The Biennial Blog

So I’m Caz and today is my last day in the Biennial office after 4 years of working with the public art team as programme assistant.

I thought I might blog about some of the work I have been involved with, always in the background, I have had a fantastic 4 years and ‘it’s good to share’ or so they say.

I lent a small administrative hand with Dream in St Helens, my first ever experience with Biennial was chair racing down the office with the miners who worked in the former Sutton Manor pits, yes… seriously!

I then worked on the Visible Virals programme with a-ape, the phrases you can see painted around the city walls are a lasting tribute of that project but it also included a phenomenal ‘can shop’, a publication of photo’s, facts and figures along with a set of scales that tell you your weight via how many bags of sugar one person eats in a year or how much toilet roll one family uses each year amongst others.

I worked with Nils Norman on his parks project too finding all the banner sites for his posters (one of which is still up on the office wall).

I also worked with David Bade in Seaforth, even managing to make a book art piece myself to display in the Seaforth Post office window.
Kerry Morrison also worked from the post office, her ‘Wild and Productive’ project really inspired me into working with nature and engaging with communities with my own artwork.

Next came The Canal Project sourcing swan pedaloes to sail down the Leeds Liverpool canal was my claim to fame, swans that have been re-homed one as an ‘Open Source’ swan http://www.defnetmedia.com/swanpedalo.org/ and another that I found out only today, has been refurbished and relaunched in Dartmouth raising many smiles.

I worked with Raumlabor Berlin helping find accommodation for artists, sourcing materials for the amazing Jantar Mantar and researching local history of St Winnies school in Bootle. Then managing volunteers for the Urbanism project on the canal in 2009.

Working with Paul Kelly and Elaine Speight on the ‘Our Turf’ project in Wirral last year was fantastic, organising foraging walks and watching the way Squash nutrition work led me to making my own mobile allotment for my lastest art project.
I really got a feel for project management through this and realised that I may even enjoy that as a career myself.

I helped organise a really successful series of talks and conferences with Bruce Mau in Everton Park, in a local school and in a giant pink marquee of all things!

Property management also seems to have played a big part in my work, I have organised refurbs and/or paid bills for schools in Garston + Bootle, an old wine lodge (Turning the Place over), a post office in Seaforth, a shop in China Town, 2 artists houses in Bootle and Crosby and now a bakery in Anfield.

The latest project I have been involved with is project managed by Franny George. It’s ’2up2down’ by Jeanne van Heeswijk, a truly inspirational artist from the Netherlands. She is working with teams of people in Anfield and schoolchildren, who will be designing, building and refurbishing a row of ‘tinned up’ terraced houses over the next year whilst based at Mitchells Bakery (opposite LFC) and during the timespan of this project ‘Kemps’ restaurant will be starting to re-use the site as a social enterprise community bakery again. I will continue to watch the project unfold from a distance as I’m sure it will be a huge success.

Working part time for Liverpool Biennial has allowed me to bring up my young family, finish a Fine Art degree, complete a residency at New Ferry Butterfly Park and now finish my MA too and has also given me a wealth of experience of working in the arts as well as meeting many artists and making good friends.

It has been busy, sometimes frantic, especially around festival time but the team are truly amazing and the curators are inspired. My personal favourite festival pieces over the years being ‘The Gleaming Lights of the Souls’ by Yayoi Kusama and ‘The Mending Project’ by Lee Ming Wei, not to forget the serenity that was Sachiko Abe with ‘Cut Paper’.

I go on to be an activity and volunteer manager at a local heritage restoration project and also to concentrate on my own work as an artist. I shall miss working for Biennial but can’t wait to see what comes next for them.

Roll on Biennial 2012 and all it’s fabulous artwork.

If you are yet to have catch up with the views of some of the most active arts and culture attenders in the City, then why not have a look at their blogs?

Throughout 2010 Paul Argent, Barbara McGrouther, Becky Smith, Kristal Clark and Donna Williamson have been recording their visits to a wide-range of cultural events across Liverpool and they are still attending in 2011.

One of the more recent post was about Liverpool’s Chinese New Year Celebrations.

This is what Barbara reported about Liverpool Biennial 2010.

It’s a great innovation and hopefully will find a way to continue for a long time to come, the Cultural Champions will eventually have to be re-elected and if you are as passionate about the role of culture in your communities as they have been then you could put yourself forward. I don’t know the details of when that will be, but keep look out for further information.

Massive Change Network Launch, part of the Decade of Health and Wellbeing

At the Johnson Foundation Auditorium, Liverpool John Moores University, Art & Design Academy, 2 Duckinfield Street, Liverpool L3 5RD.

17.30 – 20.00 on Thursday 24 February 2011

(18.00 – Screening of Plan B, 19.00 – Live-link Discussion)

This is a great opportunity to join in the discussions around placing Liverpool at the heart of a growing movement of cities looking for a future which is more equal, well and green.

In May 2010 Year of Health and Wellbeing, Bruce Mau, designer and global urban strategist, visited Liverpool and engaged with stakeholders from diverse communities on the topic of sustainable cities, looking at Everton Park as a site for transformational change. Since then the dialogue has continued as Bruce Mau moves from running a design studio to launching this new initiative – a global Massive Change Network.

They are keen to involve a wide range of stakeholders, including those who were involved directly in the Bruce Mau visit and other stakeholder groups who are pro-actively supporting the Decade of Health and Wellbeing. Community groups, businesses, students and professionals from all spheres  - all are most welcome to join this seminar and we hope contribute to ongoing discussions on this theme for the Decade of Health and Wellbeing.

People around the world are invited to join an open format for live discussion, questions and answers on the potential of design to confront the challenges we face. Be part of the global screening of Swedish documentary film THE PLAN written and directed by David & Michael Stenberg of Biosphere Pictures.

Followed immediately by live discussion with Bruce Mau, Bisi Williams, and director David Osterberg.

Whether we like it or not, we are heading toward a profound change. The climate, population growth, species extinction, resource consumption..are running wild. We can deal with it and produce the change we want, or we can let that change force itself upon us. More and more people are becoming aware of these challenges and engaging in different plans and initiatives to drive this development of new possibilities forward.

In THE PLAN, we will get to know some of these people. Their stories, thoughts, ideas and plans seem to be part of something bigger — MASSIVE CHANGE. Imagine harnessing the power of collaboration, science, creativity, design thinking and optimism to solve the world’s greatest challenges. Citizens could change and design the world for the betterment of not only our welfare today, but the future of generations to come.

For more details and respond to sarah.garner@liverpoolpct.nhs.uk to reserve your free place or phone 0151 296 7532. Please feel free to extend this invitation to others.

26 November:

DaDaFest – The Freak and the Showgirl - In this comic cabaret of striptease, freak show and song, Julie Atlas Muz, Miss Coney Island 2006 and performance artist, and Mat Fraser, film, television and stage actor and presenter, perform their greatest hits, new work, daring duets and hilarious audience participation.

27 November:

Art Mediator Tours | Sam Jones – Sam Jones is a Liverpool-based artist focusing on public art and digital works as well as a lecturer at institutions such as LJMU and Leeds College College of Art. Her tour will be of works that speak to her. Book FREE tickets.

Liverpool Live Event – Guillermo Goméz-Peña and Roberto Sifuentes (La Pocha Nostra) – Corpo Ilicito - La Pocha Nostra’s immersive performances have inspired a devoted international following and were last experienced at the Bluecoat in a legendary performance to open the 2002 Liverpool Biennial. Using their bodies as sites for political reinvention and poetic prophesying, they explore the Bush administration’s criminalisation of the brown body and the emerging culture of hope that has developed in response.

The Dark Behind My Eyelids – A conference in collaboration between Liverpool Biennial and DaDaFest. The conference aims to rethink the relation between art, thinking and normalcy. What are our assumptions when we distinguish between thought and feeling, body and brain, identity and difference? How is (dis)ability marked by these assumptions and who’s interests are served by them in the space of art? Book by contacting the Bluecoat.

28 November:

Art Mediator Tours | Sophie Bower -  On her mediated tours Sophie offers further information on selected works but asks participants to note down and discuss the thoughts that come to mind throughout the tour. Previous participants have mentioned how tricky it is to ‘catch the fleeting’. As the Biennial Festival develops, she is compiling these thoughts as a work-in-progress on a large hand-drawn floor plan, which can be located on the wall by the black shed in the Visitors Centre. Come back and see your anonymous thoughts up there amongst all the others!  Book FREE tickets.

EarlySundays Tour with Elfin Spurs - Elfin Spurs will take you on the ultimate Touched tour. Experience live music, costumes and a wonderful Sunday morning mixture of wit and beauty.  Book FREE tickets.

DaDaFest – The Feral Four – Hysterical screaming was integral to the Beatles’ music and The Feral Four were formed to concentrate upon exploring this theory by screaming at the audience while dressed as a Beatles tribute band.

27-28 November:

Spray Paint Graphic Wolves - Like Carlos Amorales’s graphic wolves? Want one on your shirt/bag/skateboard/anything?  Every Saturday and Sunday 12-4pm in the Visitor Centre – stencil whatever you want for £2.  Fabric safe spraypaint (red, black, and white) and stencils provided. Bring whatever you want a wolf head on.  Any questions – email mary@biennial.com

Tonight is the Long Night!

All of our non-gallery, Public Realm sites are open until 9pm.  At the Visitor Centre, we are open until 10pm and DJs will be spinning tracks from 5:30 – 9pm, creating a Touched mood to accompany your stroll through all the artworks in 52 Renshaw Street.  We will also have special Long Night book deals – Festival guides will be £2 and many other books will be £5 and under!  Perfect late night reading for arty-types!

There are dozens of other activities going on around Liverpool for the Long Night, so be sure you download the full catalogue to make the most of it.  Have a look at our partners’ activities below for extra doses of Biennial goodness.

the Bluecoat, Tate Liverpool, Open Eye Gallery, FACT, the Cooperative, and the John Moores Painting Prize at the Walker

Below are two surveys which allow you to have your say about how Liverpool Biennial as well as Liverpool cultural organisations in general are doing.

Liverpool Biennial volunteer Anne Schottle reflects on her experiences inside the Scandinavian Hotel / Europleasure building on the corner of Duke and Great George Street.

Every time I invigilate at the Scandinavien Hotel / Europleasure Building, I feel very moved listening to the wonderful voice of the singer towards the end of the film from Alfredo Jaar. It is such a sad incident that happened  just in the nineties - it makes me cry, and sometimes I see people coming out wiping their tears away, deep in thoughts.  On the other hand you have circus music melting in – calling for a revolution.  Across the street from “The Whitehouse” where Banksy left a rat … I like this place.

Sean Robertson, a model for The Naked Corner, tells about his experience in Liverpool, the reactions, and his exploration of the Biennial.

Up to Liverpool for a 3 day Biennial blast, giving me plenty of time to take in the diverse nature of Britain’s biggest contemporary arts festival.  

Before my Thursday session in Daniel Knorr’s The Naked Corner, I went to the Europleasure building for Alfredo Jaar’s We wish to inform you that we didn’t know an emotional, thought provoking piece that left me not so much angry as disappointed at the ignorance of the “civilised” world.  Then next door for Cristina Lucas’ Touch and Go, which is supposed to convey messages of the fragility of the capitalist system which passes through and leaves decaying remnants – yes it did, but it was also the perfect fun antidote to the Jaar installation.

I was joined by my twitter friend Scott (@merseytart) and stripped to our pants we took up residence in the window.  Our corporate messages were “A diamond is forever” (Scott) and “Just do it” (me).  Performing with someone else was a very different experience to the other week, as the audience are not focusing solely on you and you can observe the interaction between viewer and model whilst occupying the same space.  The most surreal moment was a woman down on her luck, albeit numbed by the effects of the can of special brew, who crossed from the other side of the road and licked a smiley face onto the window in front of us…

Friday morning came and I was alone, the message I had chosen was “Join the debate” and this brought out another aspect of the viewing public, whereas the earlier messages had simply been read, the audience took this one as an instruction, and I had countless people knocking on the window asking “what debate?” or “what are we debating?”  Although the project is about the ownership of language, I put my own spin on this and invited the audience to debate about whatever they wanted, including two elderly ladies who starting a good natured argument about whether it was art, so I told them, there you go, you’re having your debate…

Friday afternoon I took in Laura Belém’s The Temple of a Thousand Bells a most beautiful piece and in a classically perfect setting, followed by Danica Dakic’s Grand Organ, another uplifting piece which brought together the amazing organ of St George’s Hall, with the building’s other role as court of justice.  The time period of the Hall’s conception was also inferred with the children looking like workhouse kids one minute and gentrified scholars the next.

On to Saturday and with no-one else taking part, I had a split shift from 11am to 1pm and then from 2pm to 4pm.  This gave me time for a quick look around the Biennial installations in the Bluecoat before heading to Renshaw Street.  My chosen message for Saturday was “Capitalist Tool” which I felt probably sums up the objectivity of standing in the window, those portals for the manufacturers and retailers to prise your hard earned, or ill gotten, gains out of your pockets.  Midday I met with my friend and fellow plinther (Gormley‘s One and Other) Jensen Wilder who bought me lunch, a delightful mug of “scousers’ breakfast” tea and brought me up to date with what was going on with his life.   Then it was a quick tour of the upper floor of the old Rapid building, before my second performance of the day, which meant I was there when the 3:30 tour came around, which was informative and gave me a deeper insight into what I was actually doing!

Once dressed, it was off to St Luke’s church where I met some Spanish tourists who recognised me from earlier and wanted a clothed picture of me too, then to FACT for a warming mug of chocolate, and there I meet some ladies who asked “did we see you naked earlier?”  Well at least people noticed what my face looked like!

A fast train to London, and onto the disorganised chaos that is public transport in the capital on a weekend.  London is fun, but my heart was lagging 200 miles behind me as I descended into the Nether World of Hades, or the Northern Line as London Underground prefer to call it..

There are many events going on this weekend, so make the most of your time in Liverpool City Centre!  Most of these events are FREE but booking may be required.  Details below.

15 – 21 October:

Deimantas Narkevicius – Ausgetraumt – Film screening at FACT.  A small group of young Lithuanian boys who have just started a band, are interspersed with shots of their wintertime surroundings in Vilnius. Pop or rock music has never been fully developed in Lithuania as a means of self expression, and no one Lithuanian pop musician has reached international acclaim. Narkevicius films these young idealists and their international ambitions, asking them questions about their vision of the future, their reflections on the political situation and the generally unsatisfying cultural environment.

15 October:

Shang-Pool Arcadia – A collaborative research project between Shanghai and Liverpool John Moores Universities. Using virtual and mixed realities, it explores the notion of the idyll and green spaces within the city as places of recreation, contemplation, nourishment and meeting places. The research will also seek to align itself with Liverpool Biennial’s projects in areas of urban regeneration in Merseyside and consider similar projects in Shanghai. Contact the Bluecoat for more details.

16 – 17 October:

Screenings of Karl-Heinz Klopf’s new film – They – Saturday 12-5pm on the hour, Sunday 12-3pm on the hour.  Enjoy Karl-Heinz’s journeys in North Liverpool – what makes a community?  FREE no booking required – in the Contemporary Urban Centre

Chapter and Verse Literature Festival – Touched Weekender – The Bluecoat’s annual Chapter & Verse literature festival features talks, readings, workshops and much more. This year it responds to the Biennial theme with a ‘Touched Weekender’, including a range of writers who revivify mind, body and soul. Much of the programme goes beyond conventional ways to experience literature, the power of the word to touch being experienced for instance through music performance, cabaret, songwriting, political commentary and debate.

Spray Paint Graphic Wolves on your Stuff - Like Carlos Amorales’s graphic wolves? Want one on your shirt/bag/skateboard/anything?  Come to the Visitor Centre every Saturday and Sunday between noon and 4pm to stencil whatever you want for only £2 a person.  We’ll provide fabric safe spray paint (red, black, and white) and the stencils. All you have to bring in is whatever you want a wolf head on!  Any questions – email mary@biennial.com

16 October:

Art Mediator Tours | Hannah Pierce – 3:30 pm – starting point: Liverpool Biennial Visitor Centre.  Click to book FREE tickets.  Art Mediator tours are opportunities to see selected art works on a tour led by a trained art mediator. Each tour will reflect the personality and interests of the mediator. Hannah Pierce is a Liverpool based artist whose work focuses primarily on the establishing and developing dialogue and exchange between temporary communities.  The Re:thinking Trade tour considers commissions in the 52 Renshaw Street Visitor Centre that explore alternative notions of exchange and negotiate the role of the artwork and audience, playfully applying these techniques to a traditional guided tour and discussion.

Allan Kaprow’s Happenings – Performance Saturday 16 October  4-6pm in the Visitor Centre.  No booking required. Weekly performances during Liverpool Biennial 2010 (18 Sept – 28 Nov) where students from Cátedra Arte De Conducta and Tania Bruguera will reinvent Allan Kaprow‘s Happenings.  For up-to-date information, join the Facebook group

17 October:

Brian Catling – Cyclops – Book a free ticket at the Bluecoat. Brian Catling will respond to the Touched theme by testing the boundary between curiosity and repulsion through the manifestation of his performance persona Cyclops. Invited to overcome the uncertainties of interacting with this one-eyed spectre, audiences may observe the Cyclops roaming the streets of Liverpool pursued by the paparazzi, or peer from the balcony into his zoo-like enclosure at the Bluecoat.

Art Mediator Tours | Neil Winterburn – 3:30 pm – starting point: Liverpool Biennial Visitor Centre.  Click to book FREE tickets.  Art Mediator tours are opportunities to see selected art works, focusing on those in 52 Renshaw Street, on a tour led by a trained art mediator. Each tour will reflect the personality and interests of the mediator.  Neil Winterburn is an artist who works with people to construct games, systems, and activities that manifest ideas, memories and emotions, in social spaces.  The Open Eyed Meditation Tour will combine traditional aspects of gallery tours, with discussions and a series of playful guided meditations, that help us look at the exhibition differently.

EarlySundays Tour with Jonathon Hering and aPAtT – 10:30 – starting point: Liverpool Biennial Visitor Centre.  Click to book FREE tickets. Jonathan Hering and aPAtT, Live music composers and performers will be providing a live, specially-composed soundtrack/ interpretation for their Touched tour. Using music, recordings, acting, projection, visual art and intervention, these performances are not to be repeated, and are unlike any previous a.P.A.t.T. shows.

Liverpool Biennial 2010 public realm curator Lorenzo Fusi discusses unexpected art happenings you may come across on your visit to this year’s festival…

Ready?

“Amongst the several exciting artworks on show at this year’s Biennial, there is a series of actions that will occur unexpectedly throughout the entire exhibition period and happen in the most unexpected areas of the city without prior warning.

These happenings are organized and coordinated by the former students of the Catedra Arte de Conducta, an anarchic Fine Arts school initiated by Tania Bruguera in her hometown of Havana (Cuba), devoted to performance-based art practices engaging the city by using its component and vital elements as a raw material.

Several of these students (now artists on their own right) will animate the Biennial by presenting both new and original works and re-inventing seminal pieces by Allan Kaprow.

The first of these re-inventions happened during the opening week of the Liverpool Biennial 2010 and by means of this blog we would like to document their diverse epiphanies. This will be the only realm where these ephemeral actions do exist, after having happened… unless you have personally taken part to them in which case they will stay in your muscles, hands, heart, soul and memory.

Transfer is a work created by Allan Kaprow in 1968: the score for this piece is quite simple… we might define it as a piece of street theatre or an environmental performance.

A group of people meets in order to physically “transfer” oil or chemical disposal drums from one area to another of the city or its surroundings. The modality in which the movement of these items happens is not rigidly dictated. In fact, I would argue that the real creative act stands precisely in devising the way each group transfer the barrels, selecting the destination and composing the drums upon arrival in order to create a setting for the group to take a victorious collective photographic portrait. The only other prescriptive element is for the group to paint the drums with a different colour at each time, so to signal the passage of time and layering of experiences. Basically, after each transfer the drums look different and yet the same. They simply acquire a different patina and they are enriched by the experiences of those who have moved them around.

The process is in theory endless. Each scenario and reinvention adds a new stratum: contributes with a different chapter to the narrative, that is to say, the history of the piece.

Tania Bruguera and Bram Kaprow were the first artists to reinvent Transfer in Liverpool. I was amongst their collaborators…

On Friday 17 September the opening event quickly reaches its climax:  professionals, artists, journalists and art lovers from the world round are waiting for the official speeches to be delivered at St George’s Hall to then freely enjoy the private view.

A certain tension is palpable amidst the mix of boredom and excitement that anticipates any official ceremony.

Furtively, a small gathering of collaborators and volunteers materialize in one of the exhibition venues where the oil drums are exhibited in their inertia as if they were an untouchable piece of art that had eventually found its final collocation. Misleadingly a label indicates: Transfer by Allan Kaprow, as to say: this is all there is to know…

Coordinated by Tania and Bram (in a purely guerilla style) the group starts loading the drums in a lorry. The excitement is so contagious that even the guards (those who were meant to protect the artworks) collaborate in the action. Silently the “sculpture” vanishes to enter into the world. In fact, the very world the drums supposedly belong to.

Loading into van at Biennial HQ on Renshaw Street

The van is too small to contain all the drums at once so two trips are necessary. The group splits. Some follow the first truckload, whilst the others wait for the lorry to come back. All but two barrels are transported with the second shipment. It seems pointless to have the van come back again to collect only two drums. Bram decides to simply roll them downhill. The final destination is St George’s Hall: the magnificent location built on the wilting branches of empire where the official opening ceremony is taking place.

Tania had asked Lewis Biggs, the artistic Director of the Biennial, to carry on with his speech no matter what. She does not share many details: all she wants is for Lewis to be quintessentially British and not to acknowledge what happens around him.

Meanwhile, Bram and I are pushing the drums to their final destination. We are very casual during the journey. Stopping at the traffic lights, greeting the passersby and engaging in spontaneous conversations, we finally reach the main station.

Artists and friends, completely unaware of our whereabouts and intentions, see us and help. Not a single word is shared, not a sign. This speechless communication and fraternal support is so moving that I want to cry. This moment of mutual and reciprocal understanding transpires so vividly that the smiles and support of the occasional witness becomes even more tangible. A bond is created. We are funny creatures, silly perhaps, but not bad ones.

Touched 2010 artist Daniel Bozkhov lends a hand...

Surprisingly it is the art world to give us attitude if anyone. Some fashionistas and “you don’t know who I am”s instead of helping give us a glance full of pity, look at us behind their shades and walk away. I have seen all this before, their body language maintains. But, really, what is it exactly that you have seen?!

I am so relieved not to have to act their part. I am so pleased not to be cool, in fact not to be “cold”. The wind cuts the skin: I am tired.

Everybody is inside: sentences flow endlessly. Our oil drums sit beautifully by the Greek colonnade and wait to be lifted up the stairs. We look at each other in anguish: another effort is needed so up we go.

A BBC journalist instead of recording what it is happening, takes his jacket off and starts moving barrels. We are covered in sweat. We smile. There is something prodigious, an aura that keeps us moving. We are unstoppable. The staff at St George’s are friendly, they knew we were coming, but they cannot help themselves: they are concerned and worried. This is a listed building, they keep saying.

Artists and journalist celebrate making it to the St George's Hall steps

We are focused but very serene. We appear to be harmless but we are entering the site with over 60 large oil drums. It is a surreal situation: we look like an old lady carrying a walking stick in one hand and a pistol in the other. We are indeed vulnerable and strong.

Lewis is speaking as we break through. One by one all the drums congregate in front of the stage. We pile them. The speaker gradually disappears, only his voice being audible. Large sheets of plastic have been laid onto the floor… we try to be as meticulous as possible. A proper crime scene is recreated.

I see no one, listen to no one. They are not there. Manoeuvering large oil drums when you have to go through a large and dense audience isn’t as simple as it seems.

I accidentally hit someone: sorry! I say.

They are all there (the barrels, I mean): it is time to leave our mark on their surface. Spray paint cans materialize. The St George’s Hall staff are paralyzed. They somehow trust us, but we do not look so innocent anymore.

Transfer is completed inside St George's Hall

White crosses are depicted on the drums’ armored shells. It is a simple gesture. Those barrels ultimately show themselves for what they truly are and stand for: they symbolize a heavily polluted society. Nothing else needs being added: click. A photo is taken. We are off. And so are the oil drums…

I have not slept all night, thinking about this happening. Probably it has touched nobody other than us. But I felt so energized by it that I only wish the same might occur, eventually, in other people’s lives.”

Lorenzo Fusi

Update – watch Transfer unfold inside St George’s Hall:

Weekly performances are scheduled on Wednesday’s (4-6pm) during Liverpool Biennial 2010 (18 Sept – 28 Nov) where students from Cátedra Arte De Conducta and Tania Bruguera will reinvent Allan Kaprow’s Happenings.

The following works will be reinvented: Self Service (1966); Transfer (1968); Round Trip (1968); Six Ordinary Happenings: Shape and Charity (1969); Words (1962); Time Pieces (1973); Affect (1974); Match (1975); Satisfaction (1976); Mediation1, (zazen) (1981); Office Boy (1987).

To find out about the next Allan Kaprow Happening, join our Facebook Group or keep an eye on our Twitter stream.

If you see us – come and say hello!

Journalist Mike Pinnington looks forward to the grand opening of The Cooperative, a collective of collectives, spearheaded by seven of the foremost art organisations in Liverpool…

The project, coordinated by Liverpool’s very own live literature specialists Mercy, strives to provide a “high-impact, high-visibility platform for creative and discursive activity” during this year’s Biennial.

Based at The Old Paint Shop on Renshaw Street (28-32, L1 4EF) The Cooperative will serve as a cultural hub for the duration of the internationally renowned festival, boasting weekly podcasts and workshops, a library/archive and rolling exhibitions and performances.

Cooperative logo

Acting as a beacon for one of the best regarded art scenes in the UK, the initiative aims to bring new audiences and international attention to the likes of anarchic public artists Jump Ship Rat, the experimental music collective Sound Network, and the studios and galleries in Liverpool’s vanguard: The Royal Standard, Red Wire, Lost Soul and Stranger Service Station, and Arena Gallery and Studios.

Expect to be treated to a stellar series of Saturday night openings, showcasing a diverse array of talent, beginning with the challenging and provocative performance artist Michael Mayhew.

Opening Wednesday to Sunday between 1 and 5pm, the space also serves as a place to drop in for coffee, free Wi-Fi, and a chance to mingle with a fluid mix of Cooperative members.

Download a PDF Guide and Map detailing The Cooperative‘s events here.

Follow The Cooperative on Twitter and stay tuned to this blog for news and pictures over the opening weekend of Liverpoool Biennial 2010.

A month’s already gone by since my arrival at Liverpool Biennial and I want to talk a little about what I’ve been doing and my first impressions of the city. I’ve spent some days exploring and discovering some amazing places.

As for the weather, I’ll only say that there seems to be no summer time in Liverpool. So if you’re going to join us at Touched in September, be sure to have an umbrella with you because the sun is not England’s prerogative.

Biennial wolves

The city’s not as big as I first imagined, but I’m really impressed by the huge plethora of galleries and the variety of shops and entertainment on offer. I think that one of the most amazing things is the intersection of culture and fun, between irony and thought, and finally between art, the city and local people.

One of my first experiences was to visit Tate Liverpool where I enjoyed an exhibition of Picasso – Peace+Freedom and another called This is Sculpture – an examination of sculptural evolution during the last century which everybody could take something away from and also have fun. Indeed, the exhibitors offer you earphones playing different kinds of music whilst you walk, or if you feel like it, you can also dance on an appropriate platform.

I’ve also enjoyed different activities at the Bluecoat – I’ve appreciated a show called Your Very Final Uncannily Magical Live Art Comedy Experience and a relaxing (and quite dynamic) yoga session. I’ve visited the Walker Art Gallery and the Open Eye Gallery, which both are – in different ways – very interesting.

Walker Art Gallery

I’ve also to say – speaking mostly for women – that the city centre offers a large selection of shops and wonderful boutiques. An experience I’ve missed so far – speaking for men this time – is to go to a football stadium – football is very important in Liverpool – but I think I’ll have a try, it may be funny. And I have to buy a red Liverpool hat for my dad.

My work placement has given me the opportunity to view how the Biennial team functions and to help in the preparation of the Touched opening conference. It is simply the best thing that could happen to me.

I’ve been involved in different activities involving social media promotion – in particular I’ve been helping Mary with Facebook and Twitter where you can get all the latest news concerning Touched. I’ve also helped with the Biennial mailing list and sending invitation letters as well as taking part in community road shows and events such as the On the Waterfront Feel Good Fairs.

Feel Good Fair

I’ll update more soon!

dany

Banksy's Mural Artwork

It remains unclear if the owner will keep the artwork or not. According to the Telegraph, the new owner is no fan of modern art and will paint over it. Other sources such as State North West however state that he will probably keep it.

For more news on the topic, your best bet is to have a look at the Banksy Forum, where the latest news about the artwork are being discussed.

So how do we, the Biennial stand to the possible loss of an artwork that was part of our festival?

I’d like to quote Lewis Biggs here and leave it with that:

“Liverpool Biennial is really proud to have been working with the people of Liverpool to create internationally praised public artworks – among which are Richard Wilson’s Turning the Place Over, Antony Gormley’s Another Place and Diller & Scofidio’s Arbores Laetae. Most of our commissions are temporary -  change is a constant in the city, and we embrace change when it’s positive. The real value of art lies in people’s memories. What does Banksy think?”

As Sacha mentioned, we have given Maggie a proper send off with a lunch at The Orchard.  This restaurant is a bit off the beaten path (luckily it’s a short walk around the corner for us); however, if you find it, you’ve discovered a hidden gem in the centre of Liverpool.  The food was beautiful in every sense – well-presented, delicious, and perfect on a cold day like this.  I think I can speak for everyone at the Biennial when I say you should take a wander down Blundell Street and spend a lazy afternoon or evening wrapped in the candlelit environment of The Orchard.

Ed Purver

This is a Guest Blog by artist and designer Ed Purver who came to Liverpool for his project ‘On the Street’. He’s writing about his perception of Liverpool and the inspiration for his project:

It’s been over a decade since I last visited Liverpool, twelve years to be exact. I never got to know the city during my time in England (I left the country nearly nine years ago), and although I remember one brief visit in pursuit of some ill-fated romance, unsurprisingly it didn’t include a city tour.

So here I was again, but feeling like it was for the first time…

There’s something really enjoyable for me about visiting England now, after so many years of living abroad. It’s like I feel somewhere between being a stranger and being a native. It’s familiar, so it’s easy to navigate, but at the same time it’s all new. It’s like I get to see everything again afresh, all over again, and from a slightly different angle…  which feels like an amazing gift.

And this time, I had a brilliant introduction to the city of Liverpool, courtesy of a most inspiring man, called Kenny Thomas. I’d asked if there was anyone willing to show me around some neighborhoods, because I’d heard that there are a lot of empty buildings in Liverpool. The art I’ve been making in New York (where I currently live) has tended to involve architecture and urban development, so I was very curious to take a look, and Kenny was generous enough to share some time with me.

If you ever get a chance to take a walk with Kenny Thomas, do it. He’s not only one of the friendliest men you’ll ever meet, but he’s a born Scouser and a mine of information about the city, which he framed for me with stories and

Abandoned Houses in Liverpool

memories from his own (fascinating) life.  It was a great way to get an introduction to the town, because at the same time at getting a rapid education in the bleakness of some of those empty streets, I was also getting a reminder of the amazing warmth and humour of the people who live in this city.  These were the two opposite forces that continually defined my time in Liverpool – the irrepressible life force of its people contrasting with the desolate architectural stasis of some of its streets.  I was immediately interested in the relationship between these two apparent opposites, and started to wonder what kind of alchemical reaction would manifest if they were re-combined in some way.

I was blown away by how easy it was to talk to people in Liverpool.  Whether I was taking a taxi or buying a pie, people wanted to talk. Alongside this fundamental willingness to relate (not a common urban trait), I was struck by the dark humour that a lot of people had in common, which seemed to be driven by an uncompromising honesty.  New Yorkers, in general, are pretty open and direct (once you manage to get them to pause), but Liverpudlians are in a league of their own.

I took walks around Everton and Kirkdale, Anfield and Kensington…  Bootle, Jamaica St and the city centre.  I could see that there’s been a lot of recent development down in the centre, and the general prevailing feeling seemed to be that of a city that was once again on the rise.

But it’s an experience to walk around parts of Kensington and Anfield, and I

Empty Street in Liverpool

was shocked at how many houses there are standing empty in these areas.  I’ve never been to another city that has so many adjacent streets that, despite the occasional resident still hanging on, have basically been abandoned. I’m told that, in the US, Detroit has a large amount of disused housing, but I haven’t had the chance to go there yet.

Walking around these streets made me think about what a city is without its people, what a building becomes without its inhabitants.  The purpose of a house is to provide people with a home, and these houses have had their people removed (in fact security companies are employed (presumably at great expense) to ensure that people do not return), and just like a person who’s lost their purpose, these houses seemed to me to be shadows of their former selves.  It’s like they were only half there.

I often wonder if our dreams, thoughts and expectations are unconsciously shaped by the structures that we live in (something written about by many, from J.G. Ballard, to Gaston Bachelard), and seeing these houses stand empty made me think about how this happens in reverse – about how architecture is shaped by our dreams.  Not just by the architects who design them, nor by the collective economic and social drives that demand them, but by the families and individuals that inhabit them and complete them with the sounds and movements of daily life.

A house and its humans live symbiotically.  Looking at abandoned houses makes me think of a dead body.  It still looks structurally sound, but it’s empty of life; it has no soul.

I think a lot about bodies and buildings, streets and psychology. I often think of cities as organic, living systems, and in that context, these evacuated streets felt like an amputation. It made me think of the phenomenon of a ‘phantom limb’, where an amputee still feels the sensations of the limb that has been removed. In that moment, when the phantom sensation is felt, the limb is both there and yet not there.  Likewise, these streets are both present and non-present.  Although structurally still existing, whatever internal life there was left a long time ago.  It brings to mind what Gertrude Stein said about Oakland, in California: “there isn’t any there, there”.

Whatever evolution was planned for these neighborhoods has been frozen. And in any energetic system, stagnant energy is not a good thing.  When blood stops flowing to a part of the body for too long, it dies.

Houses and humans are both constantly decaying.  We’re just dying at different speeds.  But houses die much quicker when no-one looks after them.  Just like people.

So it’s a strange thing to experience this in Liverpool, of all places, which is home to some of the warmest, most expressive people in the whole country.  It is a city that is overflowing with personality, and so it is even more of a disturbing experience to visit these places where personality has been removed.

In Anfield, around the ‘V streets’, I sometimes felt like I was walking through a micro ghost town. It made me think again about ghosts, phantoms and phantom limbs, about who were both here and not here.  Who used to be here?  Who would still be living here in these houses if they hadn’t been slated for demolition?  What would it look like to ‘repopulate’ these houses with these ‘ghosts’?

On the Streets

And again, I wanted to see what happens if you put the energy of the people into the shell of these houses.  Not to create any kind of memorial, but rather some sort of celebration, perhaps even some sort of resuscitation, breathing light into these structures.  My work often uses video projection, because I’m fascinated by how light can temporarily transform a space utterly, can fill it with alternative life, and then, in an instant, disappear without trace.

It’s important to me that I work in collaboration with members of the local community for this project.  My work is usually participatory in some way, and in this project, I want local youth to take ‘center stage’, and through the ‘On The Street’ program of the Biennial, I’ve got the chance to work with some amazing young people from Anfield, and together we’ve started to shoot some videos, starring themselves.  Together, we’re going to use these videos to temporarily ‘repopulate’ some of these stagnant houses, and to show that even if the houses are dying, that the people are still here, that they are still very much alive.

Click here to see a ‘On the Street’-Video

And finally, I just want to say a big thanks to Polly for starting the ball rolling, to Laurie, Franny, Jenna and everyone at the Biennial for believing in this project, and to Connor, Danny, Fran, Jessica and Rea for being willing to participate!

To learn more about Ed Purver, visit his website.

To learn more about his project ‘On the Streets’, check out his blog.

To learn more about Liverpool Biennial, please visit our website.

Thanks a lot, Ed, for the interesting read and the pictures!

We are all excited and looking forward to five days of of exhibition, exploration, discussion and celebration along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

There is lots to be done and even more to be seen. Here is an overview of some of the workshops, events and performances:

Wednesday, 16th September

• Urban Food Field Day at St. Winnies from 10 am to 3.30 pm

As part of Urbanism, arts and health initiative Squash Nutrition are leading a special day focussing on growing and food production within the urban environment. Workshops are open to all Bootle residents and also to practitioners in the field of nutrition/food/teaching and community participation.

This day will have a focus on consulting local people about their ideas for growing and cooking local food. It will be a showcase for what has been achieved in the St. Winnies garden this year, a platform for sharing ideas and a springboard from which to launch the longer-term proposals for the Produce project in Bootle.

The workshops are practical and will provide participants with insights and ideas about seasonal growing. There will be exchanges of recipes, top cooking tips and food samples to take away.

For more information please check here.

Thursday, 17th September

• Canal Club drop in anytime between 12am & 4pm

Free! All welcome! No experience needed!
Light up your canal by taking part in these easy, drop-in lantern-making
sessions:

Canal Club is a floating workshop and will be moored at:

St Winifred’s School, Merton Road Bootle, L20 7AR (On the canal in front of the school) To get in touch contact Torange on 07766105209

• Propositions for a Happy City St Winefride’s & St Richard’s School (St Winnie’s) on canalside in Bootle to Bank Hall in Liverpool from 1 pm to 6 pm

Visitors can travel from the Promising Land to Porto Allegro with the artists, architects and food activists to examine real case studies of creating positive spaces.

Talk to the bees, talk to the sky, drink tea in the floating Tea House, paint in the floating studio, explore the Feral Arcadia museum, make chutney in the Squash vegetable garden, take a swan pedalo down the canal and make plans for the Happy City . . . with David Bade, Ben Parry, Kerry Morrison, Squash Nutrition, Raumlabor, Maciej Kurak, Danilo Capasso, Muf Architecture, Public Works and Rob Sweere.

Exhibition launch of Sefton Waterworks Architectural Competition, 5pm – 7pm
Be a part of an historic moment when the winner of the international Art for Places Sefton Waterworks commission is announced. You will have the chance to explore the exhibition of the five finalist’s designs and enjoy refreshments before the big announcement. Places at the announcement are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis, so please confirm your attendance here: https://www.patronbase.com/_LB/Productions

• Silent Sky Project canal at Former St Winfried’s and St Richards School, Merton Road, Bootle on Thursday 17 September from 3.30pm

What happens?
• A group of people are invited to have a Conversation with the Sky.
• Each group of people in the project should have a ‘natural’ relation with each other.
• This means that they can have a practical relation, like co-workers.
Or there can be a conceptual relation, like people who share the same ideas and unite in a foundation. Or people who do not know each other, but share the same public space.
• It is significant that this action happens as a group.
• Everyone taking part in the action looks at the Sky for 30 minutes, while lying on their backs.
• The way the group is positioned at the location is choreographed by the artist.
This is NOT a performance for an audience. In this project the action is for the personal individual experience of the participant.
• A photo is made of the group having the Conversation with the Sky by the artist.
• Directly after the action, experiences are collected from the participants by the artist and his (local) assistants.
• This photo will be printed into a large banner and displayed, along with other Silent Sky images, along the canal at Bank Hall.
• A special website about the project is under construction and will be put online so everyone around the world can get information about the project and see the project grow.
• Silent Sky Liverpool is Rob Sweere’s 36th Silent Sky Project.
To participate in the Liverpool Silent Sky ‘action’ please come to the canal at Former St Winfried’s and St Richards School, Merton Road, Bootle on Thursday 17 September from 3.30pm to find out more. The artist will brief participants from 4pm. There are limited places, so please sign-up by contacting 07791369903, laura@upprojects.com or by finding us on the day!
Please note that Liverpool Silent Sky will take place on board a boat.

Friday, 18th September

• How to Design the Happy City St Winefride’s & St Richard’s School (St Winnie’s) on canalside in Bootle to Bank Hall in Liverpool from 9.15 am to 7 pm (£25 per ticket)

Taking its cue from architect Carolyn Steel’s inspirational book, Hungry City, the Happy City conference on 18 September (in association with Places Matter! the architecture centre for the Northwest) explores alternative ways of planning and redesigning our cities and neighbourhoods, starting with the premise of not simply providing more houses but improving the quality of the spaces between them and the wellbeing of their inhabitants.

Speakers include Pete Halsall, CEO of visionary developers, Bio-Regional Quintain, Joost Beunderman Research Associate at Demos, Ian McArthur Regional Director of Groundwork and Michael Palwyn of Exploration Architecture.

To book a place for the all day conference please visit: http://www.placesmatter.co.uk/Urbanism09

• Canal Club drop in anytime between 11am & 4pm

Free! All welcome! No experience needed!
Light up your canal by taking part in these easy, drop-in lantern-making
sessions:

Canal Club is a floating workshop and will be moored at:

St Winifred’s School, Merton Road Bootle, L20 7AR (On the canal in front of the school) To get in touch contact Torange on 07766105209

Saturday, 19th September

• Brunch conversation with Rick Lowe at St. Winnie’s at 12.30

An opportunity to speak to art is Rick Lowe, Huoston, Texas, who founded Project Row Houses, an inspirational program that bought 22 houses in the middle of one of Houston’s poorest neighborhoods, and renovated them into art galleries, workshop spaces, offices and housing for young single mothers where they can receive life skills training.

• Kerry Morrison Performance The Golden Plateau, Eldonian Village from 12 am to 4 pm

Kerry Morrison invites passers by and audience to take part in a ‘dodge the dog poo’ challenge. Successful participants win a sticker, a mug of tea and a jammy dodger!

The Golden Plateau is just one of Kerry Morrison’s performances based upon her research and surveys conducted on the Leeds Liverpool Canal. Her research, primarily focused on the habitat and wildlife on the canal throughout 2009, has resulted in documenting the fascinating biodiversity of the area, including the most popular dog poo locations!

• Urbanism 09 Parade 6 pm to 9 pm on the canal (Boats gather at 5.30pm at Carolina 21:00 Wharf, Bootle, finale at 8pm at Bank Hall)

Our Urbanism 09 week reaches a climax in a water-borne parade including an upturned Black Cab, a floating Mint Teahouse and a whole variety of crafts created by artists and residents who live in the neighbourhoods along the canal; giving a whole new meaning to the traditional processional ‘float’.

Liverpool Biennial are gathering together a team of volunteers to help at Urbanism 09 (16th-20th September), so far the response has been good but we still need a few people particularly on Thursday and Friday. Volunteer tasks will be both administrative and practical/physical, sometimes assisting artists. We are happy with anyone who can help for at least one day, meaning a morning/afternoon or afternoon/evening. Your expenses will be paid.

Also for the whole 5 days of Urbanism we need a volunteer cyclist for an unusual and very special mission. If you are good on a bike, enjoy fresh air and keeping fit and would like to be part of Urbanism 09 please contact carol@biennial.com asap.

If you don’t have the time to volunteer, nevermind, we would still love to see you at Urbanism 09. You can find more information here. Please don’t forget to register in advance.

by Diana Marrone

Diana Marrone, photo courtesy Danilo Capasso

I visited Liverpool first time in September 2008 – onto opening days of last Art Biennial (and thanks to this event).

My boyfriend Danilo Capasso – founder and director of N.EST (www.napoliest.it) art and architecture think tank – was invited by Rotunda Community College to take part on “La Dolce Vita – for the likes of us” – and I joined him in order to visit the city.

A neighbour happening celebrating one of the public commissions the Biennial activated that year: the Gross Max’s Rotunda Folly pavilion.

I never enjoyed so much to be among unknown persons – to be sharp: a very coherent and never-met-before community made of children, adults, many retired sailors, all well mixed together.

Added to them, any kind of variety of visitors coming from the bubbling art world that you can easily reach during International vernissages: the Manifesta work group, Athens, Lyon and Istanbul Biennial officers as well as Berlin fair as well, artists, gallery owners, critics…

The celebrated movie La Dolce Vita was spreading out the Italian vague, Danilo – aka deejay Danylo – was selecting fashioned Italian songs from the 50ies, the building facades surrounding the Rotunda premises were dressed by cute light sculptures and the youngest inhabitants, attending dance or art courses at the local youth association, were tasty eating all the orange pieces themselves sliced to serve with the Italian Spritz into the Rotunda Folly (used as temporary bar).

All around – on the horizon – there were the docks, or better what remains of. Can art depict new scenarios for old, exploited societies and how much?

Liverpool Docks, by Diana Marrone

Returning back in Naples, I started to feel stranger contact points between the cities, and especially, in a wider sense, among the two people and on each of their seat in the nation – in one word how citizens are conceived and felt from the rest of their country: Neapolitan from Italians and Scousers from Brits.

Baby-mums, often single, are common here and there – as are common the unexpected kind helps given by unsolicited walkers seeing you lost in the street to look for something or for a place.

Both the cities are full of smells and their unforgettable odours palette are eligible markers for saudage victims. Yes, because either Liverpool and Naples, despite the severe problems both express, can hurt your heart forever. Like the first love.

The way visual art and in general culture industry are changing the “face” of the two cities is another strong point in common … but I will comment on it next week!