Late night art: September Review

It all started last Thursday when I saw the Lord 'big head' Mayor himself outside the old Northern Bank on Donegal Street dancing with a carnival character. It lead me to the Cultural Night launch. As any good artist/revolutionary would do I decided to crash the party and grab as many free cocktail sausages as my stubby hands could take. I ended up staying for the entire event getting a great free lunch. I was looking out for Terri Hooley to see if he was going to take over the event with a coup. But no luck there. Lord "Big head" Mayor mumbled something about art and community, when everone knows that the only exhibition he has ever seen is in Stormont and the only community he knows is the one in Botanic Inns.

Later on that day the Late night art was on - I was disappointed to say the least. The only decent shows were Platform arts, Belfast Exposed and the Print Workshop. What was going on at Catalyst I am still not sure. No one was even checking out the art work, everyone was just hanging out at the balcony looking alternative. I left early with a disappointing night in all. I think everyone was saving the good stuff for the Culture night on the 24th of September (a Friday). Definitely worth checking out.

Cultural Rioting in an Alternative Belfast

I just got back from I just got back from holiday where I was exploring other cultural experiences outside our small country. When I got there I got asked the usual questions you get when you say your from Northern Ireland. i.e. "Are your you British or Irish?" I hate those question, I usually think its someone in disguise from Belfast trying to catch me out so they can stab me while I sleep on the top bunk of a 'triple' bunk bed.

When I got back to Belfast the first thing I read in the paper that there was again violence on the streets of Belfast. Not about religion or politics- But football. Its great we have moved on from the primal urge to hate and kill someone because of their politics or religion. Now we want to to do it on the grounds of football. Well done! We are moving up the hatred ladder and becoming more like every other major European city. Even though we are the 8th smallest in Europe we can pack a lot of hate.

I missed the meteor shower the other days because I was sleeping. I heard there was small lights floating across the sky. Nice.

The alternative forum for Belfast has got a summer school which was on last week. Fidel "Hackett" is taking the Urban design and mapping. Which probably ended in a lot of 'beardyness'.

Belfast art scene and more....

....the cultural experience continues.

Several major things happened over this week the first was that Derry got City of Culture.:Well done to them. I heard that there are banjos singers on the streets having a shin dig. Sounds like good fun, I will hopefully make it up there for some cultural delights. Transbelfast is going strong with more happening around the City including hanging laturns and hanging gardens coming from "out of place" gallery (on the same street as the 02 shop on Corn Market).

One of UrbanLanders images was featured in the Irish News as part of the article on Terri Hooley :"Punk Godfather could bring good vibes to the city hall". Five minutes of photoshop can go along way.

I was walking home the other day through the holylands at 1am. Bad mistake, a load of people were throwing glass at a wall across the street. They then starting shouting at me when I walked past. Too many Canterbury bottoms about for my liking. I could have taken on 3 of them on but not all 6 of them. Stuff I missed this week includes the Moochin's exhibition at the waterfront. Would have been a good night with all the work being free to take. I never got a chance to go to Ashleigh Manor either for some fun. Im now on Twitter @Urbanlander

Transbelfast 2010 and other artistic endeavours’....

Transbelfast has definitely hit the streets! It was only this morning that I saw a Plant Parade hitting the streets of Belfast. It was like something out of Inception. The movable garden was by Janis Steadman - she had also run workshops over the past week. I heard later in the day that 'the movable garden' finished off in a secret garden in the middle of "The station" gallery (not much of a secret). I hope to check it out this week -If that building ever gets opened!

The opening night of Pii Anttila went well with some interesting situations happening in the gallery and with some interesting job prospects . That's what happens when you give your number to anyone in Belfast. The office is down at Ps2 gallery and worth a check out.

The big event this weekend was Base: International Street Art and Music Festival at St Anne's Square. A lot of graffiti going on and some sweet beats. I missed the first band but Panama Kings and The Amazing Few I got to see. It was the first time I heard these bands and was definitely worth the free entrance fee. The amount of people at the event was small which was probably due to the earlier rain. The Eventsec staff seemed relaxed but looked weather beaten due to the previous weeks Oxygen antics (Stab proof vests optional).

I really liked Graham Dews (See Above) simple layering technique. Awe- inspiring. Other graffiti artists included RedMonk, Dog Boy and Bad Seed (see above for Image).

The usual Belfast artisan types were wandering around the event,wearing ladies leather Jackets and shades, and the guys wearing beards and heavy rimmed classes. (See Left). Fun Times.

The event continues tomorrow (Sunday) with music, Black books and magic in the City. Why do people try and convert me in the street? Do they think I need saved?

The art continues....

Late Night Art: Review

Last Thursday was late night art. The crew got together -first stop was the Naughton gallery checking out the work by CETL(NI): The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in the Creative and Performing Arts at Queen's. It was dead when we got there. It was around 6.30 when we arrived. There were some visuals using light and long camera exposures.

Met up with some more mates at 7.00 at the Ormeau Baths Gallery:again it was completely dead. Couldn't believe it we were the only people there.:Where were you? It was the work by T.P Flanagan-the ground floor is a must see if you like water colour drawings of bowls. The exhibition is on till 17th of July.

The final art stop was SpaceCraft gallery were the redbull flowed. The ceramics were looking good as always. The small 30+ individual hand made bowls were one of my favorites. T. P Flanagan would be loving it. I couldn't stay longer at the culture night as I was playing basketball against another crew.

After leaving the comfort blanket of artyness, I was nearly beaten up. He was a hard lad (see above for reconstruction) with a sports bag and it was all because I was showing off my basketball skills outside Castlecourt. The confrontation goes as follows "Stop bouncing the ball" I replied "Say please" long drawn out silence "You better move" reply "ok" as I left the area feeling kojaked.

That's the last time I try to look "street" with hard lads about. I saw him the other day wearing a jazzy shirt- he looked as tough as Julian Simmons.

Tried to get into the platform gallery to see the SPOOM collectives work today. It wasn't open -does anyone know if and when it opens during the week??!

Looking forward to transbelfast's/Qft's Weeft next week, Out of Place gallery and the girl at the Ps2 gallery is looking for a job this week. I hope I will see you people about at the next cultural experience.

Protest in the Streets of Belfast

What is this: Protest against the Bill 37 (Public assemblies bill) which prevents protests and public gatherings taking place unless permission is given 38 days in advance or 3 days permission given by the police if it is an emergency.

Where was it: Meeting at the University of Ulster's Buoy Park

When I got there, there was a crowd of over 60 people who from either a socialist party, communist party, or from a trade union. I thought there would have been more people concerned that the Local assembly was trying to change the fundamental rights to protest.

The march took off at 12:30 on Saturday 23rd walking down Royal Avenue to the City Hall. Was great seeing all the City's traffic stop for 35minutes. I got stuck behind the a Trade Union banner-it was funny because I hadn't a clue who they where.

If the bill is passed public meetings and public art projects with more than 50 people will need permission. Bad Times

City is our factory and Pecha Kucha @ the Black Box: Review

"The city is our factory" was organised by the forum for an alternative Belfast and Ps2 gallery. The talk was by Christoph Schäfer (German) running through some of the main headings from his book :"This city is our factory". It was interesting and raised some issues similar to that of Dan Thompson at "Out of Place" a week before. The audience contained the same faces including the "artist maker" Wilfred Bramble look a like (left) who raised questions and made "artistic statements" time and time again. The architectural intelligentsia were sitting on the comfy chairs over to the right of the room including the el co Creator of alternative Belfast Mark Hackket. When the 4 intelligentsia guys started talking Wilfred started shouting back. Got a bit awkward a couple of times especially when the Nazi party and trade unions were mentioned a few times.

It was a good talk and interesting perspectives talked about on how people use the city and who owns it and how it can be used to its potential.

The talk went on a bit longer than I expected and I missed the first few people of the Pecha Kucha night. The first was the Bearded and moustached cladded duo Chris and Nik who talked about their website among other obsessions. The most 'chillaxed' talk was by Rob Durston and his Californian photographs. The best by far was Paul May's talk who took the stage like a comedian rather than a designer and got the biggest applause. Another favorite was Jamie Neely who didn't show any work either but gave a less serious Mr Keating (Dead Poets Society)esque speech about seizing the day.

The moral of the Pecha Kucha night is that it is better to be funny than show any real work!

The next Pecha Kucha night is in September See you then.

Lets make Terri Hooley the Lord Mayor of Belfast

Terri Hooley (left) is a local legend founder of Good Vibrations Records and maker of the Undertones. Recently his fame has increased with a film being made about Good Vibration records directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Belfast D'sa. The most recent fame is the facebook campaign to make him the Lord Mayor of Belfast the campaign featured in the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday World.

However nothing seems to be happening to make this happen were are the anarchist riots and punk protests. Do we really need the same old type of Lord Mayor like Pat Convery (right).

Lets get the petitions and protests etc and get Terri Hooley as Lord mayor!

"Out of Place" on Castle Lane: Review

I was at the "Out of Place" launch on Castle Lane, Belfast. Dan Thompson who was one of the first to start the Empty Shops Network in England talked about how important it is for empty buildings to be taken over and used by creative people. His English accent, tweed jacket and large glasses reminded me of the Wayne Hemingway (a Uni of Ulster favorite).

It was exciting to here Dan speak on something which seems complicated and hard to undertake but it is probably his job to make it seem that way! Launchers of the event were bosom buddies Sammy Wilson and Lord Mayor Pat Convery. They both spoke of how using empty shops and buildings can help bring back the city to life. It would be good to hear of unused building being taken over by artists etc. A friend in Germany said this is normal practice particularly in areas that used to be East Germany. It is good to see Belfast is stepping up there game.

I remember a few years ago writing to a property owner about using there unused building for an art project but nothing ever came of it. Bad Times.

The food served after was really good with it being supplied by Bagelbagel. Good Times.

North Korea's Escape to Victory

Its great to see the North Koreans in the world cup it reminded me of a report I saw on Newsnight on North Korea. The report showed how the goverment showed the society as a socialist utopia. The relaity was that the people were hungry and less than happy with the country. Only the elite lived a more than comfortable life style. The national football team would be looked after by the state living in luxury while there country men and women are paying the price.

It would be impressive if the football team protested about the North Korean's regime at this World Cup or tried to escape like in the film "Escape to Victory" a trailer shown above. "Escape to Victory" is set during World War 2, the Allies captured by the Germans are told they have to play a game of football against the Nazi's, the main actors are Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and some football stars such as Bobby Moore and Pele.

Station and Platform gallery

I was heading round to platform and station gallery last week. A mate in MFA had work up there so thought I should check it out. Went round and the Platform gallery was closed! Then went round to Station gallery the gate and door was open but there was no lights on. The only sign that someone had been there was that the visitor alarm was on. had a walk up the stairs and round the rooms. Not sure if I went to the right corridor because the doors were shut. Bad Times. I will have to head back this week. or just enjoy the these photos. Hopefully this wont be my last platform adventure. I will keep you posted.

Late Night Art: review

Last Thursday was the late night art in Belfast. It was set be a good night, meeting up with friends to get to as many galleries as possible. First stop was the Naughton Gallery where I had a quick walk round Gary Shaws's work. The paintings are like magic eye pictures. Trippy. Then headed for the Omeau Baths Gallery where I waited for about 5mins until someone told me they weren't open that night. Bad times!

Luck seemed to change when we went round to SpaceCraft on Fountain Street. It was packed to the door and showed some great work from some 2nd year fine and applied students. There was a textile piece with some religious themes such as 'Babes of the Bible'. It was Funny. Saw some friends then headed to the next destination the Ps2 gallery. Was there for about 20mins drawing a plant-it was judged by a 10 year old kid and passed so I got to keep the plant I just drew. Nice present for some unlucky person. Me and mates were walking with 3 plants between us heading towards the Golden thread gallery getting weird looks by passers by. We arrived way too late and got only the last few crisps. The video installation by MacWilliam exploring the Life of a pencil (Bottom Image) and John Erickson photo montages Jema.us are a must see. We all went home with are heads filled with art and are hands each holding a potted plant. With one of the flowers getting eaten on the way home. You know who you are! I hid my plant in a brown paper bag when I entered the house as not to get a slagging from my flat mates.

It was a fun, see you at the next late night art. I should have some more calling cards next time.

End of year show banter

The end of year show was a success at Belfast art college. There was a great crowd and fun on every floor. The contemporary architecture dance was interesting in the library, ice cream at 3d design and the heat was rising at fine art. Saw some people who were suited and booted, they must have been sweltering! I also left my calling cards around the place that should get some attention. The night was finished off at either the Duke of York or the Union depending on how cool you were.

The Ulster Festival is now in full swing. Starting on the 4th of June to the 19th. There is loads of stuff happening check here. There is also performance and installation work all this week down at the Fish Bowl on the ground floor. Check it out.

Late Night Art Tonight

Late night art tonight in Belfast! Haven't been in a few months so it should be good fun. Looking forward to the PS2's 'plant drawings' I have seen the guy constructing the work this week and its good to see its finally finished. Golden Thread Gallery has an exhibition called 'Venice @ the Golden Thread' with some video and photography. Catalyst has a retrospective which will be interesting. If its anything like the last opening with the Police being called -will be an interesting finale. Hope you all have fun tonight. I hope to get a few of the highlights put up on the blog over the weekend. See you there!

Image from PS2

Graphics of China

This is a graphic of the 'The Long Tail of China' showing all the cities with a population over 1million. Check out more work at Chinfographics.com

BitMAPS: Writing on the wall

Here is a great video inspired by Bitmaps which is an image made up of pixels. The simple manufacturing used to create these unique forms in the vacuum former are brilliant. The tiles created are put together as a bathroom wall surface described as "an inexpensive patterned wall" projectione.com. The negative and positive design remind be of the tactile quality found in braille writing. Writing on the wall.

bitMAPS from PROJECTiONE on Vimeo.

Popaganda. Less Chilling More Killing

This is work that was posted up in New York. Its anti-consumerist posters work well. In Belfast all illegal posters are painted over every couple of days leaving black rectangles all over the City. If the council put local art work or street interventions over the illegal posters it would make a big difference.

Check out some more street interventions at Popaganda.com

Below is an interesting trailer for a posters intervention film.

Architecture: Guinness Style

This Guinness advert is showing how the landscape could be changed in an instant. It is similar to the idea of the Immediate City that I was reading about recently. This version is a lot more manly with damns being built by hand, grass being pulled over mountains and cliffs being split with a hammer. Its a classic.

Star Slime on Black Mountain

I first came across star slime when I was getting a talk from a warden from the Council who worked at Black mountain. Star Slime is a white gooey jelly substance found in the countryside. It was tested in Queens and was found to be neither plant nor animal. I heard its a delcasy in Japan this might be just a urban myth. Ever since I heard of star slime I have asked different experts who might have heard of it. Know I asked could give me any information. I found these interesting links which gives some possible answers to this puzzle BBC Nature&Outdoors and BBC Scotland . Here is a new report on it http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/articles/jelly/

Pixel Building in Shanghai expo 2010

At the Shanghai Expo the Korean pavilion looks as if it has been pixelated. Really impressive work my Mass Studies studio. The symbols on each tile look amazing. Does anyone remember multilink cubes? Good Times.

DIY Manufactering

Some of my favorite projects are when I get to make real working prototypes. This flatpack roto moulder can step up quality and manufacturing possibilities. Its priced at £255 which could be seen as over priced when you could just shake your mould about for a couple of hours to get the same effect. Check out more work at Studio my first

Nazi Berlin in Donegal Street

I Was walking to the Uni of Ulster through Donegal Street yesterday and thought I had walked into Nazi Germany. There was a large Nazi poster and German street signs all put up in the space of 24hours. It looked impressive. If a real City could be transformed this easily it would be class. Guerrilla City.

ICFF designboom mart New York

The photographs from the New York mart May 15-18) are on designboom I always look forward to browsing through seeing the new up and coming designers. Designs which I like include "Goose Cones" by Michael Savona and 'zelig' elephant chair by Elad Ozeri.

Goose Cones

"Goose cones" by Michael Savona who featured in ICFF designboom mart New York City. Orange Cones are all over the world, these Goose cones would become a hidden delight if they were found in Belfast.

Happy Birthday Pac man

Its Pac mans 30th birthday. I just found out from Googles home page where you can play the game with the maze based around there logo. Pac man is a classic game. I was too young to remember Pac man when it first came out, but I remember it from video arcades as an old school classic. Now I can appreciate the brilliant pixel design.

The Immediate City

"The Immediate City" Everything at your fingertips . Its the first time I have seen these images the photomontages work really well. The project is from the shenzhen hong kong (SZHK) biennale 09.

"it was developed as an alternative solution to presenting and sharing architectural content about, for, within, from and against the city." designboom.com

Satellite photos of earth

Garden City, Kansas

This image is similar to the pixelation of the Cellular automa that I was looking at a few days ago. There are some images at this website satellite photos of earth that will blow your mind.

'M6B1' more student housing, Paris

JDS architects have designed 'M6B1' - student housing in paris france. the site is located in a context that is in development. after fulfilling the required programming, the left over square meters were unfolded creating a spiral for social activities linking the ground floor to the roof terrace. considering the exterior of the building as generic as possible to respond to its unknown context, JDS decided to populate the inside of the social spiral with elements normally found on the exterior façade of buildings: light fixtures, flower pots hanging by the window, all of which contributes to the common space of students. designboom.com

100 student houses - 'crou'

I am currently looking for some student housing for the next academic year. Ive decided to look at the most conceptual student housing out there.

This student housing in le havre, France by the company olgga architectes

If there designing for student type accommodation in the Titanic quarter could someone show the Architect this.

Droog's new manifesto

Droog the dutch design collective has created there new manifesto. droog.com/
Gijs Bakker co-founder of Droog left in 2009. Droogs new manafesto is released from April 28th 1010.







we need a new design integrity.
we redirect creative energy .
we redefine the lifecycle.
we create ongoing value.
we start with what’s easily available.
we want sensible innovation.
we redesign until we find an owner.
we care about where it goes.
we invite everybody to participate.
we celebrate the new orders.
we enable you to share.

Into the Wild - Chris McCandless

I watched Into the Wild the other day. A great film about finding yourself in the wilderness. Worth checking out if your planning on going for some exploring this summer.

Lonesome Traveller - Jack Kerouac

Finished reading Kerouac's Lonesome traveller it was a good book but not as good as "Dharma Bums" or "On the road" but worth a read if you get a chance.

"Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark,
The beggars are coming to town;
Some in rags, some in tags,
And some in velvet gowns."

Lonesome Traveller

The revolutionary cycle

"In November 2008, Simon Evans and Fearghal O'Nuallain began the first Irish circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle. Their unsupported expedition will cover over 30,000km, passing through 30 countries and some of the highest, lowest, driest, coldest, warmest and loneliest places on earth. In doing so, they will be promoting the positive contribution that cycling can make to mental health by encouraging people to get on their bikes, and by raising funds for Aware"

http://revolutioncycle.ie/

The landmark stops they made include The Iguazu Falls, Argentina, Petra, Jordan, The Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Machu Picchu, Peru, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, Great Wall of China, Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, Colosseum, Italy, Eiffel Tower, France, the Galapagos Islands and Lake Baikal. They made it home on the 15th of May with beards. Well Done guys!