed to come off the page.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09y6z5p
Audible is launching three new podcasts featuring original short stories written exclusively for audio. Ben Okri, Booker prize-winning writer of The Famished Road, and bestselling author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris have both written new short stories for Audible. They discuss the particular challenges and joys of writing to be read aloud, and consider the impact of the increasing availability of audio content on the popularity of short-form fiction.
Ben Okri explains that he tends to write with more intensity and clarity when writing for the ear.
He believes that the ear and imagination are more closely linked than imagination and words on a page. When Okri writes, he uses his inner ear to listen to the words internally. However, Joanne Harris reads her writing aloud as she writes. Everything she writes is for the ear and everything is supposed to come off the page.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09y6z5p
Thursday, 15 February 2018
Select, Copy, Paste - Execution - Sunday Feature - BBC Radio 3
In the second programme in this series exploring the impact of technology on creativity the focus is on the execution of ideas. As technology has improved how has it enabled artists to create new kinds of work?
Musician Holly Herndon reveals how technology is not only central to her creative process but it's also key in terms of subject matter. She responds to the impact of technology on society and is raising an AI baby that she's teaching to sing.
Doug Eck from Google's Magenta is also looking to create new forms. His goal is to create a new form of art, generated by computers. If fifty years of music was driven by the electric guitar, perhaps it's time for a new type of sound generated with the help of machine learning and AI?
Visual artists Trevor Paglan and James Bridle reveal the hidden infrastructures of the internet.
Writer Ed Finn asks what impact these technological advances are having on our cultural output? Instagram's filters may make us feel creative but does increasingly average perfection lie ahead?
Computers can help us paint, write stories, design objects and compose music, but as technology is heralded as an enabler to a better life, do we risk losing sight of that spark of imagination that makes us human? If human beings are no longer needed to make art, then what are we for?
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Select, Copy, Paste - Conception - Sunday Feature - BBC Radio 3
"Clemency Burton-Hill presents a series exploring the impact of technology on creativity. Across three episodes she traces how technology has shaped the creative process, from conception and execution, to sharing and experiencing. Technology may help us to be more productive, but does it make our ideas better?
Artists are both preoccupied with technology and empowered by it. Technology underpins the way we live, but how does the technology artists, writers and musicians use change the way they create?
In the first programme she focuses on conception - how technology has shaped the way we have come up with ideas over the last 50 years. We examine the impact of a seminal event in New York that formed a brave new alliance between art and technology. Electronic music composer Suzanne Ciani explains how she trained as a classical composer, but was frustrated by the limitations of the instruments and sought answers in a new instrument built by a former NASA scientist. Pulitzer prize-winning composer John Luther Adams finds his music in wild exposures; a cabin in Alaska that was his home for close to forty years. For him the tool he keeps returning to is a rare discontinued pencil.
Computers can help us paint, write stories, design objects and compose music, but as technology is heralded as an enabler to a better life do we risk losing sight of that spark of imagination that makes us human? If human beings are no longer needed to make art, then what are we for?"
Tuesday, 2 January 2018
Making Culture at Home - Front Row
Monday's Front Row on BBC Radio 4 looked at how arts organisations nationwide are seeking to make themselves open and relevant to their local communities. It provides a fascinating insight into what goes on behind the scenes, and highlights the positive roles that artistic institutions have within local communities.
In Dundee, as the final preparations for the opening of the new V&A Dundee museum take place, Front Row visited the new V&A Dundee community garden. Volunteers Denis Harkins and Derek Cassie and Communities Producer Peter Nurick discussed their involvement in the garden. Sarah Saunders, Director of Learning and Engagement at V&A Dundee, and Cameron Price talked about the museum's first public engagement project - Living Room For The City. In addition, young engineers Emma Evans and Ross Tolland spoke about their contribution to V&A Dundee's most recent public engagement project - the Scottish Design Challenge.
Natalie Walton, former Head of Learning at the Hepworth Wakefield, winner of the Museum of the Year 2017 award, reflected on the actions they took in the year before it opened that helped to ensure it would be a welcome addition to the lives of local people.
Alex Clifton, the artistic director of Storyhouse - the new and long desired arts centre in Chester - and Michael Green, the executive editor of local newspaper, The Chester Chronicle, discussed why the new £37 million pounds venue has received such strong local support.
Emma Horsman, Project Director of The Cultural Spring in Sunderland and South Tyneside, revealed the work and thinking behind Creative People and Places - Arts Council England's latest approach to arts funding which puts local people first.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09k0n96
Friday, 8 December 2017
Frank Ormsby on The Art of Living
My research into research auditory and visual hallucinations has revealed that these experiences are more common than I first was aware of.
In a recent episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme, The Art of Living, the poet Frank Ormsby discusses how his life has changed since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. His medication, he believes, has aided his creativity. But it has also induced hallucinations. He finds himself sitting on his own in his study but surrounded by people, by the ghosts of his mother-in-law and unidentified visitors. And he's also haunted by a fear that the earth will open up and swallow him.
When he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, his response was unexpected. He embarked on a newly fertile creative period, documenting his experiences and finding a voice in his poetry that he was beginning to lose in his daily communications.
His first act was to search Google - for jokes. "Which would you rather have, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. Obviously Parkinson's! I'd rather spill half my pint than forget where I left it."
As he discusses with Marie-Louise Muir, the illness has changed him. It's mellowed him. After a career as a school teacher, his daily life is now quieter and more solitary. There's a poetry, almost, in his pauses and silences.
I find his following poem about his hallucinations very powerful
"Wherever i sit
at the corner of my eye
they fade in fade out
melt into elsewhere before i can see faces
who is that girl i sense at my shoulder?
who is that dancing lazily on my table until i look up?
are they playing a game?
do they mean me any harm?
not one has appeared twice or uttered a sound
remote, indifferent
they will never amount to a family or a circle of friends
meanwhile
a black spider with its heart in its mouth is legging it across the floor tiles towards the nearest shade
he is strangely human
and visible all the way
so used to them have I become
so aware without thinking of their nameless presence and their ways of peopling a room
I spoke absently to one lurking in my mother-in-laws chair
and called it Jean
and asked about an imminent journey
when I looked in its direction it disappeared
not much conversation to be shared with a neurological disturbance
everyone else in the room
if indeed anybody else was there
remained invisible
and a lonliness beyond reason began to take hold
and things impossible lost themselves again
in a round of regrets
there was no breakthrough
there was no crossing of lines
my silent visitors wouldn't startle a mouse
so still they sit
sometimes on every chair in the conservatory
they might be teachers or civil servants
with a taste for line dancing and country music
at times they exude a kind of homelessness
displaced beings crashing at my pad
they have the fearsome patience of invalids
whatever it is they are waiting for
they'll wait forever"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09gc8k6
Monday, 4 December 2017
How opening our ears can open our minds: Hildegard Westerkamp
"Soundscape composer Hildegard Westerkamp hears the world differently than most people. Where many of us might hear noise, she uncovers extraordinary beauty and meaning. It's all in how we listen to our environment.
In this interview, Paul Kennedy joined Hildegard Westerkamp on a sound-walk through Vancouver's downtown eastside, and explored how opening our ears to our surroundings can open our minds.
Westerkamp uses environmental sounds her instruments. She refrains from using any effects, and feels it is important to do her own field recording as opposed to using pre-recorded sounds and it encourages her to listen actively. When in the studio, re-listening to her field recordings, Westerkamp often picks up on other sounds that she had not previously heard because she does not have as many other sounds competing for her attention.
"To be in the present as a listener is a revolutionary act. We absolutely need it, to be grounded in that way."
She comments that people no longer practice listening to the environment, are afraid of silence and so turn to music to fill the perceived void.
"People are afraid of silence, because it's perceived as a vacuum. It's not perceived as a source of inspiration…. The tools to search out the environmental sounds that heal us have been lessened as a result."
"Listening will help us reconnect to the environment. If we can understand what listening can do to reconnect us to our environment, we can understand what's happening to our environment... we would be enriched, hugely."
To listen to the interview and sound walk visit:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/how-opening-our-ears-can-open-our-minds-hildegard-westerkamp-1.3962163
To find out more about Hildegard Westerkamp, visit:
https://www.sfu.ca/~westerka/
Westerkamp uses environmental sounds her instruments. She refrains from using any effects, and feels it is important to do her own field recording as opposed to using pre-recorded sounds and it encourages her to listen actively. When in the studio, re-listening to her field recordings, Westerkamp often picks up on other sounds that she had not previously heard because she does not have as many other sounds competing for her attention.
"To be in the present as a listener is a revolutionary act. We absolutely need it, to be grounded in that way."
She comments that people no longer practice listening to the environment, are afraid of silence and so turn to music to fill the perceived void.
"People are afraid of silence, because it's perceived as a vacuum. It's not perceived as a source of inspiration…. The tools to search out the environmental sounds that heal us have been lessened as a result."
"Listening will help us reconnect to the environment. If we can understand what listening can do to reconnect us to our environment, we can understand what's happening to our environment... we would be enriched, hugely."
To listen to the interview and sound walk visit:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/how-opening-our-ears-can-open-our-minds-hildegard-westerkamp-1.3962163
To find out more about Hildegard Westerkamp, visit:
https://www.sfu.ca/~westerka/
Tuesday, 28 November 2017
Lubaina Himid talking about patterns on Mary Anne Hobbs Radio 6 Music
I really enjoyed listening to Turner Prize nominee, Lubaina Himid talk about patterns in her paintings.
She was speaking to Mary Anne Hobbs as part of Mary Anne's Radio 6 Music episodes about The Turner Prize. Interviews with the other nominees are also featured.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09g0qf1
She was speaking to Mary Anne Hobbs as part of Mary Anne's Radio 6 Music episodes about The Turner Prize. Interviews with the other nominees are also featured.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09g0qf1
Thursday, 23 November 2017
The Power of Words in Art by Mark Titchner
This year Art is Everywhere will be happening on Saturday 2 December and Sunday 3 December. The Saturday show will be broadcast live from Ferens Gallery in Hull, tying in directly with the 2017 Turner Prize.
In the run up to the launch of Art Is Everywhere, artist Mark Titchner talked to Mary Anne Hobbs about the power of words in art, particularly in public spaces.
Titchner's work utilises song lyrics, and words from creeds, treatises and political manifestos to explore different belief systems, and the way in which we 'receive thought and ideas'.
The artist reflects on how he first became interested in art using text, and recognises that the numerous notebooks that he filled with words were probably the starting point for him making work with words.
He is interested in the voice - how we share information, who gets to speak, who we listen to, where they are placed in the world. The majority of his work exists outside of the gallery, in the public sphere.
He began using text that he found, for example song lyrics or lines from books. His main concern was that the material had the potential to engage anyone.
One of his artworks, 'What I want more than anything else' involved Titchner talking to young people, aged 13-25, from across Hull, Burnley and Wigan. They were asked "What would you like more than anything else." Their handwritten responses were enlarged and made into banners, flags, murals, hidden bookmarks and on video screens that were displayed in the public. Each artwork was titled with the name of the individual who responded to the question.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ng4x4
Thursday, 9 November 2017
Artists as curators on Front Row
Monday's edition of Front Row featured a discussion about artists curating exhibitions.
This coincides with the opening of two exhibitions curated by artists, namely Shonky : The Aesthetics of Awkwardness at The Mac, Belfast and Paul Nash & the Uncanny Landscape at York Art Gallery.
John Stezaker has curated Paul Nash & the Uncanny Landscape at York Art Gallery, an exhibition which in which Paul Nash’s groundbreaking inter-war landscapes which transformed the genre of British landscape painting are exhibited along with works by Stezaker.
In Shonky : The Aesthetics of Awkwardness, the artist John Walter has brought together international artists and architects to explore the nature of visual awkwardness.
John Walter and Jill Constantine, curator and Head of the Art Council Collection reflected on what artists can bring to the curation of an exhibition.
When asked how the process of curating for an artist is different to that of a curator, Jill Constantine remarked that artists tend to adopt an intuitive, immediate, emotional and personal approach whereas curators tend to look for thematic and interpretative material and do a lot of research in order to contextualise.
John Walter recognised that as an artist, he can use his practice as the starting point to make the exhibition, perhaps choosing to to show out of fashion or less popular work. He explained that in the current exhibition at The Mac, Belfast he used the fourteen artists in the show to make a bigger picture. It was encouraging to hear Jill Constantine speak so positively about artists curating exhibitions. She was quick to dismiss the idea that artists that curate make random choices, and did not think that they undermined the position of curators.
To listen to the programme visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvwx7
John Walter recognised that as an artist, he can use his practice as the starting point to make the exhibition, perhaps choosing to to show out of fashion or less popular work. He explained that in the current exhibition at The Mac, Belfast he used the fourteen artists in the show to make a bigger picture. It was encouraging to hear Jill Constantine speak so positively about artists curating exhibitions. She was quick to dismiss the idea that artists that curate make random choices, and did not think that they undermined the position of curators.
To listen to the programme visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvwx7
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