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Bob has been up at the gallery this week to start his work painting the Archive Gallery on Floor 1 of the Garman Ryan Collection. Inspired by the Festival of Britain, the room is very colourful and has a distinct 1950s feel, which sits well with the time period of the Epstein Archive. See the below film for an explanation of the project from the man himself…
Life after The Life of the Mind
The danger after the success of The Life of the Mind exhibition was always that the Epstein Archive would quietly slip back into obscurity in the basement of the gallery. Not so. We are now at the start of the next exciting installment of the gallery’s relationship with Bob and Roberta Smith. We were always aware of the need for a legacy for the New Ways of Curating project and the Archive Gallery on Floor 1 of the gallery is the best place to cement the outcomes of the project into the fabric of the building.
So, what next? Bob and Roberta Smith’s Epstein Archive Gallery is now closed for the summer and will open again in mid-September, completely transformed. The new archive gallery will be the antithesis of the White Cube, extremely colourful and rammed to the gills with material from the archive, art, film and interactives. The room itself will be transformed into an artwork as Bob will be painting directly onto the walls. The gallery’s technicians are making new display cases for the space and Bob has chosen a colour scheme inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain. The FoB was a huge exhibition, much like a World’s Fair, designed to celebrate everything good about Britain and also raise the nation’s morale as wartime restrictions, such as rationing, continued into a new decade. An anniversary exhibition of FoB is currently on at the Southbank Centre – I’d really recommend it if you’re in London.
This week saw the gutting of the old room, removing all of Bob’s works – though a large chunk of it will be included in the new room. All of the paint has had to be specially mixed as 1950s colours are obviously not the public’s first choice for their living rooms – their loss. The room will be painted next week ready for Bob to paint directly onto the walls.
While the gallery is closed, you can still look into it, so have a look next time you’re there – you never know, there may be an artist at work! I will be updating the blog at each stage of the process, so check back to see how we’re getting on.
Xe54
a.a.s featuring AuntyNazi and Calum F.Kerr
4 – 16th January 2011
The New Art Gallery Walsall
Free – all welcome.
Do you dream? Do you have a vision for the future? Xe54 will enable you to discover your true path as an explorer of The Other Place…
Even opening yourself for a short time to these experiences will be beneficial, and you can take part for as much time as you wish. This is a time of drawing together, this is a time of focus. Many have been called by the lure of The Other Place, and although there are differing interpretations, all agree that something is shifting. The signs say that events in Walsall during the first two weeks of January will be instrumental in bringing about a transformation, that this world will be overlaid with the other, and that we will be able to move freely into a place of new potential.
Over the last two months, we have been using ‘The Cage’ as a base for our experiments. These have included Remote Viewing and Lucid Dream Training, as ways of creating portals to The Other Place – a space of dreams and ideas, a space of the future, a space of potential.
We have previously been exploring this zone by establishing temporary groups with participants, re-interpreting and re-imagining sites and experiencing our environment with ‘new eyes’. Now the moment has come for these various groups to meet together in The Other Place and you are invited to join us.
Xe54 is a performative project that will develop and change over a two week period. Participants in the project will help to explore this parallel universe and inform how the narratives and discoveries unfold. Participants can take part in taster sessions, join for a few hours or multiple days depending on availability. Drop into the Artists’ Studio located on Floor 1 or contact a.a.s prior to your visit to the gallery.
The first week of the project (4-7 January) will train participants to be able to encounter The Other Place, make use of new skills with the help of more experienced guides, and play around with their perceptions of Walsall.
Dedicated participants will be ‘inducted’ by a.a.s and grouped into various teams on Saturday 8 January and Sunday 9 January. Each induction session will last approximately 40 minutes and will involve a series of encounters that will guide you to The Other Place. Places are limited and pre-booking is recommended (see contact details below).
In the second week of the project, participants will be working together, finding coincidences and repetitions in everyday occurrences, interpreting signs and splicing them together, to build a collective ‘making strange’ of Walsall.
On Saturday 15 January, participants will develop a series of ritualised actions to create a quantum sacred event. Reality is fractured and during a ceremony on Sunday 16 January the dream universe that is Walsall will be restored.
Follow the Other Place blog to witness the events unfolding:
http://theotherplaceportal.net/blog
To sign up or for more information please contact:
aas@aasgroup.net
07806 50 27 26
http://aasgroup.net
Dreamachine enhanced remote viewing
Over the past few months a.a.s have been exercising their extra sensory perceptions by practicing Remote Viewing.
Originally developed by the US government to spy on enemies during World War II. Remote viewing involves trying to see objects or situations remotely, through the eyes of the person in the location you are trying to view. To practice, we send one or two people away into Walsall, while the rest of us stay in The Cage and try to see what they’re seeing. There are variable methods, the most common method is to concentrate on images and shapes that might come into your mind and draw them, eventually these shapes can begin to represent real objects. It takes some practice to be able to accurately remote view, but we have been trying some methods to help induce more vivid images in the mind.
Firstly, practicing in The Cage helps to block out any interfering signals. Secondly, we’ve been using a Dreamachine to enhance our visions. The Dreamachine has been made to artist Brion Gysin’s design. It spins around a bulb, producing flickering light. The pulsating light stimulates the optical nerve, so when looking at the Dreamachine with your eyes closed, you can experience bright, complex patterns.
Combining these elements has enabled us to remote view more vividly. As we practice we noticed more commonalities between the things we have drawn and the images of the objects that were being sent back from the people who had gone out into Walsall. These kind of skills all help us to access The Other Place, if we are able to remotely view other locations within this world, we will be able to clearly see into The Other Place.
Lucid Dream Training
We’ve all had dreams where you wake up and wish you could have done something differently, or that you could go back into it and explore the dreamscape further. In a lucid dream, you are aware that you are dreaming, and have some control over your actions, the direction the narrative takes, and the setting and atmosphere.
Lucid dreaming is an important part of experiencing The Other Place. To develop our skills, we have been experimenting with developing psychic connections and accessing the archaic, group mind. During the lucid dream training we will be building on this by attempting to dream collectively, trying out different methods and making notes and drawings based on this. We will be explaining and preparing for lucid dreaming beforehand, and discussing experiences afterwards.
Come and join us for one hour sleeping sessions, experimenting with Lucid Dreaming in The Cage.
Sunday the 5th and 12th, and Tuesday 14th December 2010
Sessions at 12pm and 2pm
Please come dressed comfortably, at least half an hour before the session.
For more information about how to lucid dream, visit The Other Place blog
How to shuffle perspective game book correction rule do it meeting
Each week, we have been using i-ching readings to pick two random books from The Cover of a Book is the Beginning of a Journey, and creating a new performance score from them. This is inspired by the cut-up technique of William Burroughs, and also relates to our interest in the connection between performance scores and ritual protocols.
We have been writing these on a blackboard by the book collection, and inviting people to interpret the scores for themselves. Click here to see the different instructions created over the weeks, and try them out yourself.
During the book fair on the 27th November 2010, we spent the whole day with visitors, trying different methods of generating new performance instructions. To randomise the texts we used dice, pulled words out of a bag, and threw coins.
Then, as everyone was packing up, we presented some performances based on the scores made on the day
Click the following images to see videos:
Experiment 001
The Binaural balance treatments were well received this weekend. We observed positive changes in most participants and are hopeful that the treatment has primed participants, opening their minds to The Other Place.
visit The Scientist’s blog to find out more about Binaural Balance Treatment.
The Cage awaits
The Cage portal opened up in the artists studio space this week. The Scientists have harnessed it, and will use its unique properties to allow us to experience The Other Place and call forth the walkers of the forking paths.
This Saturday as part of the Wellbeing Festival, The Scientists will be offering Other Place Treatments, making use of The Cage’s wave blocking abilities.
Binaural Balance Treatments can realign your mind and help it to become in tune with The Other Place. A reading from the treatment will reveal the trace of your Other Place aura, the protective shield you will need to access The Other Place on your individual journey.
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.
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