Icons, Landmarks and the Meanings of Scotland

* Tuesday, 11th October 2011
* 12.45-1.45pm
* Hawthornden Lecture Theatre - Gardens Entrance (Scottish National Gallery)
* Free
* No booking required: free, unticketed.

Charles Jencks, eminent architectural critic, artist, and author of The Iconic Building, the Power of Enigma (Frances Lincoln, 2005), has been appointed Creative Director for Scotland's newest icon, the Gretna Landmark's Star of Caledonia.

This discussion will include looking at the controversy behind trying to design architectural icons as contemporary successors to the monument and how to develop a meaningful icon for Scotland.

Joining Charles will be Cecil Balmond, influential designer and artist behind the Gretna Landmark's Star of Caledonia, who will discuss his own creation process for envisaging and designing the Star of Caledonia as a contemporary icon.

Afternoon discussion

Discussions following the afternoon presentations at the AHM Symposium 2, National Galleries, Edinburgh

Morning discussion

Discussions following morning presentations

AHM pose a question

At the AHM symposium in October, Philip Schlesinger questioned whether Creative Scotland will be successful - will it convince the public it works? As yet there there are no clear set of objectives - only a vacuum of silence - although it appears that a business plan will be finalised in December. Philip Schlesinger noted that The Symposium offered the first real focus for debate since the establishment of Creative Scotland in July, 2010.

The discussion session was mainly about how artists could achieve a “voice” with Schlesinger suggesting that effective lobbying should reach out beyond obvious self-interest and that a more sophisticated argument, involving others, needs to be thought through.

AHM would like to pose an initial question: What do you, artists, designers, creative beings, expect and want from Creative Scotland?

Please share your thoughts via the AHM Symposium group on Central Station:


http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/_AHM-pose-a-question/blog/3024058/126249.html

AHM are the featured group on Central Station

AHM are the featured group on Central Station!

AHM have formed a group on Central Station called AHM Symposia, and documentation of the initial AHM State of Play Symposium is gradually being uploaded.

You will already find video footage of Philip Schlesinger's presentation, lots of photos, and a report on the event by AHM.

One by one, the individual manifestos are being uploaded to Central Station and the AHM blog, starting with Anthony Schrag's one minute manifesto today.

AHM are really keen to hear from people and continue the discussion started at the symposium, and these individual manifestos prove an ideal opportunity to do so.

Please join Central Station, become a member of the AHM Symposia group and make any thoughts, questions, comments about the symposium material.

The Central Station link is http://www.thisiscentralstation.com

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

AHM

"MASHING UP" : Art+Labour a public conversation

"MASHING UP" : Art+Labour a public conversation

CCA 5
Tue 9th Nov 2010
12.30-6pm


Art+Labour is a public conversation exploring the conditions and experiences of creative labour in the cultural industries - working conditions, pay, working hours; freedom and autonomy, pleasure and obligation; insecurity and uncertainty; social reproduction, networking and isolation - and artists' organising within it - unions, artists' associations, or self-organised studio/exhibition spaces.

What diverse forms of employment do artists undertake? Who are their employees? How secure and how flexible are these forms of employment? What are the conditions of employment and how are these changing? What can we say of artists' autonomy in relation to contemporary labour practices? How do cultural workers effectively organise around labour issues? What would it mean for artists to withdraw their labour in defence of conditions in one's primary or secondary employment? With successive governments' emphasis on arts' social function, how does communality express itself in competitive Creative Industries? What is industrial about the Creative Industries; where do 'Cultural' producers sit within the policy frame of the 'Creative' Industries? How do we as cultural producers recognise our own positions and dependency on/within/alongside the public sector? With the entrepreneurial restructuring of the arts in Scotland and in the face of selective public sector cuts throughout the UK, how constructive are artists' isolated appeals for a state of exception? What is so unique about artists in the social factory?

These are some of the questions to be addressed during this public conversation. The discussion is open to anyone - cultural workers, artists, students, interns, precarious and self-organised labour affiliated to academia - concerned with issues of art, labour and economics. The event will begin with a series of short position statements from invited speakers followed by discussion among panelists and audience.

Panelists include:

Angela McRobbie
Professor of Communications, Dept. of Media & Communications, Goldsmiths

Scottish Artists Union
The representative voice for artists in Scotland

Graham Jeffery
Reader: Music and Performance, The School of Creative and Cultural Industries, UWS

Katarzyna Kosmala
Reader, Centre for Contemporary European Studies, UWS

Gesa Helms
Researcher & artist

Brett Bloom
Member of Chicago-based art collective Temporary Services who recently produced 'Art Work : A national conversation about art, labour, and economics'

Owen Logan
Researcher, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen

Facilitated by Gordon Asher
Effective Learning Tutor, UWS Centre for Academic & Professional Development

Event is free but ticketed, tickets available from CCA Box Office:
CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD
tel : +44 (0)141 352 4900
http://www.cca-glasgow.com

Market Gallery Forum: Art and the Economy - Saturday 6th Nov

Market Gallery Forum: Art and the Economy.

The Forum's programme includes presentations by the following keynote speakers:

Francis McKee
Mark Fisher
Mark Robinson
Peter McCaughey
Ellie Harrison

Location: second floor of Barras Bargains, corner of London Road and Bain Street, Glasgow, G40 2ST.

Time: 10:00 - 17:00 on Saturday 6th November, 2010.

With the themes discussed in the Forum in mind, Market have specially programmed an exhibition of work by recent GSA MFA graduate Ellie Harrison - work previously unseen in the UK. Her exhibition comprises two installations including The History of Financial Crises, in which the turbulent history of 20th century capitalism is re-enacted by popcorn machines.


Market are running free buses from the Forum at 1715 to Market for the opening of Ellie Harrison's exhibition. Please join us then for round-table discussion, an artist talk by Ellie Harrison, and refreshments.


Location: Market Gallery, 334 Duke St., Glasgow G31 1QZ.

Time: 19:00 - 21:00 on Saturday 6th November, 2010

Artist's Talk: 19:30

For more information please visit

http://www.marketgallery.org.uk/

AHM attend: Three Directors at the Gallery of Modern Art in Conversation

Three Directors at the Gallery of Modern Art in Conversation

Today AHM went to the National Galleries in Edinburgh where Tim Marlow chaired a lively discussion with Douglas Hall (1961-1986), Richard Calvocoressi (1986-2007) and Simon Groom (2007-to present).

Creative Scotland roadshow/discussion

Sam attended the fourth and final Creative Scotland roadshow/discussion on Tuesday 25th May at the Briggait, Glasgow.

Here are her responses to the event...

"Arriving to a full on jazz big band, delightful though they were, made it completely impossible to have any kind of (informal) conversation with other delegates, especially those from other artforms whom I (and others?) might not know before the main event....

Next the acoustics of the Briggait's central space made it very difficult to hear the speakers as there was so much echo....

I tried to find fellow visual artists before it began and found Beth Forde and Steve Slater from Tramway (performing arts) which is worth noting in a group of 250 people.. ......I don't know nearly everyone, of course, in the visual arts world, far from it, but I was astonished at how few people I knew from the visual arts world were there, I can only speculate that either; a) they were making a political point by not attending. ie we are against the whole concept of Creative Scotland? or b) we feel there is little point in engaging with a body whose focus (rightly or wrongly, and this is something Andrew Dixon must address) is giving so much precedence to the "Creative Industries" and the arts as instrumental (validated by health and other social benefits) ..........

Good statements I remember from Andrew Dixon, (Head of Creative Scotland) and Fiona Hyslop ( Minister of Culture) were

"the language of investment in artists of the future, rather than subsidy"

CS to be seen as as a "rallying force for culture rather than an institution"

Andrew suggested that Scotland could become one of the top ten most cultured countries in the world, having discovered that Scotland is rated 18th out of 60 countries as a "national brand" (using the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, does that not sound a made up institution or what?!)

Worrying statements are

"The need to set social and economic objectives not just cultural"

"International working of the Government should see Scottish Culture as part of this import/export model....culture as a "calling card" to other countries"

CS has 30% of the Scottish Governments cultural budget and wants to be inclusive but also wants it to be seen as a "brand", every time I hear that term my blood freezes ; echoes of Thatcherism and the horrors that followed; rear their ugly head ("There is no such thing as society")

The three questions on each table at the Briggait meeting for us to contemplate were;

1) Are there new models or ways in which Creative Scotland can invest in the arts, creative industries or screen sectors?
Answers from our table...... Private/Public partnerships, Tax breaks for sponsors and artists

2) How can we get everyone championing Scotland's creative success (in homes, schools, across the regions and artforms)\
Answers from our table ....(lame I thought) get rid of demarcation between specialisms, professionals and amateurs...aaargh

3) How can Scotland maximise the international potential of its cultural production?
Answers from our table (again, we had no idea what other "tables' at this meeting were coming up with in term of ideas)
Confusion about role of British Council compared to CS's international role? A special unit had been suggested at CS which will focus on a small number of areas; reputation, creativity, economic impact and to showcase the best of Scotland's culture .....who is talking to whom?

Discussion following 'Guantanamera' screening

Dominic Paterson, Ross Birrell and David Harding in discussion after the screening of
'Guantanamera' on Sunday 18 April.

AHM in discussion - 11th February 2010