http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 I dont know about community...... Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:43:59 +0000 a-n rss generator a-n The Artists Information Company and contributors edit@a-n.co.uk technical@a-n.co.uk http://www.a-n.co.uk/img/logo.gif http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 I am an artist / curator who works with places and people. A few years ago (2003-4) I was lucky enough to be instigating, organising, fundraising and then helping select and develop the vision for an exhibition from a national open submission of expressions of interest. The work took place in the derelict swimming "palace" Victoria Baths in Manchester. I continue to work on the arts programme there as well as collaborating on other projects. Around the same time, I got involved with Community Network For Manchester (CN4M.NET) I sit on the culture pool which represents artists and arts organisations working at the grass roots level (it also includes larger organisation's education departments for example). The idea is that Culture Pool feeds back the needs and ideas of the 'community' of cultural practitioners and artists involved with artsnet (network of artists) at the city council's cultural partnership (council/galleries etc) in Manchester.The culture pool also discuss and responds to the council's cultural partnership meetings. Artsnet and culture pool works alongside the other 6 other networks and pools such as environment and health inequalities. My initial response when I got involved was what on earth can we do? small, disparate organisations, often in competition for funding and with so many varied projects and artist agendas. How can a few individuals represent all that? And really, will anyone really listen? Also the whole process seemed like lots of meetings and how would freelance artists find time to really engage with the process? - you know how we all love long meetings.....perhaps we could exhibit the doodles everyone does... Despite the success of Artsnet as a busy e.mail network keeping locally based artists in touch with opportunities,exhibitions, concerts, community projects etc, the culture pool itself is not particularly dynamic. I got the feeling that maybe people don't know much about it, despite the good efforts of the volunteers and the one part time worker who runs artsnet / culture pool. My response was to suggest that we try to get artists to work within the networks and respond to the work of CN4M - its a like research project really and hopefully some innovative and interesting responses will come about.The applications have started to pop into the inbox now and already people are raising questions about the concept - which is good, its making me think too; the start of the process. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 My main contact with CN4M is the culture pool coordinator, Sue. We set a deadline for all the applications of 15th October and everything is being delivered at her desk as I write this. I may not get to see everything until 17th. Unfortunately Sue is going away today, and has still not managed to get a meeting together with all the pool coordinators, for us to talk with them about the project in more detail. I will try in the meantime to set some individual meeting times with each pool.In addition the pools coordinator seems to have changed jobs and may not be able to get involved any more..Oh yes - what is a pool? The CN4M is a network of networks of community and voluntary organisations. The networks fall into thematic and geographic groups - many of which overlap, obviously, because for example health inequalities is affected by employment and economy. Sustainable neighbourhood pool may well have links with transport etc etc - and as for culture....  It seems that CN4M is about to undergo a review! It does this every year, but the difference this time is that CN4M has become a limited company.  Obviously all the different pool coordinators will be taking part in the review during October and may not feel best disposed to deal with artists at this moment in time. On the other hand perhaps this is just the time to ask artists to examine what happens... ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 SelectingHow do you go about selecting artists from all the applications you get? Putting yourself in the shoes of the selector, as opposed to the applicant (we’ve all had the dreaded thin rejection envelope after all) is an interesting exercise. For one, you get to see how other people present themselves and their ideas, which is very enlightening in itself – and also you can test your own subjective reactions to things like font choices, illustration on the sides of home designed letter heads, handwriting, cds that wont open on your computer, no phone number supplied etc etc. Presentation is obviously very important, however one person's good presentation is another persons over frilliness or poor design! Sometimes the commitment and enthusiasm shine through in a simple hand written postcard - so I guess there are no hard and fast rules I can offer except be honest.I tried to get beyond such trivial style judgements and concentrate of the idea that was being put forward, looking for original and honest statements of intention and projects that had room for growth and change - ideas that had the spark of intelligence and took an unusual approach. I was  also looking for something that tells me that this person is capable of delivering what they say they can deliver. So track record and experience count to an extent. Having said that, the projects that I’ve worked on over the years have always given opportunities to people with less experience as well as more established artists.Eventaully, after much deliberation, and with the help of some of the CN4M coordinators, we made our final selection from a submission of around 30 applications.The artists taking part are: Andrew Wilson, Hafsah Naib, Jo Lewington, Simon Grennan & Christopher Sperrandio, Joe Richardson, Jil Moore, and William Titley.Since the selection process, I have met with each artist once, mainly to meet up and get to know everyone and offer what information I could about CN4M. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 I met all the artists individually, during December and January. I've also been researching to determine ultimate exhibition venues.The initial idea I had was to exhibit the work at community based venues: community centres, libraries etc, where grass roots community organisations might see the work, and then to culminate in a central Manchester exhibition space, where interested parties in CN4M and the art audience would come together. I sent out a request to all the geographic pool co-ordinators of CN4M to get back to me with suggestions. This hasn't worked. I had a response from only one and he's going to take me on a tour of North Manchester next week.In the meantime I've been thinking about showing the work in different sites - but not all together. This was reinforced by Kwong Lee, curator at Castlefield Gallery, who agreed to host the first meeting of all the artists, at the beginning of March. The logistics of showing all the artists, together, in up to 6 venues, might over-show the work - by the time we arrive in the final venue, the audience might be exhausted. And so would I!!  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 The first meeting was good. All but one artist could make it. Everyone outlined their initial ideas, their interaction so far with CN4M and how ideas were developing. The artists ranged in their approach from the very precise to the relatively loose. Almost everyone was tentative at the time of the meeting, but it felt like a healthy place to be in the process. With no cast iron deadlines, there is time for ideas to gestate and for experiment and play to take place. Focusing and then re-focusing. Apart from anything else its been a time of testing some of the initial proposals – and rethinking in some cases.By the end of the meeting, the feedback was very positive. Hearing each other had been inspirational, supportive and re-motivated everyone.For the benefit of the reader, here I re-cap on CN4M, and the purpose of the project: there is a lot of this redefining and reassessing going on. CN4M was set up in as a mechanism by which  community, voluntary organisations and individuals could contribute to decision making in the city. It is organised into thematic pools, which shadow the Manchester Partnership (council and statutory agencies) and geographic areas and communities of interest – see www.cn4m.net for more information.Each of the artists has opted to work with one or more of the themes / areas of CN4M and in some cases across all of them. It’s an artist research project, instigated by me, through the Culture Pool. My idea was that artists were more likely to engage with CN4M through art, than through meetings and long beauraucratic processes, and that their findings might be useful or interesting to CN4M itself and its members. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 At the risk of sending everyone to sleep with the details of the project I thought I would just add - aren't artists busy these days? I like the project about CN4M cos its trying to allow artists time and space to think and experiment, and yet its set in arena(CN4M) that is all about dull but neccassary meetings and unwieldy structures.But aren't artists busy? Time flies by and we are all juggling projects, budgets and making work - then promoting it, writing blogs, evaluating, teaching, feeding back......and then there's a living to earn.. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Aren’t Artists Busy!!The CN4M project is gathering pace and interest. After Hafsah Naib’s attendence at the Cultural Partnership this week, there is a buzz gathering around the activity. Also the artists are emerging from (for some) their culture shock – in coming to terms with what exactly this is all about – with new observations and strategies as work develops.After our meeting last night with everyone I am excited about the project - the passion it is inspiring, the complex ideas coming up and the interconnections between and variety of approaches.Joe Richardson has been delving into “the diagram” that tries to define networks - and tracing a route through the structure by using me as a starting point and then following up contacts that I recommended and then following contacts that they recommended and so on, to try to understand whether CN4M can really achieve its aims. Can CN4M’s structure communicate with the loose groupings of small organisations and really have much impact on the great twisting organism that is the local decision making process within local Government, as they also try to keep up with shifting policies, central directives and funding priorities. What other models for this are there in other NRF targeted cities – and I wonder what part does local democracy play?Jil Moore, meanwhile gets on a bus, with Bill the Transport Pool coordinator on “one of the most problematic school run routes” and finds that on that day the “youth” are actually very considerate and polite (if lively) and it’s the bus driver who is creating danger by trying to race through before any children embark. She hears about some small but significant victories that Bill has helped bring about on bus routes.Andrew has ditched his notion of hi tech “social capital mapping” – discovering that the “personal networks” between organisations are just that and not so easy to reveal. So he’s returned to something much more clunky, a board game, and instead of soical theories has begun to interact with a disability arts project and basic materials to point at the need for something like CN4M when the connections run dry.Hafsah Naib attended the Cultural Partnership – the meeting that brings together the big players in Culture in Manchester - and hears that they want to “understand the visual arts market” They understand what Dance is and Theatre but how can they get to grips with the Visual Arts? At our own recent meeting, Hafsah was wrestling with the internal and the external in the experience of culture and the symbiotic nature of the exchange. She takes the symbol of the large oval table around which everyone sits, with its doughnut-like hole in the middle – a void – the space inside, and begins to work this into her plans.to be ctd ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Arent Artists Busy 2I hear that Simon Grennan and Chris Sperrandio have held a meeting with the Geographic workers – who I discover have just a month to work their notice. Sounds as if funding for CN4M, in its current form, is collapsing as new agendas kick in through local Government. As CN4M embark on their re-branding, Simon and Chris set out alone to experience the CN4M geographic hotspots.Jo Lewington has gained trust at one or two factories. Its surprising that not all manufacturing has gone east. Manchester is still home to a number of textile manufacturers and Jo is exploring these environments in her research into physical repetitive actions and movement and how these echo all our lives’ patterns. So a different approach to the theme of economy than the new Learning Skills and Employment network of CN4M might be taking, but possibly one that will resonate with the workers of the factories and wider, as Jo’s durational work evolves.William Titley meanwhile has attended umpteen meetings with the Sustainable communities networks. Some of the meetings are poorly attended, and he identifies “heroes” - the volunteers who turn up time after time and are so committed to making it work. I say maybe it’s a kind of dying breed and he sees them as warriors, specially the people who have worked all their lives in community projects. There’s nostalgia there as well from some participants – a wish for things to be as they once were. For more solidarity, more trust, less change – he’s brought these thoughts together in an object – the old fashioned dustbin, with a lid – and he’s focusing on this as a sculptural work. But for now he’s taking part in a mountain marathon and is thinking as he runs……… ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 CentresAs well keeping up to date with artists’ progress, I’ve been getting out and about researching some community centres. It’s an area I am familiar with as I spend a lot of time in a community centre where I’ve been running an open studio for some years. It was interesting to look at all the different types of location and the variety of buildings, where voluntary and community projects are based. There are a few distinct aesthetics going on, though not I guess deliberate – and as you look at all the associated materials, websites, leaflets and speak to individuals, the ethos or character of each place emerges. So there are the places that are make-do-and-mend and there are those that are lottery backed and corporate feeling.I’m hoping that each can play a part,  and contribute to the story of the project - so we have a spanking new library, a semi-updated skills training centre, church halls and places on the brink. The journey to and from to see all the work will be part of the experience of the project….Now I am hoping to coordinate the timing of the show with all the venues. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 network as rhizome I’ve started to a attend the reading group at Salford Restoration Office. Artists get together weekly to read philosophy articles and look at work and possibly make work together at some point. Its like a brain gym for me. We were reading Deleuze and Guattari from One Thousand Plateaus. It was really relevant to the thoughts I’d been having about networks that are seen as theoretical defined structures – like CN4M and how networks actually work – like a rhizome ………spilling and spreading and improvising new streams, nodes and amalgamations across the ground, unlike a heirarchical structure of say a tree.Good when two things come together - the reading feeding the project like that in an unexpected way.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Tree of Life At last today I met someone who challenged me about the project. So far everyone has been so positive – like no one has been phased about the fact that artists were doing something without taking into account who the audience might be or whether they are addressing particular issues – or whether they are ready to work with certain groups. Art in communities is often about people getting stuck in and getting pleasure from making things and spending time together doing it and then a sense of pride when that work, however good or bad, is shown off to friends and family. Our project isn’t going to achieve that end. The art we are involved with is about stepping back and looking at the situation of community work and networks, and commenting upon that. Bringing the work into the environment on which it is focusing, has a tradition in site specific work, art as environment, more than it does community art.I’ve been expecting hostility, suspicion and frankly “stop wasting our time” since I began, because community development grew up hand in hand with community art. But apart from a few artists, working in the community centres, who at first may be a little territorial about their spaces (and fair enough) almost without exception, community centres and their workers have been really positive and accepted my somewhat vague descriptions of what the project is about.Janet, manager of The Tree of Life Centre wasn’t able to offer me the space I had hoped to simply walk in and secure – a table in the corner of the café. The centre wasn’t really open, but I wandered in, and Janet kindly stopped her fundraising, offered me tea and showed me around the furniture and clothes shop, cafe and activity space(church). She wanted to understand exactly what my project is doing – and what exactly was the point of placing art work in her centre. What would the centre users get out of it? What was the objective of it? Why would anyone be interested, or need to know what CN4M is? What she was saying is that ordinary people access her centre to either have a meal, buy cheap furniture, or take part in a club or group, and then off they go – she knew that actually people wont be interested in the art work, let alone “engage” with it, and they certainly wont understand CN4M or want to. Andrew Wilson is making a board game, which in the playing, describes CN4M’s function. She was asking why people would want to know that anyway? Surely if they needed to find something out, they would ask her, and she would point them on then to the ward coordinator (council worker for that area) not CN4M, who are based in town anyway, miles from her community.ctd ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 The Arndale of Community WorkI completely understood where she was coming from. The job of community work is very practical and everyone is overstretched anyway – why devote energy and time to making this happen if there is no apparent outcome? Why should her centre help us in some research project,  that has no benefit. She understood CN4M very well. She was in favour of CN4M – they have provided funding for her volunteering programme, but didn’t see why users of her centre needed to know that.I admitted to Janet that actually there was no “outcome” of this, that we weren’t looking to provide a service or offer solutions. I didn’t know if the art work would be enjoyed or ignored. I didn’t know if CN4M had any relevance to local people and I wasn’t setting out to promote CN4M. If awareness of it was created then that would be good – but why? I wasn’t sure.Talking to Janet struck a lot of chords for me. She could have made an appointment to see me at another time, but she dropped everything to spend half an hour with me. She was evidently very busy and told me a number of times – so I felt bad that she’d dropped everything. I tried to say, I could come back another time, but she insisted. As I’d interrupted anyway, she may as well stop. I saw myself in many situations doing the same, when people appear out of the blue – it’s a not wanting to disapoint  people and also a slightly matryred attitude (guilt tripping creates a sense of power?). She wanted to help but as I say, and she was very earnest in questioning the project – which I found very helpful….Janet pointed me at the Wythenshawe Forum centre, who would have more space and seemed more recognised as an exhibition space (I used to cycle there as a child to swim) – its now a large indoor precinct run by Wythenshawe Trust. The Forum has a leisure centre/gym, library, theatre, walk-in health clinic, café,  education, and child care centres….all under one roof, and all overseen by a security company. Unlike the outside, this felt new, vibrant and busy – a bit like the Arndale centre of community work…A friendly receptionist phoned Bob, the manager of the centre who very welcomingly offered to host the artwork – this centre seemed inappropriate for Andrew’s game – but ideal for Joes long pasting tables….. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Its already November and lots has happened recently but I have been a bit slack writing it up on this blog. I juggle this project with several others that I work on and time management and brain capacity sometimes let me down! I often wonder what people did before they sat in front of computers all day – its not that long ago.Lots of meetings with the artists as work develops, lots of visits to venues, endless e.mails and wrangling over budgets and so on…There are video installations, film, sculptural installations, painting, photographic work and a board game to coordinate..The dates for the exhibition “I don’t know about Community Networks but I know what I like” are now set for January – each artist has their community based venue alloted, publicity is underway, being designed by UHC in Manchester. Then a good friend offered to make the website, for which there was no budget at all!! – so you can view on www.one-and-all.org to find out all the details about the project.In past projects I’ve had to do everything, including designing leaflets and invitations myself – usually learning the software at the same time. This time I have the luxury of handing it over to someone who knows what they’re doing! Nevertheless there is a lot of work to do writing text, proof reading and gathering information from the 7 different venues. We also worked out a transport route around the venues with the Transport Network of CN4M.Hopefully travelling around the city to these various places – from converted schools to high profile regeneration projects - gives the viewer a sense of how the regeneration industry works and to the people who use the centres the art work will be interesting and stimulate some sort of debate, and create awareness about the other places taking part.The first stage of the exhibition will be for 2 weeks in January and then later in April there will be a show including all the work at Castlefield Gallery, which is great because I’ve always seen the work being shown in a gallery situation and the curators there have been really supportive of the concept – showing the work in the community venues is a bit of an experiment – part of the working process of development of the exhibition.I am keen to create cross-overs between the different realms and challenge the different constituents of those realms.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 One Day To Go…..Finally, all the work is now being installed at the various community based venues!I am getting to see everything first of course as I fly from place to place with the notices and small boards with information, and the self-inking rubber stamps! People can get their map/guides stamped on their way round the exhibition and then win a prize (Sue Robinson's idea)I managed to bag a bargain TV screen in the January sales for Jo’s work – she’s still somewhere in India, so I’ve had to make decisions about how her work is seen. Anyway, the staff at The Waterloo Centre were brilliant and obviously know their home entertainment technology. These incongruous settings for the viewing of these art works raises the question of how well this is going to work aesthetically. Obviously you don’t have the same control over things like lighting, distracting backgrounds, artex walls, incidental furniture etc as one might in a gallery situation. But this is all part of the wider picture! Whilst some might worry about the flickering fluorescent light over the Grennan and Sperandio paintings, for me and the artists its just adding another layer to the experience of understanding the work. These contexts are part of the work of the overall exhibition. The contrast later on; seeing the work in the gallery, will complete the circle of the experience, hopefully leaving everyone with some new experiences. The work isn’t site specific though – that’s part of the curating – deciding where it will be shown involved not only decisions about how the work fitted the place or the space but also overall how the journey through the exhibition tells a story about regeneration .At the Waterloo Centre, the staff immediately were familiar with the subject matter of Jo’s film and happily talked away about the various machines and their own experiences of working in factories. Just off to the Town Hall now to help Hafsah Naib black out some windows for her TV installation – of course they wont let us use their ladders – health and safety, so having to take our own, which are probably less safe anyway…….... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 contemporary art in a community setting Simon brought the Grennan and Sperandio paintings to hang at the Angels. The paintings show significant sites around the geographic areas of the city. They had been identified by CN4M workers as “hot-spots” of CN4M activity. The artists took that information and visited the sites, to try to feel what the places were like. So the paintings are based on their own subjective response. Next they made images, manipulated these to reflect their responses and then sent these to be turned into oil paintings by renderers – those technicians who spend their whole time reproducing the images of others in paint. So the application of the paint bears no relation to the feelings – the image is everything – the painting is simply a way of producing it.I’d already seen the work in reproduction – on j.pegs – but this was my first encounter with the actual paintings. They surprised me in scale, and the richness of the oil paint. Despite the apparent distance of the artists from their production, the paintings had a warmth about them. The hanging in the centre was also surprising. They looked just right with the faulty flouresent lights, the tables, safety information and the hat stand. Simon and I kept missing each other as I pulled into the car park, he pulled out. I had to dash over to The Waterloo Centre at the appointed time as I know how mad busy they are.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Art and News To get there, you drive along the Alan Turing Way, passing B of The Bang, which is currently incomplete. Its big spikes are cut down in many cases because they dropped off!, just stumps now. But its always in your sight as you drive along that road – art for drivers.At the Waterloo, its always frenetic – certainly for the managers and technical folk there. Mr Gurnam Singh is such an enthusiastic and helpful person and is right into the idea of artists getting involved in his centre. Phil, the technical manager had put the tv screen up in the small foyer, next to an enormous, but empty soft drink machine, again under florescent light. He’d hidden the dvd machine by hiding it under the drinks dispenser. We put Jo Lewington’s film in and all was working. Immediately several people gathered to watch the film. It shows the working process within a textile manufacturer. Jo got each worker to spend a few minutes wearing the head camera, so we see their movements and actions from their own point of view. People at the centre recognised the machines shown and named the work being done. They began to reminisce about the type of work that each of them had once done and the machines that are now used in the centre to train up people in different skills.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 ctd That evening, on the news and in the local paper, the outrage over a Primark supplier , TNS was headline news. A hidden camera had recorded the underpaid workers in a Manchester knitwear factory. The footage was reminiscent of Jo’s film purely becuas eit was shot in a factory, but of course totally different in style and purpose. In Jo’s film, the workers themselves had total knowledge and control about their involvement. The purpose was transparent and the final HD film is of high quality, as opposed to the fuzzy hidden camera on the TV and I wondered if managers at the factory Jo had visited would ever trust someone with a camera again.  I remembered Jo saying that everyone in the factory was very friendly and enjoyed their work, laughing and joking together about the head cams and pleased to be involved. It’s a reminder of just how strong visual images are – how the style of filming can affect the meaning. Jo aimed to honour the work of those participants, focusing on the rhythm of the working routine, she never set out to criticise working practices. Any physical or environmental problems with the jobs the workers do would be there to be seen. In the news footage, the financial realities behind the scenes in another factory is what was revealed by the journalist. being a film that took at its starting point the economic regeneration the city, via the learning Skills and Employment voluntary networks - it seems that Jo used the factory to stand for something much wider in terms of movement, space, time and patterns of work in which we are all implicated. In fact, we cant look at the suffering of low paid factory work, without looking at the lifestyle choices we all make daily. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 placing work in a church... At St Lukes, where I work anyway, I could print out and mount some interpretation for the venues. The reality of placing one piece of work in each venue is here! With a set of six paintings, or a dvd on a domestic screen, its one thing. Both these formats fit in well, they are at least a form that the non-arts audience can relate to – and I think the two spaces so far are good.Jil Moore’s glass triptych is being placed in the church. I found a small old drop leaf table which Jil wanted to use, as people would have to stoop a little to examine the works. The objects are made up of found glass elements; bowls, jars and ornaments which together create a kind of futuristic architectural model. Inside these transparent constructions are found translucent photographs showing images of individuals during the rush hour. In one piece, a small boy with his rucksack is contained in a small glass bubble, floating in water. As condensation gathers in the container a micro climate is formed and the boy is carried around the bowl imperceptibly. The work stands on a mirror  tile surface, reflecting the viewer and creating light and reflections. It’s a piece that demands close examination. Yet from the entrance to the church it looks like part of the church furniture – some sort of chalice or over-sized holy water containers sitting together in a cluster, part of some ancient religious ceremony. It was an unexpected result of placing this work here.Rachel, someone who attends St Lukes Art Project (one of my other projects) liked the work – when I talked about what the idea behind it was, she said “Yeah, its really good – but only some people who might think about things in that way, you know, being part of something bigger, but a lot of people just go to town and do their shopping” ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Art - where's it bin? ‘All dun ere, u still cmin down” said the text from William – I reply “can you hang on be there in 20 mins” Hastily finishing up with Jil at the church, I hot foot it past B of The Bang again through to East Manchester and the modern North City Library. Approaching from a different road this time, I get a proper view of the photo voltaic cels that cover a whole south facing side of the building. Williams sculptural “monument / water feature”, made with dustbins is sitting like a beacon in the centre of the foyer. The workings are all on view – wires disappear into the ground, there are coloured lights and tinkling water from the umbrella like fountains contained inside the bins. The lids are secured with bungees, colour coded with the lights inside.Like the stoics they honour, they seem solid, friendly and full of hope. As we are looking at them, a family enter the library; a small girl runs up to one of the bins and extends her arms around it as if to hug it. What a reaction!As I’m writing now I’m thinking again why the choice of the library was a good one. The library staff have put up the in formation about the building to fit in with our exhibition. It’s a building that creates its own energy – the solar panels etc are all returning energy to the grid and a counter on the wall records how much is being saved. So the work should raise some awareness around the sustainability networks purposes.A text from Hafsah – “gaffa tape - can u get some?”  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Duct Tape or Gaffa Tape - you decide.. I’m in Hurpurhey district centre – B+M stores, Wilkinsons, Mac Donalds, Asda, Subway. A freezing cold day, bitter wind. I rush about from shop to shop and the Primark scandals come back to mind, the cheap goods, the busy shoppers collars up against the bland wind tunnels, out on a Sunday in this rather bleak precinct bring me down to earth. The library seemed like an oasis of enlightenment and education compared to this – and thank goodness for it…. I find a roll of B+M duct tape for £1 which will have to do for now….text  from Joe “aiming to get to the Forum for 4.30 see you there still?”Now I’m driving down the motorway. Wythenshawe is cut off from the rest of Manchester in that way. Joe told me yesterday that when he’s worked there before he has found people much easier to engage than in the city centre. He says theres a stronger sense of community identity in this self contained place. The precinct is similar to that in Harpurhey – a bleak set of building blocks and big cheap stores.The Forum is the centre of community facilities . Its like entering a shopping centre, but instead whats on offer are leisure, education and health facilities. Its open late for a Sunday because theres a dancing competition in the public hall. Joe and Jai are here setting up Joe’s work which consists of a set of three gold pasting tables. A long roll of lining paper holds the diagrams that they’ve been perfecting for three days, and on top is a partially unrolled sumptuous red paper roll, as if about to obliterate the lining paper. Kids in sequins with doting parents run through the space, music and applause can be heard from the hall. A few people wander over to puzzle at what we are taking photos of. We find an easel for the interpretation. No title yet for this one though….Sitting in the centre of the concourse, with the mosaiced floor beneath it and various other art works dotted about in the distance, I actually think this piece works quite well – it almost disappears into the overall setting, but like Jil’s it requires close attention. The security guards are always around to keep an eye on things. Who knows what will happen to such a delicate work. Joe doesn’t hold much hope for it lasting till Thursday and Jai is dreading having to start again on the labour intensive production if it gets grafittied or damaged.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Risky.... Looking at these works requires a shift of perceptions. Like when you look at an optical illusion.. I keep thinking how they will be in the gallery – certainly Joe and William have been considering this. Both have experience of working in community settings. William has created his construction with the space in mind and will change the configuration of the elements for the gallery. Joe’s piece will be the same and so he’s risking having to re-make if there is damage. But something tells me that the work will survive…When we arrived to reccy last week, there was a wooden sculpture of two birds, carved from an old tree stump. The staff of the centre had put a cordon around it – one of those silver post and thick black cordon tape things they have to heard people through customs had been arranged closely around the sculpture. I do hope they don’t put that around Joe’s work- but then again perhaps it would add something…... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Arriving at the Town Hall I cant believe the amount of equipment and furtniture that Hafsah has single handedly moved from the top floor studio to the sculpture Hall. We set to work creating blackout for the windows. By the time the work is set up the following day I am delighted with the result. Hafsah’s vision of a domestic transformation is complete, though she hasnt been able to try out the completed work till now. As a viewer I am transported to the participants living rooms whilst surrounded by the forefathers and the array of Capitalists with whose money Manchester was built. The range of subjects covered by the talking heads is wide and far reaching. Culture in its richest senses – the experience of all of us mediated by television and our own circumstances in relation to it… Cultural soup for the soul! Plus an old friend of mine, Craig, unbeknown to me has become a participant and his natural TV presence is so engaging and funny that I end up watching for ages. Back to the black out!Logisticaly this is the trickiest piece to look after – needing to be switched on at 9 and then off and of course the heat generated by all those Tvs is quite significant! All were PT tested, I just hope they don’t fail…..all are old fashioned analogue Tvs and everyone is switching over to digital now so Hafsah had no trouble getting donations as technology and time moves on.The last work to be installed is Andrew’s board game ‘The Connections” It looks like monopoly with all kinds of detailed and delicate playing pieces precariously balanced. Its shown in Hulme at the Zion Health and Resource centre. Tucked away in a corner of the reception. The game is a bit of a let down and so what you are left with is a slightly impenetrable and confusing but colourful conundrum…. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 The exhibition for two weeks in community settings came to and end last weekend.The time went so quickly that I didn’t have enough chances to stay in all of the venues to see the work in place and gauge how people responded, so I am reliant on feedback coming from the venues and individuals - If anyone did manage to see anything, do let me know - contact me via one-and-all.org.What I’ve been doing is as I understand it quite different. Its not been about engaging people in the process of making art – so it goes against all the rules of community arts or participatory projects that these venues are familiar with and have come to expect. I didn’t leave a whole lot of information to read about the work – just some basic info about the project and a few lines to explain each artists approach - perhaps the kind of thing you'd find in a gallery. The map/guide had more text and some context. So the idea of an “experiment” was an apt one. How would people respond to a piece of contemporary art appearing in their places (though they are public places too) and importantly how would a contemporary art audience react to the work in those places. The works weren't site specific either. But certainly the sites added something to the work I believe. What was I trying to do? On the one hand, the aesthetic experience of the places seemed an untapped issue. How did community practice (lets use that term instead of regeneration) actually look and feel. And what would placing these art works in those contexts do to the meaning of the work. And would the work mean anything to the people passing by - do we perhaps do people a dis-credit by assuming they need to be spoonfed their culture? Perhaps people are more sophisticated than some may like to think.. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 A mixed bag of people – students, artists, community arts practitioners, curators, academics, community workers and volunteers and one person from the Transport network piled onto community transport minibus, driven by Mark - thanks Mark. They were given a whistle stop tour of the route and the artworks. Architectural critic Phil Griffin was on board to make the journey more entertaining and informative about Manchester’s varied regeneration with added historical and contemporary anecdotes.Cultural Tourism. Was there any connection between the lives of the people on the bus and the lives of the community centres. Questions were asked about the centres and I know that some people were certainly on the lookout for opportunities to create stronger connections between their own work in the arts or academia and wider society. Perhaps learning about the places would increase their own cultural capital? One passenger from Manchester International Festival had just arrived in Manchester and found the tour a good way to get an overall view of the city – visiting neighbourhoods she’d never have known about otherwise and she told me that taking part in something small and obscure(!) like this was where she would really learn about the city and what artists were doing out there.Cilla Baines from the long established and very successful Community Arts North West wanted to replicate the idea of a tour, one that would re -visit key sites and places where community arts projects around Manchester have occurred, recognising the historical significance of that area of practice to the city. At each place, the tour group created more interest in the work itself from passers by. The fact of 15 or so people crowding around the art works drew people over, like a mini version of the art world generally I guess – what are they looking at, it must be something important?. People asked questions about the work – what was it for, what was it about – the usual questions. Particularly in Wythenshawe – a suburb that was built on the principals of a garden city – and detached from the rest of Manchester by the M56 – someone asked – so is this about Wythenshawe? Well not exactly, but then again yes…the people represented on Joe Richardson’s socio-organi-gram of CN4M and it’s environs 2008 may well have an effect in this isolated, yet self contained community and he's showing how they connect with others. At any rate Joe’s piece may have had more relevance than the chainsaw carved tree trunk of two birds on a log that it had replaced  two weeks earlier – and despite a few cracks in one of the fragile gold leafed pasting tables, where presumably someone had leaned a little too hard on the work, no further damage was reported to any of the works. And unlike the carved log, we didn’t put a cordon around anything!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Trying to get everyone together is quite a task. Everyone is busy all the time, myself included. Friday evening I got a big piece of cheese and some bread and set up a laptop with the photos taken by Shaw&Shaw and an interesting piece of writing that has come my way about the I dont know about community networks etc show…..(more please!) As I made the tea, the texts and calls started to roll in as it seems for various reasons that Friday 13th was jinxed and so the meeting ended up between just Jil and I - which was fine. We talked about collective consciousness and what that might mean and whether individuals are enabled by some overall natural support mechanism, whether we influence that through democracy…or if its out of our control. I managed to get through most of the cheese myself!I had a lovely exchange of e.mails on Friday with Jo Lewington, still in India, who had come up with a title for her work “Father on the right, Mother on the left” which gives a whole new layer to the work, a film made with workers in a factory.As the works begin to gather a life around them, – they’ve been seen and commented upon which changes in a way some of the understanding of it, I am trying to think again about the practicality of the works coming together and what will it all say then. Here the ideas within the project are emerging . Something is taking shape, the relationship between the works – and the individual pieces – Trying to think is the operative word - I feel like I'm on  a steep curve - like I should be on top of it, but something else keeps unfolding - I love it. Time to think however,is at a premium at the moment.Yesterday, to clear the mind I tried to go sailing at the  Debdale club (run by the local council just in case you suddenly got the wrong image) – but the lake is still frozen, with bits of old cars and planks on it and it has a big fence around it so that no one drowns.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 this is how it feels!!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 this is how it feels!!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Its Here! The show is here…..Apologies for not updating this blog for ages…I Hope you can get along and see it !Its all happening NOW… TODAY the show opens tonight 6-9pm... along with 5 other big shows in Manchester, so hopefully the audience wont be too drunk by the time they arrive at Castlefield!! – the sun is shining, spring is here and I’m feeling apprehensive. In the gallery there’s no hiding..Putting the work into a gallery has been a fascinating process – whilst carrying in my mind all the practicalities of the community based show and the issues we dealt with there, the set of challenges in the gallery is altogether different – obviously!The luxury of working at Castlefield, with a great technician to help with things, with enthusiastic volunteers and supportive yet challenging curators - it has been a new and exhilerating experience! Most of my projects have been non-gallery based, where people may not have time or be be all that bothered about your work. The Luxury of spending all afternoon positioning lights, weighing things up, discussions about placement of things, trying it out for several days….and playing with the ideas with other artists has been good. I’m learning all the time..and one of the big things I ve learnt is that you dont really know the work till its all there together and how it works - if it works- as a group show. So now it’s a show and what will it say?…..more soon ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 get over yourself!! I think I have now got over myself! After the wonderful summer’s evening enthusiastic reception the exhibition received at the opening last Thursday and the fact that I had so much support from Castlefield Gallery staff making everything run so smoothly (as I keep saying, as a freelance curator one gets used to DIY) I’m now thinking about the exhibition again.Certainly, standing back and looking at the work, in a formal way, was really exciting part of the curating process – and it’s the nature of the gallery space that this becomes so much more important – if not the main consideration. The viewpoint in relation to the space, the positioning of works in relation to each other…. There are practicalities – like light, wall conditions, new build of walls and electrics to consider as well as the purely aesthetic considerations and making sense of the ideas in the show.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 the show - part1 Actually, one of the best things was that all these factors, for myself at least, began to create a new physical and emotional narrative in the exhibition. Starting upstairs in a light-hearted spirit with Wilson’s games, set out on three makeshift tables, complete with un-reformed community centre chairs (direct from St Lukes). The brightly coloured and intriguing boards invite play, puzzling over instructions, and for those in the know, laughter! Its like a new toy at Christmas that didn’t quite live up to expectation and all the bits end up on the floor as you abandon it for something more satisfying….On the wall the map of the community based show is preserved on the ubiquitous community exhibition material of choice, foamboard, hinting at the previous life of these works. A lone painting hanging in the corner of the space, overhanging the balcony, shows a gable end and a glimpse of New East Manchester. Grennan & Sperandio’s first painting shows its blank face and invites you to peer over the balcony, down to Joe Richardson’s sweep of red wallpaper and its partner, the “lining paper of regeneration”, laid out on its golden pasting tables.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Following the stairs, Jil Moore’s glimmering vessels, containing the floating child, the swirl of light, traffic and the reflections of yourself, the streets, bridges and tower outside the goldfish bowl of the gallery. Drawn into this shimmering world within a world, somehow the viewer becomes suspended between the work and its reflections – the rush of the hour.From this halfway landing you can see the rest of the paintings by Grennan&Sperandio. How colourful is this exhibition! So much colour which I almost hadn’t noticed till now! Youre reminded that these paintings have been created by a circuitous route including being shipped from China. That red paper rushing down from the ceiling; the over blue and bottle grass green in the paintings, and now as you turn to the downstairs rear gallery, the acid colours of the lights within William Titley’s dustbin Monument, with its tinkling water and foggers blowing whisps of steam out into the space. The mood has changed, gradually from a light, to rather dark, rather unsettling back alley way kind of dream. You see the TV screens and some old chairs, some grim furniture set against that midnight wall – they are a bit too close for comfort. Its some interior, domestic place, the walls between the houses have been dissolved and we are all in a circle but in isolation, focussed on the individuals discussion of TV and culture on Hafsah Naib’s TV. Turning the corner we are finally in the dark. Father on my Rightside, Mother on My Left, by Jo Lewington at once throws me into a dilemma. Is what I see beautiful? The movement, the skill in each job, the work worn hands, naturally flowing; or is it a stark portrayal of the human industrial condition? In the title, there is the hint of a potential for hope, to some feeling of supportiveness, guidance, cooperation. As in Jil’s containers the question comes back – are we all subtly directed, and constrained by the flow of the city, or like the stalwarts remembered in Titley’s Monument and the individuals in the Richardson’s diagrams and Wilson’s games, is it worth getting stuck in and trying to make change happen? Is a community network a way to do that? Or are there other forces at play….How will other people interpret the work? How will I find out? Here, the writing and feedback of others will come in. Spending so long in the process of making, curating, planning, negotiating about the projects – how to stand back a little – is it possible to?Reviewers, members of the public, artists – we’re having a reception this afternoon for community group members and people who work for CN4M, so that will be one part of the feedback. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 On 30th April 6-8, there is to be a panel discussion with some of the artists to look at the approach they each took. We could range these from “investigation” to “observer’ to “active engagement” methods in terms of the research approaches taken by the artists. Then how did they arrive at the works themselves? What considerations shaped the making of the works? Did working on this project mean a new strategy? book with the gallery if you'd like to join the discussions ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Given the subject of Community Networks in Manchester, how would the seven contemporary artists respond? Could we develop a project that stood up in the gallery and how would the work be received in the community venues? Was it possible that art could work in both places and that the two exhibitions could inform each other. How would art work in the social sphere? Does it matter, or is it essential that art inhabits another sphere? The following paragraphs describe some of the discussions that arose from this project which set out to raise debate about the role of the artist. These are taken from discussions with the artists and participants and at a panel discussion held during the Castlefield show.What is a community? What is a network? What is an artist? Where is art best experienced?Community is a contentious word. A catch-all that means everything and nothing. Could community also mean this community of workers employed to create connections, represent others voices, or to channel funding? Could community be or include the community of artists? A network is how people develop their communications. This wont always fit a mould or a conceptual framework such as that proposed by CN4M – it might rather be organic, personal and responsive according to needs and strengths of members of that network – everyone has their own network and that can be hard to pin down. It will not respect the assigned borders. Andrew Wilson and Joe Richardson attempted in different ways to map these relationships within CN4M. But CN4M also tries to support these networks to add an advantage to those without.And what constitutes an artist’s engagement with “community”? Working with community groups themselves, perhaps along the lines of a community artist, requires many more resources than this project could offer as Andrew Wilson discovered. Hoping that Venture Arts, a local charity, would take on some of the work of creating his game. The will to participate was there but they were too busy with their own projects, and without his direct ongoing input  momentum slid. Trying to “involve people in making their work” just for the sake of it, may have felt like tokenism, or box ticking or recreating other models. I wanted to see if artists would choose this kind of engagement of their own accord. Maybe its just as valid, to allow artists, if they wish, to hover and float and do their own thing  - to observe and play as William Titley did, attending meetings, grappling with the information and finally playing, doodling and making words into pictures and concepts into objects that contained an essence of the understanding of the processes and ideas that the meetings were dealing with. Artists will engage with community or with particular individuals as required by their practice, no need to force it.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 Jo Lewington’s interest in human and economic patterns, led her to the factory floor and the extraordinary film that she made engaged the assistance of the textile workers. They became the camera operatives in  her production, simply by doing what they do day in day out. This was a specific community that played a specific part. But this work was not made to empower the workers – it was made to articulate an artists vision. It is the intention and the approach that matters. The artist wrestled with the best way to work with the factory, to respect the workers and to convey her idea about time, work, routine and life. When it was shown in a local community centre, debate and discussion ensued – for all kinds of reasons – people recognised the type of machines in use, reminisced about their own working lives, argued about the meaning of the film. Watching the film broke up the day and people came together for a time and were comfortable in their workplace to express themselves.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 What is the role of the artist’s work within a social or institutional realm? Should artists’ practice address social issues, work for the institutions or should it be apart and question the status quo?Grennan and Sperandio, engaged with a set of workers in CN4M. Then through their art they questioned the authenticity of the artists vision – of anyones understanding of their environment. Using renderers to paint their paintings, they removed the romantic notion of emotional gestures and replaced it with cool reproduction. The jarring, empty quality of these “centres” of community activity was immediately apparent to viewers belonging to the Gorton Visual Arts Group. They puzzled over the subject matter and in discussion with the artist discovered what lay behind these renditions, introducing them to another way of thinking about art and represntation. The artists saw no contradiction between where the work is seen, no distinction between gallery goers or community group members.In Jil Moore’s work her approach to the huge subject of the rush hour, transport and the position of the individual became epic and philosophical. The glass vessels delicately placed on tiles of mirror created an endless feedback with the viewer. In the gallery, they were placed on a window sill reflecting the very transport systems outside. But Jil also travelled the bus network with Bill, the transport network coordinator and shared with him his stories. She spent time with the children and young peoples network coordinator and read documents. Is being there, being part of something, trying to understand and directing all this into a work of art enough? Rachael, a woman who experiences mental health needs saw the work at St Lukes and commented that yes – she loved the work, she too thinks about life in this way and she writes poetry – but some people, she said, will just go  into town to shop and will never think about their lives being part of a bigger picture.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 In what way is what artists do different than other forms of creativity?Can something useful be learnt from asking artists simply to respond through their work to these situations?Curating the community based leg of the project meant that curator, artists and audience were invited to view sites of community work in a new way. Not coming here for a service or to find help – we came to see if the work would fit in – with the place and the people. Discussions, getting to know what went on there, answering questions about our project, assessing the possibilities of each space as a potential display area, bearing in mind the embryonic works in progress - discussions took place at each centre, broad discussions about what art is going on here already or what they’d like to see happening. Suggestions about artists working with young people, older people, placing work in environmental centres, programming a film series for refugees, places that already have thriving projects with artists – creative people who already work her making links with these was a good outcome of the project and could potentially lead to a multitude of new projects. Being there finding out, sharing – developing the networks became a part of the process of the project. Getting challenged. What purpose were we serving (actually only one person did question this – everyone else was bending over backwards to help) The gatekeepers of community spaces. Overworked, creative, busy, but taking time to hear about artists and hoping that their place could be involved. If  nothing else this could lead to other things perhaps – and might promote their own centre. Again, it wasn’t art that was confusing people – but CN4M was!In Manchester’s centre of power, the gloriously gothic Town Hall, Hafsah Naib’s TV installation plonked 6 ordinary people - and their living rooms, into the seat of local power. Councillors and public servants came to sit before these disembodied talking heads and eavesdrop their conversations. Sidestepping the Galleries and Museums version of “culture” whilst creating a work that was paradoxically very much at home in the independent gallery, being an arena for ideas. Hafsah created a virtual network of people whose musings about culture were discussed via the medium and the subject of TV. So the discussions stretched from family relationships, the nature of technology, representation, what kids do, to global  political issues – but with their heads in their own television sets.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542 This more or less concludes this blog! Sadly, having broken my ankle just after the exhibition opened, I've not done much follow up of the exhibition. But suffice to say the reviews we had were interesting. Its been a tricky project to get across, but I do hope these posts will have been of interest to others....let me know!! so long!!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/387542