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LONGHOUSE ACTION RESEARCH BURSARY 2010
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Longhouse is an annual programme of work carried out by community arts organisation, Multistory based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands. Longhouse is dedicated to the professional development of artists working in the public realm and provides knowledge, support and funding to artists to develop their practice.
Longhouse is currently looking for applications from artists who wish to undertake a period of action research.
There are 5 bursaries available for 2010/11.
Each bursary will run from October 2010 – March 2011.
Artists are required to use the bursary to pro-actively discover new contexts for their work via the exploration of different approaches to socially engaged practice in the public realm.
In the spirit and rich tradition of past Action Research programmes all participating artists will be encouraged to test their current creative practice through intensive investigation, reflection and understanding of what is meant by, and the reality of, the ‘public realm’, especially in the current climate of ‘Big Society’, new forms of regeneration being needed and the slowing of capital investment.
We are inviting applications from artists for action research proposals under the umbrella theme of ‘connections’ – how artists and cultural activity can make connections between people, people and place (physical and metaphorical), and between people and knowledge all relating to the current climate and context of regeneration and the public realm.
Under the heading of ‘connections’, artists are expected to consider one or more of the following inter-related threads as the basis of their proposal:
i social inclusion + democracy
For example:
• public perception and reality of public space – what is and is not allowed – are public spaces ‘democratic’?
• what are the ‘politics’ of the public realm?
• What are the public engagement + participatory opportunities?
ii filling physical spaces – artistic occupation
For example:
• what is the impact or benefit of evolving programmes of challenging and unexpected occupation of space (temporary, permanent, visual, interactive, integrated etc.)?
• The language and messages of regeneration programmes – how are these perceived?
• How can we connect public spaces across wider neighbourhoods or urban context?
iii building sustainable communities
For example:
• Where are the links or otherwise between professionals (decision-makers, developers, masterplanners, agencies + funding bodies), artists + the ‘general public’?
• What is the effect of transitional populations?
• How can urban ecology – growing projects, allotments + food – the public realm as a productive landscape – play a part?
Each of the selected artists will receive support from Lead Artist/Mentor, Scott Farlow (www.scottfarlow.co.uk) during their bursary, through one to one meetings and three group workshops which will enable the artists to apply their learning to a ‘real’ place and brief.
The group workshops will enable the artists to share their practice as a group, gain practical advice and experience as well as take part in debate and raise questions relating to their practice and the wider issues of artists using socially engaged practice in regeneration/the public realm.
All artists applying for the bursary must be available to attend all of these workshops to take place on:
• 20 – 21 October 2010
• 8 – 9 December 2010
• 16 – 17 February 2011
It is required that the artists record and document their project online using the Longhouse blog throughout their bursary. Artists will be given guidance and instruction on how to add content to the website.
Required Bursary Outputs:
o A six month period of action research managed and budgeted by the artist with support from Longhouse and Scott Farlow.
o A minimum of six online updates on the Longhouse blog
o Attendance and participation at three group workshops facilitated by Scott Farlow and one to one meetings
o A final written statement and visual illustrations (photographic or graphic) for an Action Research publication (format of publication TBC)
o Participation in a detailed evaluation of the action research programme
Payment Details
The total fee is £2,000 (inclusive of all materials, expenses and VAT)
Please Note: Travel and subsistence for attendance at the three group meetings will be paid for by Longhouse separate to the fee.
To Apply
Applicants are requested to include the following:
• Covering letter with full address and contact details
• Recent CV (no longer than two A4 sides)
• Up to 4 printed or digital images of your work
• Expression of Interest (maximum 500 words)
The Expression of Interest should include:
• An outline of your proposed action research idea (based around the theme of Connections as outlined above)
• Your thoughts on how you expect this bursary will impact you and your practice in both the short and long term
Deadline: Friday 17 September
Both post and email applications will be accepted.
To be sent to:
Karl Greenwood, Longhouse, 1 Overend Street, West Bromwich, B70 6EY
Or: Email to: karlgreenwood@multistory.org.uk
Please Note: Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an informal interview at the Multistory Offices in West Bromwich – provisional dates for interviews are Tuesday 28 September 2010.
Coveted Premiership trophy comes to Walsall
Thursday 9 September
10am – 4pm
The New Art Gallery Walsall
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all chasing it but Walsall will be the place to see one of the biggest prizes in football.
The Barclays Premiership trophy is set to come to Walsall.
Fans will be able to get up close and personal with the impressive silverware as part of a drive to raise money for good causes.
The prize will be on display on Thursday September 9 from 10am to 4pm at the New Art Gallery, Gallery Square.
Councillor Gary Clarke, Walsall Mayor, will be hosting the award which will be accompanied by two security guards.
He said: “This will be a brilliant chance to see the Premiership trophy at close quarters.
“It’ll be great to see it in Walsall. We are very honoured to have it and I’m sure that no matter which club you support you’ll look forward to seeing it.
“As a committed Walsall supporter myself I’m looking forward to wearing a scarf along with my chains of office and having my picture taken with it.”
Fans can have their pictures taken with the award and are being invited to make a contribution of their choice to the Mayor’s Charity to raise money for Walsall Hospice and disadvantaged children.
Since the launch of the Premiership in 1991 just four teams have lifted the coveted trophy with Manchester United winning 11 titles, Chelsea and Arsenal three apiece and Blackburn Rovers lifting the prize once.
The current Barclays Premier League trophy was created by Royal Jewellers Asprey of London. It weighs four stones and is 76 cm tall.
Its main body is solid sterling silver and silver gilt, while its plinth is made of malachite, a semi-precious stone. The plinth has a silver band around its circumference, upon which the names of the title-winning clubs are listed.
The design of the trophy is based on the heraldry of Three Lions that is associated with English football.
The Premier League has become the world’s most watched football league and is the world’s most lucrative football league with combined club revenues of almost £2 billion in 2007–08.
the sound of cracking up
cracking up – thats right, cracking up was the first sound in walsall i recognised. swans on the water trying to get up onto the ice and it cracking up around them. theres a wee film i put together of them at http://vimeo.com/14011101 – haunting
poetic moments
a seagull’s down feather
fell on the dry twigs. The old woman in the doorway
across the street said: ‘With small things like that, my son.
we manage to make life livable’.
from Yannis Ritsos – Greece (from his collection railing 1968/9).
Yannis Ritsos is a touchstone to me both his work and his life and politics. most of all these poetic moments are what i seek out in my work – its nudging meteors, turning or tuning things to a slightly different trajectory. here are a couple of teeshirt designs for the new art gallery walsall and disability arts shropshire that i hope do that.
melancholiaaah or melancholiaaagh
was standing in front of gavin turks melancholia in walsall and it struck me – is it melancholi-aaaaah or melancholi-aaaaaggh? its supposed to be the aaaaah – mild swoon artistic melancholy and this is something that persists in the medical profession despite the four temperaments being long out of date. doctors would like to line up all 61 million on this island of the edge and walk down the line – a nice neat continuum – and at some point we would move from well to unwell, from not depressed to depressed – i.e. melancholic and then further into melancholia. only – for me – its not a continuum its falling off a cliff. theres a gulf. a huge precipice. and so my take is melancholiaaaagggh definitely. made a wee electronic flip book complete with sound to demonstrate – viewable / downloadable at
My Russian Binocular rage and Eppy Daddy Battle Bot
It’s been a while since my last Epstein Archive entry, so I thought it best to give you a little update. As you may have seen, I had a ‘moment’ the other week (which can be viewed here) but I’m ok now. Fully calmed down. That whole thing started quite a few months ago when Bob and I were going through a load of miscellaneous items in the archive and some of it was, frankly, absolute rubbish. I know the archivist is supposed to remain impartial about the subjective value of any item, but if anyone requests a research visit to view Beth Lipkin’s hoover warranty, I will eat my shoes.
Anyway, I was having a bit of a moan to Bob about it all and one particular item, an advert for Russian binoculars, was, I thought, a totally pointless thing to keep. From then on, ‘the Russian binoculars’ became a bit of a buzz word for anything rubbish, or anything that irritated me – not that I’m a particularly irritable person or anything. And, eventually, the film was born.
But now, after some time has passed, the advert for Russian binoculars has taken on a whole new meaning – I wouldn’t dream of speaking ill of this little newspaper clipping now. It has relevance because we gave it relevance. I think that’s one of the most interesting things about having an artist involved in a collection – really unexpected connections and items can come to the fore.
So, to Bob’s residency. I spoke to Bob a few days ago and his latest creation, Eppy Daddy Battle Bot, is being built as we speak in Bob’s new studio is Ramsgate. Eppy Daddy Battle Bot is a reimagining of Jacob Epstein as a 5 metre high 1950s style robot. We’ll collect him just before the residency and then you will see the final stages of Eppy Daddy’s creation in the Arists Studio during the last two weeks of September.
If Eppy Daddy were to speak – what would he say? Answers on a postcard.
The Other Place Portal
I heard somewhere that some people believe that dreams are the primary reality, or at least that the unconscious is, and when we are awake we are dealing mostly with illusion. This would mean that The Other Place is the PRIMARY Reality.
Reality is filtered through the conscious AND unconscious mind, and each of us can feel a kinship with groups we encounter, without really knowing why. If you are here, you belong here.
To enter The Other Place, register your interest at:
http://theotherplaceportal.net
Open Weekend 2010 Images
Images courtesy of Brian Homer, Timm Sonnenschein, Emma-Jo Tucker and Lee Jordan.
New batch of Bob and Roberta Smith posters…
After the first load of See Esther Walsall’s Mona Lisa posters were snapped up, there is a new batch printed and ready to go. You can find them in the resource area of the foyer (where the films are played). Help yourself, they’re free!
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