Underground Manchester

In the briefing lecture on 'Unit X' and the David Haslam talk, the history of Manchester in regards to the Industrial Revolution and its effect of society seemed to be a predominant theme. This is what led me to researching further, the city of Manchester's history and past as I thought it may be an interesting possible starting point for someone’s project, if not mine. Even if it wasn't going to be furthered in the upcoming weeks of my project, I thought it would be an interesting topic to explore as I do not have much of knowledge of the place I currently inhabit which may be viewed to some as ignorant. It seems quite disrespectful to turn a 'blind eye' to my home environments past so I guess, why do it here? 

Anyway, I came across information that immediately took my attention-Underground Manchester. I’m not sure if it's well known to others in Group Six but I found it to be quite appealing! After years of research, Keith Warrender has uncovered evidence of dozens of places alive under the city we see today. All of which range from the last two centuries. The official documentation was filmed by the BBC in a show called, 'Inside Out' but the video will not work on my laptop for some reason. I found a video made by 'I Love MCR' which might interest someone? 

Underground Manchester

In the briefing lecture on 'Unit X' and the David Haslam talk, the history of Manchester in regards to the Industrial Revolution and its effect of society seemed to be a predominant theme. This is what led me to researching further, the city of Manchester's history and past as I thought it may be an interesting possible starting point for someone’s project, if not mine. Even if it wasn't going to be furthered in the upcoming weeks of my project, I thought it would be an interesting topic to explore as I do not have much of knowledge of the place I currently inhabit which may be viewed to some as ignorant. It seems quite disrespectful to turn a 'blind eye' to my home environments past so I guess, why do it here? 

Anyway, I came across information that immediately took my attention-Underground Manchester. I’m not sure if it's well known to others in Group Six but I found it to be quite appealing! After years of research, Keith Warrender has uncovered evidence of dozens of places alive under the city we see today. All of which range from the last two centuries. The official documentation was filmed by the BBC in a show called, 'Inside Out' but the video will not work on my laptop for some reason. I found a video made by 'I Love MCR' which might interest someone? 

Our New Home.

The Hotspur Press.

 

Our location: The Basement.

 

The basement was last used as a printing ground, from newspapers and flyers to books. Yet now we see little trace of this; painted white brick walls that are slowly changing colour by age, a map of horizontal and vertical pipes attached to the ceiling, buttons on walls that probably should not be pressed, but most importantly space. Space which we should take over. You could call it our 'Undergroud Manchester.'

 

Together we formed a Group 6 working area and I hope with this space we shall all inspire each other with ideas and practices. Lets get inspired!

 

Aim at Hotspur:

• Get through alive.
• Fostering collaborations.
• Forging relationships.
  

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Topophobia

Topophobia: a morbid dread of certain places. 

 Currently, at the Bluecoat gallery in Liverpool the exhibition on show is ‘Topophobia,’ whereby a group of 10 artist have responded to the anxiety disorder, topophobia, using many different medias and technologies.

http://topophobia.co.uk/ 

 

The link to the website will give you a glimpse of all the artists at the exhibition, however the ones in particular that caught my eye were Uta Kogelsberger, Louise K. Wilson, Anne Eggebert and David Ferrando Giraut. 

 

Uta Kogelsberger:

Her work was a collection of photographs taken from darkened and strangely lit places, places such as Urban American landscapes to the complete wilderness. The collection is supposed to symbolise our unconscious thoughts about space. 

 

 

Louise K Wilson:

Wilson’s work was based on the ‘Lost traces of space,’ in many of her works she likes to bring to light the certain absences and silences encountered in a place, uncovering its mysterious and secrets. Her video work incorporates both real and imagined landscapes.

 

I managed to capture a short one minute clip of her video.

M4H01326.MP4 Watch on Posterous

Anne Eggebert:

Eggebert uses drawing as a device to collapse distance and time. Working with images from Google Earth she uses repeated hatch marks to explore the landscapes of elsewhere – places once familiar that are no longer visited – or watercolours to depict holiday destinations that reveal the traces of a lost presence. She looks at how our actual and imaginative experiences of reality construct our perception and performance of place. The way images, books and films we fill our brain with inform the way we see the real world.

David Ferrando Giraut:

Giraut’s film was definitately the most dramatic piece in the exhibition. As you walk into the room you step into what will be a cinematic experience. The film is slow moving, showing the aftermath of a car crash that is set on a large green, open, space that has been taken over by the ghostly sounds. The slow movement of the camera, combined with the cinematic music encourages the feeling of anxiety and suspense.

 

What I took from this exhibition was not the ways in which these artists worked but the thoughts behind there pieces. I believe such ideas would be very inspiring for the project on Manchester, thinking about the way locations make you feel. How the media influences the way we look at certain places, do we imagine places that are not there? What secrets can we discover?

 

 

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Whilst researching ‘Underground Manchester’ further I came across the work of Andrew Brooks. Brooks is a photographer, a digital artist and film maker who draws inspiration from the contemporary urban surroundings in which he inhabits (Manchester). 'Hidden Manchester' was a project that was commissioned for 'Ubis' showing in 2008 and 2009. Brooks thoroughly explores the hidden part of the city of Manchester, awakening its history. 

I found these works to be particularly eye catching and interesting after watching the documentary on Underground Manchester. 

Bringing landscapes to the city...

Because I find myself continuously seeking ways to convey the environments in which I miss from back home in Ireland, in past projects, I have decided to explore ways of bringing landscapes to the city.

I recently read an article on this subject. It dealt with issues of how nature or the countryside is viewed as the antithesis of the city throughout modern history.  It reports how many individuals respond to the “dirty factories”, “multitude of noisy vehicles” and “buildings crammed on top of each other” by simply moving away from the city and into the suburbs if the opportunity arose.

In addition to this, the growing number of designers and architects who refer to themselves as “landscape urbanists”:”the notion that the most important part of city planning is not the arrangement of buildings, but the natural landscape upon which those buildings stand”. In other words, proponents envision weaving nature and the city together-an environment that I would personally love!

 

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Something that comes to mind when envisioning cities is graffiti. I have discovered an alternative approach to what may be viewed as vandalism, eco-friendly graffiti! Using liquefied mud, moss or even a power washer instead of paint conveys a ‘public greenification’.

For the past ten years, Paul "Moose" Curtis or "Professor of Dirt" has devoted his spare time to the fine art of defacing public surfaces with cleansing messages and beautiful pieces of art with the reverse graffiti technique. 

 

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Another eco-friendly graffiti artist is Edina Tokodi. Tokodi who is currently living in Brookyln, New York is a green graffiti artist who focuses specifically on bringing “nature closer to the city dwellers” through installations of images that trigger environmental appreciation.

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Slides

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some of the slides that caught my interest. i like the lack of detail and how the more natural aspects of this photo is a lot more prominent that the buildings. i also love how the fog makes it seem kinda magical..! :) Enjoy!

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In phenomenology which is the experience of making and building materials and their sensory properties, Francis Bacon (artist), Christopher Tilley (anthropologist and archaeologist) and Tim Ingold (anthropologist) all believe in the importance of the physical, sensory experience of the material world in the context of/versus that of theory.

In addition to this, tacit knowledge reflects the way in which we connect to objects in a sensory way and understand them. It is know-how beyond words, an intrinsic sense of things.

Pallasmaa states, “Touch is the unconscious of vision and this hidden tactile experience determines the sensuous qualities of the perceived object.”

During my Alevel studies in Art and Design I became slightly obsessed with portraying a realistic surface and texture of the object I was studying in painting. Below are two paintings where I was doing this with the aid of grit, sand, hay, wood chippings etc. I also used knives, forks spoons and sticks to paint with to achieve different textures. For example, during the process of painting the green row boat below, I used knives and forks to create the same texture found in the wood.  My final piece was more textural than these pieces but I hope you can get an idea of what I was trying to convey.

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Untitled

In phenomenology which is the experience of making and building materials and their sensory properties, Francis Bacon (artist), Christopher Tilley (anthropologist and archaeologist) and Tim Ingold (anthropologist) all believe in the importance of the physical, sensory experience of the material world in the context of/versus that of theory.

In addition to this, tacit knowledge reflects the way in which we connect to objects in a sensory way and understand them. It is know-how beyond words, an intrinsic sense of things.

Pallasmaa states, “Touch is the unconscious of vision and this hidden tactile experience determines the sensuous qualities of the perceived object.”

During my Alevel studies in Art and Design I became slightly obsessed with portraying a realistic surface and texture of the object I was studying in painting. Below are two paintings where I was doing this with the aid of grit, sand, hay, wood chippings etc. I also used knives, forks spoons and sticks to paint with to achieve different textures. For example, during the process of painting the green row boat below, I used knives and forks to create the same texture found in the wood.  My final piece was more textural than these pieces but I hope you can get an idea of what I was trying to convey.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Ingold comments, “might we not learn more about the material composition of the inhabited world by engaging quite directly with the stuff we want to understand: by sawing logs, building a wall, knapping a stone or rowing a boat? Could not such engagement-working practically with materials-offer a more powerful procedure of discovery than an approach bent on the abstract analysis of things already made?”

Ana Mendieta is an artist who often focused on a spiritual and physical connection with the Earth, She states, “I become an extension of nature and nature becomes an extension of my body.”

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Ingold furthers this comment by stating how the body cannot be separate from the world because we are apart of the world.

Golden also states that we as individuals should interact with the landscape in order to understand it more.

Andrew Brooks

“Andrew Brooks is a photographer, a digital artist and a film maker living and working in Manchester, Islington Mill.”

 

A crucial element that Brooks tries to portray in his work is atmosphere. He wants the viewers to understand the way he was feeling when he was in that particular location. For example as we see in the picture below we notice the warmth of the sun shining down on us. It draws the audience in and makes us feel like part of the experience, so that the photograph is not just a 2D form.

 

However what I found quite challenging about his work was that the beautiful photographs, especially the landscapes that you see are in fact made up. In photoshop these days you can produce anything, but to me a photograph represents a true, realistic, element of time, something that exists and we can go and experience.

 

Brooks has done a lot of work based on ‘Secret Cities,’ one of which was ‘Hidden Manchester,’ An important part of his work is to take photographs at all times and all places, in that way you will really discover the hidden details to a city.

 

Below is the link to his website, in particular a recommend looking into his ‘Hidden Manchester’ project.

 

http://www.andrewbrooksphotography.com/

 

...and in his words, "Get to know Manchester and embrace it."

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Hi everyone, I emailed John Davis earlier about booking another meeting with him to explore the slides available in the Visual Resource centre again. Whoever might be interested, he is free on Wednesday at 1.30pm or 4.00pm. If this doesn't suit he also mentioned that he is free almost all of Friday the 23rd of March too.
I'd quite like to go back as soon as I can so I'm going to let him know that I would be interested in meeting at 1.30pm on Wednesday so feel free to join.

Special Collections

This pop-up piece is what caught my eye at the Special Collections centre in the library. It was created by a fairly recent student at Manchester Metropolitan University. Looking back, I am quite surprised that this piece is what caught my attention almost immediately. It stood among work that was completed by extremely talented artists and designers. The fact of it being a 3D paper sculpture also raised interest as it is something that doesn’t usually interest me. However, I really admire the detail and pattern upon the surface which creates an illusion of texture.

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Among the work on display in the Special Collections centre in the library was sketchbooks by Peter Reddick. These were for the illustration to an edition of ‘the Return of the Native’ by Thomas Hardy. Peter Reddick’s illustrations provide atmosphere and background to the reader. His work in ‘The Return of the Native’ is viewed as being particularly fine, “dark vistas of Egdon Heath often unroll over two pages with tiny Figures struggling along the pale track ways”.  

 

His subject matter is seen as being deeply traditional cantered on an “immemorial sense of the land and of rural life”. He completed illustrations, however, in a contemporary way. He created the image by “cutting into the end grain surface of a piece of box wood, inking the surface and printing it onto paper”.  

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street art

just browsing on stumbleUpon.. found some amazing street art pictures.

it seems to brings so much more humor and character to a city ;)

I find manchester to have alot of quirky street art littered around making a little less gloomy and grey...

 

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/32TjtT/nextwd.co

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m/street-art-3/

3D FISH.

i was fasicinated by the technique used to created these 3d fish, the layering and patience! 

 

 

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/30ESIR/www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/01/riusuke-f...

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watch the video!

Adam Dant

Perhaps a bit of a delayed reaction,,,

Upon Monday of last week, the 5th to be precise,, we were lucky enough to sit in on a talk by Adam Dant. A man I knew very little of before the said talk, but a man full of surprises and intrigue.

Dant is an illustrator based in Shoreditch, London. He is ""an artist of the street"" creating various reactions to the city he sees around him.

There were a few things that struck me about Dant's work,,.

Points to Discuss;; I like his maps,, I like his mind

((Donald, the French and other Investigations))

To Begin, Dant has an almost classical look to the drawings he creates, therefore upon first look[firstlove], I wasn't particularly enthralled but on a deeper investigation, deeper explanation, everything takes on a much more entertaining, much more curious appeal.

Dants Maps:; Dant has created many a map of his home borough of Shoreditch,, but what really strikes me about these maps, is not the appearance of them but of the application of them, the mind behind them. They are not just purely graphical representations of an area but there is a more personal appeal to them, a more personal insight into the character of the area, whether a truthful insight or not,,,..

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As well as creating maps exploring the personal geographical nature of Shoreditch, Dant also likes to play with investigating into mapping personal collective thoughts and personalities. This can be seen in the map above of,,,

Donald Parsnips Plan of Shoreditch in Dream Format

,,,where Dant collected the dreams of people across Shoreditch in a hope to depict a collective unconscious of Shoreditch. Once again I personally was not particularly attracted to the overall effect of the image upon first inspection, but in hindsight I find the mindset and depiction to be incredible.

 

SIDE NOTE SIDE NOTE ;:;:

Who is Donald? Donald is in fact Donal Parsnip, a character created by Dant, his creative alter-ego, friend and accomplice.