Tuesday 15 May 2012

Cornerhouse exhibition Manchester





Went to Cornerhouse in Manchester and saw this Palestinian version of 2001: A Space Odyssey. At first I found this exhibition somewhat jarring, I guess I still do, but getting the Jean Baudrillard references now. And the artist has ripped off A-ha's Minor Earth, Major Sky video


 "In A Space Exodus (2009), Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour adapts a segment of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, providing it with a new, Middle Eastern context by positing the idea of the first Palestinian in space. Originally developed as part of the A Space Exodus installation, Subversion will also feature Sansour’s Palestinauts (2010) and three preliminary sketches for the Nation Estate project, a sci-fi photo series conceived in the wake of the Palestinian bid for nationhood at the UN." 


Subversion at Cornerhouse, Manchester, May 2012.  Circle Of Confusion - Joana Hadjiithomas & Khalil Joreige - very Baudrillard - "If once we were able to view the Borges fable in which the cartographers of the Empire drew up a map so detailed that it ends up covering the territory exactly... - as the most beautiful allegory of simulation, this fable has now come full circle for us, and possesses nothing but the discrete charm of second-order simulacra." This must be third-order simulacra at least.


Outside Cornerhouse gallery



Space Invader in Manchester

Sunday 6 May 2012

LAN news!


Recently the LAN applied for St. Hugh's Arts Award funding for our proposal for Frequency 2013, but weren't successful. We're not put off by this, as we hope to have assistance from another source to secure the funding we need. 


In any case, there is a free trip to Norway in the pipeline, in which I hope to go and speak to an Apparatjik himself, Mr. Magne Furuholmen, to discuss ideas. Not sure yet when this will be.

We haven't posted lately, as I've been doing a lot of work for my own practice, having recently auctioned a copy of my my self published comic for charity, and currently have some work exhibited in Moss, Norway for the 2nd Twitter Art Exhibition, which is in support of the Women's Crisis Centre there.

We're looking for a venue to host a Mail Art exhibition sometime after June, and are still waiting to hear about the Empty Shop space in Sincil Street organised by Revival. As soon as that gets underway we can initiate some exciting new projects. This space is offered at no cost to us, with a cafe and workshops being run by other groups as a skill share space. 
Empty Shop space pending....


In the mean time, I'd like to share some updates on other things I've been doing on behalf of the LAN (as well as my own practice).


In February, myself and Sally Lemsford were awarded a bursary to attend Open Air:Effecting Change at Firstsite in Colchester.




These AIR Activist events are important for sharing how galleries such as Firstsite are supporting emerging artists, for artists to get together with other bodies, such as ACE, councils, socio-political organisations, funding bodies and a variety of different organisations and groups, in order to initiate and develop discussions around finding ways to ensure that artists continue to work professionally in a climate of funding cuts, and to ensure that despite this, together we can initiate ways for artists to be paid. AIR Activists continue to re-iterate that artists should not accept voluntary positions


http://hyperallergic.com/50226/new-data-reveals-artists-arent-gettin-paid/

We work towards providing exhibition opportunities and involvement for artists, and in return we ask for some contribution towards this as mutual exchange. Our aim is to support artists with funding where possible, or to pool resources where this is lacking, to make things happen. 


In the mean time, we're in discussion with Whisby Natural World Centre for an exhibition there in May 2013. More details for this to follow shortly.