Posts

Showing posts from July, 2010

Dublin

Image
Coincident but not causal on our arrival in the city, Dublin was announced as a UNESCO City of Literature; not sure what that will actually mean but I have observed in this and previous visits that it does seem to have a lot of readers – it is noticeable that many more people seem to read books in public places, parks and cafes. Anyway, as it was a shortbreak, my only literary tourism was a visit to the Chester Beattie Library ; European Museum of the year in 2002, this is a must certainly for visual poets with its magnificent collection of rare and ancient manuscripts. http://www.cbl.ie/Collections/Introduction.aspx My only gallery experience was my habitual return to the Douglas Hyde Gallery . http://www.douglashydegallery.com/home.php The gallery has unusual but interesting levels and is always very thoughtfully hung. On this visit I saw Dana Schutz’s Tourette’s Paintings and a tiny display of photography (+ 1 painting) by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein. The latter was mildly interestin

Urban Moves in Bury

Image

Guess The Winner

Image
This year I couldn’t fit in attendance at the European Museums Forum in Tampere (Finland) – though I will pay my third visit to that city in October. This week I received the two booklets that accompany the conference each year. The first contains all the candidates for the Museum of the Year Award (plus a couple of other special commendations) and the second features the winners and some analysis thereof. Although I think I did know which won, I couldn’t remember when I got the booklets, so played a little guessing game I do each year. Study each museum candidate in the book (and using no other evidence) rate the submissions and guess which one I would nominate (with no ‘official’ criteria other than my own instincts and predilections). My list is as much places I should one day visit and even if I don’t they are places that make me feel positive just by knowing they exist. Guessing which one will actually win is of less interest because I think that the judging panel in the past at

The Pollinators of Eden

Image
The Pollinators of Eden (Ben Gwilliam & Matt Wand) Rodrigo Constanzo & Richard Knight Aht-n (Clutter, Tandog & Noise Research) Plus Tandog visuals Free CD with £3 entry fee... At The Briton's Protection, M1 5LE on 23rd July at 8.30pm Matt Wand became known to a wider public especially with Stock, Hausen & Walkman and frequent collaboration with Tony Oxley. Wand has recently been commissioned by WDR radio Köln for sound collages extracted from WDR recordings of contemporary classical works (Schnitt-Haubenstock, composition & live performance). Besides live performances, radio work and installations he has written film scripts for short films and animations (one winning the Goldcrest award for best short in 1988) and shown many small gauge movies in the UK and abroad. He also runs the independent artistic recording label Hot Air and designs the visuals and packaging for the many vinyl and CD items released so far. http://www.myspace.com/stockhausenandwalkman B

Urban Moves

Image
Conveniently programmed near to my office and to my home, part funded by Bury, Urban Moves is a three-day festival featuring live professional dance performance outdoors. Surprising the crowds with a unique blend of dance and spectacle, Urban Moves celebrates the cityscape and architecture of Greater Manchester - out in the parks and in the fountains, in the squares and in the gardens. The festival is renowned for some awesome aerial dance performance and for the use of some unusual stages! There's some great contemporary dance in Bury and Castlefield from 23-25 July - details from the website below. http://www.urbanmovesfestival.co.uk/UMpage.aspx

An Iraq Soap Opera

Image
I got to see Rachel Khedoori’s ‘The Iraq Book Project’ at Hauser & Wirth London this week. http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/667/rachel-khedoori/view/ (an excerpt from the publicity) ‘The Iraq Book Project’, Khedoori's ongoing documentary piece, consists of a chronological compilation of news articles found online using the search terms 'Iraq’, ‘Iraqi’ or ‘Baghdad’. The articles begin on 18 March 2003, the start date of the Iraq war, and in theory, can continue indefinitely. Presented as a series of large books on tall tables, the articles are sourced from a wide range of news services based all over the world, translated into English and formatted to flow together seamlessly; the only separation between the articles is the emboldened lettering of the titles, date and source. For this project, the gallery will be turned into a research centre with articles being compiled, printed and added to the books throughout the duration of the exhibition. ‘The Iraq Book Project’

The Other Room

Image

Derek Beaulieu at Bury Art Gallery

Image
Interview with Derek: http://bit.ly/auKkRI

Dinner

Welcoming Derek Beaulieu and Kristen Ingram arriving from Canada, David Osbaldeston and Katie Craven joined us for one of Sue's celebrated dinner parties: The Menu Spicy roasted red pepper and lime soup (accompanied with an Alsace Reisling) Sue’s Crispy Prawn Toast with a dipping sauce Pan-fried Sea Trout fillet with ribbons of courgette with chilli and ginger with a lemon and herb dressing (accompanied with a Spanish Albarino) Home made clotted cream strawberry ice-cream, meringue, strawberries and strawberry sauce (On Wednesday, Derek will be reading at Bury Art Gallery at 1pm and at the Other Room at 7pm)

The call of Nono

Image
I have been asked to curate a CD of language/text-based responses to the great contemporary composer Luigi Nono . The works will also be featured in a sound art exhibition in October-November as part of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. If you would like to be part of this project get in touch with me. http://www.luiginono.it/en/

worksetting

Image
Apart from the Contemporary Music Festival, like Bury, Huddersfield doesnt immediately jump to mind as a place where there might be something interesting going on. So I'm pleased to report that the worksetting gallery is an important new development, built around the vision of curator/designer Paul Bradley to create a space that shows established modern masters alongside emerging artists presenting a context of work that hovers between art, fashion, furniture and design, contextualised within an ornate 19th Century shopping arcade. The opening show is a great opening statement of intent and the future plans suggest this will be a must-see gallery. " a place for everything and everything in its place " has a great rosta of artists from Lawrence Weiner, Michelangelo Pistoletto, James Turrell and Jaume Plensa to names I didnt (but probably should) know like Laurence Kavanagh, Stefano Bonacci and Vittorio Messina. http://worksetting.co.uk/information.html