Entertaining (if sometimes disturbing) live performance and interventions at Tate Liverpool last night.
Liverpool will once again be hosting the best in independent contemporary design at the Liverpool Design Festival from 30 October to 8th November 2009.
The ten-day event, inaugurated by Design Initiative, highlights the city’s reputation as a centre for fashion and design and follows the success of Design Show Liverpool in 2008.
The cornerstone of the festival will be two exhibitions running from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November 2009 at the Crypt Hall of the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.
The Eco Design Show will showcase environmentally friendly design and crafts including interior products, ceramics, furniture, lighting, jewellery and fashion accessories.
The Fashion Lab will allow trade buyers and public to see work by talented new designers. It provides an opportunity to spot up and coming trends and buy unique fashions unavailable in high street stores directly from the designers.
Accompanying the Fashion Lab is the Finishing School, a comprehensive programme of fashion master classes designed especially for recent graduates, new designers as well as more established designers. Through a series of workshops, seminars and one-to-ones with industry professionals over five days in September, the Finishing School aims to raise awareness and knowledge of what it takes to be successful within the fashion industry.
The Festival will also see the launch of Design Stars, a competition involving Liverpool schools to find some of the best local design talent in the11-to-16 age group.
The full programme of events also includes a lively range of debates and seminars.
Designers who wish to exhibit at either the Eco Design Show or the Fashion Lab have until 31st July 2009 to apply to take part. As well as these two exhibitions, if you are interested in the Finishing School masterclasses in September please go to Liverpool Design Festival to get further details and application forms.
Design Initiative is also inviting businesses from the Merseyside creative sector to become Festival Partners and organise their own events such as studio openings, exhibitions and workshops to run alongside the festival.
For revelant contact details and further information see www.liverpooldesignfestival.com which will be updated on an ongoing basis.
You can also follow the Festival on Twitter at Design Fest
The Liverpool Design Festival is run by Design Initiative with the support of Liverpool City Council and Arts Council, England - North West.

I’m really quite pleased with this. I haven’t done any painting for quite a while but this abstract turned out very nicely. I was hoping for more of a landscape but the nature of the machine wouldn’t allow it. I painted it using the robot Optimus Wayne which has just been installed in View Two gallery by the artists Wayne Hill and James Diable.
You can have a go too, either at the viewing tonight or on Friday or Saturday afternoon (it may well be extended another week as well).
Artists Wayne Hill & James Diable present Optimus Wayne, an Art Robot that you can control via pressure pads. 2-4 July 2009
Private View Event: Thursday 2 July 2009 18-21.00. Join us and Paint with the Robot!
Exhibition: Optimus Wayne will be working at all times on these dates
Thursday 2 July 12-17.00
Friday 3 July 12-17.00
Saturday 4 July 12-17.00
I am Optimus Wayne I am an art robot
I’ve recently been collaborating with Wayne Hill and James Diable and the unsuspecting public to create the robotic paintings of the future.
My assisstants play on the connotations that I am a process for mass production, traditionally seen as an enemy of individuality.
The artists work as my apprentices. In public showings the audience are given the chance to be both the viewer and the apprentice, controlling my robotics with an array of pressure pads thus challenging who the artist actually is.
I have no feelings or ego, these privileges are for my assistants and maybe whoever has control of my pressure pads. So the public are the Artists and we are the servants to the machine that is the public.

Also this Saturday…
Art and Design in the City at the Bluecoat
SATURDAY 4 July 2009, 11.00 - 17.00 at the Bluecoat
In conjunction with LOACA Arts Merseyside, artists and designer-makers will be exhibiting their work in the courtyard.
This is an opportunity to not only support local creative talent by buying direct from the artists and designers, but also to speak to them about their work and perhaps be inspired to get creative.
So many things to do this Saturday - and lots with USA theme, July 4th is a special day apparently.
This all day event should be good and we’re delighted to see that Static’s Cafe is now open at Weekends!
Static UNIT 4 and Candie Payne PRESENT:
(http://www.myspace.com/candiepayne)
AMERICANA
Saturday 4th July 2009
11.00 - 20.00 in Static Coffee Bar.
Free entry
Authentic American Music, Food and Drink:
The Nashville Liverpool Underground Medicine Show
featuring Emily Grace, Mike Badger, Matt Gardner
http://www.myspace.com/nashvilleliverpool
The Loose Moose String Band
http://www.myspace.com/theloosemooseband
Danny Roberts (of the 16 tonnes)
http://www.myspace.com/thesixteentonnes
Food:
Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup
Southern fried chicken
Chilli
Hot dogs
Apple pie and ice cream
Brownies
Banana splits
Drink:
Mint juleps
Bloody Mary
+ wide selection of beers, wines and spirits.
Static Coffee Bar is now OPEN weekends
UNIT 4 is funded by STATIC GALLERY and CULTURE LIVERPOOL
THANKS TO THE CITY OF LIVERPOOL FOR ITS FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Static Gallery/UNIT 4
23 Roscoe Lane
Liverpool
L1 9JD
t: 0044 (0151 707 0770
Environmental Art Award 2009
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce is launching an environmentally focused art competition, as part of Liverpool’s Year of the Environment 2009.
The Green Art competition is designed to encourage professional artists from across the region to create art from recycled materials. The theme of the competition is Reduce Reuse Recycle, the three key processes for creating a more sustainable environment.
Maresa Molloy, Head of Policy and Information at Liverpool Chamber will be judging the competition along with Cllr Berni Turner and a member of Liverpool’s art community.
Selected entries will be exhibited at the Chamber’s Annual Dinner on 26th November. The winning entry will receive £500, presented by Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose, guest speaker at the Annual Dinner. There will be a £250 prize for the runner up.
The competition is free to enter, professional artists, living or working in the Merseyside area wishing to enter can download an application form from the Chamber’s website: www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk/art-award.html
All entries must be submitted before 31st October 2009.
(70 Victoria Parade) www.greendolphinbrasserie.com
Alison Bailey Smith
http://abscraft.blogspot.com/
http://www.abscraft.com

Just had a quick look around the set for this performance and it looks really exciting. I don’t want to give too much away but its not a standard stage performance with rows of seats, its spread all over the huge space in the Furnace room at A Foundation with installations at various points. I think its going to be great fun as well as thought-provoking as it looks at the fascinating subject of identical twins. Several sets of twins from various countries are there now rehearsing.
And now there is a two for one ticket offer. That’s only £7 (£5) for two tickets. You can book online via www.thebluecoat.org.uk or phone and quote ‘double’.
TWINS - how do I know I am me… by Angie Hiesl Produktion
From the Bluecoat but taking place at A Foundation
Fri 3rd & Sat 4th July 2009
Twins – How Do I Know I Am Me?
Friday 3 July 20.00
Saturday 4 July 15.00 & 21.00
£7, £5 concessions (special offer 2 for 1 at present)
Tickets can bought through the Bluecoat on 0151 702 5324 or www.thebluecoat.org.uk
Continue reading ‘TWINS Performance this weekend - 2 for 1 offer’

WEDNESDAY 1 July 2009, 18.00 at St.Luke’s Church (Bombed Out Church)
Defcon presents iSSHO taiko drummers from Glasgow, playing Japanese style drumming. Drumming workshop available after the show. Admission: £2
Venue:
St Luke’s Church (’The Bombed Out Church’)
Leece Street. (Top of Bold Street) Liverpool City Centre, L1 9BH
iSSHO taiko drummers: http://www.myspace.com/isshodrummers
KMA’s ‘Flock’ in Liverpool from Tom Wexler on Vimeo.
One of the lovely events in 2008 that we actually missed.
Unedited footage from July 2008 of KMA’s installation ‘Flock’ in Williamson Square, Liverpool. Flock is an interactive work based around three sections of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and was created in collaboration with the choreographer Tom Sapsford - more information from kma.co.uk.

Liverpool artist David Jacques is one of several excellent artists in this Biennial exhibition in Norwich.
EASTinternational 2009
selectors
Raster Gallery and Art & Language
Exhibition preview
Saturday 11 July 5-8pm
EASTpanel
2.30 to 4.30pm admission free.
NUCA Duke Street Lecture Theatre
Speakers Lukasz Gorczyca & Michal Kaczynski Raster, Michael Baldwin & Mel Ramsden Art & Language,
John Roberts Reader in Fine Art Wolverhampton University,
John Russell and Barbara Walker EAST09 artists. Chair Lynda Morris EAST Curator.
Exhibition
Monday 13 July - Saturday 22 August
Open Monday to Saturday 10-5pm
EASTinternational Norwich University College of the Arts
Francis House 3-7 Redwell Street Norwich NR2 4SN UK
This looks like fun.
Artists Wayne Hill & James Diable present Optimus Wayne, an Art Robot that you can control via pressure pads. 2-4 July 2009 at View Two Gallery.
Private View Event: Thursday 2 July 2009 18-21.00. Join in and Paint with the Robot!
Exhibition: Optimus Wayne will be working at all times on these dates
Thursday 2 July 12-17.00
Friday 3 July 12-17.00
Saturday 4 July 12-17.00

We went to the launch of Abandon Normal Devices at FACT last Friday, its all very exciting though it doesn’t actually take place until late September.
AND is presented by FACT (Liverpool), Cornerhouse (Manchester) and folly (Lancaster), great to see a major collaboration across the North West region. It is also part of WE PLAY, the NW cultural legacy programme for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Yes Men. Image courtesy of Tom Little Photography, 2009

Carolee Schneemann. Image courtesy of the artist; Meat Joy, 1964
Launching in Liverpool 23-27 September 2009, AND features screenings, installations, online projects, public realm interventions, debates, workshops and live events, with a distinctive emphasis on critique and ideas. At the heart of this festival lies a fascination with ideas about social, physical and technological norms with approaches from the playful to the downright provocative.
Featured highlights include: First UK solo exhibition from Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul; European premiere exhibition from digital interrogators The Yes Men; world premiere of Jamie King’s new feature film Dark Fibre, a much anticipated appearance from Carolee Schneemann and Krzysztof Wodiczko’s return to the UK with a breath-taking outdoor projection. Also an outdoor performance on the waterfront by DJ Spooky and much more.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Image courtesy of the artist, stills from Primitive

c. Peterson Waweru Kamwathi
THE POLITICS OF ART
DISPLAY OF PRINTS BY KENYAN ARTIST.
World Museum Liverpool is displaying a selection of prints by Kenyan artist, Peterson Kamwathi, from 26th June 2009.
The series of five woodcut prints, on display in the museum’s World Cultures gallery, explore events in Kenya’s recent political history.
The prints tackle the issues surrounding proposed changes to Kenya’s constitution, which were rejected by the people in a national referendum in 2005. The referendum led to increased distrust of the political process and contributed to the violence that followed the 2007 presidential elections.
Each print centres round the image of a bull, which represents the Kenyan nation. The motifs that cover their bodies refer to the issues and political symbols that have been prevalent in Kenyan society in recent years.
Peterson Waweru Kamwathi
Born in Nairobi in 1980, Kamwathi began practicing at the Kuona Trust and Museum Art Studio. He has exhibited internationally and is considered one of Kenya’s best regarded young artists.
Kamwathi says about his work: “I view myself as a part of my society and as such I’m accountable to the society. Being an artist, this society extends beyond my immediate environment to include the world. In my work I strive to address and document issues that affect and impact my country, my continent and now the planet.”
FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology), Liverpool, the UK’s leading organisation for commissioning, exhibiting, promoting and supporting artists’ work in the fields of film, video, and new media - is currently advertising this great opportunity for a funded MA studentship in Curating Contemporary Art with RCA, London. Deadline July 13th:
Inspire MA (RCA) Curating Contemporary Art
http://www.rca.ac.uk/Default.aspx?ContentID=505465&GroupID=505465














Posts
Recent Comments