A Watercolour Waking Dream

I just got back from Latitude and wanted to share some photos and thoughts about the experience with you all. What a weekend!

The Film and Music Arena at Latitude

The sun goes down over the Film and Music Arena on Friday.

We had a late-night slot for our Watercolour performance with Nigel and Louise from Shunt on Friday night. We had a few setup difficulties, and I’d like to apologise to anyone who waited and left before we got started.

Crew and performers at Latitude festival

All hands on deck creating the staging area.

I think everyone who came to see the show was blown away. The use of paint, the performers’ bodies and lots of eerie props in the dark of the tent was incredible, and the music was just amazing. Three hours went by in the blink of an eye.

A still moment.

We’ll have a film about the performance going up very soon. If you were there or know someone who was, we’d love to see your pics and videos too.

The finale.

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Curator Emma Chambers on choosing works for Restless Times

The Restless Times display at Tate Britain (until 6th November) explores art that responded to the uncertainty and change of the period 1914-1945, when new technology and social and political change were transforming people’s lives, but Britain and the rest of Europe were faced with economic hardship and dealing with the devastating impact of war.
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Pub, Bus, Cut, Thrust, Scrabble!

Late at Tate tonight was brilliant fun. Every activity was curated by different young people’s groups from the GBAD partner galleries, who came down to run each area themselves too!

First, I checked out the Debate Bus, which looked splendid.

The GBAD Bus arrives, honk honk

The conductors weren’t taking no (or yes) for an answer, and soon had a busful of people debating themselves blue in the face about whether modern art has gone too far.

Robin and Partridge get the debate cooking

Generally it was decided that there could be more things pickled. We were in favour of pickling.

Sound advice

They even offered some aphorisms to live by. God bless the painters!

The pub quiz is warming up...

Inside, our pop-up pub The Duchess of Cambridge was just getting started with a rather fiendish pub quiz on Tate and British art in general.

The hostess with the mostess!

A rather startlingly good look-a-like (OR WAS SHE?) lead the way, and I’m proud to say I got most of the answers right without cheating.

A drink and a think

Of course, sometimes there isn’t a right or wrong answer… but the beermats asked me something I could definitely say ‘yes’ to.

A pretty surreal experience

Sitting in the Cut and Thrust chair is a pretty surreal experience, but very true to the way you can put the world to rights with your hairdresser! I followed this lovely lady into the hotseat and discussed whether celebrity is good for the art world.

Anastasia's badge actually said Anastasis. I'm hoping to convince her to take up a career in art under that name.

All of the Cut and Thrust crew had excellent wigs, this one being my favourite. Blue! A very GBAD colour.

Living room may appear much larger than your own. We've got a lot of space!

The team from Sheffield had brought some very comfy-looking sofas and tasteful rugs to kit out our living room area, where you could relax into the debate with some starter questions.

I love this show.

They added to the chilled out feeling by playing an arty game of Scrabble:

I played 'Bacon' immediately after this for quite a lot of points, and declared myself the winner.

I didn’t even have time to have a go at the outdoor Watercolour workshop or attend an artist talk, there was simply too much going on!

Amazing projections and ambient lighting show the artworks in a whole new way.

If you came, I’d love to know what you got up to. :)

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Workshop: Apocalyptic Sheffield with Jim Connolly

Event name: Workshop: Apocalyptic Sheffield with Jim Connolly

Date and time: Sunday 17 July 2011 11:30am – 4:00pm

Venue: Millennium Gallery

Description: Learn graphic illustration skills with illustrator Jim Connolly and create your own apocalyptic vision of Sheffield. Take inspiration from the John Martin exhibition and work in pencil, ink or acrylic paints.

Jim is a freelance illustrator who works in a variety of styles but is best known for his comic-book style illustrations. You’ve probably seen his visions of local gems the Tinsley Towers, Meadowhall and Hendersons Relish around Sheffield. Jim says that his career highlights include creating art prints about his home town of Sheffield, drawing Iron Maiden’s ‘Eddie’ for their ‘Final Frontier’ album game, branding the Celluloid Screams Horror Festival and drawing Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley as a couple of ghouls.

He has also been commissioned to work on online materials, editorial illustrations, album artwork, t-shirt designs, character designs and murals. He graduated from the Manchester Met in 2000 and then spent several years working in E-learning companies in Sheffield before going solo.

You can see examples of his work on his website here http://www.jimcportfolio.co.uk/

Admission: £25 / £22.50 for concessions

Contact: Please book in advance on 0114 278 2655 or learning@museums-sheffield.org.uk

More info: Museums Sheffield

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Museum Late with Tramlines Festival

Event name: Museum Late with Tramlines Festival

Date and time: Friday 22 July 2011 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Venue: Millennium Gallery

Description: Start the Tramlines weekend with some great British art as Kid Acne and John Martin collide. DJs, a bar including Thornbridge beer, live art and plenty of random creative activities will make for a great start to the weekend.

Admission: Free

Contact: No need to book. For more details, see the Museums Sheffield site.

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John Martin’s Bad Taste

Event name: Lunchtime talk: John Martin’s Bad Taste

Date and time:
Thursday 7 July 2011 1:00pm – 1:45pm

Venue: Millennium Gallery, Sheffield

Description: Martin Myrone, Curator at Tate Britain will lead a tour around the gallery exploring John Martin’s ‘bad taste’.

Admission: Free

Contact: No need to book. For more details see the Museums Sheffield site.

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