The 2007 Flip Animation Festival has been announced for November 1st – 3rd at Light House and other venues in Wolverhampton.
Flip is an eclectic mix of all things animation. Based in the heart of the Midlands the festival provides a wide range of experiences from educational workshops for young people to experimental animation for grown ups; from industry led panels to feature film screenings and from international showcases and retrospectives of short films to spotlights on animation companies.
They’re currently open to submissions from animators until August 3rd. More details can be found in This document (Word) or by contacting Angela Slater at Light House on 01902 716055 / flip@light-house.co.uk.
The Bass Festival (British Art and Street Sounds) is a rather exciting sounding collection of black music events put together by Birmingham-based promoters (amongst other things) Punch. Running throughout the month of June there are 30 events taking place in venues across the West Midlands with a mission to take this music overground on it’s own turf.
The Midlands is a weird place for music. Whilst the underground has always been tight, with local promoters pushing some of the best nights to be found in the UK, the region never really got the recognition it deserves and this strong reputation has remained a bit underground. Birmingham based events maestros Punch reckon the region deserves a better rep and are aiming to put Central England on everyone’s musical map with a hugely ambitious black music festival
Punch are an intriguing outfit which I should probably start paying attention to.
Punch is a dynamic artist led organisation, known throughout the UK as a retail store, promoter, producer, marketing agency and highly acclaimed education organisation. As well as a range of projects targeted at young people, Punch also commissions and produces work in a range of art forms including theatre, dance, music, visual arts and film.
Issue 6 of Ten 4, the magazine of emerging creative talent published by Channel 4 and produced here in Birmingham, is now out. The theme of this issue is “Issues” and as usual a number of the article are online. You can buy Ten 4 in Virgin and Borders stores or pick it up for free at various arty outlets like the Custard Factory or Jibbering Records. Alternatively, if you’re really lazy, they do mail order.
Is British Asian music in crisis? Or is it just going through the normal processes of the music industry? Birminghamusic.com points to a couple of interestingarticles on Asians In Media about young British Asian artists and producers being dropped by their labels.
Pianist and general good egg on the local music scene Richard Batsford has a new weblog.
Andrew Dubber has finished his series The 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online (about which more later) and is having it turned into a book. You can sign up for a free copy at that link.
The Fierce Festival kicks off this weekend with a somewhat dazzling array of events, the highlight for me being the return of Franko B with his new performance piece Don’t Leave Me This Way.
Don’t Leave Me This Way marks a challenge in Franko B’s performance practice, formalizing his recent departure from blood-based work. In Don’t Leave Me This Way Franko’s body is presented naked and unpainted. The piece is being developed in two formats in which Franko is seated on a raised plinth or altar, either in front of a mass audience or in a one-to-one encounter. A bank of bright lights will flood the audience to the point of averting their gaze. Carefully choreographed with well-established lighting designer Kamal Ackarie, this blinding technique will mimic the effect that Franko’s bleeding body has on audience members, while opening up a new range of emotional and bodily responses.
This is, by my reckoning, Franko’s third visit to Birmingham, following on from I Miss You in 2000 and Oh Lover Boy in 2001 (Did I miss any?), and takes place at the CBSO Centre on Berkley St on Saturday at 7.00pm. Tickets are a quite reasonable £8. More info on the Fierce Site.
There are a number of other events occurring on Saturday which I could list here but instead I’ll just point you towards the listings. (I’m quite keen to check out Haircuts by Children myself, even though I have very little hair.)
One of the (many) categories on this blog’s sidebar that I think should have a higher number next to it is Architecture so I’m chuffed that there seems to be a flood of building related info coming my way.
Today was news of Architecture Week 2007 which is being organised in the West Mids by Kevin Isaacs and Anna Cook of Fierce Earth, the same people who are running the current Fierce Festival. Running from June 15th – 24th the theme is “How Green Is Your Space?” and while there are a number of events already confirmed they’re still open to submissions from artists.
Here in the West Midlands we are focusing on themes of children and young people, and diversity, although if you have a project outside of these themes, that’s fine – we’d love to hear about it!
Can you envisage a children’s event which shows the relevance of architecture to every-day life? Could you perhaps screen a film that explores an architectural theme or organise a ‘talk and tour’ of a significant building? Are you an architect who is interested in opening your practice to the public or taking part in the RIBA Architect in the House initiative? Are you a gallery with a relevant exhibition, or a musician with an interest in sound and space? Or could you organise a cycle or boat tour to visit buildings? You could even be a photographer, designer, chef or actor who would like to join in and celebrate our built environment. We are looking for all these kinds of events and many more……
Contact details are here and it’s probably worth emphasizing this is not just open to architects and their ilk but to artists in all mediums.
Those interested in the architectural history of Birmingham should really check out Birmingham: AAH, a relatively new blog that gives concise but detailed histories of specific buildings and areas of the city, and not just he usual suspects either.
Project X Presents have secured the venue for their next project – a currently empty warehouse space near the Rainbow in Digbeth. As shows in the video at the end of this detailed post it’s “a large, square space that looks like a beautiful, seductive, blank canvas.”
The Fopp Award for New Music will give up-and-coming acts a fantastic opportunity to get their material recorded, mixed, edited and mastered at a professional recording studio for free, courtesy of PRSF. Clear Sound & Vision will then handle post-mastering and manufacturing of the CDs, working closely with the bands to design insert artwork and produce a high-level finished product. The final product will be distributed through Fopp’s chain of stores nationwide, and the bands will also be given the opportunity to play at a showcase event.
The scheme is open to:
singer/songwriters
bands or groups of any genre which perform their own original material
songwriters (who have someone else/a group to perform their songs)
Note that the deadline is quite soon – Friday 25th May.
The Flair Designer Maker Fair at Light House in Wolverhampton on June 23rd features 40 artists and makers from the region exhibiting and selling their work, along with graduates from Wolverhampton School of Art and Design. It runs from 11am to 4pm in the covered courtyard of the Chubb Buildings.
Ranging from illustration and photography to ceramics, textiles and jewellery there will be something to suit your fancy whether it be a gift for someone or a piece of original art for your home.
Artists to be exhibiting include graphic designer Louise Carrier who produces a unique range of prints, cards and bookmarks, Celine Appleyard who produces distinctive ceramic homeware and Claire Buchanan who makes beautiful crochet jewellery.
Strangetime have a new single, Personality Disorder, out on 24th May and a launch-gig on the 25th at the Acrtress and Bishop. More on their blog.
Claire Galleries are extending their current show, Broken Edge, for a fortnight and will be having a “light lunch” on Wednesday 16th May 12.00 – 2.30pm. “The exhibition marks the 25th anniversary of computer art by Teoman Irmak, one of the very first to pioneer the art in the early 80′s.The Turkish artist, who has also produced digital art for clients as diverse as the German Pharmaceutical company Hoechst, the Royal Navy, LEGO and Marvel Comics, will be showing his recent Fine Art work alongside two other contemporary computer artists, Chris Papadopoulos and Chris Vaughan.”
The 2007 Flip Animation Festival has been announced for November 1st – 3rd at Light House and other venues in Wolverhampton.
