blankpages issue 38
DESCRIPTION
Welcome to Issue 38, our September edition of blankpages: Blank Media Collective's very own concoction of music, art and literature... and it's time for your monthly dose of all things arty, dears, so open wide: here comes the good stuff.TRANSCRIPT
Issue 38Sep 2011
No.1: Paint
Curated by: Supported by:
Background Image: Red Corner © Neill Clements | BLANKSPACE logo: © Henry Roberts & Michael ThorpBlank Media Collective logo © Ben Rose | Blank Media Collective © 2006-2011
For further information and details of special events please visit:
www.blankmediacollective.org/no1paint
| 43 Hulme Street | Manchester | M15 6AW | +44(0)161 2226164
Public Preview: 8 September, 6-9pm Exhibition Continues: 9 - 25 September 2011
Bartosz BedaDominic Bradnum
Jack BrindleyCara CampbellNeill Clements
Jody CliffeLisa Denyer
Jane Evans
Susan LaughtonScott McCracken
Luci MetcalfeEmily Musgrave
Georgina ParkinsMaggie Royle
Georgina VinsunRebecca Wild
Liz GauntAlastair Gordon
Lesley GuyCaroline Hall
Andrew HardyMelissa Henderson
Kate JablonskaCatherine Knight
CONTENTSGET IN TOUCH 4WELCOME... 5COVER ARTIST - CARA CAMPBELL 6BLANKVERSE - AMY-ROSE DARBYSHIRE 14 FICTION - KEVIN BRADSHAW 18THIS MONTH’S MP3 - ALL WE ARE 22SPOTLIGHT - NO 1: PAINT 26FEATURE - TAMSIN DRURY’S hÅb 32BLANKPICKS - FAT ROLAND 38BLANK MEDIA RECOMMENDS 40THIS MONTH IN BLANK MEDIA COLLECTIVE 42SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 44CREDITS 46
COVER ARTUntitled 2009 By Cara Campbell
YOU ARE LISTENING TO...I Fantasize by All We Are
No.1: Paint
Curated by: Supported by:
Background Image: Red Corner © Neill Clements | BLANKSPACE logo: © Henry Roberts & Michael ThorpBlank Media Collective logo © Ben Rose | Blank Media Collective © 2006-2011
For further information and details of special events please visit:
www.blankmediacollective.org/no1paint
| 43 Hulme Street | Manchester | M15 6AW | +44(0)161 2226164
Public Preview: 8 September, 6-9pm Exhibition Continues: 9 - 25 September 2011
Bartosz BedaDominic Bradnum
Jack BrindleyCara CampbellNeill Clements
Jody CliffeLisa Denyer
Jane Evans
Susan LaughtonScott McCracken
Luci MetcalfeEmily Musgrave
Georgina ParkinsMaggie Royle
Georgina VinsunRebecca Wild
Liz GauntAlastair Gordon
Lesley GuyCaroline Hall
Andrew HardyMelissa Henderson
Kate JablonskaCatherine Knight
blankpages copyright ©2006-2011 Blank Media Collective unless otherwise noted. Copyright of all artworks remains with artist.
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Welcome...
Welcome to our September edition of blankpages.
For those of you who are new, prepare to get hooked. For our returning readers, expect the same old outstanding quality as ever. This month I think we may have excelled ourselves.
I’ve been at the helm of the good ship blankpages since John (our editor) jumped ship for a month on a voyage to foreign lands (I don’t know why I’ve gone all pirate but stick with it).
Rest assured, there’s Land Ahoy (sorry) as our good ol’ Captain John Leyland, Editor in Chief, returns for October’s edition to get us ship-shape for the Autumn. Until then, we’ve managed to avoid any icebergs in order to bring you a bumper bounty of the best art, music and literature we could possibly plunder (okay, I’m done).
We’ve got music for your ears, paintings from BMC’s No. 1: Paint Exhibition for your eyes, and some beautiful writing for your brain. And if you’re still hungry for more, Tamsin Drury quenches that thirst for exciting new art as she tells our features editors all about hÅb arts... Plus we’ve got the month’s best events in our Recommends section.
Read on to see how we did...
Enjoy!
Abby Ledger – LomasAssistant Editor
Cover Artist
Cara CampbellFocusing on architectural spaces, the work makes reference to a derelict, industrial landscape. My intention is to explore the theoretical nature of these in between places, evoking the possibilities they hold for the imagination.
Drawing upon the space, form and the light contained within, the paintings explore a domain existing beyond their everyday referent. Exploring qualities of translucency and opacity, the inherent language of the paint becomes independent of the source material.
The surface evolves, it opens and closes, revealing and dissolving form: a metaphysical play with space. I am interested in the construction and deconstruction of the image. Exploring the history of the painting’s surface, layers of paint are built up and scraped back, marks rubbed away and reiterated, capturing the poetic and ephemeral nature of the source material.
These paintings are visual shifters, working with a variety of processes including semi-translucent glazes, chemical reactions and stencilling by way of constructing a delicate balance of opposites. In a dialogue between interior and exterior space, presence and absence, these transitional spaces question the boundaries between inside and out; in this way the oscillating space creates an ontological pulse.
Cara graduated in 2009 with a Fine Art Degree from Leeds Metropolitan University. Here she was awarded the Willy Tirr Purchase Prize for Painting. Combining fundamental elements of structure, form and light, her work investigates and reinvents our perception of space. Whatever the source material, the work is inextricably linked with the physical manipulation of the materials, employing a methodology that juxtaposes traditional techniques with more unconventional processes. Based in Manchester, she recently has work showing at the Bowery Gallery in Leeds and in the Open Contemporary Art Exhibition at Stockport Art Gallery. Her work has also been selected as part of the upcoming No1: Paint
exhibition at BLANKSPACE.
caracampbellartist.com
Illustration by Fernanda Ngwww.yellowpanda-fern.blogspot.com
And from the shelfMy ten year old self -She did exist.But apart from a photo albumThe only evidence of this:An abstract memoryOf ignorance and bliss -A pleated skirtA polo shirtWith an emblem on the breastAnd underneath,A childish vestTo cover upA sexless chestWith skin untouchedThat stretched acrossA skeletal pair of handsGrasping at Pandora’s boxThat later on would be unlockedTo release realities thereof -Escaping to deface the skyWith rain cloudsPainted in my pastSo it’s image now is overcastWith all the pain to comeThat daily drowns the sunInto the darkness.
PANDORA’S BOX
After I’d checked - and recheckedThat the front door - and the back doorWere definitely locked,That I’d turned the cooker off,And crept into Natalie’s roomTo see she was still breathingI went to my roomAnd fell to my knees -“Dear God,I don’t mind what you do to me,But please -Let my little sister,Die of old age - in her sleep.”
NATALIE
Whispers which into the sheets we’ve woven,Dissolve into the darkness, just as fast as they are spoken,Stitched into the night with silver thread,Like fireworks brought to life, then left for dead,“You’re gorgeous, you’re sexy, I like you,I like your legs, your bum’s nice too.”
How out of place and how absurd,Seem the little whispered words,That somehow seem to leave your lips,When your body, your feet, your fingertips,Already are doing their utmost best,To far more poignantly express,“You’re gorgeous, you’re sexy, I like you.”
WHISPERS
We stopped beneath the street lamp,And walking to my shadow on the wall, You told me – “The reflection kiss, from the Karma Sutra,Is one given to the reflection,Or the shadow of the lover.”Then, I watched while you pressed your lips,Against the rough stone, And littered my silhouette with little kisses, All along its outline. You didn’t know, that night,That you had kissed my soul, And brought it back to life.
KARMA SUTRA’S KISS
Amy-Rose’s heart was first captured by Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ as a secondary school English student. She’s been reading and writing poetry ever since.
blankpages is proud to be the first to showcase her work.
John SculpturesBy Kevin Bradshaw
Illustration bySimon Meredith
Sir John Hertsreach1722-1766“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:neither give place to the devil.”Ephesians 4:26-27
“That’s it,” he said to the settling stone dust. By Jove, I’ve done it again, he had planned to exclaim but, upon completing his latest statue, he just said that’s it. As the granite particles fell gently about his person he placed the hammer and chisel into his belt and stepped back.
The granite block rose shoulder-height, smooth and rectangular, and atop it stood the carved figure of a man in cutaway coat, waistcoat, high-waisted breeches, stockings, shoes with buckle and heel, and a powdered wig tied with a ribbon. Its surface was unpainted and its size was larger than a man. His pose was one you have seen many times before: hand on hip, head raised, eyes gazing to the future. One foot rested on a pile of books; three copies of the Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version. Carved into the stone pedestal was naught but the name, Sir John Hertsreach, his dates, and a Biblical quote presumably relevant.
The sculptor’s latest completed work was Sir John, whose biography briefly runs thus: Sir John was born 1722 at Castle Rowth to Christian Hertsreach, 1st Bar-on Hesterbridge, and the Lady Anne Allen. Educated in all the proper manners he was nevertheless a preco-cious child who grew into a temperamental yet bril-liant man. He gained a reputation both for his unusual personal habits and his incredible architectural talents. Baron Hesterbridge funded the building on his land of many of Sir John’s designs. Sir John received his knight-hood soon after George II visited Castle Rowth in 1750. Sir John passed away in 1766 after a short illness. The relevance of the quote, and the meaning of the three Bibles was not recorded by contemporary sources.
“Thank you,” said the sculptor, his neck strained back-ward to look Sir John in the eye. Sir John has no mortal remains but his name, his dates and his statue. The sculptor sweeps the granite dust from the floor. Moving up and down his ladder and using a soft, handheld brush he picks dust from out of the curls in Sir John’s wig and the folds of his coat. Again he sweeps the floor, then carefully puts away his tools, brushes and ladders.
John the Betrayed690-769“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:if any man hear my voice, and open the door,I will come in to him, and will sup with him,and he with me.”Revelation 3:20
Amongst the detritus of a busy desk – crushed pencil sharpenings, pots of paint-clouded water, doodles and jottings, a half drunk bottle of wine, biscuit crumbs, and paper ephemera – he pulled towards him his sketch-book. Opening it in the middle and flicking back a cou-ple of pages, past charcoal and watercolour drawings of bodies and body parts, he settled on a man in pencil.
Bare-footed, dressed in robes, palms at waist height and facing outwards, eyes closed and lips slightly apart; the drawing exactly mirrored that of a marble figure in the room. The sculptor looked from the sketchbook to the carved marble and back again, emphasising the curve of a finger with a few strikes of the pencil. He looked back and forth until he was done and moved over to the figure to caress its smooth surface with his hands.
Little is known of the life of John the Betrayed save for a few brief samples outlined in the sculptor’s sketchbook. Without consulting the book, he recited all available information: “John the Betrayed, you lived and died from 690 to 769. You tamed the birds and built the first bell-tower in a European church. You preached good words to all who would listen, but your church was taken from you by your own family and you were cast aside to Asia Minor. You lived long and travelled much but never returned to the bosom of your family. Your final resting place is unknown and no relics currently exist.” John the Betrayed listened closely with closed eyes and marble ears.
The sculptor sat again at his desk, picked up his pen, and turned to a blank page in the sketchbook. He found a packet of biscuits in the drawer beside his legs and chewed on a chocolate digestive until it was gone. While chewing he began to think, and upon swallowing the final mouthful he began to write:
Captain John “Uthuze” Terran1815-1872“For to be carnally minded is death;but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”Romans 8:6
John Terran captained the HMS Horncastle, one of the Royal Navy’s earliest ironclad warships, from 1859 until 1869. Primarily he was involved in protecting Victoria’s possessions in Canton and Hong Kong, however he is most remembered for leading the bombardment on Kagoshima which opened up trade with the Japanese. He retired from active duty in ‘69 aged 54 due to a sudden undiagnosed illness, which caused the growth of great tufts of body hair and rendered him entirely mute for the rest of his life.
Known as Uthuze to his closest friends, John had always felt the urge to travel; his father had also risen through the Naval ranks and spent many years away from home. On the rare occasions when young Uthuze saw his father, he was regaled with long and exotic tales; dusky folk of all shapes and sizes and strange monsters unlike anything seen in God’s green England. John’s favourite story from his father was the one about the great shark which leapt from the ocean and landed on the deck. It had taken seven men to subdue the beast, and all the crew dined well on shark meat that night.
Remembered and honoured for his achievements Captain John “Uthuze” Terran was also remembered by his peers and subordinates as being a generous but commanding leader; a man who deserved respect. Women loved him for his broad chest and shoulders, thick lustrous moustache and dark, dark eyes. His wife and children adored him and his parents couldn’t have been prouder.
The sculptor created a cluster of pen and ink sketches of square-jawed mustachioed men in large dressy hats. He worked with a variety of glorious and victorious poses rendered using stick men or roughly outlined silhouettes, and consumed many more biscuits as he worked. Pencil sharpenings and drips of black ink covered the desk, and biscuit crumbs found their way into the centre crease of the sketchbook. Eventually the sculptor paused for a moment to look over his work, took up his pen and scrawled large crosses over the biography and sketches of Captain John Terran.
He turned the page and began to write:
John Fentercast,Industrialist and philanthropist1887-1956“And these things you have heard from meamong many witnesses,commit these to faithful menwho will be able to teach others also.”2 Timothy 2:2
Kevin Bradshaw is a member of Blank Media Collective and has been blankpages Fiction Editor since Issue 28. He writes a daily blog, the occasionally accurately named, I Blog Every Day. He retweets much more often than he tweets. As well as writing a lot he is also a bit of an artist, having been blankpages cover artist in Issue 24 and guest illustrator from 25 to 27. He now has a day job he quite enjoys, a wedding to pay for, and the role of BLANKSPACE External Exhibitions coordinator.
www.iblogeveryday.co.uk
(THIS MONTH’S MP3)Dream, Desire, Imagine, Woolgather, ...
Liverpool based Alt-Pop-Psychedelic-Folk trio, All We Are, are Richard (Ireland), Luis (Brazil) and Guro (Norway); and they’re Liverpool’s newest band to cause significant waves. They’ve even been given an official thumbs-up by music legend Tom Waits. Their EP, All We Are, is out on Inaugural Records, and they’re soon due to return to Norway to compose their next release. They can be seen touring the UK extensively from October onwards.
ALL WE AREby Baz Wilkinson
All We Are is a neatly matched trio of musicians Rich, Guro & Luis, often joined on stage by honorary mem-bers Emily, Becky & Lucy of Stealing Sheep. They are probably the newest band formed in Liverpool with a great deal of significance surrounding them.
Their self-titled debut EP is beautifully home recorded, produced, mixed and mastered in an abandoned school in Liverpool and an old cabin in Norway. Released on Inaugural Records, it engages you in folky, lyrical thoughts, kaleidoscopically spinning in warm enchanting melodies, with echoes of Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and the lyrical sensibilities of Elbow... They even got a thumbs up from Tom Waits at the recent International Songwriting Competition Finals.
Having just returned from their launch tour in Europe with Stealing Sheep, the highlight of which was a storm-ing gig at Germany’s 50,000 attended Fusion Festival, All We Are are now writing and filming their second EP in a cabin in Norway. It’s due to be released in Octo-ber 2011, and touring the UK and Europe with Stealing Sheep and Love Inks.
With such a busy schedule right now we are lucky to have fatefully caught a window and pasted these ques-tions to it. They kindly replied...
Music is central to many aspects of Irish culture. For centuries they have gathered around in pubs and had vil-lage get-togethers simply to make, create and play music as a community, and have a wee drink now and again. Not only that, Richard, but you’ve also got Nordic and Brazilian musicians added to your new project All We Are. How do you think your respective cultures have influenced your music?
We would say for sure that Ireland and our respective countries have had a big musical impact on us. There are certainly elements of traditional folk music from all our birthplaces reflected in our music and we’ve often been told that the songs we write are, in some ways, evoca-tive of all the different elements of our cultures. There are definitely some celtic melodies and tribal rhythms to be found in there. This also ties in with the Nordic element of our band, and to this rawness, Luis adds the chords and colour that is found in Brazillian music.
We all come from pretty different backgrounds, but the main thing that ties us together in that respect is growing up with music all around us. Traditionally, the Irish are a pretty musical bunch (amongst other things) and growing up you had to have a party piece to sing at any gathering whether it be a funeral or a wedding. Music is abundant in Ireland, particularly in Cork, and those of you who have visited there will know how easy it is to catch any type of band at any point of the week from traditional music to alternative rock. Norway is much the same in that respect and, of course, Brazil is the home of Bossa and the street carnival so we’ve been encompassed by music all throughout our lives.
So, how did you all meet each other?
We met in Liverpool when we started to study there and we have played in bands together before, but All We Are sort of happened by accident. I was touring with Stealing Sheep, in February and April, as a solo artist (Richard O’Flynn) and Luis was playing guitar for me whilst on tour. When we went to Ireland, in August, both Stealing Sheep and our driver, along with Luis, used to play on my set. It felt great to play in a band again and Luis and I decided to start a new project. Guro came onboard because I toured Norway with her in March and whilst there we started to write the songs that All We Are would release on our first EP. We played our first gig in Hoxton, London on the 19th of June 2011 and that was that!
So that’s geographical influences covered... What about musical influences?
We’re influenced by lots of bands really but I’ll point out the main ones and why. We’ve a pretty indie sound and there’s a big folk element in our music so we’re certainly influenced by bands like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Noah and the Whale. There is an anthemic, upbeat aspect to All We Are though, particularly in our forth-coming EP, and in these songs you can hear the influ-ence that Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Elbow and Wild Beasts have on us. All amazing bands and bands we hope to emulate in their reach to fans around the UK and worldwide.
You seem to be in Norway quite a lot and on tour there. Do you feel an affinity with it? What draws you to that part of the world?
Well as you know, Guro, our bass player, comes from Norway so there is a direct link to the country. However, our connection to Norway goes deeper than that. We have partially written both our last EP and our forthcoming EP, in a cabin in the mountains there and the wilderness, quietness and rawness of the area can definitely be heard in the music we write. It’s proved to be a really productive place for us and the country holds a really important place in our music. Incidentally, Guro and myself work a lot in Norway playing traditional Irish songs and Guro, Luis and myself hold songwriting seminars there in schools and culture houses through-out the year.
Recently you’ve been on tour with Stealing Sheep quite a lot [Stealing Sheep interview, blankpages, Issue 26, which can be found in the archives]. What’s your con-nection with them?
We’ve known Becs from Stealing Sheep for a long time and, actually, we used to be in a band together for quite a while. It was really in February (when Luis and myself started to tour with them) that we began to get involved with the girls musically and as a band more. I produced and recorded the track “Bats” from their newest EP in February after our UK tour finished and when All We Are formed we decided to tour Europe
together, in June/July, as two bands. We’re playing a few festivals together this summer and hope to go on tour again soon. They’re a great band and really good friends of ours.
What’s been happening this year? And what are your plans for next year?
It’s been a really busy few months since All We Are have been together. I played my last (for the forseable future) gig as a solo artist at the amazing Imploding Inevitable Festival in the Lake District in June and, since then, we’ve all been focused on All We Are. As you know we played our first gig in London on the 19th of June and we released our debut EP on Inaugural Records shortly after on the 27th. We then went on tour around Europe with the girls and as soon as we came back we decided to go to Norway to write our second EP [which, reader, is where the band is at the time of writing].
We’re recording our second EP in an abandoned school in Liverpool on the 7th of August until the 14th. We’re then playing Croissant Neuf festival, in Wales, and then we’re flying back to a place in Norway called Alta, in the Arctic Circle, for another festival called Aronnes-rocken. When we get back we’re doing a feature on Dave Monks’ BBC Introducing in Liverpool, followed by a BBC Introducing gig to accompany the interview on the 27th of August, so it’ll be a crazy month. It’s mixing time in September as we want to release our second EP
in October/November, backed up by another UK and European tour.
You can also catch us supporting Love Ink at the Wil-liamson Tunnels in Liverpool on the 24th of September, and we’re down to play The Imploding Inevitable night, in Wigan, on Saturday 30th September.
www.myspace.com/thisisallweare www.soundcloud.com/thisisallweare www.facebook.com/thisisallweare www.twitter.com/thisisallweare
Spotlight
No.1: PaintIntroduction by Kevin Bradshaw
Spat on a cave wall; daubed on sugar paper by a child's podgy fist; sprayed in underpasses and alleyways; primed canvas, decorated houses and buffed-over graffiti; dribbled, scrawled, scratched and brushed; finely executed with a single hog bristle, or squeezed and squashed from a damp sponge.
Paint is art. The death of painting was once (or twice) foretold, yet the medium continues to enthral and excite artists and art lovers. Paint is perhaps the most fundamental of art materials; so direct and tactile, during both the processes of creation and of consumption. A single stroke of colour can be read in more ways than there are people in the world.
Paint's artistic use extends far beyond painting into collage, sculpture, installation, performance and even digital, and may it continue to do so for as long as there are people and as long as there is art. Even removed of an artistic context paint surrounds us; our bedroom walls, cars and fingernails. Paint is art and paint is everywhere.
Jack Brindley
Lisa Denyer Maggie Royle
Alastair Gordon
Caroline Hall Kate Jablonska
Neil Clements
No.1: Paint is the first in an exciting series of medium-specific exhibitions to be held at BLANKSPACE. Celebrating the unique nature of paint, this exhibition will showcase work from 24 varied and distinctive emerging artists from throughout the UK.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:Bartosz Beda | Dominic Bradnum | Jack Brindley | Cara Campbell | Neill Clements | Lisa Denyer | Liz Gaunt | Alastair Gordon | Lesley Guy | Caroline Hall | Andrew Hardy | Melissa Henderson | Kate Jablonska | Catherine Knight | Ladoza | Susan Laughton | Jane Looby | Scott McCracken | Luci Metcalfe | Emily Musgrave | Georgina Parkins | Maggie Royle | Georgina Vinsun | Rebecca Wild
NO.1: PAINT PUBLIC PREVIEW: Thursday 8 September 2011, 6-9pmEXHIBITION CONTINUES: Friday 9 July - Sunday 25 September 2011BLANKSPACE, 43 Hulme St, Manchester
blankmediacollective.org/events/details/no1paint
By Sarah Handysideand Rebecca Owens
Imagine stopping for a bite to eat in the familiar hubbub of a city square only to notice that it isn’t swarming with the usual frantic pedestrians bustling about their daily routine, but instead has been taken over by adults at play. Welcome to life at hÅb.
When we peel back the layers of Manchester’s tantalisingly juicy contemporary arts community, we uncover a significant driving force behind the city’s brightest new performers. Tamsin Drury heads the organisation hÅb, a company fifteen years in the running that lives to support regional and emerging artists through a variety of unique platforms. Tamsin is mad about hunting for fresh ideas and rooting out undiscovered talent and hÅb thrives on this pioneering spirit. “It is all about casting the net wide to see what’s out there,” Tamsin says. They comb all corners of the country looking for the bizarre, brave and beautiful, and then bring back the exciting spoils to Manchester, where the artists in question get a chance to perform and have their work produced well.
Over the years hÅb has powered its energies through its mini-festival emergency and the resulting commissioning project Method Lab, but has since introduced many more events into its hive of activity. hÅb’s partnership with some of the region’s most dynamic theatrical venues and organisations, such as greenroom and Liverpool’s The Bluecoat, has ensured that it has been able to both realise and spread its vision, whilst creating something special right in the centre of Manchester.
hÅb ArtsTamsin Drury’s
Tamsin has over twenty years experience as both a technician/lighting designer and a producer/programmer. So it is interesting to learn when speaking to her and getting a real sense of the passion she has for her job, that her route into contemporary performance art was never planned. In fact it was fittingly surreal. Growing up in Dorset in 1982 she was intently traversing upon another path entirely, studying Law and Modern Languages, when her mother exercised her parental powers and nudged her into going along to a community show that was being put together by the Colway Theatre Trust. Here she met with two lighting designers who were to pique her interest in the abstract and the downright weird. They started talking to her about theatre with a difference, describing performances taking place in unusual and inspirational venues. From that moment on, she was as she puts it “bitten by the bug,” casting aside her previous studies to take a leap into the world of theatre. She then went on to do a Theatre Studies degree at Lancaster University and found herself graduating in the midst of the mid-eighties’ heyday for alternative theatre, which eventually found her working as a technician for greenroom.
Several years on she began talks with Helen Cole, with whom she had worked on other projects, about forming a partnership. Helen was a kindred spirit who shared many of her own ambitions. They both felt a pressing need for more artistic control, which their previous work hadn’t offered them. Tamsin describes how they “were frustrated by the lack of opportunities for emerging
artists” and recognised that there was room to work on this together in Manchester. Through these discussions hÅb surfaced in 1995 and they began to shape ambitious and eye-catching projects. Their aim was to test all possible limits (even taking pieces to shopping centres and on board buses) to help packs of hungry artists see their work through to completion.
From 1998 onwards Tamsin Drury took hAb completely onto her own shoulders, and really made a name for herself when she was asked to work as Artistic Director for Digital Summer: Interface. This festival was first established to celebrate the birth of Manchester’s “Baby” the world’s first stored program computer. Digital Summer encouraged the collaboration of artists and scientists to bring extraordinary digital art to the masses. Over its powerful but brief lifespan this innovative festival saw such aesthetically wondrous pieces as an old market hall transformed into a millennial clock, virtual billboards projecting their messages sky high and the illumination of the Arndale Tower. Tamsin considers Digital Summer to be where she truly tested herself and strengthened her skills considerably.
In the meantime hÅb really took flight and has continued year after year to spin out incredible feats of artistry. emergency has been the lifeblood of hAb from the very beginning, and has grown significantly in ambition, only last year branching out to form its Merseyside cousin ‘poolside emergency. This crazed
mini-festival is all about pooling talent together and creating something with flair and a dash of spontaneity. Gathering the most intriguing of contemporary performance, live art and intervention, it packs forty short pieces into a day and a half extravaganza.
As well as making it possible to perform in such explosive fashion, hÅb has been working on the life of the artist’s work after emergency’s curtains have long been closed. Method Lab offers a series of commissions to a small cross section of artists selected from emergency each year. Tamsin explains how “co-producing Method Lab with greenroom over the years has offered artists a unique opportunity to look much more produced. It’s rare to find the promise of this same technical quality elsewhere.”
The final project to interlink directly with emergency and Method Lab is LANWest Network and In Transit. LANWest Network is organised by hÅb and coordinated by Tamsin Drury herself. It is an online showcase of the key artists to watch out for, giving access to videos, galleries and reviews of their work. The artists featured are all endorsed by hÅb, and are trying to move on from their “emergent” label. LANWest’s touring project In Transit takes featured artists around the region and starts to build up new audiences for these performers. The latest to reap the benefits of Method Lab and LANWest are the captivating Levantes Dance Theatre duo. At 2011’s Method Lab they performed a piece called Two Peas Without A Pod, which explored synchronised routines
and the importance of partnership in our everyday activities. They have received rapturous praise for their intelligence and precision, and their ability to unveil the beauty of ordinary existence.
Hazard and Chester Performs’ Up the Wall are the newer, more adventurous projects that oppose the structure of emergency and Method Lab. During the biennial one day event that is Hazard, hÅb completely takes over Manchester city centre to display street performance, installation, intervention and even flashmobs to inquisitive onlookers. In 2010’s Hazard, a hoard of Dorothies marched their way through all of Manchester’s hotspots whilst a group of disabled wheelchair users performed a representation of the Apollo 11 moon landing in St Ann’s square, exploring the way that technology links man to environment. Hazard is said to “turn familiar city landscapes into playgrounds” and it certainly does. Hazard infiltrates the mundanity of day to day city life and makes people look at the world around them with fresh, childlike eyes.
Up the Wall shares many similarities with Hazard as it also concentrates on outdoor spaces. It is an evening festival taking place on and around Chester’s ancient walls. It features “site-responsive” work, which explores the symbolism of walls as barriers, protection, and security. The historic sites where it takes place give the festival a sense of majesty, whilst igniting the imagination and providing a beautiful backdrop to the evening. 2010’s plethora of work was most enigmatic and
brilliant, from the iconic sight of Humpty Dumpty fallen from the wall, to the more subtle Conversations in Cars that speaks of our tendency to overhear conversations through walls.
As Tamsin puts the last finishing touches to this October’s emergency and Up the Wall events, she speaks to us about the projects that most thrill her: “Hazard really excites me…the idea of it excites but also terrifies me. It’s a very quick hit and all about the ethos. I also really look forward to Up the Wall. I love the opportunity to curate and work much more towards the thematic, which you don’t get with Hazard.”
Talking about hÅb she exclaims: “It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else!” Through her passion she has infused hÅb with a strength that is going nowhere, but it will be interesting to watch its movements within the next few years. The recent loss of greenroom has forced hÅb to push out, leaving the security of the Black Box, to explore places it perhaps wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for the need to press on in search of new partnerships and spaces. She believes this is healthy, “as it opens up a lot of different work and brings an important message to artists, especially in the current climate. The extremely positive message that the Art is what matters most and that artists should be pushing their own work forward.”
Tamsin Drury is Director of hÅb: a production and development organisation specialising in contemporary performance, sited work and live art based in Manchester.
hÅb works in partnership with a number of organisations in the North West to support emergent and mid-career artists, presenting a number of public mini-festivals. Historically the major body of work was in partnership with greenroom including emergency, Method Lab, Turn, Hazard and ‘poolside emergency with the Bluecoat. Since the closure of greenroom, hÅb is working to develop new relationships with a range of partners to ensure the continuation of this work.
hÅb also manages LANWest, a regional promoters/producers network
Tamsin was Artistic Director of Digital Summer (98-03) and curated Liverpool Live 06 as part of Liverpool Biennial. She has also been working with Chester Performs since 2009 to curate and produce Up the Wall.
Fat Roland On ElectronicaI would love, dear reader, to persuade you that
my blogging career was all part of a blueprint for success.
But to say that would be akin to a fat, drunken man careering into a bakery, putting his foot in the pasties, blindly squashing the crisp bread rolls, then burning his tongue on the inside of the oven before trying to declare, with swollen mouth, “it was all part of the plan,” prompting astonished passers-by to whisper, “I think he said something about a flan”.
Fat Roland On Electronica is a comedy blog about electronic music and it is one of the oldest blogs in the world. It began when the internet was just
two tin cans and a bit of silly string. I use words like “piffle”, “pap” and “twazmuppet”. I think I’m just a frustrated journo-droid with some loose wires.
Since its inexplicable success at last year’s Manchester Blog Awards, keeping up the pace of blogging has been a challenge. I now write fiction (italic-eyeball.blogspot.com), help out with the Manchester blogmeets and run events with the #flashtag writer’s group. I pretend to be a proper writer because, dear reader, it’s all part of my blueprint for success. Ahem.
www.fatroland.com
For next month Fat Roland On Electronica has picked NewsicMoos
It’s very difficult to choose someone to tag with the inexorably rolling blogstone that BLANKPICKS forces down the steep hill of digital culture. There are so many blogs I like, but there are very few that my blog wants to be like / to sleep with / to marry. But I really wish I could pull off something like NewsicMoos (newsicmoos.co.uk), which wears the same Manchester & Electronic Music hat as me, but has infinitely more energy, more content and more music. Recently, NewsicMoos revived my excitement for DJ Marky and Mosca, so I suggest you get excited about their blog too.
ForthcomingEvents
ANARCADIACastlefield Gallery, ManchesterRuns until September 18Castlefield Gallery is delighted to present Anarcadia, a body of work by artist Ruth Maclennan set in the vast steppe of south-eastern Kazakhstan. A new publication, also entitled Anarcadia will launch alongside the exhibition.Anarcadia is a 35 minute video projection, which is accompanied by a series of photographs. The exhibition also includes archive material from Kazakhstan, gathered by the artist.castlefieldgallery.co.uk
ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCEBureau Gallery, ManchesterRuns until September 12Bureau is pleased to announce that Noel Clueit and Daniel Fogarty will be artists-in-residence at the gallery during Summer 2011. Clueit and Fogarty have been invited to use the gallery as their studio for eight weeks, as part of the annual residency programme that Bureau runs, during it’s temporary closure over the Summer period. bureaugallery.com
TITUS ANDRONICUSCUC, LiverpoolSeptember 1-3From PurpleCoat Productions, comes a highly engaging and emotional production with the RSC’s Open Stages scheme, about a family that is torn apart in Shakespeare’s most under-rated tragedy.contemporaryurbancentre.org
MANCHESTER PRINT FAIRNight and Day Cafe, ManchesterSeptember 25, 11am - 5pmThe Manchester Print Fair is a new independent arts event, celebrating the best of design, art and photography in the North West. The fair will offer a variety of artist publications, zines, design posters, photographic prints and more!themillpress.co.uk
MINTFEST 2011 Various locations, Kendal,September 2-4Mintfest returns for its fifth year with a sparkling new programme, offering programmers and promoters a unique opportunity to see a wide range of new and innovative outdoor work from across the globe.The programme features the very best of contemporary international street arts alongside receptions, networking meetings, social events and presentations about outdoor projects in development.lakesalive.org
MIXED MOVEMENTContact, ManchesterSeptember 3Dance and live music combine, New York style. The brainchild of dancer, theatre artist, and poet DawN Crandell, Mixed Movement gives dancers and musicians a chance to improvise, celebrate and show off their skills. contactmcr.com
JUNEBUM PARK: TO LETCube Gallery, ManchesterSeptember 2 - October 5Junebum Park is a Korean-based artist who uses media to playfully manipulate the everyday fabric of the city. The exhibition consists of a number of new commissions, including a work that subverts the historic facade of CUBE reflecting the impacts of the current recession as they are felt across the built environment.cube.org.uk
EGGS COLLECTIVE: EGGSHIBITION Contact, ManchesterRuns until September 17A candid series of photographic portraits of Contact’s partner company, the all-female performance group, Eggs Collective, by Roshana Rubin-Mayhew.By stripping away all context but for a choice contribution by each Egg, this work looks for the self beyond the shell and how we prop up the framework of our persona.contactmcr.com
SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT?
To include your event or recommend someone else’s in a future issue just email us with your event title, location, date, time and a short description. [email protected] (max 100 words)
MOTHER’S RUINContact, ManchesterSeptember 23Join Mother for a break from the mundane in her new home with a refreshing, hilarious, thought-provoking night of queer-thinking variety presented by your bearded drag lady hostess, Timberlina. off their skills. contactmcr.com
JERWOOD DRAWING PRIZEJerwood Space, LondonSeptember 14 - October 30Jerwood Visual Arts and Drawing Projects UK are delighted to announce the 60 artists selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011, which includes a first prize of £6,000, a second prize of £3,000, and two student awards of £1,000 each. The Jerwood Drawing Prize is the largest and longest running annual open exhibition for drawing in the UK. Judged by an independent panel of selectors, the Prize aims to recognise and support all UK based artists, from student to established, working in the field of drawing.jerwooddrawingprize.org/
SEEDBANK FOR TREEHOUSESCube Gallery, ManchesterSeptember 2 - October 5Addressing sustainability and the ownership of temporary structures, Julia Munz and Annika Unterburg present a new exhibition that imagines treehouses as not only a joyful curiosity, but also as an ongoing social investment.cube.org.uk
this month in BLANKMEDIACOLLECTIVE...
iCall for SubmissionsTHE TITLE ART PRIZE
BLANKSPACE, Manchester
DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 9To celebrate 5 years of supporting emerging
practitioners, Blank Media Collective is launching an important new art prize in Manchester. We are looking for exciting visual artists from the UK working within any medium, concept or scale to submit new works.
All shortlisted works will be shown within The Title Art Prize exhibition forming Blank Media Collective’s fifth birthday celebrations. Four winners will be selected by a panel of established artists, curators and directors, with each artist receiving prizes to help benefit their future creative practice. A fifth winner will then be selected through the People’s Choice Award. The Title Art Prize exhibition will be shortlisted and curated by the Blank Media Collective curatorial team.
www.blankmediacollective.org/news/comments/opportunity_the_title_art_prize
IN_TUITION (FINE ART)BLANKSPACE, ManchesterSeptember 6 6.30-8.30pm
IN_TUITION (CREATIVE WRITING)BLANKSPACE, ManchesterSeptember 13 6.30-8.30pm
IN_TUITION (MOVING IMAGE)BLANKSPACE, ManchesterSeptember 20 6.30-8.30pm
In_Tuition is an open forum for creatives based in the North West. An opportunity for artists to talk about their work and inspire others through creative understanding, musing and action!
NO.1: PAINT
BLANKSPACE, ManchesterPublic preview: September 8Exhibition continues September 9 - 25
No.1: Paint is the first in an exciting series of medium-specific exhibitions to be held at BLANKSPACE. Celebrating the unique nature of paint, this exhibition will showcase work from 24 varied and distinctive emerging artists from throughout the UK.
Encompassing a wide variety of styles and forms, from impressionistic to abstract, sculpture to installation, the core subject of this diverse collection is: paint.
The selected artists individually push the fundamental boundaries of paint, investigating the numerous angles available within the selected art form.
www.blankmediacollective.org/events/details/no1paint
IN_TUITION (PHOTOGRAPHY)BLANKSPACE, ManchesterSeptember 27 6.30-8.30pm
blankpages is renewing its callout for contributions.
Every month we showcase writers, artists and musicians who deserve to share their work with the wider arts community and the public as a whole. An established literary and visual standard within both the digital and non web-based arts sphere, it is fast becoming a well respected and widely read publication with a dedicated following
that grows with each edition.
Why submit work to blankpages?
We believe in support. Submitting to blankpages is more than getting your work published. We try to provide honest, creative and critical feedback when you submit, as well as any advice or information we can give you on how to market yourself as a writer - how to get your work noticed outside of blankpages, as well as within our large arts community.
We also work closely with several other organisations, venues and writers’ collectives, so we can help support you and your work. If you’re interested in performance poetry, we have our own space, and are always interested in working with
talented performers.blankpages is about supporting all artists, not just
writers. If your work crosses genres, that’s fine with us. As we’re digital, we have the means to publish visual and sound based accompaniments to your work.
Each month our dedicated visual design team will work with your submission, creating bespoke illustrative accompaniments, all housed within our trademark unique and beautiful layout.
We’re looking for talented creatives with a unique style and ability to produce interesting pieces. New works are preferred, but previously published pieces will be considered.
Proof reading is boring. We’d much rather spend time reading and enjoying your submissions. Please check work for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors before sending it in.
Please submit a short biography with your work so we can learn more about you.
How to SubmitWe constantly check the online portfolios, and
this is a great way to be seen. Just create a profile on the Blank Media Collective website, upload up to ten pieces of work, click on the option to
Submissions Callout
include your work in blankpages and/or email us a link and we will consider your work for future issues.
Alternatively you can send your work for consideration by the relevant content editor by emailing [email protected]
Visual ArtistsAll our featured artists are sourced through
the Blank Media Collective portfolios. To be considered, upload at least 4 high resolution images (minimum 300dpi) and bear in mind that we may want to feature you as the cover artist. Please include your pieces’ names and any information you feel is relevant to each image.
PoetsAll lengths and forms are welcome, as are
varying stylistic approaches. Word limit is down to you, but we’d ask that you discuss any works longer than 30 lines each with the editor. We’re looking for no more than 3 – 4 medium length poems; 2 maximum if larger in length.
Prose Fiction WritersStories should be between 1000 and 2500
words (although shorter or longer works may be considered). All styles and themes are accepted, and we are looking for originality, insight and wit.
MusiciansWe welcome musical submissions from any
genre, providing the recording is of a suitable industry standard. If your submission is selected for publication you will be asked to provide at least one high resolution image (minimum 300dpi) that you feel represents you as well as possible. The image can be of you/your band or can be abstract in nature. Please supply a .wav, .mp3 or .aiff formatted file, at a minimum bitrate of 320kb/s.
blankpages is dedicated to giving a high quality platform to share your work – we love reading your submissions and will always try to respond with feedback.
If you’d like to discuss your work or would like some feedback before submitting, please feel free to get in touch – email [email protected], for the attention of the relevant content editor.
Please note; if email submissions are unavailable, mail submissions will be accepted. If you wish your work to be returned, please include a SAE. Mail submissions should be sent to blankpages Editorial, BLANKSPACE, 43 Hulme Street, Manchester, M15 6AW
Blank Media Collective Team:Director: Mark Devereux Co-Director: John Leyland Financial Administrator: Martin Dale Strategic Development Consultant: Chris Maloney Development Coordinators: Dwight Clarke, Elaine Mateer & Jez DolanCommunity Arts & Learning Coordinators: Chris LeylandCommunications Coordinators: Shahram Agha-Kasiri, Bryony Cole, Lisa Slattery Information Manager: Sylvia Coates Website Designers: Simon Mills & Henry RobertsExhibition Curators: Mark Devereux, Jamie Hyde, Kate Charlton, Peter Fallon, Beth Kwant, Sophie Barnes & Rose BarracloughDocumentary Filmmakers: Charalampos Politakis & Insa LanghorstOfficial Photographers: Gareth Hacking & Iain Goodyear
blankpages Team:Editor: John Leyland Assistant Editor: Abigail Ledger-Lomas Feature Editors: Sarah Handyside & Rebecca OwensFiction Editor: Kevin Bradshaw Music Editor: Baz Wilkinson Visual Editor / Designer: Michael ThorpDesign Intern: Simon Meredith