i like... please don't leave me

by bas jan ader. this image haunts me. what happens when the light goes off?

reading list: the practice of everyday life

or how will i know if i'm doing it right?

touching 1000 people

diane borsato deliberately touched 1000 people over the course of a month. i am more and more interested in this kind of subtle intervention.

lifetime goals

alyse emdur collected the lifetime goals of school students. i love this one.

what happened was...

recent project by anna callahan. i love her work. precious glimpses of the beauty and strangeness of life out there.

I like... fifty states

jared larson's fifty states.
this is one of those videos i end up reblogging because it stays in my mind. there's something about it that i love. it reminds me how immediate and responsive art can be.

i like... two straight twelve mile walks on dartmoor

by richard long
two poems written at intervals along a twelve mile walk

i like... signs that say what you want them to say

by gillian wearing

little bit of liverpool

some great things about liverpool this weekend:

nicholas hlobo's ribbon maze, part of 'touched' at the bluecoat. so dreamy. so touchable.

a little boy dog in blue, a little girl dog in pink

street art reading 'poor are people,' 'pensioners are people' and 'do you like your neighbours?'

the word 'calamari' with a scouse accent

the language of sculpture, curated by carol ann duffy - especially the satchels full of magnetic words for visitors to play around with

bright red leaves carpeting the pavement

knitting salon at nest

i was lucky enough to acquire a last-minute invitation to the knitting salon at nest last night, organised by deidre from craftspace and trevor pitt of pod projects. It was admittedly a little more tame than the bourgeoius eighteenth century french salon of my imagining, but followed both of horace's aims - "either to please or to educate" - quite nicely. Taking placemaking as our theme, we talked about the city and its inhabitants; our experiences of migration and settlement; our relationship with our neighbours; intergenerational communication and misunderstanding; ideas of community, and how we are connected and disconnected from the places we live and work in. I really hope the series of talks continues as the benches tour the country, inspiring similar conversations as they settle in new spaces.

'under gods' by liz hingley

liz hingley's 'under gods' is a series of photographs taken over 2 years on soho road, handsworth. her experience was that religion is the primary source of identity drawn on by the diverse inhabitants of this area in birmingham. the beauty of her photographs taken inside bedrooms, living rooms, gurdwaras, sweet shops, mosques, convents, backyards, schools, temples and doorways reminds me how resourceful people are, and how our little buildings can become so much more than places to work, eat and sleep.

you can see the exhibition now at wolverhampton art gallery

christian marclay's 'the clock'

I wish I could get to white cube to see this. it's a film made of film clips that use the clock-face as a narrative device. and it's synchronised to local time.

diversity by numbers

My latest blog post about diversity in arts policy over at Hybrid...

"Fears that projects championing multiculturalism and diversity will suffer from restructuring in the Arts Council and become sidelined by other concerns have been fed by the fact that ACE seems to have distanced diversity from artistic excellence in their draft strategy for the future (Jatinder Verma, Arts Professional 21 June 2010.) Does this mean diversity will no longer be a policy priority, but an agenda confined to separate developmental work with no place within the wider culture of excellence ACE seeks to promote?"

Refugee Art

Link to a recent article I wrote on the Hybrid blog about Refugees and Imaginative Space:
"In the same way that work by black artists has become ‘black art,’ work by refugees and asylum seekers is considered ‘refugee art’ with expectations that it will contain certain themes – pain, loss, displacement, marginalisation. These are comfortable themes for what Rotas describes as a “right on” culture that wants to pat itself on the back for its commitment to diversity and giving voice to ‘others.’"

Fierce Interrobang: Regeneration

Fierce's Interrobangs are 'mash-ups of performance, experiments, enquiry, workshops, hot drinks, conversation and direct action.' The first will be taking place at Warwick Arts Centre from 24-26 June from 11am - 11pm. China Plate will be there running On Call sessions (more here), which offer a great opportunity to get advice and support or just have a general chat about your own work.

BE Festival

The Birmingham European Theatre Festival starts on 30th June, and the programme is packed with interesting stuff. It's all taking place at A E Harris. I love the poster - nothing better than going barefoot through a puddle.

ROAD WORKS: art on the meter in Birmingham

Image via inhabitat

Tomorrow, 48-hrs before we enter our final bid for UK City of Culture 2013, Birmingham City Council are transforming 5 parking spaces in the city centre in pieces of public art.

The project is BCC's contribution to PARK(ing) Day - in which artists, activists and citizens temporarily transform metred parking spaces into public parks.

Located in close proximity to Victoria Square, St Phillips Cathedral (Colmore Row) and Waterloo Street the ROADWORKS will feature:

• ‘Not My Type’ by Fluid Design and collective illustrators
  Three easels will be set up and some of Birmingham’s best graphic designers will be demonstrating their skills, illustrating letters forms and numbers, as the public look on. 
• ‘Camera Obscura ‘ by Arlene Burnett
  This will be a ‘walk in camera’ in a light proof garden shed, projecting an image of some of Birmingham’s impressive civic buildings onto its inside surfaces.
• ‘The Incidental Estate’ by Trevor Pitt
  A domestic, suburban garden transplanted into the city centre. A space to sit in, enjoy the flowers and consider the sense of freedom it can give you.
• Human, All too Human’ by Nat Pitt
  This is a bird spotters hide, fitted with periscopes for members of the public to view animal characters who will be appearing nearby, you may spot an owl with a pushchair, a cat traffic warden or a badger with a briefcase.
• ‘Digger’s Revival’ by Uddin and Elsey
  This artist’s duo will create a growing environment, inspired by Van Gogh’s painting of the ‘Potato Planters’, with wooden pallets, grow bags and plants. They will invite the public to take away seeds and encourage them to grow their own vegetables.

Intercultural dialogues

A recent blog post  about intercultural dialogues at the mac. From my blog at hybrid.

treasured a secret journey

Treasured - A Secret Journey from Jane Packman on Vimeo.

I just received a link to this trailer for Jane Packman's Treasured - A Secret Journey, which is currently at the mac. It's beautifully shot. I think I will have to check it out.

who wants to be?

A response to Birmingham's bid for UK city of culture Who Wants to Be Birmingham is a 'spontaneous, democratic, live theatrical experience' that aims to harness the full power of the public imagination. If these are some of your favourite words you don't want to miss it. It's on Friday 11th June at 7pm at The Patrick Centre, delivered by The Hippodrome and  Fierce.