Case for the defence: People like to leave their mark. We all like to think that we’ll be remembered after death, that our friends and family will want to leave messages – memories, photos, and so forth, on our Facebook profile, blog or website after we’ve gone. So far, so normal right? But where does it end?

Case for the prosecution: Death is big business, always has been. And it’s also ripe for manipulation. But are we thinking far enough into the future? Are we future proofing our work today? There are sites that offer online memorials, there are (American) graveyards with solar panelled stones that use the energy to activate a film of the deceased when you stand near it. The tendency today is to think that once something’s online, it’s permanent. Hence initiatives to get historical documents online, to discard the physical products that we once used – books, CDs, records, paper archives – for a cleaner, cloud-based experience. But the technology moves so fast that in even 5 or 10 years time, everything uploaded could be inaccessible. If you add in the energy needed to run the increasing amount of data uploaded these days, you’re suddenly left wondering – will we be the lost generation?

Deliberations: I’d gone along to this Technology on Trial because the subject matter intrigued me for two reasons. The first is not death, but birth – I’m expecting a baby and had spent some time wondering how to annoucne this in a way I felt was suitable. I reserve my Facebook profile for people I actually know so an announcement on there seemed unnecessary for most as I preferred to tell them face to face. But there are people on Twitter who I only know on Twitter and wanted to tell them too. Did I think it was appropriate for something so momentous to me to be announced like this on a social network? I’d got as far as thinking that I wil control the pictures of her I put online – to the extent where I’m not happy putting any up – but what about anything else? I wanted something more tangible for a birth announcement.

The second reason is that I’m a keen historian, researching a novel I’m writing that uses a part of my family history as its basic plot. As much as I’ve found the internet to be useful to my research, the things I treasure are the physical items – records, theatre playbills, letters, diaries, photos and so forth. If all my things are online what will my daughter or her children find about me and how I lived? You might think your online presence is a collection of easily discarded articles, chats about tea and music and other ephemera but a social historian in 100 years time might find it a treasure trove of information about how we live today. Or they would, if they’re able to access it.

Verdict: We really only scratched the surface on this, the discussion could have gone on for hours. I have seen nothing to suggest that organisations are thinking about this at all. Issues of online ownership and privacy are dominating headlines while our energy crisis continues. Perhaps technology will manage to accommodate us – we have to have faith in human ingenuity. But I’ll be printing pictures of my daughter off for us to keep safe somewhere, just in case…

To make up your own mind, you can hear and read supporting documents and arguments on audioboo! Here’s the intro to the event and here’s a legal perspective from Jayne Smith at Rothera Dowson. We’d love to hear what you think too – let us know.

Desperately Seeking Paradise 2010

Every generation has thought it lives in the golden age of image making, however what is unique about this moment in time is the sheer number of images surrounding us in our daily lives.  Some researchers have found that we can easily be exposed to over 3,000 each day, yet we barely glance at most of them. This exhibition examines this phenomenon, and along the way looks at the stereotypes we deploy to make sense of the world through themes of gender politics, violence and the authencity of global mass media.

Everything is Happening At Once, is the first major UK public solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Rashid Rana. Who?, you may ask. Well, although he is largely unknown the UK, Rana enjoys a global recognition alongside Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, and his work fetches global prices.

His work is inspired by the miniature paintings found across Pakistan and India from the time the Mughal empire, an art form which started in China and travelled the region into Persian Iran and beyond, a reminder that the global nature of image making is not a modern phenomenon. During the 1990’s, artists in Pakistan started arguing that the miniature paintings being producing were simply creating an illusion of tradition and a fake connection with the past.  This theme of challenging the idealised landscape is one that recurs throughout the exhibition.

Dis-Location 2007

Rana’s work is firmly rooted in modern day Lahore, a city once called ‘the Paris of the east’, a city which full of tales of invasions by various nations such as the Greek, the Persians, the Hindu, the Muslim, the Sikh and the British, who all contributed in the splendor as well as spoliation of the city. Modern day Lahore is at the same time surrounded by both the grandeur of the Mughal Empire, and the trashing images from American and Indian pop and consumerist cultures.

As one walks through the two floors of the exhibition, one is led respectfully through the ideas and struggles that layer an artists mind from this city.  The struggles between secularism and the Islamic state, the struggles between wealth and poverty, between modernisation and tradition.  Although Rana is a photographer, his work is often three dimensional, and often the smaller image struggle with the larger image. This flow between the duality of images and thoughts reminded me of the work of James Joyce, another artist who based his work firmly in one city.

In each peice of work you think you are seeing the beauty of Lahore’s cultural life, but on closer inspection they are shown the visual complexity of modern day Pakistan. In Red Carpet (2007) a first glance, the image looks like a beautiful Islamic rug, but on closer inspection the image is composed with blood and gore from a Lahore slaughterhouse. According to Rana, the composition was put together after the assassination  Benazir Bhutto in 2007. In the The World is not Enough (2006-2007), a colorful abstract painting is really a large-scale photograph of a landfill.

Desperately Seeking Paradise 2010 detail

As one enters the gallery you immediately see a three dimensional structure, “Desperately Seeking Paradise”, (2010) a shiny large installation that contains lots of tiny prints. Together they become a view of a city, from another view it has a mirror effect and if you go close you see tiny pictures of buildings, streets and rooms.

Rana obviously pays close attention to the composition, the surface, scale, dimension, and the architectural lines. This attention to detail has ensured that work he creates become a stylish and poetic composition.

The New Art Exchange have begun 2012 with lovely exhibition which appeals at many levels. I took along a bunch of ten and twelve year olds to the opening launch party,  who only came for the ice cream at Yumi Ice Cream Parlour, (best ice cream in Hyson Green) but left inspired, and you don’t often get a chance to talk about misogyny and secularism to ten and twelve year olds.

Everything is Happening At Once is on now until the 31st March 2012.

For further details go to the New Art Exchange

First up, the Build it Yourself project are holding a Creative Cafe at Antenna on 19 January. A regular event on the third Thursday of the month, January’s event is free to attend. Starting at 5.30 for 6pm, it’s a chance to let yourself go a bit (in the best possible sense) and get all creative… Tickets and details available via Eventbrite.

The very next day Skeleton Productions are holding a lunchtime webinar on video SEO best practice and how to implement it. Topics will cover what, why and how as well as top tips. Limited place so get in there by applying at this website.

Diary clashes on 27 January so you’ll have to make a choice between Esendex and the Tuttle Club’s Technology on Trial.

Esendex have a breakfast briefing on Business SMS. Running from 8.30-10am, you can get some breakfast (any chance of a bacon buttie?)  and the lowdown on how successful businesses like Ocado and Virgin Media are using SMS to transform their business and how you can too.Details, including venue and how to book, can be found on their website.

If that’s not your thing, you might like to head over to the Galleries of Justice for this month’s Technology on Trial. Have you thought about what will happen to all your online accounts when you die? (I know, not too cheerful but stay with me – it’s important) Tech on Trial this month will be examining Digital Legacies. So what will you leave behind? And will this be used (or even usable) for future generations of historians? Interesting…

27 January, 9.30-11.30am Galleries of Justice. Free Tickets through Event Brite.

Finally, if a massive sugar rush is your thing, get yourself in the Cake Eater’s Anonymous waiting list. The next meeting is 29th January at The Larder on Goosegate and tickets are available to the waiting list from tomorrow!!!

Milan Cathedral, by brookcatherine53, www.flickr.com/photos/53995058@N04/4997801074/

Just two opportunities this week, to ease you into 2012:

The Invest in Nottingham Club is repeating their Creative Class promotion of local creative businesses who really want to grow.  A small number of creative businesses will be selected for the Creative Class 2012.  As well as press and website promotion, there is mentoring support, networking and general help. In return they expect the business leaders to fully participate in their press opportunties and generally act as an ambassador for Nottingham.

The “class” of 2011 is a distinguished list, and you can see them at a special meeting in Nottingham Contemporary next Wednesday, 11 January at 6pm, and learn more about this opportunity.  For more information about the event or any questions, email Natalie Williams, the Invest in Nottingham Club co-ordinator at nw@nde.org.uk.  Or you could just apply online.

If you inspect the list of 2011, you will see it contains one of our guest bloggers, Susi Henson, of Eternal Spirits, who has emailed us about her plans to

to launch an inspiring show of creative talent at the International Design Festival Milan in April 2012. We are inviting local businesses of Nottinghamshire an opportunity to be part of it.

As well as enabling talented businesses and individuals to show themselves to their best in front of potential clients and stakeholders, the process will bring together a collaboration of like-minded and inspiring individuals to work together, share ideas and gain refreshment.

If you want to know more, there is a meeting at Nottingham University, Business School South, Jubilee Campus Room A26 on Wednesday 11th Jan at 6pm.  [Everything happens at 6pm next Wednesday, and some people will be in two places at once, apparently.] They would appreciate an R.S.V.P to info@davenportoriginal.com if you are planning to attend.

Go For It!

Now I don’t think anyone would argue that this lovely city isn’t drenched in a rather vibrant history. However an exhibition currently showing at the Museum of Nottingham Life in Brewhouse Yard is focussing on local memories and memorabilia of the somewhat infamous Hyson Green Flats. For those who are young of the mind – they once stood on the current ASDA site in Hyson Green.

“On The Flats” is ran by the Hyson Green History Project and documents residents recounts of growing up and living in the flats.

Within it, you’ll also be able to see “treasures from the Flats including a piece of concrete that was salvaged when the Flats were demolished in 1988, a street sign and a 1970s vibro massager”.

There will also be historical photographs of Hyson Green and information about the flats, including key events like the 1981 Nottingham Riots and ‘Blues’ music parties.

All in all, the exhibit is well worth a trip to in order to see a slice of Nottingham’s modern history before it’s resigned to the record books and distant memories forever.

It runs until January 15th, with the museum being closed on 24, 25, 26 and 27 December 2011 and 1 and 2 January 2012.

For more information on the project, go to http://hysongreenhistory.org/

Photo credit to: http://hysongreenhistory.org/exhibition-starts-saturday-19th-november

Canning Circus Christmas Tree image credit Steve Decipher-Shot- follow the star to Primary?

More crafty gifts available from Molly Queen’s markets in the run up to Christmas.  Starting this Saturday 17 December the host venue is the aptly named Good Elf on Market Square.   http://mollyqueencollective.blogspot.com/

EMVAN East Midlands Visual Arts Network http://www.emvan.net/ celebrates Christmas with host Bruce Asbestos On Wednesday 14 December, 6.00-8.00pm At new artists space PRIMARY http://www.weareprimary.org/

Got 2 minutes? Take a look at Sarah Dale’s festive guide to keeping your spirits up on her blog post http://www.creatingfocus.org/?p=1146

Sneinton Square from a distance (Sunset from space over western Europe/Africa by Nick Stenning www.flickr.com/photos/nickstenning/7379770/)

If you walk from the centre of Nottingham to Hackspace, which you may have done after our recent guest blogs, you will have had to circumnavigate the physical space that is the building site that is Sneinton Square and the about to be revamped Market. To market the opening, a series of apple trees are being planted in the Square, and there are a number of events around the Orchard theme to mark this. Including some cider drinking. There are two days of multiple events, Friday, 9 December at Nottingham Contemporary and at Surface Gallery, and Saturday, 10 December in the Market itself.

Big Money, Big Organisation, Big Space: The Arts Council and the BBC are going to work in partnership next year to create an “experimental digital arts media service and commissioning programme”. Public in May, running (subtle Olympic reference) until the end of October, they say it will be a

pop up service – which will be available across PC, mobile, tablet and connected TV – will challenge artists and arts and cultural organisations to collaborate with each other and with partners to capture and create a wealth of cultural experiences, drawing on the richness of the summer of arts [of the Olympics, natch]

The main site and links are here. They say that they welcome expressions of interest (by 9 December) in how to spend £2.5 million, and they will offer mentoring to successful applicants. Unfortunately being big and corporate, they want applicants to be at least small and corporate, they say

The fund is open to arts and cultural organisations, large and small. Museums and libraries can also apply for work that is primarily arts focused. Artists can apply but must do so in partnership with a lead organisation. We welcome partnerships and collaborations between arts organisations and independent production companies or digital media specialists, but in these cases, the arts organisation must also be the lead partner.

So if that describes you, or you have a relationship with an arts organisation, full details are on the funding page.

From big space to perfectly formed small space: the Surface Gallery will be doing an International Postcard Show again in 2012. It costs £5 for you to enter up to three postcards, and all postcards in the show will be on offer at £15 (and they will want a 20% commission on sales).  Deadline for submissions is 15 January, and they warn you to take account of postal delays (groan).

• World Event Young Artists @WEYA2012
• Jon Burgerman @JonBurgerman
• The Music Exchange @themusicXchange
• Swimming @weareswimming
• Keith Cosgrove http://www.stonebridgecityfarm.com/

Regular followers of games, in and out of GameCity, will remember our post about Ping (But) Pong. If that got you going, get down to Show and Tell on Thursday for

• International Wrong Pong Association http://www.wrongpong.com

Broadway will be t will be buzzing on Thursday night, and not just because of Keith Cosgrove.

(Thanks to our friends at LeftLion who tipped us off, their article is worth a read, as always.)

Emma is pretty handy with hairstyling but we needed specialists in for the open day, and called upon our friends Heebie Gee Bees, from Newcastle. Having been long time friends of Emma’s and super talented and enthusiastic ladies, we couldn’t wait to have them on board with us for the day. What’s even better is that as both of them have vast knowledge and experience of modelling and performing, they could also bring their skills to the dressing table in regards to styling, posing and general confidence. All round win, I’d say!

We also brought in Aislinn from BooBooKitty Couture,. She set herself up a rail of gorgeous dresses, her dolly Doris and brought her sewing along to make some last minute bits and pieces for a craft fair later in the evening; she really never stops working!

We had some early starts and late nights (including a craft fare/Speedkings gig to attend on Saturday night!), some tears from girls who couldn’t believe their makeovers, cuddles, lots of high fives, energy drinks, cookies, snuggies on radiators, cupcakes from Amy (hell yeah!), endless cups of tea (Hannah is brilliant), goodie bags, ratties, girls celebrating birthdays and divorces, and some that just wanted to feel good about themselves! Here’s a little selection of the behind the scenes photos we gathered.

So to a few thank yous; BooBooKitty Couture, Heebie Gee Bees, Toby Kennedy, Make Up Academy, Arcanum Accessories, Synergy Therapies, Rampant Ink, Deadly is the Female, Rockalily, Hoocie Coochie Club, Miss Fortune and Snitches Get Stitches!

Days like that are a precious rarity to me; when you’re going flat out but smiling and laughing the whole while, each person bringing their own special technique, style and brilliance to the table. Your back might ache, your shoulder might be creaking and your feet’ll be on fire but nothing compares to the smile (and sometime, tears!) of a girl who beams from ear to ear when they see themselves made up. It’s my dream to do this full time, and weekends like this motivate me to work harder to make it real…