Pester & Rossi present 'A Bodyssey Odyssey' at Baltic 39

Glasgow-based collaborative duo Pester & Rossi have been residents in the project space at Baltic 39 since mid- September.

The artists have used the gallery as a studio space, giving the audience a glimpse into their do-it-yourself approach and low-fi working methods. 

"Pester & Rossi make work that spans sculpture, performance and installation using a wide variety of media. Immersive performances and social experiments are rooted in a do-it-yourself approach with ideas connected to childhood nostalgia, public ceremony and a celebration of the home-made. Often using imagery and props relating to the body, along with its physical and metaphorical associations, they provide a sense of familiarity for the audience, all the while generating irony and humour."

Throughout their residency Pester and Rossi have hosted a couple of performances with other artists. Last night all these artists were brought together for the ultimate 'A Bodyssey Odyssey'.


Belinda Gilbert Scott created the impressive scenic backdrop, out of which the performers entered the stage, and into which they retreated at the end, along with the giant inflatable.

"By using her experience as a scenic painter, Gilbert Scott has begun to paint backcloths, the cloths, draping from the wall to the floor, are cut into, releasing the image from the background and positioning it in the space. The viewer is allowed to walk upon and between the painted surfaces. This expresses the feeling of wanting to physically get into an imaginary space. This is also a response to the gallery setting and counteracts the reverence and untouchability of painting, allowing the audience to enter into a playful relationship with the work. By introducing physical space into the work, the paintings can also become theatrical settings. This has opened up the opportunity to work collaboratively."

A couple of Sarah Kenchengton's amazing sound generating inventions shared the stage alongside the more traditional musical instruments played by Fallopé and The Tubes.

"Sarah Kenchington builds her own remarkable mechanical instruments, including a pedal-powered hurdy-gurdy, a giant rotating kalimba and her own brass band, powered by tractor inner-tubes."

These produced the less easily definable noises that fitted so well with the aesthetic of the rest of the set.

Having performed alongside Stasis in Circus Between Worlds in Glasgow earlier this year, I knew I was in for a treat when I saw that they were on the line up. 

They did not fail to deliver, performing a highly energetic performance involving boxing gloves. The way in which they managed to physically carve out space in the gallery was impressive, forcing the audience to alter their viewing positions.



The whole evening was a visual and audio delight, full of experimentation, exploration, energy and fun.

No Niceties contributing artist - Cecilia Stenbom

Newcastle-based artist, Cecilia Stenbom created an audio work for the No Niceties exhibition. Buzz was comprised of 15 recordings layered into a single track. The recordings were done over the course of one week, at different times of the day, capturing various everyday activities at home, studio and in public space, creating a record, of the uneventful and mundane of everyday existence.



Stenbom writes, "My work, primarily screen-based, is concerned with narrative and the everyday; notions of identity and human interaction. I examine collective experiences by reinterpretation and appropriation, employing both documentary and fiction conventions. I am interested in how the mundane and everyday is narrativised; the process of turning real experiences into fiction."

Originally from Sweden Cecilia has lived and worked in Helsinki and Glasgow before moving to the North East of England. Forthcoming and recent projects includes; Somewhere Becoming the Sea (2017) , Group Exhibition part of City of Culture, Hull, curated by Steven Bode and Film & Video Umbrella, Beam Reach Blasting and Parallel (2016) commission for Tall Ships Cultural Programme (UK and Sweden) In Waiting (2014), commission by Creative England, The List (2014), Figure two, BALTIC 39, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

www.ceciliastenbom.se

www.workplacegallery.co.uk

PMP | Forever Together - M I L K, Seize Projects, Pester & Rossi, McGilvary/White

M I L K, Seize Projects, Pester & Rossi, McGilvary/White
Discussion Chaired by Lloyd & Wilson

The objective of this event was to explore means, mediums and modes of artistic collaboration. Artists discussed collaborative efforts, successful and not. What went right, what went wrong and the joys of a shared creative process.

This event was programmed with M I L K alongside their exhibition This Is It, Isn’t It? the first of 3 exhibitions they have curated as part of their takeover at Workplace Gateshead. This Is It, Isn’t It? Explores ideas of self-doubt, self-awareness and self-reflexivity as a core of artistic practice.

M I L K were joined by Pester and Rossi, Seize Projects and McGilvary/White, and a discussion will be chaired by Lloyd & Wilson.

Ideas around collaborative practice quite often occupy my thoughts. This event yet again prompted me to think about 
- the difference between collectives and collaborations
- individual and collaborative practice and how artists can operate in both fields
- the audience as a collaborator
- friendship and collaboration - does it make it or break it?
- authorship
- identity, ego, 
- committees and collectives

No Niceties contributing artist - David Sherry

Glasgow-based artist, David Sherry contributed a performance sculpture 'Glue the glue with the glue free standing tube of glue glued by its own glue' to the No Niceties exhibition.



In his absence, Sherry sent the following instructions to be performed by a 'helper'.


A tube of Yellow UHU glue, glued upright, standing free. As a performance sculpture.

On a plinth or old table, a helper opens the glue and glues the nozzle of the UHU glue with the UHU glue to the middle of the plinth or table top.

Holding the glue tube while it glues - in an upright position until it is glued free standing.

The performance is someone holding the glue until its glued upright and can stand on its own.



Sherry writes,

"My work includes performance, drawing, video, sculpture, and sound. My work reflects on cultural codes, asking questions of basic learned behaviours: What is work? What is success? What is respect? What is a living? What is happiness? Etcetera.

Central to my approach is ‘play’. I use the different processes of my practice to develop opinions and mini philosophies relating to common experiences. Many of my works aim to process ordinariness into an artistic source which is meaningful and creative."

Sherry graduated with an MFA from Glasgow School of Art in 2000. This year he will be performing at the Liverpool Biennial and Manifesta 11. He has had solo exhibitions at Outpost Norwich; Summerhall Edinburgh, Catalyst Arts Belfast; Villa Concordia Germany; Glasgow Museum of Modern Art and Tramway’s project space Glasgow. Selected group exhibitions including ‘Generation’ at the Kelvingrove Glasgow, ‘RIFF’ Baltic 39 Newcastle, Film and video at BBC Scotland, ‘Grin and Bear It’ at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork and ‘One fine morning in May’ at GAK Bremen. In 2003, Sherry was selected to represent Scotland at the 50th Venice Biennale and his work is held in many collections including the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art.

More information about his work can be seen at

www.dave-sherry.com

No Niceties contributing artist - Fang Qi

Fang Qi is a Chinese artist and illustrator with a BA degree in Public Art and MA degree in Visual Communication Design in Jiangnan University, China. She is currently based in Newcastle upon Tyne since 2014 being a Ph.D. candidate at Fine Art at Newcastle University.

Her contribution to 'No Niceties' was Ripening, a line drawing on paper.



Qi's research explores the relationship between the illustration and installation art which contributes to the new visual narrative strategies in the illustration which helps to reconstruct the self and identity.



For more information about her work, please visit

http://www.fangqiart.com

No Niceties contributing artist - Rosie O'Grady

Rosie O'Grady's contribution to the No Niceties exhibition was a short video titled Job Seeker. 

Rosie O’Grady lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland. She graduated from Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow with an MLitt Curatorial Practice (Contemporary Art) in 2015, and from Glasgow School of Art with a BA(Hons) Fine Art (Painting & Printmaking) in 2013. O'Grady was selected for a Graduate Residency at Hospitalfield (2015) and was awarded a special commendation as a Finalist in Saatchi’s New Sensations (2013). She was a committee member at Market Gallery between August 2014 - August 2016 and recently worked as Programme Coordinator at Glasgow Sculpture Studios.



"The video Job seeker responds to the biographical snapshots and colourful designs of Helen Shaddock's publication A lot can happen in fifteen minutes. Advertised job titles flash in succession over footage of rock pools, fluorescent buoys, and seaweed-clad boats. These coastal scenes operate like stock imagery of a beach holiday, although the hand-held camera, white skies and water surface – unsettled by high winds – bely a reality altogether less glossy and tropical."



"The role titles for jobs in various fields and industries briefly become suggested narratives, characters or extracted insights into a range of daily experiences."



"The accounts of simultaneous anxiety and absurdity within Shaddock's publication are mimicked in the video through the pace at which it offers a diverse selection of career paths to an accompanying soundtrack of song introductions relating to freedom, the weekend and a reluctance to work nine 'til five."



For more information about Rosie O'Grady's work, please visit her website: www.rosieogrady.co.uk (currently under maintenance)

No Niceties contributing artist - Ute Kirkwood

Sweet Chin Music 

The outside world has disappeared, a vague memory.

The world has turned into a microcosmos, a bubble in which only the two exist.

Minutes,  hours, days even months they melt. It is all measured now by the grant scheme of things – a life time?

Fingers are rolling the tiniest amount of skin, nails digging in, rolling again looking for a better position, shifting around endlessly.

Breath in, one, two, three. Breath out, one, two, three, four, five.

For more information about Ute's work, please visit
www.utekirkwood.com

No Niceties Contributing Artist - Sarah Grundy

Sarah Grundy is an artist who works regularly with music, text and live performance. Sarah's response to the publication for the exhibition was a song.



Having read the whole publication, "it was the order of texts that I mainly used because it felt to me as if the titles gave a summary of the general feeling of the publication and the words seemed like a starting point for a song, a framework to build on and make it my own. I then started writing the music and thought of a few ideas, but I ended up choosing the music that seemed most different to what I would normally be inclined to make because it put me outside of my comfort zone, which felt in line with the text itself. The atmosphere and feeling of the text therefore was the part that stood out to me, but also the braveness and generosity of the writing. It feels personal whilst bridging the gap with the audience and offers the readers an almost scary moment of honesty and insight. I wanted to try and also offer a similar experience and share something with the people who were at the exhibition."

No Niceties Contributing Artists - Jez Riley French & Pheobe Riley Law

'not much is a lot that can happen in fifteen minutes. its a question of scale & position'

the sound of 15 spaces that fit inside 7.1 x 4.8m

its possible to hear inaction, we don’t listen (really)

in each minute so much is happening     breaking narrative

a story often says ‘here, this happened’
a story doesn’t often say ‘all this happened’

its a matter of scale and position

'not much is a lot that can happen in fifteen minutes. its a question of scale & position'

Jez riley French (b. 1965)

working primarily with sound, photography and video, Jrf is particularly associated with developing extended field recording and listening techniques as a key element of sound art and performance, alongside photographic scores and work involving various other media. His work has been exhibited and performed widely in various countries inc. at Tate Modern & Tate Britain here in the UK.

Pheobe riley Law (b. 1997)

my work explores play, digital folklore, psychogeography, the curated space (physical, audible and psychological) and aspects of nurtured personality - I currently explore with photography, text, video and performance 

No Niceties - Contributing Artist - Susie Davies

"When I first saw Helen’s publication in the Newbridge Bookshop I was really drawn to it, for its beautiful pages of unique background illustration and diagrams. Then, when I learnt of Helen’s call for artists to respond to the book I was even more intrigued. Reading the poems left me thinking about the beauty of the mundane, something I have always tried to point to in my own work.



The book, to me, is a celebration of everyday awkwardness. I was particularly charmed by ‘As planned’, the third text in the collection, in which two characters, who I interpret as parents, pay a visit to the narrator. The pair are so bent on not causing any trouble that they for example drink from their ‘flask of tea... It would save washing up.’ They ‘had bought their own packed lunch’ and refuse any other offer of food. This forced politeness paradoxically makes the meeting increasingly uncomfortable, which escalates up to a peak of unbearable awkwardness as the male character ‘uses the cling film from his sandwich to wrap around the core of his apple and chocolate bar wrapper, and put back in the bag’.



This is a notion which I find subtle and comical, yet makes so clear how the couple are desperate not to be of trouble or even to leave a trace of their presence, rather than just using the narrator’s own bin.



I tried to hint at this tension in my response to Helen’s publication by referencing the mundane, everyday surroundings of the poems such as the ‘potted plants’ in ‘You Knew What to Expect’. I however used sharp, angular shapes to reference the constant strain between characters. My materials played a role in my response- I used thin writing paper combined with perspex, which the viewer peers through, because as a reader I often felt like the spectator spying through a window on these relatable scenes."



Susie Davies has just started studying for a BA Hons in Fine Art at Newcastle University, having completed her foundation year at Camberwell School of Art.

Her previous work has been much inspired by the changing environment of south London - specifically the mysterious sense of history in certain buildings.



More recently she had begun to pay attention to the relationship between language and art, most lately in sculpture-based work.

Her parents both being writers, literature has always played a huge part of her life and in future work she hopes to develop this enriching, sometimes comical presence of words in her art.

No Niceties - Sean Burn - Contributing Artist

can pen

"Sean (Burn) here. Hi, I'm a writer / performer / self-taught artist with active involvement in disability arts. I'm also part of the mad studies north-east collective http://madstudiesne.weebly.com/ Much of my creative work 'reclaims the languages of lunacy' based on my own experience as psychiatric survivor. I write up gallery walls with charcoal, project visuals at night, blank out dictionaries, create poster-trails, stage interventions, distribute alt-banknotes via mail art & am published in zines, pamphlets and online. I even show work more conventionally. My solo exhibition still alone in her voices- inspired by my experiences of psychosis, launched at Broadacre house, Newcastle (thanks to the mental health collective), and now tours until 2020"

No Niceties - Gary Bolam, Contributing Artist

As previously mentioned, I am going to do a number of blog posts profiling each artist that contributed to the No Niceties exhibition.

Gary Bolam is a Glasgow based Glasgow School of Art Graduate.


Waited. Weighted. Wait. (They Stood Nervously)

www.garybolam.co.uk

"Accumulated language, actions and materials inform the basic structure within my
practice. I find that drawing is a practical way of resolving proposed installations or
constructs. Regularly delicate in appearance, the lines used on paper often represent a
form which, given opportunity, could turn into sculptural installation. Motivations within
my work vary from analysis of mass to experiments with materials. I’m intrigued by the
relationship of each element within my work. From how the viewer engages with it to how
different depictions of material alter the understanding of the piece."



"For me this work is all about the two opposing stances or elements within A Lot Can
Happen, In Fifteen Minutes.

The analysed and the analyser.
The solid and the unstable.
The inner and the outer.

On one side: A weighted mass is held in the air by a delicate combination of bits of wood
and wire. Combined together through minimal connections. If one piece was to come
undone, then the whole would come crashing down.

On the other side: A solid plinth of stone sits ever so slightly off vertical but with a real
sense of togetherness. A presented and accepted stance. Simple but with an unquestioned
form.

Thinking about the publication title A Lot Can Happen, In Fifteen Minutes and this work
gives it another element I love. The potential of change or an action to be carried out to
either of the two towers. Perhaps one is about to collapse or perhaps the other is to be
adorned with more construction to solidify it more."

Reflecting on my journey and a time for niceties

I begun writing as part of my practice around January this year, and it was a completely new venture. It felt scary to put into words things that have been in my mind for a long time, and I was aprehensive about showing it to anyone. I felt vulnerable. Was it too personal? I did not want to be self-absorbed or self-indulgent. That is not me, and not what I want my work to be. 

When I plucked up courage to share my texts, I was genuinely startled by the impact it had. People responded from the heart. My text spoke to them and they opened up to me. New relationships were formed, and a different level of understanding reached. I was encouraged to produce more and push what I was doing.

Having worked independently on these personal yet universal texts, I thought long and hard about how they should exist for an audience. I wanted to involve a visual element, and produce something visually inviting, almost luring the viewer into a false sense of security. Once I had decided upon creating a publication, I approached the independent publishing house, UnstapledPress. I had been impressed by the work they had done as a relatively new venture, and was interested in their independent art practices. I proposed a new way of working for them, where we would work togther to produce a publication. The texts would remain largely unchanged, except for some slight editing, but we would work together to produce the visuals and form of the book. UnstapledPress were keen, and we began the long, complicated ambitious task of designing and printing a four colour risograph publication.

A couple of weeks ago we launched the publication at NewBridge Books. We worked together to produce a series of collages which were displayed in the bookshop and I performed a number of experimental readings. It was a huge success.

Out of curiosity, and as an attempt to discover more about how people related and reacted to the text, I decided to invite artists, musicians and others to respond creatively to the tests and diagrams in the publication. The results were exhibited last night at the closing event in the PH Space at NewBridge.

Once again I was overwhelmed by the responses. Artists were keen to be involved, and over the period of a couple of weeks I was sent a variety of artworks from a wide range of artists in the UK and abroad. Works included drawings, collages, sculptures, performances, sound and videos.

I would be deceiving you if I said that the process was easy. But then again, the most fulfilling things in life are often the most challenging. With an hour till the opening I found myself at a local printers collecting one of the artists prints to be exhibited. But it all came together in the end and would not have happened without the incredible help from a dedicated group of artists. In the course of 4 hours we managed to install a group of artworks that had not been seen together until that day (I received about half of the works yesterday). 

I want to say a huge thank you to all the artists who contributed their work to the exhibition, the group of artists who dedicated yesterday afternoon to helping with the install of the exhibition, those who helped with the performances, the documenters, those who kindly lent me equipment in order to be able to show the works, Kuba and the team at NewBridge for their support, and UnstapledPress for all their collaborative work on the publication and launch. Without all of you this publication, launch exhibition and closing exhibition would not have happened.

Finally I want to thank the many people who attended the exhibitions and those who have purchased the publication. I hope that you enjoyed the events and that the publication is something you value. 

I will be sharing photographs from the exhibition on my blog shortly, and more information about each of the artists involved. 

The publication can be purchased in NewBridge Books and online 
http://www.unstapledpress.bigcartel.com/product/a-lot-can-happen-in-fifteen-minutes

Please do get in touch if you have any comments about the publication or want further information.

Thank you!

Oh how I love receiving parcels...especially when they contain art!

I've been genuinely moved by the number of wonderful artworks that I have received from artists all over the UK and abroad in response to my recent publication with UnstapledPress, A lot can happen in fifteen minutes.

I have invited artists, writers and musicians to submit creative responses to the text and diagrams in the publication. These artworks will be presented at a closing exhibition event at NewBridge Books / PH Space tonight, Friday 11th November, 6-8pm, with performances at 7pm.

I'm very curious as to what people will create, and am interested in finding out how people connect to the text. 

The list of contributors is impressive, and there is a real range of work that will be exhibited. Over the past couple of weeks I have been receiving parcels, dropbox links, files via WeTransfer, emails with descriptions of performances and messages from artists who will bring their work on Friday afternoon.

I sometimes find that people are reluctant to talk about the art at openings, but I want to create a situation whereby people are encouraged to discuss the works. One way in which I have tried to do this is to invite the contributors to the gallery on Friday afternoon to help co-curate the exhibition, and for us to have some discussion about how people arrived at the artwork that they made. I have an inclination that people will be more open to talk about the work if they have spent time with it, and developed an understanding of the work. It would seem reasonable to believe that, in order to make a meaningful artwork in response, the contributors have put considerable thought into how they are to respond to the publication. I hope that the act of curating the exhibition together, we discuss some of these thoughts and ideas.

No Niceties - Friday 11th November 2016, 6-8pm, PH Space, 2nd Floor, NewBridge Studios, Newcastle

No Niceties

A lot can happen in fifteen minutes Closing Event

Friday 11th November 2016, 6-8pm

Performances at 7pm

PH Space, 2nd Floor, NewBridge Studios and NewBridge Books

14 New Bridge Street West, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AW

Life moves faster than people. There are times when just being can leave a person completely bewildered.

Feelings of disorientation, isolation and social anxiety lie at the heart of ‘A lot can happen in fifteen minutes’.

A collaboration between artist Helen Shaddock and the independent publishing house UnstapledPress, the risograph publication features a selection of Shaddock’s humorous texts and sketches alongside playful and colourful patterns and diagrams. Shaddock’s wistfully penned vignettes invite meditation on relationships, personal history, habits and the awkward mundane. Everything has come feet over handlebars. You have lost your balance.

For this closing event, Helen Shaddock has invited artists, writers and musicians to submit creative responses to the text and diagrams in the publication. 

Contributors include: Gary Bolam, Kathryn Brame, Sean Burn, Susie Davies, Stella Dixon, Jez Riley French & Pheobe Law, Sarah Grundy, Ute Kirkwood, Edwin Li, Rosie O'Grady, Fang Qi, Sabina Sallis, Helen Shaddock, David Sherry, Cecilia Stenbon, Kate Stobbart, Sofija Sutton & Holly Wheeler

These artworks will be presented in the PH Space on Friday 11th November. Collaborative artwork and the publication will be in NewBridge Books.

The Empathy Tower

In response to the film I, Daniel Blake, artist John Harrison attempted to re-create the Job Seeker experience in the middle of Northumberland Street. Inviting interrogation of increasingly script-led, automated benefits system, he invited the audience to ‘sign on’. People were asked to take a small block of wood and write a message to show support for anyone; friends, colleagues, family members who may have been through or are going through the benefits system. These blocks formed an Empathy Tower in the middle of Northumberland Street, and were then moved to NewBridge Project Space for the remainder of the Hidden Civil War programme.

I was slightly disappointed at the lack of thought put into some of the messages written on the bricks, so when asked to contribute, I needed time to prepare my response. Having made my mind up overnight, I went to the gallery to make my mark but it was unfortunately shut.

John Harrison, if you are reading this, please write this on a brick on my behalf

"Job hunting is a full time job"

I, Daniel Blake - the brutal reality

I was warned that I would not feel happy as I left the cinema having watched 'I, Daniel Blake'. However, on a day that I received another message of 'your application has been unsuccessful', I departed feeling rather fortunate that, although i didn't get the job, at least I have my health and am not supporting a family.



'I, Daniel Blake' is British filmmaker Ken Loach's latest film, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Set in Newcastle, the film follows Daniel Blake, a 59 year old joiner who, after suffering from a heart attack, is told by his doctor that he should not go back to work. As he is capable of many of the tasks specified on the form for “Employment and Support Allowance”, (putting on his own jumper, for example), he does not meet the requirements to receive “Employment and Support Allowance” and he is told to apply for Jobseekers Allowance, the fund for people ready and able to work. In order to get this, Daniel has to prove that he is actively looking for work.



On one of his visits to the JobCentre he meets a single mother Katie and her two children, Dylan and Daisy, who are also struggling with poverty. I don't want to reveal any more of the plot, but the film follows the friendship between Daniel, Katie and the kids as they help each other maintain some sort of existence on a shoestring.

It saddens me deeply that this film is so true to life. Nothing is glorified or exaggerated. There is no need for obvert violence or gore, the truth of the situation is scary enough. People like you and I are experiencing this right now. That is scary. The scene in the food bank provides a startling incite into the extent to which mothers will go to in order to care for their children.

Amidst the doom and gloom there are numerous laugh out loud moments, and some characters that remind you that there genuinely care and have their eyes open to the situation that Daniel and Katie are in.

I urge you to see this film. It is rare to experience a standing ovation from the audience at the cinema, yet this is what happened at the end of the film. I was delighted to hear that the cinema had to put on extra showings in order to cater for the overwhelming demand. In times of austerity, it pleases me that people have been able to watch what should go down as one of the best films of 2016.

I just hope that the politicians see it and open their eyes to what is on our doorstep. AND TAKE ACTION.