On Saturday 2 June at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham there will be an informal talk between Dr. Jonathan Vickery of the Centre For Cultural Policy at Warwick University and artist Joshua Sofaer discussing the ‘Name For Lights’ installation. Looking at the changing nature of fame from the Hollywood superstars whose names would be illuminated on cinema hoardings right through to the reality TV contestants whose desire for fame can be realised or thwarted by an audience through their mobile phones, Sofaer and Vickery will be analysing the moral and artistic repercussions of the pursuit of fame for its own sake. Places are free but limited and must be booked on 0121 244 8084.
A reminder that the competition closes on April 17th and the sign will be unveiled on May 18th.
The Dynamics 07 International Puppet Festival starts on May 19th and runs across the West Midlands for full month. Those events taking place in Birmingham are happening at the MAC, the Drum, Solihull Central Library and Chelmsley Wood Library.
With over 100 performances in 30 places over 30 days, you’ll find a whole array of fascinating styles and content in shows for the very young, for families and for adult audiences.
We’ve invited overseas companies from Pakistan, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, Belgium and France. They’ll be telling stories both traditional and new and using puppetry skills and techniques from each country. Alongside these you can see a range of leading national companies from within the UK‘s thriving puppet theatre sector.
The main event seems to be a mostly free Puppet Extravaganza at the MAC over the weekend of June 2nd – 3rd:
A whole weekend of fun for all the family, in the delightful setting of mac Cannon Hill Park. Join us for a rolling programme with non-stop with shows from far and wide including very special visitors from Russia, France, and Turkey.
Puppetry is one of those arts that is often overlooked so this event, the largest in the country, is great news. Spread the word.
Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet†by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites. Established in 1996, the 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Tak’s third project for Thomas Tallis, a media archive, is expected to launch in June.
Carol Alderson from the Creative Development Team at Birmingham City Council writes in to remind me of the Creative City Awards which take place for the third year at the ICC on July 19th.
Unlike previous years where involvement with the Business Support for Creative Industries programme was required, the awards are now open to all creative businesses based in Birmingham and Solihull. The categories are as follows:
Creative Industries Award
Outstanding Innovation Award
Outstanding Business Development Award
Small Birmingham Business of the Year Award
Small Regional Business of the Year Award
Most Promising New Business Start Up Award
International Trade Award
Outstanding Development in Screen Media Award
The Best Brand Award
The submission deadline for nominations is 31st May 2007 and full details, including forms, can be downloaded here.
Pam Bishop of the Traditional Arts Team writes to inform me of their existence for which I’m very grateful.
What are the traditional performance arts?
Activities using music, dance, song and storytelling which were traditionally learned and passed on by ear or word of mouth. Even if the texts or the tunes are nowadays learned from books, or have been written or composed by contemporary artists, the performance styles can still be based on those of traditional performers. Such activities may be indigenous to the British Isles or drawn from the traditions of people who now live here.
They run a fair number of events centering on the Moseley / Kings Heath area but spreading across the Midlands. Here’s the forthcoming itinerary for Birmingham:
Saturday 21 April – Ceilidh / Barn dance at All Saints Church Hall, Kings Heath. Tickets £7 (£5 unwaged) from Rachel 246 9873
Sunday 29 April – Village Band day workshop for all musicians at Moseley Post Office Rooms, 11am to 5pm. Tickets £12 (£6 unwaged) from Pam 244 3513
First Wednesday of each month: Storytelling Session at Scruffy Murphy’s, Dale End (corner of Newton Street). More information from John 350 6545
First Thursday of each month: Traditional Song Session at MAC, Cannon Hill Park. More info from Pam 244 3513
Second and fourth Thursdays: Moseley Village Band, at Moseley Post Office rooms. More info from Susan 449 3189
Third Wednesday of each month: Storytelling Cafe – tickets from the venues:
18 April – Kitchen Garden Cafe, 443 4725
16 May – Kitchen Garden Cafe, guest Chris Smith with Palestine Story
20 June – mac, AS A SWORD FROM A LAKE: Jamie Crawford tells the story of King Arthur
Lots of activity there and seemingly distributed amongst a wide number of organisers. Very interesting…
Photo by Kevin Hayes from a barn dance in February. More photos.
The B-Theatre is a “support and development structure for new theatre practice in the West Midlands” created and co-ordinted by Simon Day. (I assume that’s this Simon Day though don’t hold me to it. [Layer: Nope, it's a different Simon Day]) Their main show is PILOT which tours around venues in the West Mids every few months.
PILOT gives theatre-artists the chance to try out new material and an audience the opportunity to share in its development. PILOT is a place where people are free to fail, but where they often succeed in entertaining and challenging, and in showing that live theatre is still kicking strong.
The next PILOT is on Thursday April 12th at the Custard Factory Theatre and features Augusto Corrieri, Jake Oldershaw, Kindle Theatre, Search Party, Talking Birds and The Plasticine Men. More details here.
An exciting new group called ‘Midlands Textile Forum’ is set to launch in October this year, promoting textiles across the region.
The emerging group aims to provide a supportive network for members and a strong platform to showcase the wide breadth of textile activity taking place. It also plans to foster links with other textile groups both nationally and internationally.
Birmingham will host the launch of the group on Saturday 27th October 2007 at the University of Central England. The launch day will include a seminar, discussion groups, demonstrations and workshops by members, a trade fair and an open exhibition of members work which will run for 4 weeks.
The group will also be appearing at the Knitting and Stitching Show at the NEC in September to promote the launch.
Anybody requiring more details, tickets for the launch day or interested in membership of the Forum, which is open to anybody living in the east or west midlands with a professional or personal interest in textiles, should email midtextfor@aol.com or write to Annette Lucas at, Midlands Textile Forum, c/o UCE Birmingham, BCVA, Ruskin Hall, Linden Rd, Bournville, Birmingham, B30 1JX. Please include an A5 stamped addressed envelope (first class 44p).
For anybody wishing to join and take part in the inaugural exhibition, the receipt of schedule deadline is August 10th with the receipt of work deadline being September 10th – 14th.
Every week I’ll be presenting three local bands or musicians with a photo, song and, if available, video. I’m trying to keep my personal preferences out of this so suggestions for future posts are very welcome.
– — –
An Untitled Musical Project
I may not be Jimmi Hendrix but at least I’m still alive
[audio:ump_jimmi.mp3]
Any bands who’d like to be featured on this blog please send an mp3 and photo (or a link to where I can download them) to peteashton [at] gmail.com. All genres and styles are welcome, especially if they’re under represented here.
Currently I’m using Brumcast and Laura Gigslut to supplement my own prejudices. More sources please!
Dubtransmissions is a Digbeth-based record label specialising in New Age Dub.
Dubtransmissions is about people who are not scared to listen to new music. We embrace evolution and creativity. Our artists are interested in drawing from classic influences such as Lee “Scratchâ€, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Bob Marley, Abbey Lincoln and Kreftwerk and producing modern fresh music. We are interested in the continuing evolution of dub. That is why you will hear dirty bass lines, unusual samples, and quality composition. Our artists record and perform with emotion and passion. They have no lyrical restriction they write what they feel.
Dubtransmissions produce music of elements, which like Reggae, allows more of a diversity of listeners, because like reggae, it evolved from Jamaica to the music of Blue Beat, Rock Steady and Ska. Which has also influenced Breakbeat and Drum n Bass.
The sound of Dubtransmissions is at home on the dance floor.
They’ve got a wide range of mp3 samples on their site and most of their music is available to buy on iTunes. Here’s a couple of samples picked at random:
[audio:Castle_Skies_Dubdance.mp3]
[audio:D9_Eyes.mp3]
They also have a comprehensively equipped studio for hire.
Interesting article on KR-36, the “urban interactive game” that’s part of The Event currently taking place in Birmingham. It also gives a bit of insight into what The Event is all about.
Charting the rise in artistic anthropology in Birmingham, the BCAF (Birmingham Contemporary Art Forum) have organised The Event to document what has been described by those in the know as the next Arts Lab, the Brummy avant-garde arts scene of the late seventies.
KR-36 is run by a.a.s. who describe themselves thusly on their site:
a.a.s. is a non-corporeal art framework; anonymous, and fluid; different artists from project to project. it is transdisciplinary; using installation, digital, video, audio, live art, whatever is appropriate at the time.
it involves others in the work wherever possible because terms like artist, audience, and performer are only ever provisional.
contact with a.a.s. is made through negotiators that speak on behalf of a.a.s.
this is not a gimmick but an attempt to make a serious point about the condition of the ego in contemporary art.
I’d been meaning to post about Kate Pemberton for a while now and seeing her High Church of Gaming (above) on sale at the Birmingham Open kicked me into touch.
From her site:
Kate’s practice addresses the cultural effects that technology has on society, by examining the influence of the machine and of digital technologies. Art pieces range from interactive electronic installations, to canvas based work and textiles. Ideas stem from the status of craft objects in an age of electronic consumerist culture. Crossovers are identified between computer graphics and craft techniques, these are explored in the creation of tangible art objects.
Personally I’m drawn to Kate’s work because it brings something new to pixel art and, above all, has a great sense of humour. She also understands her subject, as evidenced by the Cardboard Network piece which was exhibited at Flux in 2003. Kate was also one of the original IdeasFactory (now 4talent) Creative Class.
While the event itself doesn’t really come under the remit of this blog I think this video publicising the Epic Skate Park Beer Festival that was posted on YouTube is really interesting.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for people putting on events is, I think, reputation. If you have a big name draw or a well known brand (such as Capsule’s Supersonic festival being headlined by Mogwai) then you’re okay but if you don’t have those then you’re only going to get your friends coming along. Everyone else is asking “who are these people?”
One way to get a reputation before you’ve really done anything is to present yourself, which is where this video comes in. Before viewing it you probably didn’t know much about the beer festival other than having perhaps seen a poster or flyer. Now you know what the people who are organising it are like and how seriously they take their beer along with having a better idea about the venue. A whole bunch of uncertainties have been banished.
Compare this (without criticism) to the Project X Presents event Like Fxck which also took place at the Epic Skate Park last summer. This was an event that was very hard to describe in advance and which was more about an idea than big names. It turned out to be successful but I found it very hard to get people I knew to go along. There were too many questions for what was a relatively high ticket price (at least compared to a gig at the Jug).
While the Project X people were probably too busy setting things up run a blog or photo diary on their site it would have been feasible to keep some kind of video diary, especially given there were already video people involved. Shoot some of the setup, interview some of the people involved, quickly edit it into a 5 minute piece, whack it on YouTube and embed it in the event’s website. I’d guess an evening’s work once you’ve got the filming done. (Note how the beer festival video was filmed on Wednesday and online by Thursday morning.)
The doesn’t just apply to large scale music events. You could do it with theatre, art shows, anything where the personalities that feed the event and make it what it is tend to be hidden on the day itself. It doesn’t have to be professionally polished, it just has to be honest. And then you’ve started building your reputation before the doors have even opened.
One thing that I’ve been struggling with on this blog is how best to report on Birmingham’s music scene. Not only is there an astoundingly huge number of bands but I’m also unashamedly biased about which ones I like and I’m not about to spend half an hour researching some wannabe Libertines clone or whathaveyou however popular they might be.
Which isn’t a particularly conducive situation. So I’m going to try something different. Starting next week there’ll be a regular feature where three or four music acts will be briefly profiled. You’ll get a photo, brief description, links to their sites and, most importantly, one of their songs embedded into the post, rather like I did here. I won’t pass any critical judgement, just let them stand on their own merits.
I’ll probably be using the Brumcast podcast as my first port of call but I’m also open to submissions. Any bands wanting to be featured should send a photo and mp3 (or links to where they can be downloaded) along with details of their web presence to peteashton [at] gmail.com. The mp3 is important.
Also worth noting this doesn’t just include yer guitar based rock outfits. Any genre of music is welcome.
(For my next trick I’m going to figure out how to cover theatre…)
Chris Keenan (previously profiled here) mentions on his great-but-buried-away blog that he’s been doing some stills photography on the shoot of a new film Special People, which leads me to discover 104 Films, a production company based in Solihull who have a rather impressive showreel.
Special People is a feature length extension of a well received short they made in 2005 of the same name “about a neurotic filmmaker whose latest project is a pretentious film featuring disabled children climbing a mountain. The only problem is the kids don’t want to know. Jasper slowly cracks up as he is bombarded with flack by his uncoopertive students.” There’s a clip from the short here.
The 104 Method
104 films develop projects and ideas through a process of creative development workshops. Justin Edgar leads workshops with groups of young people which develop character, story, situations, dialogue and comedy.
Improvisation, drawing on the truth of character and spontaneous creativity are the key to these workshops. Through this process –and there are no precise rules for how this happens– a script or outline of the project develops. This process is profoundly collaborative and delivers a real energy, verve and sense of authenticity to material. It also centres performance and focuses on developing and refining this craft. This creative process is at the heart of the 104 films vision and Justin Edgar’s directing style.
