First off, I’d just like to say thanks to all the prospective new team members who came down to our team meeting last night in Antenna. It was genuinely exciting to see the breadth of talent on show, and though I can’t spill any details of exactly what’s going to happen here on Creative Nottingham, I can say it’s all shaping up nicely! Cheers guys
Now, down to business – in other words, what morsels of excellence can I spoon into the gaping maw of the internet?
Showcase
Congrats go to Donna Bramhall, who with her Spinster Emporium range has managed to secure a partnership with swanky London toff-shop Liberty. Donna, an NTU alumna, approached Liberty buyers directly and proved that she don’t need no Dragon’s Den:
Liberty is a one of the most prestigious department stores in the world, and they are my first stockist! They told me that the Spinster’s Emporium brand was really something they could believe in and customers would feel inspired and want to be part of it. They also said that I was filling a much needed gap in the craft market for the more trend focused crafter, so I’d now like to work with the buyers there to understand how my products can work even better for their customers.
Creative CIN have details of a commission, entitled the ‘You Call the Shots Alcohol Project’. Rushcliffe Borough Council are after an artist to work with pupils in year 10 to create work featuring themes of alcohol abuse, including domestic violence, pregnancy, and personal safety. What fun! To apply, send your expression of interest and CV to arts@rushcliffe.gov.uk before the closing deadline next Friday, 6th August.
Don’t forget that you have just one more week to submit applications for our Creative Nottingham Art & Design image competition. Each winning image will feature on up to 1000 postcards to be distributed by us around Nottingham and the East Midlands area. We’ve had some great entries so far, so it’s going to be another really interesting process choosing the shortlist, after which the eventual winners will be picked out by you.
Events/Courses
NTU are running a photography masterclass this September. The week long course, which starts Monday 6th September, will emphasise black and white landscape photography and fine darkroom printing techniques. Guest lecturers include John Davies and Simon Roberts, and the schedule includes:
portfolio advice
seminar presentations
large format location work
darkroom black and white process and printing
one-to-one and group tutorials presented by internationally renowned landscape photographers
other guest lecturers including figures from landscape and documentary photography.
Following on from the NTU degree shows, Falphabet is an exhibition in the Malt Cross Gallery which showcases the work of illustration graduates from University College Falmouth. Now, I was under the impression that Falmouth was about as far away from Nottingham as it was possible to get on mainland Britain, but I’m sure there’s a logical connection there somewhere. The show is running at the moment, until next Friday 6th August. At the very least it should provide an interesting counterpoint to NTU’s degree shows.
Tuttle as in the Tuttle Club, named for the man from Terry Gilliam’s epic, Brazil:
Confused? Of course you are, it’s a Terry Gilliam film! To lift the fog of uncertainty, here’s a quote from the Tuttle Club themselves:
What is Tuttle? Tuttle started in London but there are now over 20 Tuttles in the UK and abroad. It is a loose association of people finding a way of working better together both online and off. A way of making real, informal face-to-face contact with others who use social media.
The Tuttle Club Nottingham is a social media morning where the presenter displays a particular technology, service, product or tool, and the attendees put it on trial. July’s Tuttle, which is tomorrow, Friday 30th, is to be the first fully-fledged Tuttle Club. That means at least three existing articles used to present the item in question, followed by discussion – but no wifi, no internet! These events are about ‘talking to the room and amplifying later‘…
July’s theme will be the Digital Economy Act on Trial. The speaker will be Peter Aldred from law firm Berryman, and four articles have been selected to give the event context. The articles can be found below, and make for interesting reading. For those who haven’t heard of the Digital Economy Act, it’s a highly controversial piece of legislation passed into law at the very end of the previous administration, and it has the potential to affect every single person in Britain who has some kind of access to the internet. Should be a thoroughly engaging morning, so if you can make it down there, let us know on Twitter!
This is nothing monumental in itself, but carries one thought of significance; by the time I wake up tomorrow, I will never again be able to join the infamous ’27 club’ – my time will have passed.
For the uninitiated, the ’27 Club’ is a select group who all died before their 28th birthday. Traditionally there are 5 founding members:
Brian Jones
Janis Joplin
Jim Morrison
Jimi Hendrix
Kurt Cobain
Yung Hott is the latest member, shot whilst filming the video for his first single in Griffin, Georgia. I’m not one to be pernickety about these things, but wonder what makes this youngster stand out amongst the list of greats. Memebers of the 27 Club are usually musicians (hence the omission of Jean Michel Basquiat) and had previously made a significant contribution to the industry they found themselves in, often changing the face of music itself.
Of the five, only one was a confirmed suicide, the rest were all drug or alcohol related (Joplin and possibly Morrison are attributed to trying drugs in new cities leading to accidental overdoses due to differing dosage strengths). There is one half-member. Richey Edwards who is assumed dead although a body was never found. It was assumed by the press that Peter Doherty would join, but he made it to 28.
The interesting thing for me is the reasons I might have for wanting to be part of this infamy. I am no great musician, and as yet am to make a significant contribution to cultural life, and as such doubt that I would be granted the status. I would also like to state that I have no desire whatsoever to die – this is pure romance. The issue is that I could never join these greats.
My desire is driven mostly by that fact, that I never could join them. It’s not a serious desire, much like my dream of scoring the winning goal for Wycombe Wanderers in an FA Cup final, It would be incredible, but I know it’s not possible. Unlike an FA Cup final win, joining the 27 Club would leave no time to stick around and enjoy the celebrations. It’s actually a morbid thought that for some reason becomes celebrated through the myths that surround these individuals. Rockstars become more than people very easily.
I recently wrote about a performance by Harminder Singh Judge at the New art Exchange – ‘The Modes of Al-Ikseer’. He mixed 80’s synth pop and Hindu myth in a way that spoke eloquently of the idol on a stage. I have had a fixation with infamy and romantic heroes for the past year or so, I wonder if it is the myth that surrounds these people that is most interesting, rather than their achievements.
Bas Jan Ader sailed off single handedly from the USA with the intention of reaching Ireland. He never made it. It was incredibly doubtful that he ever would. His contribution to the way the body is perceived in art was far more significant than that last act, yet this suicidal work is the event that is most discussed. His demise (and the debate as to whether he genuinely thought he might make it, or whether he knew this would be his last work in glorious suicide, or even that he might have planned an escape and be secretly living somewhere even now) has become his most debated work.
I wonder what would seem most interesting if lists of achievements were placed with lists of notoriety.
If you’ve walked through Nottingham’s Old Market Square in the past week, you may have noticed some activity. That’s right, it’s summertime (allegedly), which means the Nottingham Riviera is back! So if you’re looking to entertain some young’uns in the summer holidays, you could do worse than heading down and sampling the deckchairs, fairground rides and ‘traditional seaside goods’…
If you’re after more creative ventures, there is certainly plenty coming up:
• Connect Midlands wants you to grow your business. If you have an idea that has the potential to grow significantly, there could be funding available – not from any one agency, but from a series of investment opportunities. They are running a free seminar to highlight these opportunities – from angel investors to debt financing. For more information see the press release or contact Connect Midlands, tel 01509 228 700
• Whilst we’re on the topic of investment, it seems a new organisation has been created to try and attract investors to our city. The Invest in Nottingham Club may sound rather exclusive, and in fact does contain some of the biggest-of-wigs, but their goal – encouraging investment in Nottingham by networking with customers, clients and other grandi parrucche - is one that could ultimately benefit us all.
• On the arts front, there is a post on our Creative Nottingham Community site from the grandly named ‘Nottingham Arts & Community Cohesion Forum’. They are looking to map arts projects across the city that engage with local communities. Seven projects of varying sizes will be picked for case studies that will then inform future art organisations looking to accomplish similar goals. Have a look at the information over on our community site, and if your project fits the bill, there is an email address on the bottom of the document where you can return your response.
• Lastly, to tie in with the truly excellent Diane Arbus exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary, designer Brendan Oliver has launched the world’s biggest photo booth, from which you can see your face 25ft tall – a truly terrifying thought! See the BBC’s coverage here. The photo booth is open until Sunday 5th September.
A warm welcome to our new Guest Blogger Dan Green who will be joining us for the next two weeks, we asked Dan 10 questions to get to know him a little bit better.
Who are you?
I am a visual artist based in Nottingham interested in unreachable dreams and the idea of an untouchable God, spun with an air of hope and optimism tinged by a sadness belied by the fear of inevitable disappointment. References to Romantic painting alongside a minimal aesthetic with a voice that references a deep, personal meditation that is constantly looking for the satisfaction of an encounter with the sublime.
What brought you to Nottingham?
I originally arrived in Nottingham as a Fine Art student at Trent.
What keeps you in Nottingham?
The possibilities it presents to an early-career artist. Beginning a collective with other graduates based here (Sixes & Sevens) has been a major factor, as has enjoying the city itself. The excitement about Nottingham Contemporary had built from our first year, and we were eager to be here when it opened as well as for the upcoming British Art Show this autumn.
What makes you different to other creative people in Nottingham?
As someone engaged in the visual arts in Nottingham, there are three things that make people stand out; their interests, the quality of their work and their professionalism and involvement. I’m certainly working on the third and the second is a constant process whilst the first is to be judged by others. I think that getting involved with various projects has helped me to build a profile here, but in the end my work has to speak for itself.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
I have set myself a target of enrolling on an MA within the next 5-6 years, so assuming I find the right course at the right time I imagine I will be studying or more qualified. I will be involved in the creative industries somehow, but my present philosophy is to keep working at a few different disciplines in the hope that one or two might begin to stand out as ideal practices for my future.
What do you wish you had more time for?
Family, films and reading. Although I fear the latter is often due to a lack of self motivation.
What keeps you awake at night?
Heat, moments of unexpected thought, cheese and on occasions, my housemates.
What do you think is Nottinghams best kept secret?
Private caves, I’ve been in a few and they are wonderful.
What would you like to see more of in Nottingham?
Velvet.
What Big thing are you currently working on?
I’ve been developing a series of photographs based on Caspar David Friedrich paintings, and plans for Sideshow with Sixes & Sevens.
Draft Nottingham Street sign - by This is Awkward on Flickr
If glory not payment is your objective, actors of all ages required for low budget zombie feature film being made in Nottingham from September onward. “Low budget” means pay = zero, but you might see your name in the credits, which would help your friends if they don’t recognise you in costume and makeup. Details from the StarNow website.
Slightly better than zero pay, the Gedling Arts Forum has a small (their word) pot of money for arts individuals and organisations in Gedling. If that is you, the application deadline is 15 October – you can get the forms and more information from sarah.cook@gedling.gov.uk.
If you fancy getting “a couple of grand of Channel 4 development money for a state of the art digital project“, then you have until 11 August to submit an outline of your idea. Three organisations/consortia will be shortlisted and asked to pitch to senior C4 staff in a fixed format. Details are on the Media Festival Arts website.
You might not take criticism lying down, but you can unpack “the act of lying down” and participate in an international arts project, Figuring the Ground, “A workshop devised and conceptualized by Sonia Khurana (India)”. It takes place at the New Art Exchange, 26 to 28 July. To re-assure, or disappoint, anyone hoping for a Spencer Tunick moment, the website suggests that you “come in comfortable clothing”.
Another chance of glory is right here: have you submitted an entry for the Creative Nottingham Image competition? The deadline is 7 August, and the winning entries will be used as the front side of our first printed postcard marketing campaign. Several entries are in already, you can see them, enjoy them, and gain inspiration from them – visit our Community Site and scroll.
Finally, if several blog posts a week is not enough for you, follow us on Twitter: @creativenotts will satisfy you several times a day.
Listening to a talk about Art at the Nottingham Contemporary
What is sometimes not noticed is how much talking about Art in our museums and galleries. The Castle Museum sometimes does talks, often at lunchtime, about a specific exhibition or sometimes just “what is new”. These are sometimes only in the printed brochures, not their website.
The New Art Exchange has many talks and events. Both the artists with shows opening this week will be doing at least one talk:
Thursday 29 July, 6pm, Ed Pien In Conversation with Skinder Hundal (Chief Executive, New Art Exchange) and Sally Lai (Chief Executive – Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester). They will be explore the background to the installation – Memento.
Saturday 4 September, 2pm, Suki Chan will be discussing the boundaries between private and public spaces and the relationship between an individual to the collective. No doubt with frequent reference to her current exhibition, Sleep Walk, Sleep Talk.
But the Nottingham Contemporary, in its short existence, completely re-defined gallery talks and events. Their brochures now have several pages devoted just to the talks and events, more pages than about the exhibitions. There are lunchtime talks most Wednesdays, for example, walking through the galleries with, in different weeks, academic experts, gallery staff, and working artists. I think this is quite amazing, and we should note that the public programme is jointly funded by Nottingham Uni and Nottingham Trent Uni – thanks!
From the current brochure, accompanying the just opened Diane Arbus and Gert and Uwe Tobias exhibitions, there are three items which jump off the page at me:
Thursday, 5 August, 7pm to 8.30pm. Novelist Geoff Dyer, who is also a photographic historian, talks about Diane Arbus’ work and answers questions.
Saturday, 14 August, 10am to 6pm. Thomas Bloch playing the glass harmonica, a rare instrument, hardly played now. Also that day, in the galleries, Tom Hill, of Origami Biro, will build sonic pictures inspired by the photographs of Diane Arbus. He will build them using a 1950s record player, guitars and found objects.
Thursday, 2 September, 7pm to 8.30pm. Germaine Greer will use her own experience of being photographed by Diane Arbus in 1971 to talk about how art institutions define, or “frame” marginalised groups. This talk has £7 tickets, the other events here are free.
Thursday, 9 September, 7pm to 9.30pm. Goth Night: dress up, be immortalised by filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, and watch her film about the 4th Annual Goth Cruise.
Okay, that was four things. I can count, I just got carried away by the programme. You will too.
It may be summer, but there is no let up in the exhibition scene in Nottingham. Several galleries have either just opened new exhibitions, or are about to. Here are just a few:
This Friday, 23 July, sees the opening of two new exhibitions at the New Art Exchange on Gregory Boulevard:
The Master Degree programme at Nottingham Trent’s Art and Design school is currently exhibiting this year’s work under the title Maximum Expo 2010. It is open for a few more days, so hurry down to the Bonnington Building on Dryden Street. And don’t forget to look at the work of our recent guest blogger, Gill Williamson!
On Wednesday evening, at 7pm at the Lakeside Arts Centre at the University, there will be the launch of a regional network “to support the solo artist, to influence policy-makers and to explore the making of an artists’ voice.” Supported by the Arts Council, it is free, but registration is required at The Artists’ Voice.
And if your voice is in fine fettle, why not enter the Corporation Bus’ search for a new voice on the Go2 routes 77 to Strelley and 45 to Gedling, the recorded “stop” announcements, that is. If your voice is chosen, you get a free year on the buses, presumably not limited to the 77 and 45. Deadline is 23 July for your sample recordings.
If you are searching for your voice as a writer, why not see how some local playwrights have done? Nottingham Playhouse is doing a series of free summer readings, including this Thursday, 22 July, at 6.30pm when five Notts writers will be featured:
A special one-off performance featuring five playwrights from in and around Nottinghamshire, performing short plays about the places they grew up in. The playwrights chosen to present their work at Nottingham Playhouse are: Leah Chillery, James Graham, Laura Lomas, Mufaro Makubika and Beth Steel.
Finally, if your voice wants to shout about culture, or at least blog about it, think about applying to blog for us! Details in our Jobs section.
It’s Sunday afternoon, the family is out, which means it can only be time for catching up with all the work you didn’t have time to do during the week because all that work got in the way.
Having managed to stagger back up to Nottingham by midday on Thursday, just in time for a project seminar – after which Geri and I sat down to look at the applications for her maternity cover post. This is rapidly becoming the #1 concern at GCHQ at the moment. Having spent the best part of five years with a trusted colleague doing vast amounts of key work for the project, only some of which I’m aware of, let along filling in the gaps of stuff that I forget – it’s terrifying to think of replacing her.
Looking through the pile of cv’s is reassuring, but still coldly terrifying. On Thursday we’re going to interview some of them, show them round, try and make sure they’re going to be brilliant – and then *hopefully* offer someone the job. Assuming they say yes, our great hope is that they’ll be joining us as soon as possible. Scary.
Brighton was great, the Develop conference is a really nice balance between industry social and *actual* conference. A few excellent festival meetings, but spent most of the day hosting one of the rooms – and as a consequence learnt a tonne of stuff about Singstar that I had no idea about. Sony London don’t get anything like the credit they deserve for making gaming accessible to families long before Wii…
Didn’t manage to actually check into the hotel until 10pm however, just before the Gamesindustry.biz party, and was shocked to discover that I’d somehow been put into a suite. This marks the first (and I suspect, last) time I have stayed in a room with an en-suite boardroom. Too tired to really appreciate it, sadly. I did manage to capture a UFO over Brighton though.
Friday was a little easier. A nice research cluster meeting was followed by a production meeting. The festival is starting to motor ahead now, and some of the projects we talked about at the launch last week are starting to transform into concrete plans, purchase orders and new lists of problems to be solved and empty spaces we need to fill with ideas. The festival is emerging into a platform, as discussed infact at mediacampnottingham, and i’m delighted. A lot of next week is going to be concerned with this, I think – we’re needing to make sure we’re 100% sure how we notate this internally before publishing anything out, but the initial response has been great. Finally, we should have a way of helping people use GameCity better – as was always intended.
Oh – something excellent happened just at the end of the day, actually – when we *finally* got confirmation on one of the major event partners for the show this year. Good news, which has the knock-on effect of meaning it now becomes #2 priority… I think this is my favourite part of the whole event right now, about 3 months out, where things suddenly start to accelerate. Everything suddenly becomes an exercise is trying to predict the possible effects of doing everything else, and then how to mitigate against them.
Joy.
More background about our guest blogger, Iain Simons.
Fancy guest blogging for Creative Nottingham? Here’s how.
NTU are running a photography masterclass this September. The week long course, which starts Monday 6th September, will emphasise black and white landscape photography and fine darkroom printing techniques. Guest lecturers include John Davies and Simon Roberts, and the schedule includes:
