Falkirk Visual Art Residency

Exclusive - A new play by Falkirk Writer Alan Bisset

2009-02-25T04:46:00.000-08:00

Come along to the exclusive first performance of the one - woman show

"TIMES WHEN I BITE"

Written and performed by Alan Bissett

Author of Boyracers and The Incredible Adam Spark

Directed by Sacha Kyle Winner of Arches New Director Award 09

Friday 6th March doors at 7.30pm @ the Glen Club, Glen Village, Hallglen

£3 entry

All proceeds going to Hallglen Primary School

Warning : Content not suitable for children

Rabbie Burns in Falkirk

2009-02-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

Dan Mailer has written a piece for the next edition of the Village Voice Magazine, VV5, about the time The Bard spent the night in Falkirk and wrote a poem as a result of his visit. We are in the process of finding out which one...

In the meantime here's a photograph, taken by Helen Beurskens, of the plaque that marks the spot where he stayed the night, 25th August 1787, at the East end of the High Street.

Calendar Park in the Snow

2009-02-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

Here's some lovely photos of the recent snow in Calendar Park taken from Symon Tower, by Catherine Anderson. Beautiful!!

Calendar Pics from Virginia, USA

2009-02-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

A photograph sent to us from Forest, VA, USA by Mrs L. Boswell.

More Calendar pics

2009-01-20T05:29:00.001-08:00

More pictures of the Calendar in situ.... with thanks to Westend Cabinetmakers, Glasgow; Walter Simms, Designer,Callendar House: Gillian Smith, Community Engagement, Martin Richmond in Security, Elaine Craig Arts Development Officer for Music, Callendar House.

Yvonne's Kitchen

2009-01-20T03:34:00.000-08:00

Here's an image of the Calendar in the kitchen of Yvonne Cieslar. Yvonne has recently moved to the Callendar High Flats and joined the Village Voice group, she featured in the October page of the Calendar modelling the Tank top made by Mandy McIntosh.

2009-01-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

Here's an image of the Calendar up in the office of Ruth Barker, who organises the PARS website. We have been contributing to a blog for PublicArtScotland over the last year at www.publicartscotland.com

The Calendar in California

2009-01-15T02:55:00.000-08:00

Here's an image sent by Alex from California, he's been in San Fran again.

Calendar Pics - In Situ

2009-01-13T02:25:00.001-08:00

Here's a picture of the Calendar up on the notice-board of Richard Higlett an artist based in Cardiff. (www.richardhiglett.com)
It would be great to get more images of any other Calendars now they have been sent out, so if you have received one, please take a photo and send a jpeg image to janienicoll@yahoo.co.uk. We'll include them in the next edition of the Village Voice magazine due out in February, or on the website.www.vvgroup-falkirk.org. Thanks !!

The TWINS Calendar

2009-01-13T01:56:00.000-08:00

The TWINS Calendar 2009 has been distributed to every flat in the Callendar Park High Flats, featuring the work of 12 Scottish Artists as listed below. Each artist has been teamed up with a resident or with a member of the Village Voice group. The artworks were photographed in the home of each resident and also contain a selection of Scottish Recipes. We hope the Calendar will be a useful as well as an interesting household item.

JANUARY Alex Hetherington Judy Beattie
FEBRUARY Amy Marletta Irene Dickson
MARCH Cath Whippey Ann Miller
APRIL Hanneline Visnes Marion McLuckie
MAY Jim Colquhoun Dan Mailer
JUNE James McLardy Mary Johnston
JULY Janie Nicoll Isabel Johnston
AUGUST Kenny Hunter Helen Young
SEPTEMBER Lindsay Perth Helen Beurskens
OCTOBER Mandy McIntosh Yvonne Cieslar
NOVEMBER Rachel Mimiec Catherine Anderson
DECEMBER Tommy Grace Chris Smith

Information about the Artists

JANUARY Alex Hetherington
“Campaign For A Hollywood Walk of Fame In Falkirk 2009”

www.alexhetherington.com

FEBRUARY Amy Marletta
'Untitled'. Video Projection, Gold Shoes.

Amy Marletta is a visual artist based in Glasgow. Her work is multi disciplinary involving video, performance, music and collage. Amy graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee in 2002 and since then has exhibited at home and abroad. She is currently undertaking a Masters of Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art.
www.ganghut.co.uk

MARCH Cath Whippey

Cath Whippey aims to create magical and fascinating moments. In recent work she has explored metamorphosis, transformation and change through masks, worn items, sculpture and animation and video pieces. These are often experienced as temporary projects in public spaces, including projection and installation, in gallery exhibition and at artists’ film and video events.

http://cathwhippey.50webs.org/

APRIL Hanneline Visnes

“The Spoonmakers Diamond” Oil on Board, 29 x 25 cm

Hanneline was born in Bergen, Norway but lives and works in Glasgow. She gained a BA and MFA from Glasgow School of Art . She has exhibited widely in Britain and abroad and is represented by Doggerfisher Gallery, Edinburgh.
www.doggerfisher.com

MAY Jim Colquhoun

'A State of Nature' Poster work

Jim Colquhoun is an artist and writer based in Glasgow. His work seeks to negotiate the boundaries between art and life, waking and dreaming, fiction and fact. To this end he produces drawings, installations, performances and texts. He has shown recently in Edinburgh, Copenhagen, New York, Akureyri and Glasgow.

JUNE James McLardy

'Grand Parallel’ Tufa, Wood, Foam

James McLardy's work encompasses drawing, video and sculpture, which he combines in order to observe and arrange objects to suggest their gesture, narrative and authenticity. Recent sculptures bring together modern materials like MDF and silicon sealant with traditional methods and materials like wood carving, bronze casting and Tufa

www.glasgowsculpturestudios.org/
www.re-title.com/artists/james-mclardy

JULY Janie Nicoll

“Family History”

Installation, bed and digital projection of slide images.
Janie Nicoll generally uses photography and installation to make artworks. This digital projection was made using slides taken by Isobel’s late husband during the sixties and seventies. These had been left in a box, unseen for decades. They were scanned and made into a single digital image and projected, imitating the original slides.

AUGUST Kenny Hunter

"Out on the rolling Sea". Resin, paint, wooden roof shingle. 2008

Born in Edinburgh in 1962, Kenny Hunter studied sculpture at Glasgow School of Art between 1983 and 1987. He has exhibited extensively in Britain and Abroad including solo exhibitions at Arnolfini 1998, Scottish National Portrait Gallery 2000, CCA 2003 , Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2006 and Tramway, 2008. Hunter has also created a number of high profile, commissioned works in Scotland including; Cherub/Skull, 1997 for the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Man walks among us, 2000, for Glasgow Museums, Youth with split apple, 2005 for Kings College, Aberdeen and Citizen Firefighter, 2001, outside Glasgow’s Central Station. Kenny Hunter lives and works in Glasgow.

SEPTEMBER Lindsay Perth

“Doorways” video work

Lindsay Perth is a Canadian born artist, who has lived in Scotland since 1986. A graduate from Duncan of Jordanstone in BFA Printmaking and PostDip Electronic Imaging, Perth’s artwork is often motivated by collaborative art processes. Many of her artworks engage with diverse social groups and individuals. Although predominantly but not defined by media based work, her approach is interdisciplinary and includes screen-based work, installation, photography and performance. She is currently artist-in-residence for Street Level Photowork's Collaborative Arts project, Multi-story.
www.lippi.org
www.multi-story.org

OCTOBER Mandy McIntosh

Tank Top

Mandy McIntosh is a Glasgow based artist who uses an array of media: animation, video and knitting in the development of her projects. Employing a variety of methods McIntosh’s work often responds to particular social, historical and geographical contexts. Mandy has recently been featured in the book “Knit Knit, Knitting's New Wave”.

www.hamandenos.com/

NOVEMBER Rachel Mimiec

“Moon Leaves” Aluminium leaves

Rachel Mimiec is an artist who works with people in communities, while also developing and exhibiting her own work. Her most recent exhibition was at Tramway in Glasgow and was the result of a residency in The Hidden Gardens.

www.rachelmimiec.com

DECEMBER Tommy Grace

“Fifteen Easy Pieces” Oil on Canvas

Tommy Grace's work is a play of opposites, balancing tight draftsmanship with messy gesture. Previous paintings present imagined ruins, meticulously drawn from Classical architecture but swimming beneath the random stains of Rorschach inkblots, or exquisite geometric patterns skilfully corralled from a testing combination of red wine and blotting paper. Taking the disposable detritus of our everyday, consumer-driven lives and playfully combining it with historical reference, Grace explores the legacy and lifespan of things, considering current visual culture through that of the past.

“Fifteen Easy Pieces” casts a realist eye across the scant remains of a dinner party and a chance display of abstract mini-masterpieces.

www.inglebygallery.com/

2008-12-12T02:47:00.000-08:00

Artworks by Lindsay Perth, Mandy McIntosh and Kenny Hunter.

TWINS Calendar Project

2008-12-12T02:43:00.000-08:00

Artworks by Tommy Grace, Rachel Mimiec, Hanneline Visnes, Amy Marletta, Alex Hetherington

2008-12-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Artworks by James McLardy, Janie Nicoll, Jim Colquhoun, and Cath Whippey.

The TWINS Calendar 2009 will shortly be available, featuring the work of 12 Scottish Artists as listed below. Each artist has been teamed up with a resident of the High Flats or with a member of the Village Voice group. The artworks were photographed in the home of each resident and also contain a selection of Scottish Recipes. We hope the Calendar will be a useful as well as an interesting household item. The Calendar will be distributed for free to every household in the High Flats.

Alex Hetherington
Amy Marletta
Cath Whippey
Hanneline Visnes
Jim Colquhoun
James McLardy
Janie Nicoll
Kenny Hunter
Lindsay Perth
Mandy Mcintosh
Rachel Mimiec
Tommy Grace

Anyone wishing to obtain a copy please send a cheque for £5.00 per copy made out to Falkirk Council; to Gillian Smith, Callendar House, Callendar Park, Falkirk FK1 1YR, along with a delivery address.

Lucy KeanY TOMFOOLERY

2008-10-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

Gallery of Modern Art Edinburgh and the Dean Gallery, Edinburgh.

2008-10-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the group made a trip through to Edinburgh to visit the Gallery of Modern Art at Belford Road, where we saw the collection and the Tracey Emin exhibition. The group really enjoyed seeing "Landform" by Charles Jenks and seeing the sculptures in the grounds. Tracey Emin's show was very impressive and although it might not have been everyone's 'cup of tea', everyone agreed it was interesting to see.

Then we went to the Dean Gallery situated directly across the road, which houses further collections including The Surrealists and Eduardo Paulozzi. We also saw works by Scottish artists Alan Davie, from Grangemouth and Anne Redpath, and John Bellany from Port Seton who all trained in the painting department at Edinburgh College of Art.

Amy Still

2008-10-09T02:55:00.001-07:00

Amy Marletta

2008-10-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Amy Marletta came out to Falkirk on Tuesday to give the Village Voice group a presentation about her artworks and it was really good to see her images and hear her talking about residencies she's done at Generator Projects in Dundee and at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Lumsden, Aberdeenshire. She is part of an artist collective called Ganghut and they have been making collaborative projects in Scotland and internationally. Last year they resurrected the Lumsden Gala Day as part of their residency, which was a great success, and they are currently in the process of setting up an exhibition space there, which opens soon.

The group really enjoyed meeting Amy and hearing about her practice. She's just started on the Master of Fine Art Course at Glasgow School of Art and we will be including her work in the Twinning Project. We would like to thank Amy for travelling out despite the train strike, there's perseverance for you ! Also thanks to Irene for allowing us up to check out her flat in Leishman Tower. (Thanks again Irene!!)

Alan Bissett Book Reading on Tuesday

2008-10-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

Alan Bissett will be doing a book reading at The Den on Manor Street (the one with Moscardinis) in Falkirk this Tues 7th October at 7.30pm . Alan is Falkirk's answer to Irvine Welsh, and wrote The Incredible Adam Spark and Boyracers, both written from a very "Fa'kirk" perspective. He is a very entertaining and well worth checking out.

Check out his MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/alanbissett
or his website at www.alanbissett.com/

John Houston - Scottish Painter

2008-10-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I heard the sad news that John Houston passed away a few days ago. He was one of Scotland’s best known Landscape Painters, having forged a career over fifty years and developed a confident style and a huge preoccupation with the Scottish Landscape that saw him exhibit nationally and internationally. He was my Fourth Year Lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art, and definitely one of the best lecturers I encountered during my time there. He was one of the old guard of painters, along with David Michie (son of Ann Redpath), who had certainly found their own voice when it came to painting. He was always quite forthright about his opinions and although I didn’t always entirely agree with him, I always respected what he had to say.

In the years after Art College, after leaving Edinburgh and moving to Glasgow, I used to see him at Glasgow Print Studio where he would come through to make prints, quite often accompanied by his wife Elizabeth Blackadder. They were a very unassuming couple despite the success they had achieved between them, and John still liked to give me words of advice along the lines of “Stick with the painting” which I waywardly chose to ignore at that point in my life.

There are certain people whose star shines brightly while they are on this planet and maybe we take their brightness for granted while it burns. I am thinking of another artist of my own age group, Paul Carter, who died recently and who also taught at Edinburgh College of Art. Both these men have given much to the Scottish art scene through their artwork and their influence. Ironically, maybe it is only when these stars have gone out that we really realise the light from which we have all benefited.

Rest In Peace.

Piece from the San Francisco Chronicle, Anne Colvin at New Langton Arts

2008-09-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

Between 7-11 tonight, New Langton Arts in San Francisco will inaugurate a program devised by Bay Area artist Anne Colvin titled "The Colony Room: Anne Colvin and Guests."

Each Friday and Saturday night through Nov. 6, Colvin will host a different performance event or screening. Future guests will include the band Rubber O Cement, writers Bill Berkson and Emily Wilson, and performance innovators Tim Etchells and Alex Hetherington.

The inaugural evening commemorates San Francisco conceptual artist Tom Marioni's milestone "relational" work, begun in the 1970s, "The Act of Drinking Beer With Friends is the Highest Form of Art," which took the form of sporadic get-togethers among art world comrades and invited guests.

At 8 tonight, Marioni will perform his sound work "One Second Sculpture" (1969) for the first time publicly and will sign copies of his book "Beer, Art and Philosophy."

The evening will include a screening of Melvyn Bragg's 1985 television interview with Francis Bacon, who helped to make the Colony Room Club in London famous as a hangout for artists.

Tickets to "The Colony Room: Anne Colvin and Guests" are $5 at the door; a $50 subscription is available for the entire series. Information at (415) 626-5416, www.newlangtonarts.org.

- Kenneth Baker

Village Voice Edition #3 Print version to accompany online edition

2008-09-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

Twinning Project - A Calendar for Callendar Park

2008-09-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

We are now working on our final project which is to create a calendar, that will be distributed to all the Callendar Park High Flats, and we are starting to pair up artists with residents.
Anyone interested in having a piece of Contemporary Art in their homes, for a short while in October please get in touch !

Here are some photographs taken at the studio of artist Kenny Hunter, who is most famous for his sculpture of The Firefighter Sculpture outside Central Station in Glasgow. We have been in discussion with Kenny about a suitable piece of work for this project and it looks like it could be a squirrel !

More Forget Me Not.....

2008-09-17T14:21:00.001-07:00

Here's another one !

Forget Me Not out in the Park

2008-09-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alex for helping me take these pictures.

ALT-W, New Media Scotland

2008-09-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

Programme_Alt-w Awards Announcement
Paparazzi

Following the exhibition Alt-w: New Directions in Scottish Digital Culture at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Glasgow, New Media Scotland is proud to announce that the following eight projects are the recipients of the 2008/09 Alt-w awards.

Production Award: Cybraphon
Ziggy Campbell, Simon Kirby & Tommy Pearman (Found)
found-electronics.net

Inspired by the nickelodeon this is an interactive version of a mechanical band in a box. Consisting of a series of robotic instruments housed in a glass display case, Cybraphon will behave like a real band. Image conscious and emotional, the bands performance will be effected by online community opinion.

Production Award: Mutsugoto
Tomoko Hayashi and Stefan Agamanolis (Distance Labs)
www.distancelab.org

A communication system for long distance lovers. Unlike mobile phones, e-mail or SMS messages which use generic interfaces in business-like contexts, Mutsugoto allows distant partners to communicate through the language of touch as expressed on the canvas of the human body.

Production Award: The Loop
Wendy McMurdo & Paul Holmes
www.wendymcmurdo.com/

Exploring the relationship between digital gaming, fantasy and play examining the nature of interactivity itself. Alt-w will fund the creation of an experimental film which will delve into the psychological state of the player of a kinetic figure-skating computer game.

Production Award: A Short Film about War
Thompson & Craighead 
www.thomson-craighead.net

A documentary made entirely from information found on the world wide web. In ten short minutes viewers are taken around the world to a variety of war zones as seen through the collective eyes of the online photo sharing community Flickr, and as witnessed by military and civilian bloggers.

R&D Award - project2891
Benjamin Dembroski
www.dembroski.net

A system that encourages engagement from less technically experienced artists in the development of both hardware and software solutions for nodal device art installations. The simple user interface will provide control of connected hardware, as well as other nodes via the Internet. A series of free workshops will explain how to use the system and suggest how it might be modified for creative applications.

R&D Award - A Million Lies;
Once and Only Revealed After Death
Alex Hetherington
www.alexhetherington.com

Researching the nature, psychology, construction, philosophy and consequences of lying. The work will include the construction of personality, identity and personal truth and will explore cultural forms that employ fakery, sham, scams and deliberate misinformation. This research will lead to exploration of these themes both online and through performance.

R&D Award - Aeolia
Sarah Kettley 
www.sarahkettley.com

This project explores the nature of space and place and will examine the concept of a bodily connection with the land through sketch prototyping of stretch sensors in sculptural textile forms. The resulting series of woven pieces for the body will be remotely connected to three-dimensional forms in the Scottish landscape, combining information from each to create unique low frequency feedback to be experienced by the wearer.

R&D Award - Imagine 3D
Emma Tolmie
www.emmatolmie.co.uk

Assuming the role of digital voyeur, visionary and creator the artist will explore the potential and the practical limits of a retro-futuristic subversion of the experience and aesthetics of film. Mixing low-tech gadgetry and high-tech imagery she is developing a heads-up display and unique digital content that re-imagines the concept of stereoscopic imaging.

The distribution of Alt-w awards is managed by New Media Scotland and funded by Scottish Screen and Scottish Arts Council.