ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [9 December 2008]

THE PIECE HALL

Originally the smaller Cloth Hall, The Piece Hall was opened on 1st January 1779 as a place for hand loom weavers to sell their pieces of cloth. Halifax is a wool town and a variety of the cloths were made from wool. Leeds, Huddersfield and Bradford all had Cloth Halls of which none have survived. The trade at the Piece Hall, also then known as the Manufactures' Hall, declined in the 19th Century and cotton cloth was permitted to be sold in attempt to boost trade.

The building eventually became a wholesale fish, game, fruit and vegetable market with the top floor of the building disused. At this time it was officially named the Market Hall but it also continued to be known as the Piece Hall.

In 1928 the Piece Hall was officially recognised as a historical monument and the future of the building highly debated. In 1972 the decision was made to restore the building. Market traders were moved to other premises and the 300 shop units in the Piece Hall converted to over 50 larger shops. In 1976 the renovated Piece Hall was reopened.

Currently the Piece Hall houses a range of shops, studios, cafés and the Art Gallery and Visitor Information Centre. Various events are hosted at the Piece Hall courtyard as well as the popular annual ice rink. But several shop units now stand empty with lack of trade and its future continues to be debated.

The Piece Hall is a Grade 1 listed building. It is a large rectangular stone structure of approximately 100 metres in length, and 83 metres in breadth with an interior cobblestone courtyard. It has 3 storeys of shop units with balconies overlooking the courtyard. There are 3 entrances; north Woolshops entrance, south Cross Street / Horton Street entrance and west Westgate entrance. A lift to all floors is situated in the south-east corner and there are public toilets including disabled toilets situated at the north side.

The Piece Hall is situated in the centre of Halifax, West Yorkshire, between Manchester and Leeds and is at the heart of the Calderdale borough. The building is just minutes walk from both Halifax train and bus stations. It is also within walking distance from local attractions Eureka!, Square Chapel, Victoria Theatre and Dean Clough.

# 2 [9 December 2008]

LOCATION

Temporary Art Space | Units 34-35 | The Piece Hall | Halifax | HX1 1RE

Multimap

BY BUS:

We are 5 minutes walk away from Halifax Bus Station.

Halifax Bus Station serves routes from all over Calderdale as well as Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Rochdale and Burnley.

Calderdale & Huddersfield First Group Bus Services

West Yorkshire Metro

BY TRAIN:

We are 5 minutes walk away from Halifax Bus Station.

Halifax Train Station in on the Caldervale Line with direct services from Bradford-Leeds-York from the East and Todmorden-Rochdale-Manchester, Brighouse-Huddersfield-Wakefield and Burnley-Blackburn-Preston-Blackpool from the West.

National Rail

West Yorkshire Metro

BY CAR:

From Leeds: take Junction 26 off the M62 and follow the A58 to Halifax.
From Manchester: take Junction 24 off the M62 and follow the A629 to Halifax.

PARKING:

There is Pay & Display parking at Eureka! which is signposted in brown from the M62.
The Piece Hall is 5 minutes walk from Eureka!

BY PLANE:

Halifax is less than an hour travel from both Leeds-Bradford International Airport and Manchester Airport.

# 3 [27 December 2008]

Temporary Art Space Q & A Part 1

What is it?

Temporary Art Space is a contemporary gallery run by artists for artists and the community (not for the rich and famous, not for a select number of individuals in the art world). We like to orchestrate situations which are of immediate benefit to us and our contemporaries (eg exhibitions, also publications). We're not interested in selling work, simply showing it. Individually, we regularly exhibit at other galleries and alternative spaces run by other people, but we do like to undertake our own curatorial projects too. Sometimes it’s because there’s a deficiency of opportunities and sometimes it's because an opportunity arises or sometimes a mixture of both these factors.

How did the group form?

Alice knew about Milk Two Sugars (Bob Milner and Tom Senior) and contacted them to present to Centrifuge Art Prize. Bob and Tom knew Kevin and Georgia. We all met in pub and got on well. We decided to do a show together. Alice was resident at Bates Mill at the time and Richard, the owner, was very enthusiastic for us to exhibit there.

How did Temporary Art Space come about?

After Temporary Art Show in Huddersfield, which was a great success, we were discussing what to do next. We were thinking local (West Yorkshire) and the Piece Hall was mentioned as a possible venue due to it being a fantastic building, central location and units standing empty. We approached the Council and asked for some space for a short term art project and they agreed! They have been very supportive of the project from the beginning.

continued...

# 4 [27 December 2008]

Temporary Art Space Q & A Part 2

Why “Temporary Art Space”?

We weren’t keen on calling it a gallery as it can be a very powerful word which can distance the art and the audience. We want to establish more of a community which involves the local community in its entirety as much as local, national and international artists. We thought it was important to include “temporary” in the title so people would be aware of the transient “here today gone tomorrow” situation.

Why six months?

This was the duration offered by the Council after initial discussions. We were happy to take on a space for any amount of time, a week, a month or six months – whatever we could get.

Why unfunded?

Funding application can be incredibly time consuming and a gamble whether devoting so much time to writing an application will pay. We aren’t anti- public funding – previous projects wouldn’t have been possible without it – but we are experienced in doing stuff on shoestring budgets. We work part time or full time in low-wage un-art-related jobs, which help fund both this type of activity and our own art practices, which may seem a bizarre way of doing it but it gives us financial security knowing that we will actually receive money after putting in hours of hard work. There’s more freedom in what you can do when not funded by a public body – there’s no criteria you need to aim at fulfilling to ensure your application is successful. There’s no strings attached. We like to promote the DIY ethos and self-reliance. We're also looking into local business sponsorship although not anticipating much in the current economic climate.

What about the existing Art Gallery in the Piece Hall? Aren't you almost directly above it?

Yes – we're on the top floor overlooking the Piece Hall Gallery & Information Centre. We think it's an ideal location and are looking to work with the Gallery to have joint openings and of course cross-promote events. The permanent gallery is a different type operation to what we're doing but we hope their audience will be interested in what we're doing and vice versa.

Why this programme?

Themes of temporary, the everyday, DIY, all-inclusivity & social structures are key and common themes within our own art practices. We thought about one month long was a suitable duration to enable a good amount of people to come to each exhibition but to also have an adequate number of exhibitions and events in the short period we'll occupy the space. The changeover shows are cramming in as much art into the six months as possible, meaning the space wont be closed for one week each month and also present a unique (temporary) situation for artists to respond to. Open calls mean everyone has the opportunity to get involved, worldwide.

# 5 [27 December 2008]

Temporary Art Space is very pleased to announce the following open calls for submissions:

Temporary Art Show http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/TAS2.html

North http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/north.html

Call for work on/with beer mats http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/beer.html

Everyday Film & Photography http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/film+photo.html

DIY http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/DIY.html

Salon Show http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/salon.html

Changeover http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/changeover.html

Please also see information for exhibiting artists: http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/info.html

We are also looking for volunteer Temporary Art Space Assistants: http://temporaryartspace.co.uk/jobs.html

# 6 [22 January 2009]

"How many artists can you exhibit in just one room measuring 53 feet if you fill up every surface? That's exactly what one group of West Yorkshire artists want to find out and the hunt is now on to find the works to be exhibited. Whether you are a student, a professional artist or someone who just enjoys making works of art, Temporary Art Space wants to hear from you."

# 7 [31 January 2009]

The hunt is on to equip Temporary Art Space with plinths, shelving and other furniture, projectors, TV monitors and DVD players.

We've already managed to go over our zero budget with public liability insurance, website hosting and £10 top up on a new SIM.

With a shortage of skips to raid and with few suitable items from our own homes, Freecycle has become an invaluable resource albeit not entirely cost free as collection incurs petrol costs.

The Freecycle Network, as described on it's homepage http://www.freecycle.org/ is “a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free.” Members post “Wanted:” or “Offered:” messages and generally it seems to operate on a first come first serve basis.

The Keighley network, although being the furthest away than the other two we've joined; Calderdale and Huddersfield, has connected us to a charity called MPIKA Relief Fund for Zambian orphans http://www.mpika.org/

MPIKA have shops in Bradford and Keighley and founding member June replied to our Freecycle post “Wanted: plinths, scrap wood, domestic furniture” offering us items of furniture that they've had donated but cannot shift.

Taking donated items from a charity? It seems all wrong. But June and her colleagues are grateful for us clearing a substantial proportion of their crammed shopfloor. June tells us; “These items are just too unfashionable and old for people to want them. We've had them for weeks and resorted to putting 'free to a good home' labels on them - without success.” June and her staff even help load the four old but good condition wooden tables into the back of our van. If they're not suitable as they are, we tell June gratefully, they'll be fantastic for reworking into plinths.

The next day June calls us and tells us she's at a library in Leeds which is being moved to a one-stop shop over the road. There's two big cabinets going that she can't fit in her van let alone the charity shops – do we want them?

We're picking them up first thing Monday.

We'll try our luck for projectors via Freecycle but we imagine such items will be easier borrowed than picked up for free. We think we've found a TV and DVD player we can borrow but not all video work is suitable to being screened on a monitor. The problem with borrowing projectors we realise, is the bulb is the expensive part and usage eats away at the bulb life, resulting in a loss to the owner.

We don't want to have to turn down proposals because neither TAS nor the invited artist(s) can provide the necessary equipment.

Nobody said it was going to be easy!

# 8 [9 February 2009]

The magnificent setting of Halifax's Piece Hall is set to be the backdrop for a series of contemporary art exhibitions. Virginia Mason reports.

Published Date: 09 February 2009

CALDERDALE artist Alice Bradshaw took one look at the former cloth merchants' market and knew it could be the perfect place to stage exhibitions.

And now she and a group of fellow artists are hoping they will have as much success as an event they staged in Kirklees last May.

"There was so much interest in the Huddersfield event and so we decided we would like to do the same in Calderdale," explains Alice, of Halifax, a co-director of a Manchester-based artists' collective, Contents May Vary, established in 2004.

The Temporary Art Show will be staged on the top floor of the Piece Hall and run for six months – but each month will have a different theme, encouraging a variety of artwork.

The independent, unfunded project is being organised by a team of fellow artists – Bob Milner and Tom Senior, who work together as Milk, Two Sugars, and Kevin and Georgia Boniface.

All of the artists have exhibited independently before and realise how difficult it can be to have their work recognised.

"It can be really daunting when you are just setting out so the idea behind this is to give up-and-coming artists the chance to show their work to the public", explains Georgia, who met Alice at an arts fair.

"We all got together and thought what a good idea it would be if we could find space to show off varying kinds of work. There are some very talented people out there and this could help launch the careers of some. We hope so, anyway."

Alice added that the monthly exhibitions would encourage work in any medium, either from established artists or those just setting out. "It is not intended to be intimidating in any way and we are really encouraging people of all talents to submit their work," she says.

"This is a great opportunity for them to show their work publicly."
The first exhibition, which runs in March, has the loose theme of Temporary and will be followed by four more themed exhibitions – North, Beer Mats and Beyond, DIY and as the finale, Salon....

Read the full article here: http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/features/Wed-like-...

# 9 [16 February 2009]

So what has happened recently?

Georgia has designed a fab flyer -->

We did send it to print about 2 weeks ago but the printers managed to have an administrative glitch especially for us and they forgot to tell the guys on the floor to actually print our flyers. So, there's a couple of days delay but no major worry – they've promised them for early this week, tiny compensation pending.

We've started sending out the invite to the opening event via email, along with the press release written by Bob. If you haven't yet received an invite, come along anyway – this is your invite. FRIDAY 6TH MARCH 5-8PM. Everybody's welcome. Sign up to our mailing list as well if you like via info@temporaryartspace.co.uk

We've decided on a BYOB policy for the opening night based on the fact that a.) we have no money and b.) you can get a bottle of plonk for about £4 from you local shop and it's probably the same price you'd pay for a measly glass or 2 from your local winebar but you can relax with the knowledge that you can drink several glasses at the opening without worrying if your monetary donation is enough. It might be mixing it a bit with a Cab Sav one minute, a Merlot to follow and a Shiraz after that but that's just part of the Temporary fun.

The most exciting thing for us at the moment is we're reviewing all the brilliant proposals we've received for the inaugural exhibition Temporary Art Show. We're tempted to release sneaky preview details about who's showing but all we'll say at the moment is it's a mix of “temporary” sculpture, installation, drawing, video, print and painting - and not necessarily adhering to this simplistic pigeon-holing either. We can reveal there's fifteen artists selected from an international call for proposals; and we're excited about people's reaction to our grand opening.

Reviews on a beermat please.

# 10 [28 February 2009]

Temporary art spaces in empty shops is big news:

What to do with all the empty shops? (28th February) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7840421.stm

The Fine Art Of Making The Most Of Recession (21st February) http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Dursley-G...

Artists' creative use of vacant shops brings life to desolate high streets (18th February) http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/feb/18...

Empty Shop http://www.emptyshop.org/

Revolutionary Arts Group are collating information about artists using empty shops:

"The Revolutionary Arts Group are keen to hear from artists, organisations and other creative practitioners using empty shops and commercial premises. Shops are being used as galleries, to run workshops, for showing short films and artwork is being used to decorate empty windows. If you're doing any of these - or something different - get in touch."

dan@artistsandmakers.com

http://www.artistsandmakers.com/