Weirdly wonderful.

Wool, paints, plastic & the gang : T.A.A. Manchester

The T.A.A. in Manchester was ...

Temporary; the building was a primary school which will be torn down in 2 weeks

Autonomous; strictly speaking it was a squat and well, yeah it was a squat

Arts; in the widest sense going from painting walls to poetry, unicycling, pagans and knitting with plastic-bag-yarn (plarn) for the junk fashion show

Although this was on during my work hours and I could not spend every day all day there; cycling through estates in typical Mancatraz cold drizzle rain after a tiring day was worth seeing how a bunch of creative, enthusiastic people can turn an unused building into whatever they want. In this case there was hardly an inch of wall space without paint, poster or any other colourful material. There was poetry reciting, independent film showings, a junk fashion show (that I missed, boo!) and a big Cabarave to end it with a spectacular bang.

I contributed in Obermaier's Junk fashion and crafts corner, doing origami (erm with a little/lot help from my friends) until being infected by the "but I want to make that .... and that! .... and everything!" - virus... knitting, jewelry making, sock monkey making, and upcyling in every form took place. All materials were donated and all participants volunteers. What felt good was creating things that was the opposite of what virgin products do and did it feel good to be making fashion in that otherwise consumerist and profit driven world.

And was it inspirational. ... to be less conventional in work and life. Knit some plastic! Paint on the walls! I'm no punk or painter but it's strangely liberating.

Forbidden Arts Manchester

>> Inspired by London collective ‘Random Artists’, over the past few years collective groups in Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Brighton have been coming together to create a cultural, interactive, autonomous space where people are free to be, free to create, and free to express themselves.

We want to exhibit all forms of artwork: drawings, paintings, sculptures big and small, photography, installations, designs and more. Showcasing poets and vocalists, films and performance, words and concepts.

Born out of the free party underground movement, these spaces of reclaimed freedom have been making a significant contribution to an alternative art world and Manchester Forbidden Arts are bringing it back to Manchester this NOVEMBER: 4th – 7th 2009!<<

Call 07762 599453 for directions ... it's a pretty awesome space, a school that will be torn down in a few weeks time and easy to get to.

I went there yesterday as I am part of the junk crafts corner; I was appointed to do origami. Janine had seen me make my trademark sail boat and assumed I was a pro... but that is the only one I can do! None the less, I printed out diagrams, collected paper and have already attracted another origami semi-pro at the event who will be my co-origamist. Should be wild.

If you're in Manchester - come, it's well worth popping by and having knit, fold, paint on the wall (so liberating!) or learn to unicycle! Or in the evenings...

THU 5th: Independent film night
FRI 6th: Junk Fashion Show / Interactive Dance & Performance
SAT 7th: Cabaret

Go to the forbidden arts website or T.A.A.R.T. for more info. Photos will follow, will be exciting to witness how the space will grow and develop.

Yuken Teruya

http://www.yukenteruyastudio.com/en/projects

Josh Keyes

Distinctive style and hits the spot, doesn't it just?

Artist's website here.

Photographic embroidery increases number of inspo-cells

http://www.riflemaker.org/s-maurizio_anzeri

Suffering under lack creativity lately which has been leading to symptoms such as non-blogging, these images have healed me and induced my return to the incredible land of inspiration. I like people, art, artists, objects that don't take themselves seriously, yet aren't just blatantly comical.

These photographs from almost a century ago have been embroidered in way that has made the object into a beautiful artful caricatures by having its features highlighted and exaggerated by colourful thread.

For the last few weeks I have been in the process of scanning in photos from albums I inherited from my grandparents, who were born in 1910/1911 so they are secured digitally and be shared with other members of the family. By scanning each single page, I get to look at the single photograph more closely and can even zoom in on details that I have not noticed the many times I had flicked through. Maurizio Anseri's work has inspired me to not only value these insights but reinterpret them with my own media... I can see some cut&paste work happening with some colour input and fabric application...

... jeez, ... art sure is a matter of interpretation. I showed my housemate these images and his instantanious reaction was that that the faces had been deformed and looked like they were diseased with growths etc. Nothing in that disection had crossed my mind at all! But then he is an illustrator who love to draw skulls if that says anything.

Schattenspiele

Erin Mulvehill

Palazzo delle Esposizion at Venice Biennale

Textile deisgner Emmie Joseph

Reverse Graffiti Project

MONOLITH

1) Collectors Elmgreen & Dragset at Venice Biennale '09

2) Still from film "2001 a Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kubrik

3) Pavel Pepperstein @ Venice Biennale '09

4) Still from film "The Fall" by Tarem Singh

Cornerhouse: State Legacy, China & Encounters at the End of the World

Screenshot from http://www.cornerhouse.org

Unfortunately I missed the exhibition in the Whitworth gallery that I had blogged about, due to nice weather EVERY weekend since intending to go- just can't waste sunny days in England! Despite the soaked-up rays and the resulted happiness through them, I felt a definite void in the culture department. This was completely spontaneously filled when my boyfriend surprised me and picked me up from work, as he was in the area.

Photos from http://www.cornerhouse.org/art/

We decided to go to the Cornerhouse, even if it was just to grab a post-work beer and ended up in the exhibition "State Legacy" presenting previously unseen works by five prominent contemporary Chinese artists. Although my knowledge about China and its history is nearly nil, the radiance of Zeng Li's photographs were so strong it evoked a deep feeling of discomfort as well as admiration for the artist's talent in photographic composition. His series of photographs entitled The Shuicheng Iron and Steel Works, detailing an abandoned factory that had remained hidden amongst mountains during the cold-war. I could feel the harshness and mercilessness of the derelict looking vast whole landscapes of factories, which were badly cared for, treated as badly as the workers within them; I could feel the dirty toxic fumes enter every capillary of my lung which made me shiver.







The other one that stood out for me personally (and wasn't as discomforting) was Sui Jianguo’s Raising Speed on the Railway, a multi-screened projection of a high-speed train as it travels around a circular testing track. We only noticed this clever train element as were were about to leave the exhibition, thinking merely street scenes were being shown.

Illustration by Thomas Plaskitt from http://www.newthink.co.uk/

Throughout the exhibition we were thinking about a friend who left last week to live in China for a year. We were imagining the lanky, blond, tall Tom who had never even been outside Europe, looking onto a sea of little black heads beneath him -like in the image above drawn by Tom himself? I felt nervous for him. He will be in a "small" town near Beijing, still with a population of 6 million, teaching English. He's a graphic designer who has been working for a almost year since graduating and is also a graphic novel/comic artist. I am intrigued what inspiration this experience will provide him with but also anxious how he will cope (with the isolation of an expat, especially in China).

Afterwards, we watched Werner Herzog's "Encounters at the End of the World" which was released in 2007, as the Cornerhouse does not only show new films. Check out the trailer above! The colours and imagery is inspirational and gave me goosebumps all over. Uniquely beautiful nature and person shots, and a Herzog's commentary adds a dry element of humour. According to one of the interviewed people, these individuals are there because none of the are tied down on this planet, so the all fall down, fall to the most south part of the world- nice thought.

Also, do you know what sounds seals make under water?? They do not sound like they come from any animal in this world, more like synthesizers or lasers!

Pun-tastic Postcards

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/harvey-nichols-pun-tastic-postcards/ for more pun fun!

Subversive Spaces at the Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester

The subversive spaces exhibition at Manchester's Whitworth gallery looks at the relationship between surrealism and contemporary art. It includes work from Sarah Lucas, Douglas Gordon and Gregor Schneider, alongside pieces by surrealist past masters such as Paul Delvaux, Brassaï, Dalí and Magritte. Subversive Spaces runs until 4 May 2009 so I will hurry over before I miss it and as soon as I have a free rainy weekend; I find surrealism fascinating.

Photograph above: Kinderzimmer (2009) by Gregor Schneider; Photograph: Joel Chester Fildes , from http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/mar/25/subversive-spaces-whitworth-gallery-in-pictures?picture=345030227

... and art, too!

http://www.chorltonartsfestival.com/

Friday 15 May - Saturday 23 May

"We want a few mad people now. See where the sane ones have landed us!"
George Bernard Shaw.

Artist: Anais Edely - http://www.anaisedely.fr/ . My friend Joe in Leipzig told me about her; she is living with her at the moment. I appreciate the Anais' graphic style, often mixing hard black lines with dreamy aquarell paint.

Thanks for the Uebersetzung, GC & http://www.quotesdaddy.com/.