Posty post; Dave Haslam.

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For starters, Dave made me want to get out more and go to cooler places. 

He is about 30 years old and definitely beats me in the cool-factor (crack gallery;hacienda;fanzines;roadhouse-I have been to the roadhouse, thats one cool-point for me).

He was there in the 'Madchester' scene, and talked about how its whats in the margins, in the grotty and grimey parts, its the fragmentedmusic scene, it's not being the norm, its about what's raw, what's different and being a 24 Hour Party Person that counts.

The points I really picked up on...

-in the 80s, people worked in empty spaces: mills, warehouses, 'dead spaces' ; what if we made use of dead spaces now, or non-spaces?

-raw. things that are raw. does this mean not being contrived? just original, not planned, but new.

-small, small scale, small venues, spur of the moment?!

It was a really interesting and engaging 40 minutes, a great start of hopefully great things to come.

Link!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/mar/03/manchester-histories-...

Found this through searching through HH twitter feeds and things...

 

Old School- New School

As Anna mentioned in the last post about Dave Haslams lecture, the idea of raw- is it original and/ or unplanned really got me thinking about what i could possible start to look into. 

I have picked up within both Adam Dants and Dave Haslams lectures key ideas such as, hidden spaces, marginal, empty/ ruined space all of which both can be researched looking into how in the past that place/space may have been a lively, cultural significant space and now hidden, small impacting and in the process of being rediscovered. 

I also don’t know whether I should look into the actual history or a key event that changed manchester (such as war or riot) the idea of something being destroyed and then redeveloped/ re-discovered and how destruction such as riots, demolition, poverty and the need for mainstream is always changing the city.

 'Manchester still lives and works on in spite ruin'- looking at how Manchester has come through so much destruction and change and is still developing today.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/8208926/Unseen-images-of-Manchester-Christmas-Blitz.html

 

So much to think about and explore, cant wait to get started!

 

Adam Dant

I would not call myself an Illustrator… but I found myself extremely inspired by the way in which Adam Dant approaches his practice and his curiosity on what appeared to be just about anything and everything.

 Some notes I made on his ever-changing approach to his practice-

 

-Hopping on a bus with a day rider in London (seeing the city, sketching on the way)

-Creating a news stand from found materials from the streets of London

-His ‘Speech’ instillation the traveling blackboard (drawing and scanning while on the go, portable)

-Making up French words and definitions (cant speek french so why not make up your own language... love it!)

…. what I was inspired by was mainly his Imagination, thinking about the non-obvious when it comes to ways of working, making things different, making change... embracing his city...

The Hotspur House Film Night...

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On Wednesday night a few of us got the chance to see the film ‘The cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover’.  It turned out to not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it a film that was very well put together and different… The Director Peter Greenway has done a range of films and takes a lot of his artist influence from painting from the Renaissance and Baroque period.  I have attached a few links if anyone is interested in his work and films. He also has some interesting ways of storyboarding his ideas.

 

http://petergreenaway.org.uk/

http://www.petergreenawayevents.com/petergreenaway.html

 

Also along the lines of film All Saints Library has the two Films that Dave Haslam mentioned ‘24 hour party people’ and ‘Control’ which could be worth a watch if anyone is interested in films. 

Think, Think, Think.

After the whole week not knowing where to start I finally have ideas of where I can begin, yipeee!

Todays materiality lecture mentioned about All Saints Church that once stood where the park is now. It got me thinking about how the history of Manchester and the surroundings are like layers, also what important history and memories are hidden beneath the newer, modern city.

What stories and places are buried layer upon layer, as we travel through time what will eventually replace the city in 10, 20, even 50 years time. The city will keep growing and changing, fluctuating in size covering what stands there now.

I'm going to start by just researching interesting spaces/ places around the city, exsploring the history taking notes and sketches. Hopefully this will inspire me and spark ideas for Unit X.

 

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Cornerhouse photos/possible starting point?

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Saw this exhibition at the Cornerhouse a while ago, loved the work but it didn't really fit into my project at the time. During the Dave Haslam talk, i immediatley thought of these when he spoke about how marginal events eventually become mainstream and well known, in a similar way that smaller parts of photographs in this work form a large piece. thought about how i could work in a similar way as i really enjoyed working in a 3D way in the origins project.

 

A few artists...

I mentioned Cornelia Parker before to Hannah, and I think she is quite an interesting artist, especially as [in a book] it says she

'transforms destructive energy into poetic moments'

Which could be quite an interesting thought when/if thinking about events in Manchester...

I think the suggestion of turning energy into a poetic moment is quite a nice idea as I have been reading the 'Poetics of Space' (which to be honest was very confusing at the beginning, especially when it was talking about poetics and the poet) as its about transforming a feeling, or 'energy' or something into a poetic moment of some sort...

 

Bernd and Hilla Becher are also a duo I that came to mind...

They look into the history of the landscape in regards to technology and change, they take photos that are primarly visualy about the sculptural value, and are said to

'Focus on processes of production in an age that is increasingly dominated by images of consumption'

However, I also think from the images (whether intended) they create a sense of place, that being an empty place, dead space, showing 'spectres of the past'. It's possibly a more literal take on things, but I think the photographs are beautiful.

The way of photographing is something I want to think about/steal. And I also like the idea of transforming energy into poetic moments (I think a number of words and ideas can be substituted to make a fitting phrase for everyone!)

 

 

inspired...

Today after looking at the slides i became really interested in creating a piece from slides themselves, not necessarily as a projection but using the frames and mounts as a way of producing a type of installation? especially after looking at the Cornerhouse exhibition which i posted yesterday, as the artist uses square images, which are then put together to create on large piece. this would also relate to the idea of marginal events i was interested in, where small things become mainstream and large! I've just ordered some slides from Jessops to play around with, and sample, if anyone's intrested, but they my be cheaper elsewhere?

Experimentation Of Images

Not quite sure where to start with my visuals yet, so im just starting to exsperiment with images and hidden/ burried manchester using photos taken from the slide collections, and my own images taken this week.

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Thoughts so far...

Got to agree with everyone that the Dave Haslam talk was really inspiring! From the idea of small scale, i have been thinking about the parts of Manchester that you can't see. Places underground, old factories like Hotspur, car parks, basements, bars and clubs, music venues etc. If anyone else has any ideas of accessible underground places, that would be of great help! Also really liked the slides talk today. The idea of looking into old Manchester, what use to be here and what's changed is something that really excites me! Love the idea of looking at maps. Walked to the Northern Quarter today and i really suggest everyone does! There's some fascinating old buildings; some which have been or which are being pulled apart. Came across some names on buildings, 'Dobbins', 'Watts Bros Ltd', 'I.J&C Cooper Ltd' and 'John Lilly' which i am yet to research on, but when i do, i will let you all know :) 

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Mooch Art Gallery

An art gallery i came across on my walk round the Northern Quarter today.

http://www.mooch-art.co.uk/

1 Stevenson Square, Manchester, M1 1DN

 

Infact, this link 

http://www.mooch-art.co.uk/artists/andrew-brooks-716

takes you to Andrew Brookes page, from the gallery. The photographer who is lecturing tomorrow!

The Visual Resources Talk...

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The Visual Resources session yesterday was very inspiring. I loved the passion and enthusiasm John Davis has for Collecting Slides, I could tell all these slides made up little parts of his memory that triggered a story or event which he then went on to tell us about.

I felt there was so many ideas we could all pick up on from the Visual Resources talk.

 

 -The slides themselves were beautiful and had various links to Manchester

 

- Multiples, collections and stacks of objects

-Detective work and finding clues in images

-Using slides as a way of recording our findings

-The shape and frame the slide creates- thinking about edges and framework

-  Handwriting on the slides

-Memory

-Hidden messages

-Teaching in the Old school…. (Old school/ new school brief)

-Exchanging slides between people in Manchester

-The old Manchester

-Change in Manchester over time 

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link to the Visual Reasources Flickr Images...

Mark Leckey- Work & Leisure

Has an exhibition on at the moment in the Manchester art gallery called ‘work and leisure’

 Where he deals with ideas that not even he fully understands, things you can't see presence and the past…

 

 In the exhibition he is dealing with Manchester’s industrial history and music from raves combining the social side of the industrial workers and their industrial work as well.

 

 He has placed a large industrial piece of equipment from Ellenroad Engine House (one of Manchester’s largest working steam mill engine) and a large speaker facing each other to create feedback as if the two pieces of equipment are talking to each other.

 His aim is to shock people and let people get lost in his work, for me the piece gives of a sort of unsettling atmosphere that really plays with the boundaries of the future and the present and unseen energies around us.

Ordnance Survey Maps - Library

I went in to the Library this afternoon to look at some ordnance survey maps of Manchester, but to my surprise, i didn't find very many. Perhaps i wasn't looking in the right place, or maybe i need to dig a little deeper. Possibly both! I did come across this map of Manchester 1894. I would like to find more of the development of the area; say 1920s, 50s, 80s and a map of the area today as well, to document change. But for now, here is part of the map i did find...

 

Project ideas...

http://www.creativetourist.com/features/that-which-is-written-dave-haslam-on-manchester-music-past

 

Found this link, basically about Dave Haslam and what he talked about in the lecture but its quite interesting to read. I quite like the idea of the Fanzines, and how they were kind of self-published, and created around the writers interest.

Also, after the tutorial with Nigel yesterday telling us to dig a little deeper, i thought about possibly basing my project on how the history of manchester is also 'Preserved', through things like the slides and photographs? and thats the only thing we have left of the past. So hopefully today and tomorrow i'll research into that idea a little more, visiting museums and galleries and looking at how they 'preserve' artefacts etc.

Andrew Brooks

Andrew Brooks is a studio-based photographer currently working in Manchester at Islington Mill. His talk was inspiring and encouraging, he explained what it was like for him as an Artist after leaving University and how he coped with facing the world with his work Alone for the very first time. 

 As a young Artist/Designer he encouraged us to do a number of things:

 

-Work Online and broadcast our work, on blogs, on social networking sites…

-Connect, contact and network with Manchester

-Embrace the empty space available to us in our city, use it, set up exhibitions. – This allowed him to start to learn how to market and set up an exhibition by starting off small…

-Selling work to friends and family helped fund some of his Exhibition spaces to get him set up!

-Develop a style and show you have something different to offer

-Work with Energy and Enthusiasm

 He also explained a bit about the way he works with photography and some processes he involved. In the shot above he explained that it took him 45 minuets until he decided to take a picture, he said that often when he wants to take an image he waits until the scene is perfect (which can take a long time), so the complete 45 minuet story is told in just one image, Slowing the process down and taking time. 

 

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 One last point Andrew Made was that without the City his work would not flourish and that embracing it is the best thing we could do. We are lucky to live somewhere so lively and energetic as it creates an excellent environment to create and produce something amazing...

 

 http://www.andrewbrooksphotography.com/image.php?ID=64

 

link to hidden Manchester Exhibition by Andrew Brooks. 

 

Hidden railway system manchester

Some Thoughts…

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After our Group Tutorial With Nigel On Tuesday It got me thinking about doing some exploring and becoming a bit of a detective over the next few weeks…

 As well as collecting unexpected sounds and thinking about the ignored or unseen… I picked up on a few other points through looking as well as listening….

 

 I have been doing this by trying to question EVERYTHING! Wondering… imagining… coming up with stories that link to facts… thinking about what used to happen in places… feelings I get from places… maybe unseen presences In places… this way of researching has really allowed me to discover and think about new ideas even if I don’t carry all of them on in this project I think I have found one main constant which is ‘Noticing things that People ignore’…

 

 Below are a few images I have taken in various places with some notes on thoughts and ideas I had at the time…

 I was recording sounds in the cathedral on Wednesday and the sounds remained pretty constant throughout the whole of the cathedral… except for this area shown in the image... I don’t know weather there was a reason for this or explanation but it made the atmosphere feel very intense and chilling.

 

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 In the John Rylands Library on Deansgate in Manchester I was wondering around and came across a hidden room with files and labelled boxes that was not accessible to the public… I tried zooming in with my camera to try and read the labels but could not make them out. Again the atmosphere the dark gloomy room gave off appeared to be creepy and exciting… it could just be a normal storage room but I enjoyed not knowing what the labels said because it allowed me to watch and imagine and think about hidden areas… are areas hidden from us for a reason…

 

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Yesterday I visited the Airport to collect some more sounds… it was quite difficult to actually get in to a lot of areas because of security and access but we wondered around the outskirts of the airport and found some good viewing spots and sounds… the atmosphere at the airport was strange… I was at a place where I would usually be rushing through, but I was not because I was in no rush I had time to take in the gloominess and quite ugly surroundings. Everything felt caged off and secretive, barbed wire fencing, metal gates and no entry signs...

 

 

Mapping Manchester

On Thursday in Hotspur House a group of us started to sett up a large 3D map of Manchester of places we may all benefit from. I think they will be leaving it in Hotspur so if any of you might find it useful its worth a look.

 I also managed to get a copy of a more detailed map, which I will put up in our space on Monday, if you need to take it with you on your travels around Manchester take it! 

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The Ghost Station of Manchester...

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I have found some interesting photographs of Mayfield station the disused station in Manchester since 1960. 

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