On September 17th 2011 the British Art Show 7 rolls into Plymouth for 12 weeks.

As a response - the artistic and creative community will respond and put on a fringe event - just as they have done in Nottingham - just as others have in other parts of the country before.

I am part of that group who are hoping to capitalise on the impact of that show - massive media coverage, 50,000 visitors.

For artists,makers,designers,musicians and performers it is a brilliant opportunity. I would, however like to pose the question : a brilliant opportunity to do what ?

I have my own personal perspective - and in some ways what follows is a manifesto or 'political' statement on what I believe should happen. By doing this I am hoping that others will respond and debate and discuss - or at the least - engage with the ideas and come to their own conclusions.

The Plymouth 'arts' community is no different to the UK arts community in that it can be broken down into 6 broad areas. Visual arts,performance art and performers, music and sonic art,written arts,screen arts,online/digital.

It is that community who I would like to respond to the call, and grab this opportunity which could, just could, change the artistic and cultural face and psychology in Plymouth.

The opportunity is, as I see it , to put on our own arts and cultural festival over the 12 weeks with as many events,shows,exhibitions,activities and happenings as we can muster in as many venues as we can find. My personal preference - is for all events - this time round - to have an element of visual arts ( bands performing with back projections of artwork is a very simple example), but that's just me - the priority is diversity made available.

The idea of the largest number of venues possible is important.Why ?

Because it will give the widest number of people in Plymouth the chance to experience and participate in something on the fringe. The fringe and the artists participating need ( like BAS7) to speak to the public, and not to themselves. Which is why I have already secured my local pub in Roborough village as a venue - haven't got a clue what's going on there yet or who will be doing things there - but that's the excitement. Equally there are irons in fires and ideas surfacing - on the large scale - I have suggested making use of the 3 Devonport tower-blocks as a venue for a one-off light show - it may never happen ( though hope it does) - it's just an idea at the moment.

Now some nitty gritty.

Who pays ?

Now there will undoubtedly be funds available for some major fringe projects - whatever they turn out to be from Arts Council England and other bodies, in-kind support and maybe some moderate private sector sponsorship.But, with that funding and support will come strings-attached agreements and targets to meet. Not a bad thing for the funders and the artists who individually or collectively secure it, but the chances are many of us will not receive a penny up front. I want to re-iterate and make it clear - I am not against that sort of funding, but for many it will be an  unrealistic hope.

Which is why I am in favour of the DIY approach. ( I have floated that as a possible name for the fringe - but it's my unofficial tag for it at present - the informal group will eventually decide and "the event's the thing" )

I favour the autonomous approach - because it's what artists do. I discussed this (and I trust he won't mind me mentioning this) with Steve Gribble (artist and singer/songwriter with Francis and the Drakes) . He said something along the lines of " we don't sit around waiting for funding to come along before we create something" . Agreed - neither do we seek permission from others. We just get on and do it. This approach does not preclude collaboration - because that's another thing that many artists do.Very few of us need, or want our hands held, when we make these steps.

Which is where I personally want to see the Plymouth fringe going. It can live with both models as an event. There will be the larger scale curated events - that is inevitable, and I look forward to those as much as BAS7 - and look forward to participating if possible.

But - what I am most looking forward to is the potential for unleashing a large programme of  events going on for 12 weeks - an embrassment of riches - where people will not be able to see everything - but will be able to see or take part in something. The fringe group's role in this will be crucial - to collate and co-ordinate where possible - package it up into a coherent programme of events that are centrally promoted, easily accessible and advertised - alongside an individual event's own marketing.

I'm nearing the end - so bear with me - I'll take a step outside of Plymouth and look North to Edinburgh. Now a massive deal the Edinburgh Fringe is over 60 years old. For 30 years it had no real centralised structure. It was a gadfly on the rump of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival.

The Edinburgh fringe is the biggest arts festival of its kind in the world I believe. It is prestigious and globally acclaimed. It takes place in a city only twice the size of Plymouth.

And - most importantly - the Fringe is still a DIY affair. Venues are found -and finding somewhere new to put something on is now, nigh on an impossibility - unless you're in the know and part of the Edinburgh fringe ecology. ( There is a toilet which is a regular performance venue, by way of example). The Fringe festival committee ( and Plymouth is a long way off needing one of those - 2041 - see above) processes applications, takes registrations etc etc - but it is still an un-juried ( ie un-curated) festival - they do not decide on events - artists and venues are self-organising. I am not saying there are exact parallels - but there are close ones with what we might achieve. If a festival that large can still work on the DIY principle - then I am 100% certain we can do the same where we need to.

So - there's the challenge - think laterally, innovate,create, experiment with what you want to show,perform or exhibit and where you want to do it. Because we're artists we can. But we need to do it.

Some stuff will work, some won't, some stuff will be brilliant - other stuff will be less than brilliant.

And it will be great.

And most important - and I cannot stress how important I think this is.

After it's all over - we will have hopefully laid down the foundations for an annual event - not dependent on BAS7 - but our own arts and artist led event - by us and for everyone - every year - how exciting would that be.

Let's get it on

( All the above is the text of a speech made in my living room to no-one )

I'm anxious to get things rolling on the Fringe front for the Plymouth BAS7 next year - so following my last post I am presenting a possible image to use for the promotion.

It's everyone's fringe  - but I want people to start having discussion and debate - and if you're an artist wanting to get involved there' s a facebook group - small as yet - but do get involved - anyway here's the idea - please comment... in the next week or so I am going to post my suggestion as to how we move the whole thing forward

One thing though - my view is that DIY is short and accessible and easy to remember.

When I went along to the introductory event for the British Art Show at the Roland Levinsky building on Saturday I was fully intending to take loads of notes and do a report back - but - maybe it was the lecture theatre setting - and how quickly you revert to type - I found most of the notes I took incomplete and unstructured, and if you want a local journalisitc report - here's the Western Morning News on the subject.

It was great to hear from Roger Malbert of the Hayward Gallery and the two curators Tom Morton and Lisa le Feuvre - they gave an interesting insight into how the British Art Show came into being and how the current touring show was put together.

Phrases such as 'intellectual engagement' and  ' asking important questions' peppered the whole event and it was great to see so many people turn out for the event.

But the most important part was the palpable buzz of excitement that surrounded the arrival of the show in 2011 - and not just excitement - there were also quite a few sparks of disagreement - and not seeing quite eye to eye which surfaced in the Q & A panel session at the end - which tellingly overran the time slot.

There were disagreements about how the exhibition should be curated and interpreted , the exclusion of Plymouth artists (from the main show ) which somewhat missed the point, why wasn't Cornwall included and, to badly misquote the People's Front of Judea - " what will the British Art Show do for us" ?

The most entertaining moment came when the curator of Torre Abbey in Torquay spoke about curating Anthony Gormley and Damien Hirst exhibits - the inference appeared to be that without specialist interpreters , the public in Plymouth might struggle to "get it". There was an audible intake of breath - possibly from me , and a friendly but spikey exchange with the show's curators who got a little defensive and if anyone who was there wants to put me right - they can , I am sure Tom Morton responded by saying " why are you so cross with us" and "we know what we are doing"

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs it highlighted the first of two points that I took away from the event - or maybe re-inforced what I already thought.

Firstly - for the best part of 3 months at the end of 2011 Plymouth will be saturated with contemporary art - vomiting heads,burning benches and a naked man, the internationally famous 'Clock' et al. The coverage will be major nationally , regionally and locally it will be immense. The debate in our local press will be long and full - there will be "my 3 year old could do better than that" comments aplenty.

In short - it's going to be brilliant.

Secondly - this is a call and response moment for the wider arts community in Plymouth.We've got the call - now let's respond.

We have a chance, second to none, to raise the game and the status of contemporary art and artists in Plymouth in the run up to and during the show - by putting on fringe events - as many as we can in as many places as possible - thinking outside the box as much as much as possible. If we can achieve that - we can help to lay down a lasting legacy and create a vibrant artist-led mindset within the Plymouth arts community. Sure, we can get help and support where we can - but it's DIY time - because in the uncertain financial times that we find In the Days of the Comet - DIY is all we can rely on.

A bit of DIY

Websites worth visiting -

BAS7 Official website

Sideshow (Nottingham fringe) website

I cannot believe it's over 6 months since I last blogged here - I've decided to get back in the saddle.

I've also decided that I am going embrace the word culture in a much broader sense than I might have done previously - and be either as universal or parochial as I wish.

It's my blog after all.

So I'm going parochial.... and I'll keep this short and sweet.

Plymouth has a lot of headline grabbing awards - based around business, acheivements,sport, young-people's film-making. I've plucked four from the ether - there are more.

Whilst I was doing some research in advance of my trip to Wales last week I looked at what geographical / economic / industrial communities of interest are doing in respect of on-line networking,support and advocacy in the UK.

The more I looked - the more I felt that my hunch was probably right.

Plymouth seems to have one of the most vibrant social-media cultures in Britain - more people here seem to take every opportunity to promote our city and its inherently positive,buzzing and enterprising vibe.

More people in Plymouth seem to take time to promote and support each other online.

I think that ought to be celebrated - it makes a real impact and it forges real friendships and relationships that benefit Plymouth as a whole.

I have no idea what form or format or what categories there should be within those awards.

Nor do I have any firm idea as to when or where it should happen - which is why I am putting the idea out there to engender some discussion - don't let me down Plymouth :-)

Comment here - or tweet or facebook it or YouTube it - I don't mind - vive la difference

My questions therefore - should it happen ? who's up for making it happen ?

Over to you Plymouth.....

ps I'm up for it by the way

pps - don't forget to visit my website as well  MY DOG ATE ART

It’s amazing how a word can conjure up memories.

Festival - is one such word for me.

To me it brings back precious memories of a recurring time in another part of the Southwest – Penzance.

After partying hard for nine days I crawl out of bed at 5.00am on a Saturday – it’s light – it’s midsummer.  A brisk walk along the seafront – and I arrive at the Acorn theatre where about 30 or so people have also managed to get up. Coffee, croissant and brandy is consumed. Then the lorry arrives with the materials we need, which drives around Penzance dumping it at strategic points throughout the town.  The small army of volunteers goes about its business and soon, apart from all the decorations that have festooned Market Jew Street for the last week and a half – shops, lamp-posts and statues and railings are now smothered in fresh greenery before most people have even stirred in their bed. Mazey Day – the culmination of the Golowan festival  is underway. Most of us will not be back in bed until the early hours of Sunday. Some pubs unofficially “open” – party time!!  

Another memory – this time in Barcelona – and a long weekend booked – unknowingly  on the weekend of the Festa Major de Gracia –  situated in the Barri Gotic  (mediaeval quarter).  Totally bonkers – fun – hedonistic – you’re actively encouraged and welcomed to join in with the traditional dancing and processions with giant papier mach heads,  and some bizarre games, by hospitable Catalans. Don’t think about going to bed until 4.00am

So – that’s what I think about when I hear the word festival.

For the people – and unashamedly by the people.

Which is why my heart sinks a little when I see the words  ‘Plymouth Summer Festival’  

If a festival is anything – it’s staged by a local community by and for itself – for its own enjoyment and its own benefit.  It may be ancient – or it may be a revival or it may be invented – that’s irrelevant – but it has a soul , a core and a community focus..

So – I look at the ‘Summer Festival’ and see a festival within a ‘festival’  kicking it off – The Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival  which is a recent invention – but to me is a genuine example – it’s localised – it’s embraced within the community and it has a distinct flavour. (Another example of a festival like this – different in theme obviously – is the Hay Literary Festival )

Then there are the other events spanning 5 (count them) months. That’s not a festival - and it certainly isn’t ‘summer’ -it spans 3 of the internationally recognised seasons.

The scattergun approach of the ‘Summer Festival' runs through  Crowded House at the Pavilions, a truck show, watching cars racing around Silverstone on the telly, Derek Acorah chatting to Michael Jackson and power-boats and … check out the link – loads more events and, no doubt, more to come. Arm-wrestling with Chas ‘n’ Dave anyone ? Monkey-tennis ?

And this I believe is the fault line running through the programme of events.

Notwithstanding that there may be (I don’t know) incentives offered for some events to take place as part of an organised package – these events would have taken place anyway. Crowded House are booked in as part of their international comeback tour – the Grand Prix will take place without a ‘summer festival’ , and I doubt very much if Race for Life organisers worry too much if there’s a ‘festival’ in town before going ahead with their vital fund-raising.

So maybe I am a little old-school – but this 5 month shoe-horning exercise is, to me, no festival. Nothing against the events – it’s good to have so many – they’ll all have an audience, but,I repeat,  they would happen anyway. The festival notion is in itself nothing more than a corporate marketing exercise.

There is no focus and it is certainly not run by or for the community.  

People who know me or follow me on Twitter know that I promote Plymouth and the brilliance of our city as often as I can.

So, trying to act in a spirit of constructive criticism – is it possible that the corporate and cultural supporters and sponsors of the current ‘festival’  really engage over the coming year with the population  of Plymouth and the different communities within it - and see if we can invent our own real Summer Festival for 2011. It might mean a real change of mind-set – but it could be done. Let's have an agreed theme or  focus - let's have some major specially organised events - and let the community respond to the challenge and put together it's own variants - with some of that financial support that goes into the current marketing.

So - let’s participate and let’s party and put other cities in the shade !

Dear Parliamentary candidates
 
Now that your manifestos have been published - can you answer here please - by commenting on this post.
 
1. What do you regard as unique about your Party's policy regarding the Arts and Creative Industries ?
 
2. What specific improvements can the Arts and Creative industries (as a major part of the economy in Plymouth and the Southwest) expect to see if you form (or have a part to play) in the next government ?  One or two examples is all I'm asking here.
 
3. What specific arts related initiatives and projects in Plymouth and area, would you want to support and promote as a constituency MP if elected ?
 
Many thanks
 
Steve

The link for this post has been tweeted or sent via email for the 3 candidates for each of the 3 main parties in the 3 Plymouth based constituencies.

The responses (or lack of them ) to date are as follow -

1. Stuart Bonar - Lib Dem - Moorview - a full response - see comments to this post

2. Anna Pascoe -Lib Dem - South West Devon was emailed a link to the questions on 24/04/10 - and has responded in full - see comments to this post dated 27/04/10.

3. Gary Streeter - Conservative - South West Devon initially sent a holding response - "may get round to it" ( see comments ). He didn't got round to it - so another reminder email went to him on 26/04/10. He has finally responded - and you can see his reponse in full in the comments to this post - dated 26/04/10.

4. Matthew Goves - Conservative - Moor View has responded - response posted below in comments 05/05/10

5. Luke Pollard - Labour - South West Devon - a full response - which has been copied without edit to the comments on this post

6. Judy Evans - Lib Dem - Sutton and Devonport - has responded - see comments to this post.

7. Alison Seabeck - Labour - Moor View - has responded - her answers are copied without edit to the comments on this post.

8. Linda Gilroy - Labour - Sutton and Devonport - has not responded at all - a further reminder went out on 26/04/10 - no response - so another tweet on 01/05/10.

9. Oliver Colvile - Conservative - Sutton and Devonport - has responded - response has been copied into comments 05/05/10 

ps don't forget to visit my on-line gallery as well :-) www.mydogateart.blogspot.com

KURT JACKSON : RIVER ( March 27^th – July 10^th) Plymouth City Museum

I knew I could relate to an artist like Kurt Jackson immediately I saw one of his open sketchbooks on display. A rough pencil sketch of the viaduct over the Tamar at Calstock – annotated  ‘after a pint in the Tamar Inn’. Beer and art –good combination.

This is one of several sketchbooks on view at this exhibition. Closely observed drawings coupled with rough abstract sketches, ferry tickets stuck to the pages, lots of scribbled notes – some literal, others apparent random words. These books – fascinating in themselves (and if you’re an artist–educational) provide a direct link to the major works on show.

After spending the best part of 90 minutes looking at the paintings I had an over-riding impression…  

Kurt Jackson’s canvases and large works on paper are like large (massive in some cases ) pages from a sketch-book. They have the same quality as those books – apparent spontaneity and roughnesss – but clearly well observed and thought through. The sketch-book quality of the paintings is even more apparent when you realise that each painting, like the books has its title hand-written or painted – in full. He doesn’t always go in for short snappy titles in many cases. My personal favourite – “ looking out of window at midnight from Savoy towards Waterloo bridge while listening to an African radio station”  

It really would be difficult to run through every painting in detail – but there were some real standouts for me. The most eye-catching piece – in my view- glowed at me from one end of the gallery – I love vibrant colour – so it’s no surprise. The piece in question called  “Henley festival at night” is a little like an Irish tricolour on acid – spattered and daubed citrus green and orange teamed with white throbbing out of sienna and dark violets – it could be a pure abstract – but it isn’t. It’s figurative art pared down to basics, and frankly I could have looked at it for hours.

Another example of beautiful abstracted representational painting is “crossing the Severn into Wales”  A predominantly very pale blue canvas supports a wedge of russet hues whilst an intense white highlight glows on the ‘horizon’. Its almost the bookend to the Henley painting – it’s all subdued and subtle tones…

In the sketchbooks there is a clear joy and skill in the use of collage and mixed media. This is reflected in pretty much all the paintings on show here.

The Savoy painting is clearly a painting of the Thames at night seen from above – painted and inked and drawn on heavy paper which is layered with Savoy notepaper, tickets and torn pages from the Guardian. There is a lot of detail to pieces like this – which repay close inspection. I can’t help feeling that leaving the words “Big Lottery Fund” clearly in view is not a chance, that there is a story or message…

The ‘accidental’ use of objects is most evident in “Shirehampton sandpipers stillness” – one of the very large canvases. A depiction of a tidal river on a large canvas – the foreshore is depicted in paint  and a large encrusted assemblage of rubbish from (one assumes) the same stretch of river. It’s thick and gaudy making clever use of the primary colours of plastic litter – and objects like a golf ball, lids, a child’s plastic balloon holder and packaging. Again the packaging appears to have been chosen quite deliberately. Words like “house” “plastic” “warning” “fishes” and “newt” are placed to be visible if you look – they are intended as environmental messages – an important part of Kurt Jackson’s work with rivers – “metaphors for life itself” as he describes them.

It’s fascinating to get as close as this to paintings on this scale. They look great from a distance – and are brilliant and bizarre in detail. I made the note “demented plasterer” (in a good way) after close inspection of a few of these big canvases. Watching a few of the films on offer of Kurt Jackson at work I wasn’t wrong. For some of these large canvases (laid out on the riverbank) – he can be seen applying paint and mud with sticks, cardboard and his wellies. The videos in some ways reminded me of the films of Jackson Pollock at work – but without the self-regard.

I don’t like labeling artists with comparisons necessarily. But I’ll make an exception- the over-riding impression I had was of Pollock meeting Turner head on – with the English landscapes of Turner coming out on top.

This exhibition is well worth a visit or three.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

(image: Image credit: Detail. Oak leaves fall, distant traffic, gulls visit, the tide ebbs on the Tamar by Kurt Jackson, 2007)

 " ... access to culture and sport
 
Liberal Democrats believe that the arts are a central part of civic and community life. They contribute to innovation, education, diversity, and social inclusion, and the creative industries are one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. Britain’s culture and heritage play a vital role in attracting visitors to the UK and boosting the very important tourism industry.
 
We will  foster an environment in which all forms of creativity are able to flourish.
 
We are proud that Britain is hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, and we support bids for other high-profile events such as the 2018 World Cup – but we believe that grassroots sport is just as important. We  will give people from all backgrounds and generations the opportunity to participate in sports.

Liberal Democrats will

Maintain free entry to national museums and galleries and open up the Government Art Collection for greater public use.

 Set up a ‘Creative Enterprise Fund’ offering training, mentoring and small grants or loans to help creative businesses get off the ground.

Cut red tape for putting on live music. We will reintroduce the  rule allowing two performers of unamplified music in any licensed  premises without the need for an entertainment licence,

Reform the National Lottery. We will change the way the National  Lottery is taxed from a ticket tax to a gross profi ts tax, which is forecast to deliver more for good causes and the Exchequer.

Use cash in dormant betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs.

Close loopholes that allow playing fields to be sold or built upon without going through the normal planning procedures.

A strong and diverse media, free from government interference and pressure is essential to a free and democratic society. We will:

Ensure that the BBC remains strong, free from interference and  securely funded, not least to provide impartial news, independent of political and commercial pressures.

We will also ensure that the BBC  does not undermine the viability of other media providers through unfair competition based on its public funding and dominant position.

Support a diverse regional and local media. We will help to maintain independent local sources of news and information by enabling partnerships between TV, radio and newspaper companies to reduce costs, and by limiting publicly-subsidised competition for paid advertising from local council free-sheets "

So there it is ... specific questions to the candidates in Plymouth tomorrow - 3 weeks to go to polling.

Here's the 

 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT 2010 ELECTION MANIFESTO

" The word art or arts as they appear in context in  the Conservative party 2010 election manifesto :

We will restore the National Lottery to its original purpose and, by cutting down on administration costs, make sure more money goes to good causes. The Big Lottery Fund will focus purely on supporting social action through the voluntary and community sector, instead of Ministers’ pet projects as at present.

Sports, heritage and  the arts will each see their original allocations of  20 per cent of good cause money restored.

Brighton and Hove is one of Britain’s most creative and diverse cities. The city hosts over 50 festivals each year,including England’s largest annual arts festival, and boasts some of the top live performance venues in the country.  It is also home to a large number of creative industry companies, including some of Britain’s leading digital media businesses.

The word creative as it appears in context in the Conservative party 2010 election manifesto : 

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and home to 13,000 businesses, including some of Britain’s most successful firms. For example, eight of the ten largest insurance companies in the UK have an office in Glasgow, and the city is also home to leading technology energy and creative businesses.

We want Britain to become a European hub for hi-tech, digital and creative industries –but this can only happen if we have the right infrastructure in place. Establishing a superfast broadband network throughout the UK could generate 600,000 additional jobs and add  £18 billion to Britain’s GDP.  "

You can also find the word “creative” in the paragraph about Brighton above

And that, genuinely, really is it … as far as I can see - please put me right if I've missed anything.

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY 2010 ELECTION MANIFESTO