What Happens if we Lose: Speed Limit by Richard Masoner/Cyclelicious, www.flickr.com/photos/bike/4454230687

In the “Give Away” section of the Autumn Statement late last November, the Chancellor announced that £100m would be available to create 100Mbps urban networks in 10 cities. The four “capital” cities (London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh) are automatically on the list. Although presumably Edinburgh’s position is not as secure as it was. As the current and previous governments like to do, they are running a competition for the other six places. There is background information on Digitalspy and the BBC News site.

We are lucky that Adam Bird, of Esendex and Creative Class 2011 is involved in Nottingham’s bid. A bid which has to be in by 13 February since the winners will be announced in the budget just over a month later.

Adam has asked for help in convincing Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, that Nottingham should be fill one of the six empty places on the list. In particular Adam has asked:

1. [for] Your horror stories about getting decent Internet connectivity to allow you to run your business. How is current market failing you?

2. How can we convince @Jeremy_Hunt that Nottingham should be a beneficiary of this program outside of the formal proposal process

Adam (@adambird) tweeted: “please @, DM or email me (adam dot bird at esendex dot com) with any case studies, thoughts, suggestions or offers of help”.  He has suggested the hashtag #supernottingham.

So over to you, Nottingham Creatives. Speed Thrills!

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 Hence initiatives to get historical documents online, to discard the physical products that we once used – books, CDs, records, paper archives – for a cleaner, cloud-based experience.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.

This week The Surface Gallery on Southwell Road launched its first exhibition of 2012 with its annual  nostalgic look at the good old fashioned postcard.

A total of 265 postcards produced by 122 established practitioners, students, new comers and international artists  are exhibiting their original artwork in the 4″ by 6″ format. Each artist will be given the opportunity to receive an original artwork in exchange for their own.

These original artworks are also for sale throughout the exhibition, priced at just £15. This is an ideal opportunity to discover up and coming artists and to buy some original work for an affordable price.

Congratulations go to Ben Hennessey, a 3rd year graphic design student at Nottingham Trent University who won 1st prize in the “stop-motion” category in a national competition for Channel 4 and Red Bull. He will be joining Aardman, of Wallace and Gromit fame, for a month long placement for his prize.

His winning animation has already been screened on Channel 4 and can be found here.

Ben commented: “I wanted to use a character that relates to Red Bull as a brand and after reading that squirrels get a big adrenaline rush from dogs chasing them up trees I thought they were ideal to base my film on.

“I entered the competition as I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to work with one of the world’s best animation companiesand I cannot wait to be working with Aardman. I know it’s going to be life changing and an amazing experience.”

“The rest of my idea came about by taking the can apart. Looking at each section of the can I thought about what I could turn it into. When I saw the curved sheet of metal I instantly thought about skateboarding and knew that Red Bull works with skateboarders so thought it would fit in perfectly with the brand.”

The inaugural Red Bull Canimation competition was a nationwide search for new creative talent, offering student and non-professional animators the chance to win internships at top animation studios Aardman, The Mill and 12foot6 among other prizes. The only rule was that the iconic blue and silver Red Bull can took centre stage.

Well done Ben – clearly a talent to watch out for!

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

It’s January again, which, for Nottingham, means one thing – New Adventures in Web Design.

NAIWD (as I like to call it) is a two day conference starting tomorrow, Wednesday 18th Jan, focused on the art of web design. It’s a big deal – developers and designers will be descending on Nottingham from all over the UK and beyond, full of ideas to discuss and explore. Who knows, we may even see the Next Big Thing™ from conversations started here.

Unfortunately, the conference itself has long since sold out, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get involved with the programme. If you have a spare £150 in your pocket, you can get down to one of the workshops – where you can learn from luminaries who have created sites such as these. Alternatively, enjoy the ‘after hours’ entertainment – bowling, football, real ale (mmm) and a big ol’ party at Escucha.

So if you do get involved, let us know what’s going down, and see if you can spot Creative Nottingham’s resident beard, John-with-Beard, who will be getting stuck in…

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!!!

Lowry Head of a Man, 1938. Copyright Lowry Collection Salford.

It’s ok, it’s not a cult. 12,000 refers to the number of people who visited Djanogly Gallery’s Lowry exhibition last year. Some of us, of course, have skewed this figure by going more than once. But if you’ve not made it yet then make it your first creative act of 2012!

Lowry was the embodiment of the famous Philip Larkin poem, bearing the scars of caring for his mother’s many illnesses and his father’s early death, which left the family debt-ridden. But his life as a debt collector by day and artist by night gave him the perfect opportunity to document the decline of industry in Manchester, Salford especially, and the effect that this had on the people.

The Djanogly exhibition has paintings of Lowry’s famous “matchstick men” style but supplements this with some of his landscapes and pencil sketches. The landscapes include some of the sea and some of the Peak District and, while some might find them bleak and depressing, I thought they were incredibly moving.

Djanogly has made the most of a new room in the exhibition space to display sketches and paintings including some early examples of a more conventional style done while Lowry was at art college. If nothing else, they demonstrate to us that his unique style was a conscious choice and not a result of finding painting feet difficult. (I say this as I’ve never been able to paint feet well – even my toenails are a challenge.)

In short, if I haven’t put you off, you really must catch the exhibition before it closes early next month. As much as I love Manchester, it’s nice not to have to spend 2 hours on a crowded train before enjoying a glimpse of one of my favourite artists.

The Lowry exhibition runs until 5 February 2012 at Djanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham

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