_Black_Acrylic: July 2010

Thursday, 29 July 2010

AGK deadline

Just a reminder that the deadline for submission of videos to Yuck 'n Yum's AGK is on August the 12th: LINK

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

indexedni

Time for another round-up of links posted to my Delicious page:

Frieze Magazine | Archive | Noise Annoys

Discogs - It's got tits on the cover

Martin Bladh

like boys | Facebook

DC's: _Black_Acrylic presents ... Saucy Seaside Postcards Day

Was Madonna Involved in a Videotaped Human Sacrifice? | Disinformation

Love machine!!!! « .one too many.

WITHOUT OBSESSION LIFE IS NOTHING.

Monday, 26 July 2010

FIELD: By Means of Matter @ Generator Projects, The Skinny

My review of the FIELD show at the Generator has now appeared in The Skinny: LINK

Sunday, 25 July 2010

My friend Ryan has started a Facebook group called like boys that seeks to "document the terminal" on the streets of Dundee. Here is the group's raison d'etre:

"The idea of dundee as a terminus is not a new one. for years, writers and artists have commented on the particular capacity of the city to pull one in and not let go. perhaps like don paterson's persona in the trans-siberian express, some are left staring at facing glass mirrors, their lives stretched to vanishing point. but others will always forge a creative spirit through art, fashion, culture and technology. and yet this is rarely celebrated in Dundee itself.
'like boys' aims to document and celebrate the people, places and events that make dundee worth living in without losing sight of the 'terminality' of the place. So its not all cool people, vanguard blah blah. revel in its absurdity, capture a mince roll, actually eat one!!
feel free to post anything of dundee related interest, just keep it terminal. we'll do regular photo posts of people and places around dundee catching the eye,and info on selected events"
LINK

Saturday, 24 July 2010

the fashion party

Thursday, 22 July 2010

Nine Trades at the BBC

Details of the recent Nine Trades project can be found on the BBC News website for Tayside and Central Scotland: LINK

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

FIELD - BY MEANS OF MATTER review

Nicole Morris, Distant Lovers

Field is a London-based artists’ collective united by circumstance and a common interest in space and materiality. This eight-strong unit journeyed from a warehouse complex in Peckham to present their show at the Generator’s industrial hangout in Dundee, a move that’ll be reciprocated in October when a Generator-curated group of Scottish artists will duly head down south in exchange.

The final push of Field’s own voyage took place in front of the gallery on the opening night when Francis Thorburn’s performance paraded a group of strapping lads in pants and red loincloths, all hauling barrels and planks up to the building’s forecourt. Once inside a DVD of previous Thorburn actions plays, and we see gangs of costumed celebrants parading with their rudimentary vehicles over London’s streets and parks. The sculptural elements in these performances are echoed in the main gallery by Natasha Bird’s imposing Steel Rods from Girder which breaks up the room’s architecture with eight towering metal bars. Similarly process-heavy items by Arthur Steward twist lamp-posts, bend steel and crumple aluminium into contorted, forbidding shapes. Nearby, Perspectual Entropy I & III pairs two large-scale paintings by Michael J. Davis that rest on the floor at right angles, their surfaces depicting a fractured geometry pushing and pulling the gaze through multiple perspectives.

In the work of Nicole Morris, objects in painted hardboard punctuate the floor and wall to conjure an after-image from the surrounding spaces. For Distant Lovers, two slim rumpled sheets of fabric modestly recline below an arrangement of tall wooden structures in the corner of the room. In keeping the best of the works on display, it’s a happy glimpse of frailty that still resonates far beyond the edges of this field.

Tuesday, 20 July 2010

DC's: Saucy Seaside Postcards Day

Today it's my inaugural post on Dennis Cooper's blog, a beginner's guide to the uniquely British humour of saucy seaside postcards: LINK

Monday, 19 July 2010

Nine Trades Final Gathering redux

Yet more snaps from the weekend's Nine Trades festivities, this time taken by the professional photographer type Lewis Houghton. From the hundreds of images he took, what follows is but a brief selection:

Sunday, 18 July 2010

Nine Trades evaluation day 18.07.10

Back to the DCA today for the Nine Trades evaluation session, where we all looked back on the project and had a nice meal afterwards.

My friend Ryan is compiling a Facebook page called 'like boys', and it's kind of a blog documenting people from Dundee exhibiting, in his words, "terminal style". I said that I'd contribute some photos and here they are:

Saturday, 17 July 2010

Nine Trades Final Gathering 17.07.10

To the DCA today for the Nine Trades Final Gathering event. I took a few photos, and here they are:

Me (Ben Robinson)

Fraser MacDonald

Alan Grieve

Ange Taggart

I gave a talk in the afternoon that about two dozen people attended and it got a good response. Tomorrow it's back there for an evaluation session, but today was by all accounts a success.

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

Nine Trades Final Gathering

The Nine Trades Final Gathering event will happen on Saturday 17 July at the Visual Research Centre in Dundee.

This will be a vibrant event where visitors will be able to learn about the projects and see some of the activity and artwork which has been produced.

Info about all the artists' projects, special installations, documentation, films & activities all day in the VRC plus:

12noon Hear Chris Dyson introduce his film 'Working Methods' made at Michelin Tyre PLC

1pm Find out about Ben Robinson & his HBoS colleagues doodle-based printmaking project

1.30pm Join Clare Thornton on a short stroll to the McManus uncovering some tools of the trade en route

2pm Hear Chris Dyson introduce his film 'Working Methods' made at Michelin Tyre PLC

3pm Have fun watching 'Grease' the movie & our special trailer about our Michelin Tyre PLC drive-in movie

3pm Alistair Wilson presents 'My life before Ange Tagtool' followed by 'BitchesTeaBoys' AKA Billy Howe & Bruce Mills

4pm Fraser MacDonald presents the 'Garbologists'

Monday, 12 July 2010

portfolio

This week a photographer went round all the artists participating in the Nine Trades project, and snapped portraits for the forthcoming Final Gathering event. My own were taken in the DCA print studio, and here is a selection: