Alexandra Lockett and Ian England
Lockett & England’s practice is centred around collaboration with constituencies on the edge of society. This, coupled with their interests in nature’s relationship with culture, as well as traditional and contemporary modes of communication, makes pigeon keeping the perfect vehicle for their investigations.
After twelve months of research with local pigeon racing clubs, the artists have built a loft from reclaimed materials, in which to keep their own brood. The loft echoes those they have visited, with additional features borrowed from past traditions: the red and white perches and colourful exterior mimic the pigeon lofts from a time when it was thought pigeons were attracted home by the brightly coloured patterns.
Ben Dawson
A recent graduate of Norwich University College of the Arts, Ben Dawson brings together an eclectic range of interests and artist disciplines to grapple with the notion of understanding. Maybe best described as ‘this’ – an attempt to articulate it - his work meditates on its own existence through a subtle, live exchange between artwork and onlooker.
Illumination 2009
Walter Benjamin Illuminations paperback, Dulux Colour Match paint.
Drunken Chorus
Drunken Chorus present what do you think of it so far?
what do you think of it so far? is a new show, in which Chris Williams attempts to resurrect the tradition of the ‘double-act’ as a solo performer.
Taking inspiration from Morecambe & Wise, Andy Kaufman and the myth of Narcissus,this performance explores what happens when one half of the double-act disappears, deserts or even dies.
It is a show full of all the things you wouldn’t expect to find in a double-act – a big rock ‘n’ roll number, a load of booze, a death scene, and most importantly, only one performer.
Chris Williams is the founder of performance company Drunken Chorus. He also works as a freelance artist and performer, most recently with Forced Entertainment on their new show Void Story.
Elena Cassidy-Smith
My current practice is ever evolving and shifting between visual and performance art with new interests such as animation and video about to be integrated into the way in which I present my work. My medium of choice is secondary to the idea, which allows me great flexibility in the way in which I produce work and I enjoy the unpredictability of this method of working. My work seeks to explore the underbelly of convention, what is acceptable and what lies beneath the veneer of acceptability. The domestic domain, sense of identity and patterns of consumerism are reoccurring subjects in my work, but it is language and the use of narrative that strongly connects the many seemingly disparate subjects that I employ. I am increasingly interested in working collaboratively with other artists, particularly those from different cultures as these collaborations can foster dynamic and enlightening dialogue.
Emily Hayes
I was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in 1986. My passion is sensory art, bringing art to everyone and understanding how our senses influence us and the world around us. After studying Embroidery at Manchester School of Art I left with embroidery being a vast part of my visual dialogue. Drawing is innate to me; simple pen drawings distorting the 2d and 3d visual into a unique composition. Coloured with felt-tip pen, making a undemanding clean statement about how I see an object.
Experimenting and stretching the boundaries of different embroidery techniques, not necessarily using a visual to start with, but leaning towards touch and sense as my main outcome is something of curiosity. Haptic sense is something I feel strongly about and enjoy running research of this along my own work. Masayo Ave’s work is of importance to me in this field, in addition I admire Klaus Oldenburg and the boundaries he pushes with objects.
Exit Here
Must the Show go on?
Broadway Mezzanine Bar
This is the moment you have all been waiting for, the highlight of your night. Come and bathe in his legendary presence whilst he makes his grand return to the limelight, taking back his rightful crown of game show host legend. Flanked by his trusty assistants you are the contestants and he has the answers, will his comeback mean you win your share of the Big Money?
Shows: 20:00 & 21.30
Hamish Walker
Hamish Walker is an artist based in Leicester (UK). Graduating from De Montfort University in 2006 with a BA in Fine Art, He has gone onto become a principal member of DOT, an artist led initiative to provide a platform for the exhibition and discussion of contemporary art in Leicester. Most recently he was Co- Director for the Arena Festival of Art, which provided a programme of exhibitions, events and talks that took place in Leicester between November 1st-16th, 2008.
Jemma Egan
I am an artist and a co-director of The Royal Standard in Liverpool; a studio, gallery and social workspace. My work usually takes inspiration from the simple, everyday things that I come across. Although my work is varied, it still seems to have an intangible 'something' that relates pieces to one another. Probably due to the inherently playful and humorous nature of my work, I frequently seem to develop an almost irrational obsession for the items that it features. I often then attempt to share this with the viewer so they can gain some of the joy or intrigue that I do from the items.
Katie Doubleday and Andrew Brown
Stillness, Slowness and Stopping - A walk through a city at night
As part of The ArtCrawl you are able to take part in a performance walk through the streets of Nottingham. You will be sent a map and instructions previous to the walk which you will need to read. The walk will begin at Broadway Media Centre where you will be issued with an ipod loaded with instructions. At the signalled time you will press play and together you will begin to walk.
This work is part of a project, Open City, led by artists Andrew Brown and Katie Doubleday and developed in collaboration with writer Emma Cocker. The project explores how public space is conceptualised and organised by interrogating the ritual and habitual nature of our daily actions. Events involve inviting, instructing or working with members of the public to create discreet interventions and performances, which put into question or destabilise habitual patterns or conventions of public behaviour. Stillness, Slowness and Stopping is part of a series of choreographed walks which use ipods to orchestrate audiences in moments of synchronisation and repetition. These walks invite the participant to readdress their position within their city and enter a space where new encounters can take place.
Laurence Payot
I am a French artist based in the North West of England. I work with local, national and international artist groups, galleries and cultural organisations, and Co-Direct The Royal Standard, Liverpool, where I also have a studio. I have exhibited in a number of successful group and solo exhibitions in England, Scotland, Wales and France, with a recent award from the Arts Council, and a residency in Libya with the British Council and Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art.
The main catalysts for my work are found in common objects and phenomena from everyday life. I ask the viewer to question patterns that have become mundane and almost invisible, by altering them slightly and turning them into something uncanny. My work uses “chameleon techniques”, allowing me to create site-specific work that looks like it has always belonged there. I don’t intend my work to stand out at a first glance, but when a person discovers it, what is revealed is unexpected and disturbing – a small shock or revelation that something has been altered.
Re-Presentatio, 2009
Wood, Roscoe Paint, spotlights
Miyuki Kasahara
Miyuki Kasahara graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in 1999 and is currently based in East London. Exploring identity, personal memory, and personal myths in people and herself, her work has been widely exhibited in the British Isles and abroad.
Miyuki’s work is by nature diverse encompassing 3D and 2D, the final outcome could be a sculpture, installation or drawing. She considers how art interacts with people either through conversation or through their gaze without conversation. Miyuki is interested in the public sharing their own personal stories and communicating with others (strangers) through interactive artworks. She tries to elicit small episodes in people’s lives in order to understand more about their/her life and from this generate further works.
Recent exhibitions include: Each Teach, Five Years gallery, London (2009) - Unconfined Melina Mercouri Cultural Center, Athens in Greece (2009) - Message to me 2012, Commissioned by Shoreditch Trust, Supported by Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, London (2008) - Night of museums and galleries, Studio9, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2008) - A walk in the park, Queens Wood, London (2008) - Mount Pleasant Gardens Sculpture Exhibition, Cheshire (2008) Kunst Project, TamTam Festival, Leiden Noord, the Netherlands (2008) - For Whom Do You Speak?, Shed and a Half Gallery, London (2008) - Trigger, Art Gallery X, sponsored by Nihombashi Takashimaya Department store, Tokyo (Solo exhibition 2007) - A piece of me, Sketch, London (2007), The London Group open exhibition, London (2007) - Milky Way Project, commissioned by Shoreditch Trust, London (2007) - Miyuki Kasahara exhibition, Gallery Chimenkanoya, Tokyo (Solo exhibition 2006) - The Surgery project part1, supported by Capital Community Foundation, The Surgery, London (2006) - Clash Art 2, Sevenseven Contemporary Art, London (2006) - Art in the Gardens , sponsored by Southampton Saab, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire (2006, 2007, 2008) - Clone, Nog Gallery, London (2005) - Clash Art, The Foundry, London (2005)
Stuart McAdam
The sign points to the thing signified. I use things in place of things in the same way as language; when you see a word, you don’t see the word; you see the thing with which it is associated.
My research investigates language, in particular the idea of signs and their invisibility. The work mostly manifests as Spoken Word Performance, Sound, Film and Drawn works.
Recent exhibitions include New Contemporaries 2009 at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh and Reception, Plan 9, Bristol.