Mobile Picture Salon

Mobile Picture Salon, a set on Flickr.

The Mobile Picture Salon is back in action!

The Mobile Picture Salon is a small portable cinema housed in a disused caravan. Originally founded by Ewan Sinclair and Joanne Smithers the salon is currently facilitated by Rocca Gutteridge and aims to provide an opportunity for artists, curators and other people who love film, to programme and screen their own events.

The Mobile Picture Salon is currently accepting Proposals for programming and events. If you think you can use the Mobile Picture Salon for an existing event or you wish to set up a new event using the caravan please contact us to discuss it. We are open to all sorts of ideas and welcome innovative ways in which you can use our facilities.

roccagutteridge@yahoo.co.uk

This weekend...

Let's Get Together

 

NVA Witte Fietsenplan (White Bike Plan).  

Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2010

Artachat and Robert Gordon University have joined forces to explore, critique and highlight the artistic landscape of Aberdeenshire.

Over the next six months we’ll be holding hold three Artachats in three distinct Aberdeenshire locations.  Each session will invite diverse, knowledgeable and passionate speakers to act as catalysts for dialogue, debate and learning amongst an active audience wishing to participate in the future of the Arts in the North East of Scotland.

“Let’s get together…” draws a close eye on collaboration in Contemporary Art.

What do we really mean when we talk about collaboration? What are the social, economic, artistic and educational reasons for collaboration in Contemporary Art?  Who do we collaborate with and how do we know when these collaborations are successful?

Angus Farquhar (NVA) and Peter McCaughey (WAVE, artist and lecturer) will open the debate, sharing their experiences and opinions of the field.  Blane Johnson (former RGU student) and Deborah Beeson (The Mothers' Art Movement) will then subjectively discuss if collaboration is and isn’t working in Aberdeenshire.

We look forward to welcoming you at this upcoming Artachat discussion.

Lunch will be provided.

 After the event there is the opportunity to travel to Deveron Arts, Huntly to view new work by internationally renowned Swiss Artist, Roman Signer and learn more about Writer in Residence Amy Fung's symposium “Who are we writing for?” who asks: “can we be both critical AND publicly accessible when it comes to discussing contemporary art?”

Places are free but limited so booking essential
For more info and to attend please email info@artachat.co.uk

UK Border Walk + Talk

UK Border Walk + Talk, a set on Flickr.

A brilliant event, thank you to everyone involved- well attended, engaging active audience and speakers, some hard core walking and new Scottish action to change the Tier 5 Policy.
Podcast and a full write up to follow.

Framework

Framework is a new curatorial research and development project.
web link

I’m very chuffed to have been invited to participate in Framework and last weekend attended:
Jan Verwoert- “Why this town is big enough for more of us” at Cove Park.

Jan-   “How do you value your practice?” “What resistances and obstacles do you encounter?”
Me-   "I value it when… when the creative process can be socially useful… I mean I don’t want to 
          sound like a complete hippy but, erm, well there you go- I’m interested in art’s potential, well at
           least exploring it’s potential to be useful, socially useful…

           …and the obstacles?… well feeling like I’m a complete hippy"

A glance away and discussion on the roots of socially engaged practices, Labour, socialism, the failures the successes, then more discussion on the importance of discussion around the artwork then…

Jan-      “Right I’m going to return to you (pointing at me)… this term hippy…”

Jan is very good at pushing you, I’ve never felt so hot and embarrassed in a casual crit situation. He’s brilliantly direct yet charming and confidence enhancing. I needed the pushing, I now realise it has been a long time since I have been made to dig deep and really challenge, why and why and why.

The afternoon picked at (the ones that resonated most for me) artistic integrity, loosing and keeping curatorial values, institutional logic and the importance of interruptions, problems and processes of collaborative curating, transparency- how much and why. The key phrase I’ll use in my, wanting to be potentially useful practice is, “the gay uncle”. When you’re in a project, say for example with a group or youth kids and it’s your time to get out, (funding, contracts, pain) bring in the gay uncle as a distraction- the kids love him, they forget about you and you can leave, quietly through the back door.

Frameworks’ first session for me was the fantastic cliches: inspirational, mind expanding, invigorating. Hard work too. Cove Park was stunning, the artists in residence focused, friendly, thought-provoking.

Thank you very much Frameworks, the cobwebs of my brain are slowly being brushed away.

I'm a blogger for Public Art Scotland- visit the blog, which documents some of the projects I witter away with HERE

Images from the Steep Trail curated tour:

"As part of the two year long Steep Trail project, Polarcap held an Eco Lab event, beginning and ending at the Edinburgh Sculpture workshop. This was essentially a gathering of artists and scientists who’s interests and work lies in environmental issues coming together to discuss various causes, with the life and work of John Muir as a central topic.

The day began with a discussion and tour from the workshop to the John Muir Grove at the Botanic Gardens, led and curated by Rocca Gutteridge." More info- http://www.polarcap.org.uk/