Colley WMC

Just been looking on the internet to see if I could find any history about Colley Working Mens Club because I can't help thinking that it would be good to build on our regular pint and chat meetings there and try and build some connections with them - particularly as they are so close to the new studio site.

Anyway whilst browsing I came across Club Historians a group set up in 2008 to capture and document WMC's at a time when they are rapidly disappearing. I just had to share this amusing story which is on their website its well worth a read.

the 3 W's

I can't view David Sloan Wilson's film - apparently my computer is too old and I am working behind an administrative firewall - all of which could be mildly concerning except that the sun is shining.

I too have been thinking about the Whats, Whys and Wherefores of working in Parson Cross; the simple answer to The What might be because we, Yorkshire Artspace, are opening new artists studios bang in the middle of this neighbourhood. The Why is because we feel we should be open and accessible to the people who live there. And The Wherefores (apparently an old word used for asking why) is why would people want to be involved in what we do? Is it a bit presumptuous to think people will be interested? A lot of contemporary art turns me off and I want to know what might capture peoples interest enough to make them want to engage and do something out of their ordinary.

So this work is presenting a lot of questions but I suppose my reason for doing it is the possibility that someone might find it interesting and that it might bring a bit of something different to the ordinary...and if it we are 'capable of change [both selfishily and altruistically] depending on environment and interation with individuals' as David Sloan Wilson claims then even better.

david sloane wilson

http://fora.tv/2010/09/29/David_Sloan_Wilson_Evolving_the_City

This is a really excellent talk by a evolutionary biologist - and well worth a watch. he talks about alturism, religion and more explaining how we are of course affected by our upbringing and circumstance, but how as young adults we are plastic and capable of change [both selfishly and altruistically] depending on environment and interaction with individuals. Really interesting, if we consider the ideas in relation to any community with which we work.
I was particularly interested in the ideas about religion and religious groups and how people involved behave in relation to liberal and non religious groups. To a non religious Darwinist, brought up by people interested in science on a farm with animals and therefore in close proximity to the normal stuff like birth, life, sex and death I'm fascinated.

Ruskin

Well it's a step away from stallions - or maybe not? For some reason Ruskin is on my mind at the moment and I think I have a funny homogenized cornflake box understanding of Ruskin and in my mind it somehow connects to what we are trying to do with our work on Parson X and just my struggles with art generally. I think at heart I'm a hopeless romantic who without a god of any form looks for some sort of spirituality in the everyday. This gets wrapped up in the giant parcel of earning a living, art college training and the hope to do and be something different. So with no god I try and replace it with art - I was raised a good positivist, honed on the wheels of science and engineering taught to believe that everything was understandable if we only tried hard enough to understand it and gathered enough evidence to prove we understand it. But like a never quite believing lapsed catholic I find this world of facts and singular truths completely unsatisfying. The rock which was offered to me by my parents was always very small and was inevitably going to vanish in the floods and complexity of adulthood.

So Ruskin I will need to read more but what I feel now and before I read is that perhaps as a man who sits at the edge of enlightenment and the cusp of the false dawn of the new science offers us a way to explore whether things can mean more than they say and people can grow to be more than they are.

not one but 2

Shop commissions are now coming in from the manufacturers ready for installation in July.

So our call out for commissions goes live - steve and I have had 2 nice ideas so think we would get the work if we applied to ourselves! But we really interested to see what comes in.


Artist Commissions, Yorkshire Artspace

Yorkshire Closes Wednesday 20 July 2011 Paid (£10k-15k pro rata) Part time Artform: visual arts Contact: Rachael Dodd rachael@artspace.org.uk

Description

Yorkshire Artspace is pleased to offer the following artist commissions to mark the forthcoming opening of the brand new Knutton Road Studio complex in Parson Cross

- We would like to commission four artists to create a set of multiple artworks inspired by and made for the Parson Cross area of Sheffield.

- We are looking for a variety of proposals and the work can be produced in large or small editions.

- These commissions form part of a wider research program exploring the potential of situated arts practice within and beyond communities.

More information on Knutton Road Studios and the Programme can be found on the Yorkshire Artspace website www.artspace.org.uk

Fee Available: GBP 200.00

Materials Available: GBP 100.00

Pass The Parcel

I thought I'd put this film clip on because I found it and thought it would be good to remind ourselves of the work we have done. The preparation for the Christmas event was really hard if you remember. Trying to come up with something which was a bit different but would still work for the libary and the people who came. I met with Rachael the other day and she said we are now "Agenda free" which clearly doesn't mean we are "Agenda free" just that we can follow things through without meeting the demands of other funders. In a way this makes the project better especially if we get the funding to further develop the work. I popped into the English Cafe for a pop the other day - I had a diet coke and Rachael had a Dr Pepper it made me think about been misunderstood.