Created in Birmingham

After Supersonic there’s often someone from out of town who goes home and blogs about their experiences, not just of the festival, but of their journeys around the rest of the city. I think my favourite was the Portuguese a few years back. This year it seems to be Alice on her blog, Quaint Living:

During the day we continued our exploration of Birmingham where we had left off last time. This time we visited the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, the Back to Backs, Ikon gallery, the Cathedral, St Paul’s Gallery, as well as general visiting of record shops and so on.

As a bonus, there are some lovely photos too.

City Full of Secrets is a blog from the Polish Expats Association, an organisation that provides support to the Polish community living in Birmingham.

Seems they put together an exhibition called Solidarity of Nations in Handsworth back in August.

Bright Space are doing a project called Platform and they’re after youngsters:

Platform will be a blog written by 16-19 year olds, featuring articles, reviews, events listings and much more. Written by young people for young people it will represent a unique perspective on arts activity in Birmingham.

We are now looking to recruit 15 young people aged 16-19 years old who are interested in reporting, reviewing and attending the many cultural events in and around the city, including exhibitions, theatre, dance, launches and gigs.

Successful applicants will receive a £200 bursary and the opportunity to attend a week long intensive summer school in August, which will highlight the many techniques and skills they will need to become fully fledged Platform bloggers

Which sounds like a pretty decent deal. All you have to do to take advantage is write a 200 word article on a creative passion that you have, including your name, address, date of birth and contact details and send it to Bright Space. You need to be 16-19 years old and available on certain dates. More info on all that on the Platform website.

Seems a shame to let the young folks get all the fun though – I reckon doing a project like this with OAPS/accountants/badminton players/whatever could be fun.

Okay.  Still trying to creep back into things after spending ludicrous amounts of time in a darkened room with no technology to make me worse.  If I’ve missed your ‘thing’ then sorry, and if you have a ‘thing’ you think is good, tell me about it!

In the meantime, two things that compliment one another have come to my attention.

Firstly, an opportunity:

INTER?OGATION: WALSALL

Call to Artists:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to become a secret agent for a day in order to interrogate the public spaces of Walsall.

Using the New Art Gallery Walsall as a base you will investigate the artist’s role in the post-industrial world through one of four methods:

INTER?OGATION: ACTION RESEARCH     (09/09/09)
INTER?OGATION: CONSULTATION         (16/09/09)
INTER?OGATION: COLLABORATION     (23/09/09)
INTER?OGATION: INTERVENTION         (30/09/09)

INTER?OGATION: WALSALL explores the impact that one artist (you) can make in one place, in one day.

This programme of work is organised by Longhouse and the New Art Gallery Walsall, working with lead artist Anna Francis (who can also be found here), and is designed to investigate the impact of short, sharp interventions within the public realm.  Deadline for expressions of interest is fairly soon – 12pm Friday 28 August 2009 - so go visit the site to find out more.

Secondly, I really enjoy the idea of creative practice being fused with more spy-like activities – interrogations and investigations.. where everyone gets to be a secret agent and have their own missions!  So for those of you whose toes are curling at me daring to mention WALSALL in a CiB post, I wanted to temper that with a signpost towards a great Birmingham artist – Nikki Pugh. I feel she really embodies this excitement within her practice, but best of all has taken the time to document in detail how she’s used this approach with great effect in her “How to Wow” series.

Do you know of any other local artists who work in this way?

A while back I mentioned a strange meet up named BARG happening in the back of an old pub in Digbeth  These meetings were for anyone with a creative mind or just a childlike desire to play, and looked at how we can use mobile technology and social media stuff to play interesting games.

These games, much like the Emergent Game a few years ago prove that interactive play doesn’t have to be homed exclusively online or in the playground but can explore geographical areas in new ways, look at how we now communicate online and off, and give a chance for grown adults to play.

Another Nicky doing good work in the city is Nicky Getgood who writes the blog Digbeth is Good. She uses social media stuff like maps, videos and games within her blog which demand importance in the real world and sets the context firmly within the geographical area and a real community. The most interesting projects I have seen recently rely on this process of interweaving online and offline participation, such as 4am Project and other activities like Flickr meetups which happen in the city.

Now spring has sprung the BARG group are taking games onto the streets of Birmingham, with the aim of  taking a fresh look at neglected parts of the city, and reclaiming them much like how skateboarders do. This Saturday between 2pm and about 7pm they will be hosting an afternoon of play and picnics on Curzon Street. For more information and maps etc go to Nikki’s personal blog.

Victorian Wolverhampton is a new blog started by Joanne Penn at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. It coincides with the redisplays of Wolverhampton’s collection of Victorian art and objects at both the city’s gallery, and out of town museum, Bantock House. I interviewed first time blogger Joanne Penn to find out how she is getting on.

Can you tell us a little bit about Victorian Wolverhampton?
Victorian Wolverhampton celebrates the opening of The Victorian Galleries here at Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Bantock House. Everyone here is really excited about the displays finaly opening after so much hard work that has gone into the project, and I thought that to engage the community with the displays, we would need a website which can give them a behind-the-scenes look at what is going on. It’s not all just from me! There is a community panel who are researching stories and information.

What was your first reaction to being given the task of setting up a blog?
I was terrified but really excited all at the same time. I have never done anything like this before, I don’t even have a Facebook or Myspace! I also don’t get on too well with computers, but I love researching and learning especially about local things. I’m not from Wolverhampton either so it has been quite a lot of work as I didn’t know very much about the city at all. I didn’t really know where to start, I had to have a crash course in blogging!

What difficulties have you faced when creating the blog and fitting it around the existing website?
I’ve had to be really careful with what images I have chosen to go on the blog, the images from the collections all have to be credited. Also, all of the information has been subjected to some scrupulous examining by the staff working on the displays, which is a bit daunting. Other difficulties have been technical, as this is my first encounter with blogging, I am really learning as I go along however, I do think that I have picked it up really well, the blog is only 4 weeks old!

What have you found most surprising or exciting?
I think the most exciting thing was when after working on it for about 2 weeks, it was then published! I was so happy when I looked at the statistics and found that people had actually been looking at this blog that I have worked really hard on. I knew that blogs are the way forward and that they really do reach a wide variety of people, but it’s great to know that people are actually looking for it or stumbling across it and learning something new. It hasn’t had any comments yet, but I am looking forward to feedback from the community about it. What has been surprising is how easy it is once I knew what I was doing, sometimes I have made mistakes, but I’m learning from them and getting quicker at posting items and working on the pages.

What advice can you give for people wanting to start their own blog?
I would say think very carefully about what you want people to get out of your blog. It’s great that it is a space for you to share things that interest you but why are you sharing it? Also, you have to think about the tone of your blog. They tend to be more chatty than websites, and snappy to so that you engage people and make them want to read more. When I first started working on the blog, I think I took too much of an formal tone, I’ve tried to relax this now and be more myself which is very important but then you don’t want to alienate people either- so it’s about trying to get that balance.

There is a bit of a debate about Created in Birmingham going on over at Dave Harte’s blog. It has been suggested that CiB has lost a bit of ‘umpf’ of late, that it may have strayed from it’s original purpose, or is lacking that special something that made it what it was. I am keen to get some of the regular readers in on the debate. I would be really interested to hear your feedback, warts and all.

In light of this, I wanted to let you know some things I am working on at the moment. I’m going to be changing the aesthetic of the blog, and changing the template we use. I’ll be using a free, downloadable template  just as Pete did when he first created CiB. I will be doing this for several reasons, one simply because I am not a technical person and wouldn’t have a clue how to design or adapt my own, but mostly because I want to encourage others to start blogs by using these free tools that are available to anyone.

I am also working on a great big CiB Google Map of Birmingham. As a reader of CiB one question has always stuck with me: “That gallery / project / meetup / exhibition looks great, but where the hell is it?” When putting this map together and encouraging others to contribute, I am hoping to find lots of exciting stuff happening all over the city; it’s suburbs and back streets, North & South. I have been partly inspired by Nicky Getgood’s: Digbeth is Good Arty Trail.

I don’t think the map should be a comprehensive documentation of creativity in Birmingham, but a rich working document which evolves over time with many contributors adding locations, photographs, video and trails.

Many apologies for the lack of posts the last week, with this and that happening I haven’t been able to bring you as many posts as I would have like to, normal blogging service shall be restored from herein.

One great thing I missed out on last Friday was the launch of Fazeley Studios in Digbeth. I have gathered together photos, reviews and anecdotes for the pleasure of both you and I to enjoy. As far as I can tell the night was filled with live music, art, a fashion show and lots of booze.

by oneblackbear

From Bham post:

Developed by Lucan Gray, son of Custard Factory owner Bennie Gray, Fazeley Studios, in Digbeth, is a 1.25 acre collection of magnificent but previously derelict listed buildings fronting Fazeley Street which have been restored to form 44 studio offices for creative and digital businesses.

“They [digital industries] are great success stories for the city at an extremely challenging time, so it is important that we can provide them with the kind of space and support that they need in order to grow.”

we make art

by we make art

“The Studios are beautiful and it is starting to become a hub for creativity, which in our minds is a about time. The people behind Fazeley Studios have obviously recognised that creative people don’t always want to work in damp and dirty places such as the Custard Factory and clients want to visit clean and well-presented studios. Long live this new era of creativity in Brum.”

The Destroyers tear up the Fazeley Studios launch from DoP Diaries

More nice things to look at:

Who is based at Fazeley Studios?

Adhere Advertising company blog

Chris Unitt has just moved in…

…with design company substrakt

Meshed Media

A few weeks ago I set out an idea for a CiB charity project involving a design competition resulting in the production of a limited edition CiB t-shirt which will raise money for a Birmingham based charity. Now, two weeks on, I have done a bit of research, taken on-board all of your suggestions and found lots of helpful people who would like to get involved.

We have decided to money raised will go to a popular choice for a Birmingham based charity: Acorns Children’s  Hospice.

This is the first call for submissions and here is how it will work:

• Anyone can submit a design entry to the competition, as long as you follow the specifications needed for printing.
• From the entries 20 final designs will be chosen and made into 50 limited edition pin badge sets.
• One final design will be chosen and will be made into 50 limited edition t-shirts and 50 limited edition canvas bags.
• All items will be lovingly screenprinted by hand and sold online by Cut – Out, a fantasic DIY print company based in the West Midlands. All items will be printed with eco friendly inks and on top quality Earth Positive apparel.

The brief:

We want to make a t-shirt that people will really want to wear, so the brief is very loose. The emphasis here is celebrating creative talent in Birmingham and raising some money in the process. You could design something which reflects the creativity of the city, or just your own style, it’s up to you!

Submission guidelines:

• The design should work using one colour, if the image is a photograph it needs to be converted to half tone.
• The design you submit needs to be 300 dpi (usual print quality).
• The design should be no bigger than A3 in size.

Deadline: Friday 6th March 5pm. Send your design as a PDF or JPG file to Createdinbirmingham[at]gmail.com, and hang on to your originals.

Last night was Birmingham Twestival, a gathering of Birmingham Twitter users. The evening was a delightful mix of games, prizes and squinting at name tags, all in the name of charity. Birmingham joined over 175 countries in hosting a event to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

Photo by Lee Allen

I had a lovely time, mostly trying to spot my twitter friends from either their name tags or avatars, I even won a raffle prize – $200 of hosting vouchers!  I asked the Birmingham tweeple to tweet a review:

If you need to remember the names of your new friends you made last night, a list of the attendees was posted on the blog today. Photographer Lee Allen (@photosbylee) took some great photos, you can see them on Flickr.

When I get word of how much was raised I will post it. Thanks to all the organisers for doing such a brilliant job.

This week Wendy Cope, one of the favourites to become the new poet laureate said that you can’t write poetry to order. Channel 4 set a challenge to prove her wrong: Write a poem ‘to lift the spirits of the nation’ in the format of a 140 character Twitter tweet.

Katie Parry aka @supercoolkp, a designer with supercool, did just that and managed to get her tweet read on air on the evening news.

Katie said:

I can’t begin to tell you how chuffed I was – I watch Channel 4 News every weeknight so to see my (Twitter) name on the screen was brilliant.

And it’s another small yet powerful example of the amazing connective potential of Twitter. How else would a graphic designer in Brum get their poem recited on the national news?

The segment is available to watch on YouTube and the best of the rest are on Channel 4 online.

Designer Makers are a vital part of the creative industries, yet are often overlooked and are sometimes dismissed as hobbyists. Their are many support networks around the West Midlands that show a thriving sector, and a need for even more good exhibition space to hold all of this new work.

Here are a few opportunities and support networks around at the moment:

Designer Maker West Midlands -  the advocate for the designer maker sector in the WM and holds quarterly meetings with designer makers to maintain a dialogue on funding and future opportunities.

Craftspace – a crafts development organisation.

designGap – a selective membership group of well over 200 designer producers, designer-makers and artists.

The Mailbox – have exhibition space available.
Contact: Helen – 0121 6321000, info@mailboxlife.com.

Bilston Craft Gallery – have exhibition space available.
Contact: Carrie Jones – 01902 552506.

Moseley Arts Market – is organised by the Moseley Creative Forum and is held alongside the Farmers Market on the fourth Saturday of every month.

Own Art (Arts Council) – you can sell your work in participating WM galleries through this scheme.

The Birmingham Bloggers Group will be hosting their third free social media surgery for voluntary and community groups next Wednesday, January 28th at BVSC 138 Digbeth, B5 6DR, (map). You can drop in anytime between 5.30pm to 7.00pm. Volunteers will be on hand to offer free advice to anyone who is curious to how tools like blogs, podcasts, video and social networks could help to their organisation, community group or charity. The surgery will be: No boring speeches or jargon just hot drink and some friendly advice.

I have a particular interest in how small organisations can use all this ‘internet stuff” to promote themselves so I will be going along for the first time to offer up my bit of knowledge and heaps of enthusiasm to anyone who needs it.

RSS.

Feeds.

Horrible, nasty words that scare normal folk and have them running from the internet to take refuge with their library cards.

They’re not that tricky though. I’ve been keeping track of hundreds of websites to find stuff to post here. Visiting them all daily would have taken too long and cost me my sanity, so instead I used RSS. Most competent websites have an ‘RSS feed’ sending out the latest updates. All you need to do is use an RSS reader (I use Google Reader, there are others) and you’ve got a time-saving one-stop-shop for all your favourite websites.

Anyway, point being, as I’ve sent Kate a file listing pretty much all my Birmingham RSS feeds I thought I’d put a copy here and share it.

The file is here. Import it into Google Reader by going to ‘Settings’ then ‘Import/Export’ and follow the instructions.

Disclaimer – for various reasons, not every Birmingham blog is in there and some that are are now defunct, etc and so on. Basically, this is not comprehensive.

Also worth checking out – last month Substrakt compiled a list of their favourite Birmingham blogs.

The Undercurrent is:

several voices from Birmingham’s Creative Community, with disciplines spanning Music to Design, Photography to Fine Art, collectively exploring the idea of an online magazine in the form of a blog…

Many authors, bringing their own fresh perspectives…

Those authors include 7 Inch Cinema, Capsule, Geoffrey Dolman, Lucy McLauchlan and Surely? At the moment it seems to be aggregating content from their existing blogs (from what I can tell – probably using WP-o-matic, blog fans). It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.