F A C E S mcr (Terri McClafferty)

Hey guys sorry I haven't made a post until now as you know that I've been having trouble with linking my blogs.

On Tuesday I went to an event at the Kraak Gallery, which other people from Unit X had created for their projects.  It was a collaboration of music and art.  I thought it related in some ways to my own project as it was all about how people get involved and make things happen.  There was artists there drawing people, disposable cameras to take photos of faces, a photocopier where people photocopied their own faces and put the pictures on the walls and people drew on them.  I thought the whole event was so interesting as it combined different elements in a relaxed atmosphere.  

For our closing party of Unit X, again it will be F A C E S mcr that will be organizing it, so it will definitely be a good opportunity to get involved if you missed out the first time.

Whats happening in Manchester? (Josie Cawdry)

Below ive put the links of some interesting websites showcasing some of the great exhibitions and tourist attractions manchetser has to offer. Maybe we could visit one or two as a group?

http://www.creativetourist.com/

http://www.manchestergalleries.org/

http://www.manchestercentral.co.uk/art-galleries

http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/

http://www.thelowry.com/exhibitions/manchester-museums-and-galleries/

Stumble Upon! (Josie Cawdry)

Not sure if any of you have ever heard of this site, but stumbleupon is a great way to look at interesting things on the web. You can select your own interests and then just let the website do the rest for you! 

Its a great way of finding sources new ideas and finding fresh information that you may never of thought of looking at!

Its free to join and they don't hassle you with emails every week, maybe something to think about over the final few weeks of unit x?

http://www.stumbleupon.com

Botany Collection (Josie Cawdry)

Before the Easter Holidays i was fortunate enough to be able to go and see the private Botany collection at the Manchester Museum. I initially was only going to do some first hand research for my CP essay, but i found myself amazed by the collection and just had to share it on my blog.

I had arranged to look at a selection of cotton and moss samples, all from around the greater Manchester area.The curator or the collection was a very helpful woman and was most pleased to be aided me in my studies. When i asked question about the collection she has many a word to say and it was lovely to see someone with such passion.

After a brief tour of the collection i was left in a back room to do some personal studies with the specimens i had been provided with.

What i found extremely interesting wasn't in fact the objects themselves, but rather the small glass and wooden boxes in which the objects were contained! 

I maybe want to look into how boxes and cases change the way we view an object, change its characteristics and the feeling we get when viewing an object.

Sculpture exhibition - Islington Mill (Josie Cawdry)

http://www.islingtonmill.com/index.php

Tuesday 24th April saw a group of young, tallented artists hold a public exhibition in one of the cities most unique settings, Islington mill. (salford)

The mill originally started out as a cotton spinning mill during the industrial revolution, but is now home to 50 artists studios, 2 public galleries, a recording studio and night-club! Over the last 10 years i has evolved and is now a haven for artists, djs and party goers alike.

I went down to the mill with a couple of close friends, not knowing what to expect we wandered up to the old, delapidated builing with anticipation. The exterior seemed very run down, set off a back alley close to Salford Shopping City i was immediately warey. The ground floor windows were plastered with flyers advertisting bands, club venues and fanzines.

Upon entering the building we were straight in the heart of one of the scultures. Hanging from the ceiling were hundreds of red party hats, each tied onto differnt lenghts of invisible thread, creating a very striking first impression.


To the right of the main entrance we were offered a selection of free wines and beers, and following directly on from that to the right was the first of 3 small exhibition halls.
With about 4 exhibition pieces to look at we slowly made out way around the intricately hung and placed items. One of the works that i found particularly exciting was one created entirely from foam squares. Hung in a pattern from the ceiling they were for-mated to look like some kind of whirlwind. The spectators movements as they walked around created small gusts of air that made the work sway slightly in the breeze adding to the illusion.

Continuing on round the mill were further exhibitions made using all different media.
Some included

• Bulbs
• Jelotine
• Wire
• Paper
• Projectors
• Material

One aspect of the night that was especially interesting was the dj set in the back room. Surrounded by yet more art work a number of Manchester finest dj's played music into the early hours of the morning!

Beloew are some final pictures from the evening; 

IKON GALLERY BIRMINGHAM- AMELIA FAYE TILT

Catching up some posts I should have made over Easter! Sorry for being abit lazy but I couldn’t get away from all the yummy roast dinners and spending time with the family! Hope you all had a lovely time at home, and relaxed as much as I did!

During the holidays I went to have a look round the Ikon gallery in Birmingham. The area where the gallery is located is beautiful, if you’ve never been to Brindley Place I recommend you do. I wasn’t sure what exhibitions were on before I visited but even if they don’t relate to anyone’s work I think it’s nice to appreciate another’s work and give you a fresh outlook.

I was walking up the stairs to the first exhibition and I noticed the original windows from the building, i think there really nice and I know a few people have based their work on architecture or things around Manchester so I took a quick picture.

.There were three exhibitions on and they are all very different:

SARAH BROWNE- “How to use fool’s gold”- 15^th Feb/22^nd April

http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk/programme/current/event/578/how_to_use_fools_gold/  

HAMISH FULTON-15^th Feb/22^nd April

POST CARDS FROM JAPAN-A MESSAGE FROM TOHOKU ARTISTS

These are some of the photographs I took whilst looking around, I particularly liked the work of Sarah Brown who ;” works with small communities of people, documenting resourceful forms of exchange such as gifting, subsistence, poaching and subsidies, to reveal the hidden social relations that exist in small-scale economic structures”. Alot of her work was presented using slides and it reminded me of our talk at the beginning of the project. It was really nice to see them used in such a large exhibition space.

I wasn’t as keen on Hamish Fulton’s work, I can appreciate it from a graphic style of working but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. Although the one thing I found inspiring about his work was the scale, I think it added something.

MOSI - Charlotte Yates

In our brief we have been told to create a digital outcome as our work will be being displayed on screens, these may be on Oxford Road, around Manchester or at the Museum of Science and Industry. Over Easter I took a trip the Museum of Science and Industry and by chance (as I didn't know all the screens where already up,) I got to have a good look around the space and it's surroundings in which one of the groups work will be exhibited.

I'm assuming the 50 screens currently being used for videos and images of visitors for a price in return will be where work from students in our year will be being showcased.


http://www.mosi.org.uk/about-us/news/chance-to-star-on-mosi%E2%80%99s-big-screen.aspx - This is the page from the MOSI website where more is explained about the screens, I thought some of you may find it interesting to see like myself :)

Whitworth gallery visit.
Today i visited the Whitworth art gallery and looked round all the fabulous pieces of work. I felt this really inspired me and gave me scope and ideas to begin my project. I really liked the piece of work on projection and felt her patterns projecting onto long drapes, hung from the ceiling were really effective. I also looked at an artists print work, who gave me ideas about colours and pattern. I am really interested in doing a print workshop as i think my pattern designs would benefit from being printed because they would appear totally different to my pen drawings as they stand at the moment. Overall, the visit to the gallery really helped me and brought ideas to light. It's a really worthwhile trip if your struggling to develop your ideas, why not take a trip to the gallery and become inspired like i did!

CUBE EXHIBITION- Amelia Faye Tilt

Just before we broke up for Easter we had a talk with Kate Egan and she advised us to go and look at an exhibition at the Cube Gallery in town called Infra _MANC. So me and Rosie went to have a look. The exhibition was really interesting and some of the archives they had on display for were really informative about what they had planned for the transport system in Greater Manchester. The maps of the proposed plans were quite beautiful, they had aged allot and this added to their aesthetic. I really think it could inform your work if you have decided to focus on something like this for your work during Unit X. I took a few pictures so feel free to use them if they are relevant to your work.

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/)