24 Hour Arty People

Arty stuff I’ve seen and done: Manchester Edition
As you know, I have been absent my friends, working on That Day We Sang as part of the Manchester International Festival. TDWS was a bittersweet comedy with songs about 2 middle aged people who have repressed all the joy they once felt as members of a children’s choir 40 years before. It was written and directed by the gloriously talented Victoria Wood and featured some fabulous people (cast and crew) including 90 odd amazingly vibrant* children and rising talents including Ruth Carr, Dale Gerrard, Raif Clarke and Isabelle Poots. I look forward to seeing what they do next, and being proud to say I knew them, way back when. I left every night singing the songs and arrived every day with a spring in my step. Roll on MIF 2013, hopefully it will be as fantastic an experience. Click on the pavillion pic for a link to the MIF site.

*at times so vibrant I wanted to kill them!

I also got the odd bit of spare time, and made trips to other MIF shows, the Bjork Biophilia gig and the 11 Rooms exhibition thrown in for good measure, as well as hanging around the festival Pavillion. Bjork was mesmerising, accompanied by a superb sparkly choir – similar to a Greek chorus resplendent in gold and glitter- and a deep voiceover adding to the surreal and crazy nature of the show, but then if it was a straightforward gig – it wouldn’t be Bjork.

11 Rooms is a mix of live art pieces, a mishmash of some confrontational rooms combined with ones which actively make you feel uncomfortable, by their absence of activity or passive content. My favourite room was the one which contained Anna Lee – a youthful animé character brought to life – asking questions about whether it is better to be too busy or not busy enough and talking to us the visitors – the first people she’s ever communicated with, about our perceptions. The human Revolving Door was fun too and I suspect Swap depended on the day you were there and Marina Abramovich’s room left me cold, and all the more disappointed since I was desperate to catch her Life and Death of Marina Abramovich show starring Willem Defoe.

I also was privileged to take part in the delightfully irreverent Cornerhouse podcast. Irreverence being the only reaction we could muster to the film of the week “The Tree Of Life”. My co-reviewer, Dave Petty, gave his take here, which is pretty much exactly how I felt, with a wonderful counter argument from Marshall Trower ringing in the entirely valid “Malick is a visionary” argument. Podcast link & Review link

This Week & Coming Soon

Make It A Date at The Drum adds to the list of random hard to categorise things my work place does, so life continues to be not dull here in Birmingham.

32 things to do before I’m 32 – next month I will be 32, and trying to see how many new experiences I can fit into the remaining days. I want to make a start with Learning the Sierra Leone National Anthem and creating a new film. Given the time frame, think uber short!

I have mentioned my love of Giantess - well they have another gig on 12 August, so if you fancy a "riotously rickety, ranty, impatient pop pyramid with pointy bits"then I hope to see you there.

Also please follow them on Twitter.

Films I want to see
The Big Picture starring my fave french actor, Romain Duris (Moliere, The Beat That My Heart Skipped...)
Beginners - although apprently Ewan Mcgregor is not naked in it (no-one has mentioned Christopher Plummer's nude status)
Captain America - Lucas Lee is a pretty good actor. Also countdown to The Avengers *squeeee*
Horrible Bosses - well my mate wants to see it and I love Jason Bateman

I am also looking forward to Mr Rachel Weisz and hottest stud in a galaxy far far away in Cowboys and Aliens

Recommended by me and e-friends

Life.com photoblog awards recommended by @NShearerphotos on Twitter. You may want to check out his photos too. http://www.life.com/gallery/57551/image/ugc1233441#index/0

Got any weddings this summer – of course you have...try a stylish custom made fascinator by Millyboo as seen above. You can also click on the photo above to see other vintage inspired headwear.

I LOVE this project.
The gist :
We are calling for you to create a ‘postcard’ for the place you live and work – no ordinary tourist postcard, but an image showing something interesting and real about your relationship to your environment. Be innovative. There are no restrictions on media, tone, or content. Just stick to 170mm by 120mm – the dimensions of the average postcard. The rest is up to you.

If you want to contribute an image then send a hi-res digital file of the image (300dpi) along with a small profile picture must also be sent to hello@postcardsfromeurope.org by 10th August 2011. More details here

Manchester mention – The Burlington Fine Arts Club presents Andrew Bracey and others. Click the link if you too think ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.

Any recommendations for me tweet me @shegeekmcr or comment below.

have a superb weekend!

Singing In The Rain

6 days until I am officially working on That Day We Sang at the Manchester International Festival (see what I did there!). I will run very long indeed if I get into how much I love being involved in festivals, from the one off performances which burn bright never to be experienced again, to the glamour of working in the same circle as britpop Gods, cinema legends collaborating with creatives, genre defying musicians and every kind of artist under the sun and so much more. And Snoop Dogg. 10 pounds of awesome in a 5 pound bag. Girlie and carefree and full of possibilities.

This week's films. Ah Kaboom. Not a film for everyone, and I had some issues with the last 15 minutes but I don't want to criticise it because despite it's flaws, it is completely original and delightfully camp, alongside being utterly crazy. Gregg Araki's is a wonderful filmmaker and it makes me respect him even more since it takes quite some skill to have both Kaboom and Mysterious Skin - dark and compelling in very different ways - in your bag of tricks.

This week I also watched Potiche - which if you want to see it you already know you want to see it, it was a predictable, light melange of fun, French frolics. I aIso mentioned last time I am looking forward to Bridesmaids which I want to see mainly cause I love a laugh and secondly because the women involved are magnificent and a tribute to what good writing and good filmmaking is about. Women in Hollywood as always puts it better than I do.

Events coming up:

Next week I am crossing between cities here are a few things I shall be hitting a missing due to my bi-city status:

In Manchester – Tonight (Friday 24^th June) at my favourite cultural hangout - yes I am obscenely biased having spent many years drinking and subsequently working there – shoots for the stars with the exhibition Constellations– if at all possible openings at Cornerhouse are not to be missed. Unless you’re in the wrong city at the wrong time, like me.

Not Part Of again brings a plethora of Fringe events to Manchester if MIF is not quite your thing – including Blackbird which I mentioned last time.

In Birmingham - Giantess 1st July in Digbeth – The band formely known as StangetimeS will miss one dedicated fan. Please take my place!

Recommendations from my twitter friends:

GeorgeFOBentley suggests we take a moment to contemplate Mark Ashmore’s The Lost Generation.

Whilst Cassie Miller has me captivated by the National Theatre of Scotland’s five minute theatre project. http://fiveminutetheatre.com/news/

Opportunities:
Fashion Designers: An opportunity courtesy of the Creative Industries Networking Group in Manchester – next meeting is on 4^th July in Rain Bar – my first meeting for a year and a highly anticipated event for that very reason! Also possibly because of the range of creatives and collaborators and the fantastic fellowship of the networkers.

Filmmakers: Courtesy of comma press – The 10th edition of Magma, mostra di cinema breve - International Short Film Festival will take place next winter in Acireale, Italy: Submission deadline: JULY 31, 2011. For any other information and to fill in the entry form, please visit the website - www.magmafestival.org/engl

Cash for your art: I always feel it's important that good work receives good rewards so this looks very promising: The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund is open to individual artists working in visual art, theatre, performance art, film, music, dance or literature. For more details click here: http://www.ideastap.com/Opportunities/Brief/f5eebaff-7f13-40bb-bfa8-9ef10145a8b1#Overview

I probably won’t update during the festival, so until July, adieu my friends, I leave you with a song in my heart, which I'm dedicating to my cousin Rowena who would have been 31 this week.

Bursts of colour on a grey day

Today's blog is very colourful, inspired by Birmingham School Of Art's Degree show (Margaret Street on the doorstep of the delicious Birmingham Food Fair). My pictures don't do justice to some of the work, so here's a couple of snaps of some of the bigger pieces which stood out. The show is on until Friday at the school on Maragret Street (stop by the international food festival on your way out, I did!). I want to mention a few in particular: Sophie Court produced my favourite pieces in the show - the lady in glasses bottom right is one. I also liked Wendy Derrick's pixellated paintings, being greeted by Donation for the Blessing of England by Edgar Askelovic, Natalie O'Keefe's silence series photographs , Lauren Quirke's composite images and Kyriaki Vrasida's tendrilled objects. Some more pics are on my flikr but I recommend heading down in person before the show closes on Sunday 19^th.

Film fun:
The last night was the opening night of the Edinburgh Intl Film Festival. I say this with a tinge of sadness as the last time I missed an EIFF Tony Blair was still Prime Minister but everyone was hoping for the best after he went, The Simpson's Movie was still hotly anticipated and I was convinced that this was the year the BBC realised that the next film 200...presenter should be me! Aaah what an idealistic time 2007 was!

So if you're in Edinburgh, sampling the myriad delights of the festival's films, special strands and late night arguments in the bar about the whether you can look at a pair of scissors again after antichrist over a drink in the Filmhouse, Cameo or any other bar that’ll take you, I doff my hat to you in vicarious solidarity.

Having missed quite a lot of cinema lately I am playing cath up this week with the primary coloured Gnomeo & Juliet. Having missed Samson and Delilah on Film4 I am planning on rewatching it As I wished I could straight after seeing it at the cinema the first time. And finally, I will be going once again to The beautiful Electric Cinema to see Kaboom. spurred on by the dual recommendations of Cornerhouse’s podcast (nice Heathers shoutout Rachel), and David Austen’s wide eyed anticipation.

I am also counting the minutes until I get to see Bridesmaids featuring some of my favourite comic actress Kristen (everything she does) Wiig, Maya (Away We Go- EIFF 2009) Rudolph and Mellissa (no chef will ever be more awesome than Sookie St James in the Gilmore Girls) McCarthy.

Very theatrical dahling:
July in Manchester is a very busy time not only because I shall be working on That Day We Sang at Manchester International Festival (god closes a festival window and opens a freaking ginormous door) but because some of my longtime collaborators colleagues have shows on as part of the Manchester Fringe organisation, Not Part Of. Details of Lucia Cox's show Blackbird and The Myth of Escape, a play starring Andy Palmer are linked.

Organised Chaos Productions latest show Peacefully At Home will be at the Buxton festival after successful dates in Manchester. It’s written by a former winner of the prestigious Bruntwood playwrighting competition Nicola Schofield.

Stuff my other friends have been doing: They’re on the site for a reason - They’re really talented!

Leeanne Stoddart’s book will be coming out in the autumn – keep your eyes peeled for details about her book launch

Donkey Stone Films – revamped their website.

Elliot Binns may still be looking for a writing partner for this intriguing project.

Finally, here is a link to Phil Meachem’s youtube stream featuring trailers for his previous and forthcoming projects.

Thanks for reading folks, I'll hopefully be back soon, in the meantime, please follow me on twitter @shegeekmcr – I’m way more succinct and my pic is currently that great literary character The Bogwoppit.