ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [8 September 2009]

Welcome to the blog page for Fix09. To be honest this is my first blog so the format is pretty much going to be undefined to some extent, but initial thoughts are that it will include the musings and observations, views and critical texts, responses and counter actions to the work produced in the event. I'll leave it open to comments so if you wish to post responses of your own maybe we can get discussions going too. Fix09 promises an engaging programme of collaborative and performative actions, live art and panel discussions; I recommend you check out http://fixcatalyst.wordpress.com/ for full run down of what's happening.

# 2 [28 September 2009]

FIX09 is up and running after Saturday night’s opening and the event got off to a great start with Anthony Schrag’s Beer Tree, also an immersive and engaging performance from Steven Anderson and Hideous Beast set up their ODD JOBS workstation. Now, I’m wary of writing a review-like description of the events, but it’s only fair that I give an outline and some initial impressions of the evening. I will add further responses later.

Firstly, the Beer Tree was a wonderful piece to open with: strange fruit hanging from the wooden tree, the scent of beer sweet and fresh, then the sudden crash of breaking bottle, beer on the leaves, beer at the roots. It was a tricky thing to negotiate and as the night grew on it didn’t get any easier. Though, if you’re a non-drinker it made for a lonely scene. A question that often arises in live art is about the difference between the visual and the act; the answer provided here is beer.

Steven Anderson’s performance was a very well orchestrated and considered piece, creating tangible shifts in our perceptions and awareness. We, as receivers or participants, fluctuated between faith, fantasy, empathy, ritual, being-in-the-moment and submitting to a waking-like half-reality. I will try to organise an interview with the artist on these pages soon to discuss the issues, concepts and meta-structures in the work.

Finally for this first night, Hideous Beast were hard at work taking bookings for their ODD JOBS service. Helping other artists in a number of ways from installing and uninstalling shows to gardening, moving house and collecting groceries. I have a job in mind for them to do and am looking forward to our meeting tomorrow to give them my instructions. Although they did say they have certain boundaries and ethics, so a bit of negotiation will be needed.

# 3 [30 September 2009]

FIX09

artist: Hideous Beast
title: ODD JOBS – A Distracting Experiment
date: 29.09.09
duration: 1 Hour

Abstract
I booked Hideous Beast for one hour at 3pm on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 to give them a task as part of their ODD JOBS project at FIX09. I had arranged to meet them in The John Hewitt pub were I would explain the job I had in mind and get them to carry out the work there and then. In my position of writer-in-residence it is my job to produce textual responses to the work of the participating artists and because of the nature of ODD JOBS I wanted to get them to do this, instead of me. The idea was to get them to produce some text about themselves; how their work fits into FIX09 and the issues that arise. Preceding the written task was the requirement that they also produce a plan of action; how they would approach the task, breaking it down into the various factors, detailing the approach they would take and listing the order in which the work needed to be completed to enable the task to be carried out. However unknown to Hideous Beast I had organised a sequence of distractions to occur to prevent them from completing the task with the hope that they would not get to the writing stage. In material terms, I had hoped to be left only with some plans of how they would approach the work. An audio recording was also made of the event.

Aims
The intention was to create an experiment that would allow for a tangible exploration of the meta-structures, dynamics and processes at play in their project. Although it was an open experiment it was hoped that it would provide the chance to talk about their work in very context where the issues raised were being challenged and examined.

Events
The hour went better than expected. During the period another seven people, with whom it had been pre-arranged that they accidentally meet us there, sporadically joined the group. With these interruptions and introductions it was difficult to keep the task at the forefront of attentions. The distractions included; artists going through a back catalogue of work, exhibition organisers in a state of panic needing a camera that worked, someone showing a book of old Irish postcards found in a charity shop and mobile phones frequently ringing. We did, during the course of events, get to discuss at length the nature of the project, ODD JOBS. Finally, at 3.54 pm, Hideous Beast eventually got to work. After some frantic discussion and scribbled writing, a sort-of plan was produced. On the hour mark I explained to Hideous Beast the true nature of the job and out of the resulting discussion a number of points arose.

# 4 [30 September 2009]

FIX09

artist: Hideous Beast
title: ODD JOBS – A Distracting Experiment
date: 29.09.09
duration: 1 Hour

Results

1.    What is the nature of the relationship between the work they do under the label of ODD JOBS and art? Does the job they do need to be completed for them to identify it as work and not art.

2.    Their work questions the identity of an act; what is the difference when one person experiences an act as art and another experiences it as work?

3.    To what extent is an art action separate from a work action in the ODD JOBS context?

4.    Is an end product necessary in the context of ODD JOBS, particularly when in some circumstances not many people are aware of the work they carry out?

5.    It was a chance to examine their methodology in terms of the meta-politics involved in the project. Would the element of charging for their labour and skills effect upon the issue of ownership of their work?

6.    Where does ownership come into play when they are not aware they are taking part in something like a distracting event; particularly when this is traditionally seen as not work.

7.    What responsibility is demanded of them to take control of the work as it happens and consequently the level of their input into a creative exercise?

8.    How does the experience of unknowingly being part of an art event measure against their experience of knowingly working for others?


These are just some questions raised by the project ODD JOBS and it is a valuable project for this. Thanks to Hideous Beast for taking part in the experiment and for sharing their project. It has provided some intriguing questions on work, the act and their relation to political and social structures. Also the project provided tangible exploration of meta-physical concepts on the nature of the Act and Being. I intend to develop the results of this experiment further and will share this on these pages when completed.

# 5 [1 October 2009]

FIX09

artists: Morgan O’Hara and Hugh O’Donnell
date: Tuesday 29th September
duration: 20 mins

Unexpected was Hugh O’Donnell’s performance; with Morgan O’Hara tracing his movements onto paper, pencils in each hand. Looking into PS2, the open platform space for FIX09, the sight of the two artists working together was a real pleasure to observe. With his back to Morgan O’Hara and those of us standing outside looking through the window, he placed himself close to the white wall. A camera bag in his outstretched right hand, he extended his left hand as a counter-balance and let his finger wander through the air - influenced by his attempts to retain balance. This action created a decisive nub to the drawing and allowed the pair to establish a degree of procedural coherence. As his movements progressed they became more and more improvised and the trails on the paper became more immediate and connected to the source. A crucial turning point occurred when Hugh discovered that the silver rings on his fingers left marks on the wall. It was interesting to see how this quickly impacted upon the drawing process; causing a delay in the mark-making as the process shifted from mimicking the actions to copying the visual scratches left on the wall. A feedback effect that ultimately caused the drawing to cease. Hugh ended his performance by scrawling 2ft high letters on the wall:                A   A   O   R   A   N

# 6 [3 October 2009]

FIX09

artists: Anne Quail, Elena Cassidy-Smith, Noemi Lakmaier

date: Tuesday 29th September
duration: all day

Excuse the delay in making these posts, finding the time to write-up notes among all that is going on is proving to be a task in itself. The following posts are a round-up of the highlights so far.

PS2 Open Platform

During the day various performance projects occurred at PS2, the Open Platform space for FIX09. Anne Quail gave tailor made actions to members of the public in one-to-one sessions; a interesting experiment, bringing action art into the everyday life of the visitor. Elena Cassidy-Smith had installed a makeshift tea-room and offered free tea and cake in exchange for conversation and a secret shared in a small group format. Unfortunately my companions in our shared session all knew each other and were not particularly keen to divulge personal secrets. Hideous Beast provided a polite silver/tin service. Later on, when the night-life grew livelier, Noemi Lakmaier had two ‘weeble’ balls on the street outside. Into these two participants installed themselves and attempted to kiss, oblivious to the passers-by.

# 7 [6 October 2009]

FIX09

artist: Phil Hessian
title: …pierced them to their tender hearts…
date: 01.10.09
duration: 20 mins

The lights are switched off. A UV darklight is left on, picking up green tape on the floor. The glowing green lines converge to a focal point where the artist sits facing the audience and facing seven cameras mounted onto tripods. The still cameras are wired to microphones and to mobile phones. When a caller rings a mobile it sets off the camera flash; its noise amplified – an electronic whine followed by the boom of the flash. The associations of mobile phones used as devices to trigger bombs and photographic flash units once used by the IRA as detonators adds a promise of threat to the performance.  With a Uilleann pipe player sat to his left, Phil starts singing traditional Irish ballads. Someone calls the mobile attached to a camera flash call camera as often or as little as they like hum whine of flash attached to microphones mobile electronic uilleann pipe player traditional Irish Banks of the Bann incidental booms amplified flash electronic whine 12 seconds from phone call to flash boom down whine sitting some standing after-red of flash 4 missed calls O’Donnell Lord’s son hard to watch voice fighting through eclectro noises and flashes Lord O’Donnell sat his wife on his knee free stall in singing call the wall phone ring green arrow on screen down whine pause drone pipes turning voice into pipes boom Irish ballad Greenwood sigh all along along alonley down by fire she had a pen keen and sharp blue reflash all down the flash roll back go yer boy all blinded de de de de de de de de da da pipes from phone ringtone boom boom boom boom boom all down her pretty wood face boom she’s so free all down by the all along along so fine by the green sigh round by all flash boom flash boom a tender heart boom boom day down whine a-lonely e-minor chord did you have have applause cheers white plastic lilies on the chair in the gallery office sit read notes

# 8 [6 October 2009]

FIX09

artists: Morgan O’Hara, Third Angel, John Byrne, Curious
date: Wed. 30th September

During the course of the festival Morgan O’Hara has been in attendance at various projects with her Live Transmissions: drawings made by tracing the movements of the hands of the people she encounters. I made note in an earlier post of a collaboration with Hugh O’Donnell and on Wednesday she held half hour sessions from 1pm until 7pm at The Crown Bar in Belfast City Centre. Situated in a traditional snug, she held conversation with the visitor while tracking and tracing the gestural movements of the person’s hand. For the later appointments Sinead O’Donnell joined her and performed an action piece that involved her painting her finger nails over and over. This resulted in two very distinct drawings being produced simultaneously.

Presentation performance was strongly represented at the Event, a format that draws upon the use of film, projected images and to some degree audience interaction. John Byrne mixed his up with an approach not unlike stand-up comedy. Third Angel used a simulation of corporate/governmental office procedural systems along with personal narrative to create a dysfunction of logic and investigation.

# 9 [6 October 2009]

FIX09

artists: MA Art in Public
title: The Anarchist Plot
date: Thursday 1st October and Friday 2nd October

I called down to the Eglantine community garden on Friday afternoon. A square of wasteland enclosed by the back of four rows of terraced houses and flats. The wasteland was transformed five years ago into an array of veg plots, flowerbeds, soft fruit tress and more by members of the local community. Unlike a traditional allotment the spaces are not sectioned off to individuals, but everyone takes responsibility of the whole space and works together. As part of FIX09 students from the MA Art in Public course at the University of Ulster realised a number of public art projects based in the garden. These included Sinead Conlon’s Ty Unnos; a freestanding shelter, which exploits a legal loophole. If it is completed between sunset and sunrise and includes a smoking chimney then the structure can legally remain and the land can be claimed as your own.

Later that Friday an outdoor meal was laid on with the produce from the garden itself.

The garden is a wonderful place in the middle of the city and mention must be made of the hard work the community have invested to make this amazing project happen. For more information on the Eglantine community garden see http://eglantine-community-garden.blogspot.com

# 10 [6 October 2009]

FIX09

artists: Dan Shipsides
title: T5 Field Cinema
date: Saturday 28th September & Sunday 4th October
location: Somewhere in the Mourne Mountains

T5 Field Cinema is a project that involves getting a group of people, from various backgrounds, into the back of a VW T5 transporter and driving to various locations to watch films. On Saturday the trip went to the North Coast of the province and watched a number of films on the beach. I went on the Sunday excursion to the Mourne Mountains. After an hour long drive we reached a rocky track leading up to the mountain. It was such a rough track we all had to get out of the vehicle to stop it bottoming out on the small boulders. For the last 200 yards we even had to engage in some improvised road building; filing in large dips with rocks or rolling away larger rocks to enable the van to pass. We finally set up at the foot of the mountain with a number of precipitous rock faces looming over us. Apt, considering the first films were involved rock climbing in some way. Dan showed a recent film of his, Cioch 360, made by swinging a video camera attached to a long rope around his head whist stood on the top of a mountain. The noise and the speed of the images created a feeling of vertigo in the pit of the stomach. He also showed Underdeveloped, a Northern Irish climbing video and The Coming Race (Ben Rivers); the last being grainy black and white footage of the holy pilgrimage up Croagh Parick.

The aesthetic of showing the films in this location had an amplifying effect upon the content; for someone not remotely interested in rock climbing the urge to pick up a rope and start out was powerful. It facilitated a real understanding of the challenge and satisfaction one must feel when completing a climb.

The Final film was Herzog’s Aguirre - Wrath of God. Again considering our journey up it had particular resonance. Also the clear night sky meant it was cold and to sit through the film became somewhat of an endurance feat towards the end. Perversely though, this only added to the experience which was extremely enjoyable and an informative experiment into the situational context of engaging with film and video.

For more on the T5 Field Cinema see http://www.danshipsides.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl