My arrival to the Science and Industry Museum...

My expectations of the Science and Industry museum was for the building to be very old-fashioned with worn down bricks that had fragmented pieces falling off, upon my arrival my expectations were proven slightly right as there was worn down bricks like an old building would have. However, entering the building there was many added features that were very modern; like the double automatic doors, I walked through. Inside the décor were bricked walls, with the modern touch of wooden panelling running through certain areas of the walls. There was a charming man that greeted me on entrance; he added warmth to the entrance considering that the floors are laid with cold greyish concrete flags. Even though there were visions of old machinery already present, there was a reception that had a big widescreen TV that took away the feel of a museum, the reception desk, which was on the left hand side, also contained a variety of leaflets that contained information on the museum. As it was spacious, there was an echoing of laughter from all the children on school visits, they were all mainly focusing on the gift shop to the right of entrance. The concrete flags came to a stop where the wooden flooring began; this made the museum feel a lot warmer. In the centre of the ground floor there was an interactive display that consisted of the viewer’s taking photos of him or herself which was then displayed on the TV’s that was in the installation. To my guess, it had fibre optic lights running through the middle of the installation that changed from colour to colour. Behind this on the wall panelling around were screens that have patterns displayed on them adding extra colour to the room. On the right hand side top corner the plastered walls were in different colours representing a different era, making it clear to the viewers. Even though this area seems modern and very technical, I looked up to the ceiling to see old brick red beams with bricks as the ceiling. Above this however, the architecture shifts to modern with its use of glass and plastic bordering. There’s also inviting comfortable seating areas at the side of displayed units to the right.

As soon as I opened the glass doors leading into the Textiles area, the first glimpse I got was of old yarn machinery. As I looked around there were colourful informative timelines that added colour and light to the darkness/dullness of the machinery. Throughout this room, modern technology is positioned. Areas of different themes were split and easily readable. This room continued on the old ceilings and red beams however, modern touches were added in the sense of the silver decorative light shades that hung. Old artefacts that are moved to different museums are placed and displayed in glass cabinets taking away some of its authenticity. The right hand side of this room holds some of the old features that have been resurrected for example; an old door, which is huge, has been repainted, looking at it up close it is obvious to some wear and tear. Also on the right hand, side is a contemporary wall hanging that a variety of schools participated in. This room definitely has a mixture of old and modern features; projectors are used to display old images, new designed stain glass windows that are boarded off with the old borders that have just been repainted. In the bottom right hand corner are old images displayed in a contemporary glass frame, this leads on to a modern bridge with wooden floor panelling, at the side of this are current pictures that children have drawn. The bridge leads to a display of 5 large ceiling hangings that were very old. Going down a wooden ramp on the left top hand corner led to a modern beige carpet with blocks of different images and information on. In this area there were a few interactive games but what caught my attention the most was these long draped modern curtains that were displayed in front of the windows(there were 3 of them). As I thought I had seen everything I noticed that in the top left hand corner was a glass cabinet that contained some work done by Jennifer Collier, it consisted of 2 dresses, shoes and other accessories. I wonder why all of these modern changes have been made, maybe for safety regulations? Or maybe to make an old historical building more modern to get more people involved?     

Arrivals task, Manchester christmas Markets (Josie Cawdry)

It was a cold, blustery day in the city centre of Manchester. As i bustled my way through the Christmas crowds i knew what awaited me was something spectacular. I, along with my Mum, Sister and Grandma was on my way to the prestigious Manchester Christmas Markets. It was around early december time in 2009, i had lived in the city for my entire life but this was to be the first time i visited the markets.

I was filled with hopes and anticipation. Unsure of what to expect my family and i weaved our way to Albert square. It was dark and gloomy but as we approached the atmosphere seemed to instantly change. What stood before us was a lively square, filled with christmas lights, soft music and the sweet smell home cooked food.

The haze of christmas lights lit up the air and with just once glance an image of christmas joy filled my mind.

The entire square was packed to the seems with wooden huts, stalls and seating areas. Looking on through the crowds i remember thinking to myself how magical everything looked, i had never seen such a scene of warmth and happiness within the city and it filled my whole body with joy. Desperate to see everything we hurriedly made our way into the market and began browsing the huts. The cobbles underfoot and the old fashioned clothes the stall owners wore made me feel as if id just stepped out of a movie. Each wooden stall held within it a different array of goodies, sweets, jewelry, bags, candles. Every way you looked you were greeted with a different image. 

Hundreds of people were packed within the confines of the square, the noise of laughter and chatter was unmissable and it made the whole place light up. Smiles graced the faces of every single person, each taking from the experience their own personal memories. For me, the one thing i cannot forget is the christmas tree hut. As i walked over to the small wooden hut at the very edge of the market my eyes were filled with the sight of hundreds of small, real fur christmas tress. Each under 5ft tall, they looked so delicate with their thin branches filled with delicate needles. The smell was just incredible, its something that cant be described. You know yourself if you have had the pleasure of having a real christmas tree how beautiful and soothing that aroma is. As i wound my way around each tree i felt like a child in a sweet shop, it was just something about them that i loved.

Continuing around the market a group of german men were stood in a huddle, each playing a different instrument. The songs they played were familiar, christmas carols with a slight german twist on them. A captive audience stood around, admiring and taking in the music. Despite the cold temperatures, the men never once looked like quitting, instead they played their music all through the evening and made the experience for the visitors magical.

Right on the door step of the large stately town hall, it seemed only right that centre stage was a huge inflatable Father Christmas, yes some might have called it tacky but to me it was a perfect addition to the winter wonderland the city had so marvelously created. Seated about 30 feet high on at arch that lead right into the town hall, it was a grand and spectacular sight to be seen. With lights, glitter and sparkle on every edge it was without a doubt the main attraction. (as well as the singing reindeer head).

Before i knew it the evening was drawing to a close, i had eaten great food, seen some wonderful sights and spoken to some of the most warm hearted people i had ever met. For me, this visit to the market was not to be a one of thing, after the great arrival i had been shown i knew this was a place i would continue to visit for a long time to come!

 

 

Arrivals task, Manchester christmas Markets (Josie Cawdry)

It was a cold, blustery day in the city centre of Manchester. As i bustled my way through the Christmas crowds i knew what awaited me was something spectacular. I, along with my Mum, Sister and Grandma was on my way to the prestigious Manchester Christmas Markets. It was around early december time in 2009, i had lived in the city for my entire life but this was to be the first time i visited the markets.

I was filled with hopes and anticipation. Unsure of what to expect my family and i weaved our way to Albert square. It was dark and gloomy but as we approached the atmosphere seemed to instantly change. What stood before us was a lively square, filled with christmas lights, soft music and the sweet smell home cooked food.

The haze of christmas lights lit up the air and with just once glance an image of christmas joy filled my mind.

The entire square was packed to the seems with wooden huts, stalls and seating areas. Looking on through the crowds i remember thinking to myself how magical everything looked, i had never seen such a scene of warmth and happiness within the city and it filled my whole body with joy. Desperate to see everything we hurriedly made our way into the market and began browsing the huts. The cobbles underfoot and the old fashioned clothes the stall owners wore made me feel as if id just stepped out of a movie. Each wooden stall held within it a different array of goodies, sweets, jewelry, bags, candles. Every way you looked you were greeted with a different image. 

Hundreds of people were packed within the confines of the square, the noise of laughter and chatter was unmissable and it made the whole place light up. Smiles graced the faces of every single person, each taking from the experience their own personal memories. For me, the one thing i cannot forget is the christmas tree hut. As i walked over to the small wooden hut at the very edge of the market my eyes were filled with the sight of hundreds of small, real fur christmas tress. Each under 5ft tall, they looked so delicate with their thin branches filled with delicate needles. The smell was just incredible, its something that cant be described. You know yourself if you have had the pleasure of having a real christmas tree how beautiful and soothing that aroma is. As i wound my way around each tree i felt like a child in a sweet shop, it was just something about them that i loved.

Continuing around the market a group of german men were stood in a huddle, each playing a different instrument. The songs they played were familiar, christmas carols with a slight german twist on them. A captive audience stood around, admiring and taking in the music. Despite the cold temperatures, the men never once looked like quitting, instead they played their music all through the evening and made the experience for the visitors magical.

Right on the door step of the large stately town hall, it seemed only right that centre stage was a huge inflatable Father Christmas, yes some might have called it tacky but to me it was a perfect addition to the winter wonderland the city had so marvelously created. Seated about 30 feet high on at arch that lead right into the town hall, it was a grand and spectacular sight to be seen. With lights, glitter and sparkle on every edge it was without a doubt the main attraction. (as well as the singing reindeer head).

Before i knew it the evening was drawing to a close, i had eaten great food, seen some wonderful sights and spoken to some of the most warm hearted people i had ever met. For me, this visit to the market was not to be a one of thing, after the great arrival i had been shown i knew this was a place i would continue to visit for a long time to come!

 

 

Arrival - Manchester Oxford Road - Charlotte Yates

See the full gallery on Posterous

 

To begin the arrivals task I started thinking about any place I remember arriving at that had a certain significance to me in some way. I thought about holidays and different countries I had been too over the years along with journeys I make on a much more regular basis.

The particular day that the arrivals task was set I had travelled to university on the train and for some reason probably because it was a warm bright morning with blue sky’s I paid more attention to the arrival into Oxford Road Station, Manchester itself and my surroundings on the train than normal.

Most probably because it was my last journey I had made before the task was set and the fact it was still fresh in my mind, helped me to make the quick decision that the mornings journey of arrival into Manchester was the one I was going to choose to share with others and help me to make a start on the unit x project. To recap the morning and record all my initial ideas I started with a mind map recording as much of the journey and arriving at Oxford Road as I could remember.

I tried to record some imagery from memory to show my journey of arrival, I did this in the form of quick minute line drawings as when moving so fast on the train it’s hard to capture or focus on anything in great detail. However, as it’s a journey I make on a regular basis and I tend to spend the majority of the time looking out of the window on the train I did find it quite easy to visualize some of the sites I see along the way.

Once off the train and having arrived in Manchester whether I’m in a rush or not I tend to follow the momentum of everyone else leaving the station and walking with a sense of urgency not taking much notice of my surroundings and usually texting on my phone. I decided to go back to the station and much more rigorously view the place I arrive at on a weekly basis.

When returning to the station and photographing the path I take on my arrival to Oxford Road I kept in mind the advice of David Haslam. Although his talk was mainly on bands and clubs that started out small in Manchester it had this underlying message through out of being different and looking at the margins.

I tried to apply this to the images I took and instead of taking eye level images of what people see when they arrive in Manchester by taking photos of things that caught my attention such as the grimy steps everyone walks up and down, empty coffee cups left on a graffiti wall and the rusty spiral stairs no body uses any more. In my opinion I think these turned out much more visually pleasing and interesting.

I decided to work from the photographs taken using water colour paying attention to colour as so far into the project/task that is what I feel is lacking in my body of work but also it’s a very important aspect of any art and especially textiles.

When it came down to visual research and ideas I had come to a holt and didn’t really know what I wanted to do next... I went back to the initial unit x brief and thought about the suggestion of exploring the history of the art school and Manchester. I considered researching in depth and significant detail the history of Oxford Road and the Station however, although it would be relevant for my arrivals task I didn’t see how it would provide me with a lot of new influential information that I would want to work with through out the rest of the unit as away from the arrivals task I had been considering ideas for unit x’s main brief.

Overall I feel the task set was a great starting point, it got you thinking and working from the memory at points. It can be a hard thing to do but I think it makes everyone’s work unique, we could have all choose to share the arrival of the same place yet working from memory would show what aspects of the journey and arrival people found of interest yet they would all be very different.

It was a learning curve I think will be very useful for unit x as when working with history, some of the visual evidence is no longer there for you to see yourself its sometimes hard not to copy photography taken by other people or drawings created by other artists.

This task has helped me to understand why it’s sometimes a good thing to use your imagination and memory more when it comes to drawing especially. Instead of doing more literal representative pieces that look constrained and lack fluidity my quick line drawings have much more energy about them and I’d like to hope I can continue this throughout.   

Arrivals - 'Secret Manchester'

When I first arrived in Manchester I was quiet disappointed as I was tired and just coming off the motorway, so I decided that I would explore and see what Manchester had to offer, as I’ve always had views that it was a ‘cool’ city, one of the reasons I choose to come here was the great music scene it had.  So I wandered through the centre and found myself walking towards small side streets filled with amazing, quirky shops nothing that I have experienced back home.  I found myself in the Northern Quarter and to be honest I did not fully appreciate it right away. It was nice with lovely cafes and coffee shops but with the excitement of being in a new city, I didn’t really look at what was surrounding me.  I have been back to the Northern Quarter a few times since my first visit, but it wasn’t until Dave Haslam’s talk that I decided to go back and explore it more and since then I’ve been back about 3 or 4 times, and each time I’ve across something new that I hadn’t noticed before.  But it seems to me like things are waiting to be discovered such as place names done in mosaic tiles or art on the pavements it’s not something that’s well known of to be there, not that I know of anyway, but they can still be appreciated. 

I found the Dave Haslam talk very interesting, I was intrigued to what he was going to say about Manchester, he mentioned marginal activity and how things can make a cultural significance, and how things start of small and unknown like Joy Division preforming in a small pub in Salford to become big names.  He also talked a lot about fanzines, which shows Manchester is a city with passion and that people truly believe in what they are doing, such as the fanzines, I liked the way people could self-publish their work and not have to edit it to please a mass audience.   I’ve looked more into these fanzines online, such as the Salford zine library http://salfordzinelibrary.blogspot.com/, and Linder Sterling who co-founded ‘Secret Public’ along with Jon Savage, I quiet like the aspect in which these fanzines are produced, its straight to the point and no advertising from companies.

On Monday I went to special collections just for some history on Manchester, I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for, but I came across a Portfolio of Original Prints of Manchester by Norman C. Jaques who was a lecturer in printmaking at Manchester Polytech in the department of fine art.  I think with our project old school/new school it’s important to look at the history of Manchester itself.  The prints show Manchester as a developing city and it’s nice to see how things stay the same and how they can move on.

 

 

The Special Collections...

I have been to the Special Collections Introduction before but I could not really remember much so this chance to hear it again was useful. The Special Collections hold a variety of resources that could be very beneficial especially for this project as they hold archives, books, sketchbooks that focus on the history of Manchester and around Manchester. If you came to the Special Collection talk, which was on Monday, then you would have seen a variety of objects, books, sketchbooks that were chosen out especially for our project Unit X. I have taken some photos of some of the pop up books and sketchbooks that I found interesting and helpful within my project. I would definitely recommend using the special collections as it gives us the opportunity to handle primary archives, books and objects that some students may never have heard or seen of. The Special Collections is located on the third floor in the library building.

Hotspur House - Charlotte Yates

For anyone that missed it heres a brief intro to Hotspur House and some notes a I gathered that I thought may help or be of use in any way for our Unit X Project..!

History behind Hotspur House -

It was originally a 19th century cotton mill named Medlock Mill as the river situated around it is the River Medock

The Percy Brothers took over the mill and renamed it The Hotspur Press

Up until last year a man named Phillip owned the building who occupied the space with a print finishing company

Unfortunatly he died last year and and since the building has been an opportunity for artists to utilise its space and be creative!

If you have Twitter -

#HotSpurHouse & #UnitX & Follow @UHCStudio @TextBookStudio @DanDidThis

The three aims -

1. Get Through Alive

- avoid anything/any area covered in black and yellow tape

- dont use any of the old switches or touch fuse boxes

- use extention leads only as source of power/electric

- also there is a fire alarm every thursday morning @ 10 

2. Foster Collaboration 

- to get the most out of education you need to create relationships

- work together & be brought together @ hotspur house

- help each other

- GET INVOLVED!

3. Forge Relationships

- recycle the buildings use ... speak up if you have any ideas for this ?

- create a relationship between ourselves and the city

- working in hot spur provides us with opportunties

- its up to us to grab these opportunites and be successful

I think it would be a good idea to work in hotspur house at least once a week as a group, it will help us all come together, we can discuss our ideas there and get an insight as to whats going on in other aspects of unit x and the creative side of Manchester..? Being given this opportunity to work in such an amazing and relevant space to our brief along with external arists that we wouldnt usually come across in a 1st year project would be a shame to miss!

Three Little Pigs TV Advert by The Guardian

Hi all in group 6!

Loving the new advert by The Guardian, really inspirational for all those who are thinking of using video to present ideas!

 

Claire Lowe Talk - Charlotte Yates

Claire Lowes talk was based on the 'corridor' Manchester it runs from St Peters Square straight down and past The Whitworth Art Gallery.

The corridor is seen as being a very creative and dynamic area. 21st century Manchester is being defined by what it gives to not only the UK but the world, developing and enhancing this corridor (like we have done to the new art school) will all contribute to the success of Manchester in the future.

There are 5 main issues/schemes that are currently in the process of being dealt with or discussed to result in a positive impact to the corridor;

- Sense of place

-Transport

-Environment & infrastructure

-Research & innovation

- Employment, buiness & skills

If anyone missed the talk or thinks they would like to read in more depth about the improvements being made to this space in Manchester where we have all chose to live & get our education for the next 2 and a half years heres the link to the website :) www.corridormanchester.com

UHC Workshop @ Hotspur House Terri McClafferty

Last Thursday I went to the workshop that the Ultimate Holding company was running at Hotspur House, it gave us information about the city and how we could use it over the coming weeks.  I got a map and a list of places that may be of use to us.  The workshop was quiet useful and informed me of places that I might not have known about otherwise, but I left early to attend the Cube Gallery Exhibition.  I can put the list I have here in our group working space, if we want to find somewhere in the studio this week possibly and you can make copies of it for yourself.

Slide Library - Josie Cawdry

The visual resource centre houses one of the most extensive slide libaries in the uk. John Davies (j.davies@mmu.ac.uk) gave a breif talk about the history of the collection and gave us the opportunity to look through some slides and find ones that strongly drew our attention.7

The Collection comprisions of 3 seperate parts

• Art/design slide collection
• Design council slide collection
• Lanten slide collection

The slides are individaully labeled, with each slide being given a code number and specific letter.

The team in charge of the collection have began the painstaking task of making each and every slide electronically avaliable. To view a selection of the slides online visit www.flickr.com/photos/mmuvisualresorces

The average slide size is 24mm x 36mm, they are housed within plastic wallets and then stored in order of codes inside filing cabinets.

The slides were originally ised within the university for lectures and the images were projected for the viewing audience via special large scale projectors.

"the slide library, a one stop shop for images to use in lectures" John Davies

Originally slides were named 'Lantern slides' and were much bigger than other slides, measuring in at 3 inches. The film was sandwiched between 2 sheets of glass. In 1966, these type of slides begn to get phased out and the industry moved onto the more appropriate 35mm film (a thin flex sheet of film), which is still used today.

At present the future of the slide library in unsure, late last summer, the collection was moved from its original home, on the ground floor of cavendish and was scattered around the art building, posing problems for student and access.

With approximately 275,000 slides in the collection the issue arises as to where the collection will be housed when the old school moved to the new school in december 2012.

The collection has been growing since the 1960's and includes everything from art, arcitechure, fashion, teaching and the city of manchester. The collection is built up from proffesional photographer slides aswell as amatuer images donated to the school of art.

Below is a list of where some of the slides were sources from -

• Books
• Commercially produced merchandise
• Postcards
• Original in-house photography
• Original filmstrips

20,000 of the slides document the history of the school of art and date back to 1959.

If you wish to view the gallery, visit John on the ground floor of cavendish. (next to the weave room)

WHITWORTH-AMELIA TILT

I went to the Whitworth Art Gallery today with a few girls in the wearing it group to look around for inspiration for unit X. I particularly liked the work of Aboubakar Fofana. The collection of work really made an impact and the colours related to the work I have been developing about Greece during the arrivals task.

“Aboubakar Fofana is a calligrapher, artist and textile designer. Born in Bamako, Mali, he lived in France for over thirty years but is now based back in Bamako. He draws on ancient African weaving and dyeing techniques to create a solidly contemporary body of work. Using organic fibres and natural dyes, he is committed to preserving and revitalizing Mali’s nearly lost tradition of natural indigo and vegetable dyeing. Profoundly concerned with maintaining Mali’s cultural heritage, in acquiring his skills he sought out the country’s remaining textile masters.

Time and the changing nature of matter are underlying, recurrent themes in Fofana’s artistic practice and, of course, vegetable and mud dyeing address this theme intrinsically as a medium. His work has been exhibited in Japan, France, America and Africa.

Symbolizing the link between Heaven and Earth, these trees/totems form a symbolic forest.

Les Arbres à Bleus is a metaphor, its materiality (cotton) and colour (Indigo) proclaiming that it is part of the vegetable world. The indigo plant produces an unimaginable range of blue shades, from palest sky to deepest midnight, the descriptions reflecting the practice of Soninké dyers of asking their customers for their preferred shades by looking at the sky. As in a landscape, no two trees are alike. The scarifications on some reflect their distinctive personalities and define their genetic code. They denote their allegiance to a group, a family or community, as much as the different shades of blue reveal their differences. Symbolizing the link between Heaven and Earth, these trees/totems form a symbolic forest. The ‘fruits’ scattered on the ground suggest the abundance and generosity of nature – a Garden of Eden on a path of discovery. The tree is the most important and sacred symbol in Bambara thought – a ladder of salvation, a divine route to knowledge.”

(http://cottonglobalthreads.com/exhibit/aboubakar-fofana/)