Spike Island Spring 2017
Exhibitions CafĂŠ Events
s ile d G un Ro
An Zi d m re m a er Lu m ka an
Open 2017
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Exhibition
Events
Giles Round They bow. Curtain. No applause. With Alex Cecchetti, Maria Loboda, Cally Spooner, Superstudio and Evan Calder Williams
8 April to 18 June 2017 Preview: Friday 7 April, 6–9pm Giles Round works across disciplines and engages with a variety of materials, processes and collaborators to address the relationship between art, design and functionality. His work is populated with citation and appropriation and, over the last decade, he has built an extensive catalogue of references to modernist manifestations with a particular focus on the design object. For his exhibition at Spike Island, Round draws on his professional experience as an exhibition designer to theatricalise the standard systems of display employed by galleries and museums. Inspired by the Italian architecture group Superstudio and, in particular, the lamp Passiflora (1968), the exhibition adopts a pop aesthetic where the artificial and the natural engage in a ‘playful game of illusion’,1 lending an unusual visibility to the functional elements that form the basis of exhibition display. Interpretation, climate control, gallery furniture, lighting and signage are absurdly exaggerated from their usual supportive role to become the main protagonists. As such, wayfinding causes trouble, interpretation incorporates emotion and
gallery furniture becomes mobile. Similarly, the climate control system for maintaining the standard temperature and relative humidity necessary to preserve works is dramatised, whilst the gallery track lighting system is reconfigured to react to daylight. Rather than maintaining constant light levels, instead it amplifies them, leading to toxic overexposure on a bright day. Elements of theatre design are considered in relation to exhibition making, introducing a number of set changes that see the works being rearranged and repositioned. Suspended from rigging, the works in gallery one, much like scenery flats, are raised and lowered via a system of pulleys and counterweights. Each day the position is altered to a pattern of different set configurations or to meet the needs of local theatre groups who have been invited to use the space to rehearse. Alongside Round’s works, the exhibition features works by Alex Cecchetti, Maria Loboda, Cally Spooner, Superstudio and Evan Calder Williams. 1 Passiflora, Centro Studi Poltronova www.centrostudipoltronova.it/tag/passiflora/
In Conversation: Giles Round and Lucia Pietroiusti Thursday 4 May, 6.30pm £5/£3, booking advised (free for Associates) Giles Round discusses his work with Lucia Pietroiusti, Public Programmes Curator at the Serpentine Galleries.
Performance: Alex Cecchetti Saturday 3 June, 6.30pm Free, booking advised As part of his exhibition, Giles Round has invited performance artist, poet and choreographer Alex Cecchetti to present a new work in the galleries.
Exhibition Tour: Carmen Juliá Saturday 6 May, 2pm Free, no need to book Carmen Juliá, Spike Island curator, leads a tour of Giles Round’s exhibition, with a focus on ideas of design and functionality, appropriation and collaboration.
Alex Cecchetti Conversation of the Arrows Duet (2017) With Pauline Simon, Grand Union, Birmingham Photograph by Dani Bower
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Exhibition Andrea Luka Zimmerman Common Ground 8 April to 18 June 2017 Preview: Friday 7 April, 6–9pm
The work of Andrea Luka Zimmerman explores the impact of globalisation, power structures, militarism and denied histories. Common Ground, Zimmerman’s first UK solo exhibition, celebrates strategies of social and cultural resistance and proposes new ways of living together in the face of a threatened idea of the ‘common good’.
The themes of Estate, a Reverie resonate in further films, images, documents and events brought together for Common Ground. Taskafa — Stories of the Street
Common Ground provides an environment for open discussion, research and debate about the issues at the heart of these films and the other work in the exhibition. A series of talks, discussions, readings and screenings are organised over three Saturdays during the exhibition. There is a library area within the gallery with books and archival material related to the projects, where visitors are welcome to sit and look, listen or read.
(Un)Common
Common Wealth
Saturday 29 April, 2–5pm Free, drop in anytime Andrea Luka Zimmerman hosts a drop in event with collaborators on her film Estate, a Reverie; David Roberts, Elam Forrester and Lorna Forrester. This event is part of Spike Island Open (see p.7).
Saturday 20 May, 12–5pm Free, drop in anytime This afternoon open discussion about housing and redevelopment addresses how these issues affect people in and around Bristol today. Andrea Luka Zimmerman invites guest campaigners, activists and others who are involved in related projects or research to take part.
Exhibition Tour: Melissa Mean
In Common
Saturday 13 May, 2pm Free, no need to book Melissa Mean, Head of Arts at Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC), Bristol, talks about the work in Common Ground in relation to KWMC’s citizen-led housing project We can make … homes.
Saturday 17 June 2017, 2–8pm Free, booking advised Join us to celebrate the work of John Berger, a prolific writer of powerful art criticism, poetry and fiction. This event combines talks, screenings and an audio recording of Berger reading Andrey Platonov’s short story A Sparrow’s Journey, heard by candlelight. Andrea Luka Zimmerman Estate, a Reverie (2015) Production still, courtesy Fugitive Images Photograph by Briony Campbell
Central to the exhibition, Zimmerman’s essay film Estate, a Reverie (2015) tracks the long drawn out closure of the Haggerston Estate in East London and the utopian promise of social housing it once offered. Filmed over seven years, Estate, a Reverie reveals the spirited everyday humanity and resilience of residents who, in circumstances like these, are habitually overlooked by media representations and wider social responses. The film portrays the complex relationships between people and the conditions in which they find themselves; asking how we might resist stereotypes of class, gender, ability, disability and geography.
(2013) is a film about survival and coexistence told through the lives of the street dogs of Istanbul and the citizens who care for them. It is voiced by the late writer and storyteller John Berger from his own novel King: A Street Story (1988). Zimmerman’s Merzschmerz (2014) is a series of short videos in which children retell (from memory) fairy tales written by the German artist Kurt Schwitters to an adult neighbour or friend. These short scenes draw attention to the process of remembering and forgetting — as well as addition and subtraction — that is essential to the handing on of stories from one person to another. They are tender portraits which show the role of a listener to be as important as that of a narrator in the telling of a tale.
Events
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Events
Bristol and Bath Residents Weekend: Historical Building Tours
Writer’s Talk: Tim Dee
Sunday 7 May, tours on the hour from 12–4pm Free, booking required at bbresweeekend.co.uk As part of this special cultural weekend for local residents, take a behind the scenes tour of Spike Island to learn about the building’s history as a tea packing factory and its current use as a home for artists, designers, creative businesses and students. Visitbbresweeekend.co.uk for details of events across Bristol and Bath (5–7 May 2017). #bbexploremore
Book Launch: Charlie Fox Tuesday 30 May, 6.30pm £5/£3, booking advised London-based writer Charlie Fox introduces his book This Young Monster, a hallucinatory celebration of artists who raise hell, transform their bodies, anger their elders and show their audience dark, disturbing things. What does it mean to be a freak? Why might we be wise to think of the present as a time of monstrosity? And how does the concept of the monster irradiate our thinking about queerness, disability, children and adolescents?
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Thursday 18 May, 6.30pm Free, booking required As part of their writing residency at the Whitchurch and Hengrove Community Orchard, Ellen Wilkinson and Holly Corfield Carr (members of Spike Associates) invite acclaimed writer and radio producer Tim Dee to combine field recordings with readings and discussion to give voice to our local landscapes. Presented in collaboration with Bristol Festival of Ideas.
Discussion: Art and Its Materials Led by Katrina Mitcheson, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, UWE Thursday 1 June, 6–7.30pm £5/£3, booking advised (free for Associates) The second of four events exploring the relationship between art, aesthetics and contemporary materialism. Organised in partnership with the Philosophy Programme and Social Sciences in the City, University of the West of England. Reading material will be provided.
Friday 28 April, 6–9pm (party 9pm till late) Saturday 29 April to Monday 1 May, 11am–5pm Free entry The annual Spike Island Open is a chance to explore behind the scenes of this former Brooke Bond tea packing factory. Spike Island is home to over 70 artists’ studios, Spike Print Studio, UWE Fine Art BA/MA students, as well as many other creative practitioners including designers, writers, filmmakers, animators and photographers. Meet artists in their studios and see what they are working on. Dotted around the building, screenings, performances, installations, workshops and talks take place. Highlights include clay vessel throwing with artist Sarah Wilton, young people’s film screenings with Calling the Shots and a sculptural installation ‘impossible to pin point in time or space’ by artist Ben Rowe.
Some of Bristol’s best street food traders host pop-ups, including Big O Donut Co. and Gopal’s Curry Shack, while our very own Spike Island Café offer a colourful organic menu. To get here from across the harbour, catch a Bristol Ferry Boat and encounter some special artists’ commissions on board.
#SpikeIslandOpen
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Residencies
Behind the Scenes
Mary Paterson Working between critical writing, poetry and live art, Mary Paterson is art writer in residence for early 2017. She is conducting independent research, interviewing artists and holding workshops with local writers that take the form of regular walks. She envisages her research developing into a performance/exhibition exploring the ontology of language in an era of post-truth politics. Mary Paterson’s residency is hosted by Spike Island in partnership with Arnolfini and the Art Writers Programme.
Sian Norris Novelist, short story writer, journalist and poet Sian Norris is writer in residence at Spike Island until the end of April 2017, developing a new novel and running a series of workshops and literary showcase events. Sian Norris’ residency is in association with the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival.
Studios
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Literary Salon With Amy Key, Eley Williams and Ben Gwalchmai Saturday 29 April, 2.30–4.30pm £3, booking advised Join Sian Norris in recreating the salon scene of 1920s Paris. Norris shares the work she has created during her residency before inviting guest poets and prose writers Amy Key, Eley Williams and Ben Gwalchmai to take to the stage. Attendees also have the opportunity to share their own work during an open mic session. This event is part of Spike Island Open (see p.7). Creative Writing Workshop for Adults: Rewriting Fiction Saturday 8 April, 1–3pm Free, booking advised Join Sian Norris in this workshop designed to support the redrafting process. Explore techniques for revising dialogue, adding emotion and action via setting and share your ideas on what is and isn’t working. You are also welcome to use the space to simply work on your own writing.
Free, booking advised Chat with artists based at Spike Island, explore their studios and view work in progress during these informal encounters. Each artist gives a brief introduction to their practice followed by an opportunity for questions and discussion. Conway and Young Exploding the University (2016) Photograph by Rachel Williams
Conway and Young Saturday 13 May, 2pm Jen Conway and Jessy Young collaborate as graphic designers and lecturers. Gain insight into their work which focuses on people, environment and learning, motivated by the critical, social and political potential of design.
Amy Gough and Benjamin Jones, Graduate Fellows Saturday 27 May, 2pm Each year Spike Island offers fellowships to promising graduates. Benjamin Jones from Bath Spa University and Amy Gough from University of the West of England discuss the artwork they have made so far.
Test Space
May Day May Day All Works Will Be Shown Open submission photocopy show 29 April to 14 May 2017 Preview: Friday 28 April, 6–9pm An open call photocopy show where all works responding to the title are shown, launched as part of Spike Island Open.
Test Space is programmed by studio holders based at Spike Island and offers artists a chance to exhibit new works and test ideas. Artists from within the Spike Island community and beyond are included. Please ask at reception for access.
Benjamin Jones 3 June to 2 July 2017 Preview: Friday 2 June, 6–8pm An exhibition of recent photographic and assemblage works made during Jones’ graduate fellowship at Spike Island in 2016–17.
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Literature
Novel Writers £5/£3 concessions Booking advised Each month we invite a debut novelist to read from and talk about their work in an informal setting. Prior knowledge of the text is not essential. Topics of discussion include theme, structure, inspiration and the craft of writing. These sessions are a great way to discover new writing talent and great books. In partnership with Bristol Festival of Ideas.
Gillian Best The Last Wave Book launch and conversation Thursday 20 April, 6.30pm Gillian Best, a native of Toronto who now lives and works in Bristol, presents a wholly authentic tragicomic portrait of family life as it is buffeted by illness, intolerance, anger, failure and regret. This family drama set in England between the 1950s and the present, follows the life of Martha, a woman who has swum the English Channel ten times, and the complex relationships she has with her husband, her children and her close friends.
Luke Kennard The Transition
JJ Bola No Place to Call Home
Thursday 25 May, 6.30pm Set in an unnamed city in the very near future, poet Luke Kennard’s The Transition revolves around a financially insolvent young couple who are given the chance to redesign their life by moving in with an older couple who will act as their ‘mentors’ in a life-improvement scheme called ‘The Transition’.
Thursday 29 June, 6.30pm With colourful characters and seamless prose, No Place to Call Home by Kinshasa born, London raised JJ Bola is a tale of belonging, identity and immigration, of hope and hopelessness, of loss — not by death, but by distance — and, by no means the least, of love.
‘The growing divide between homeowners and renters, the galloping corporatisation of modern life and the disappearance of middle-class safety nets are the driving forces behind this dystopia in a velvet glove.’ — The Guardian
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Courtesy JJ Bola and OWN IT!, London
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Activities
Coming soon
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I am Making Art Free, booking advised Materials provided, donations welcome These monthly activity sessions are led by artists and take place in the Spike Island Café. Visitors of all ages and abilities can try out new techniques and approaches to making art, from drawing and painting to collage, sculpture and animation and are invited to drop in any time during the session. Talking Objects Saturday 6 May, 2–6pm Taking influence from Giles Round’s exhibition, create fictions for objects in this fun workshop led by Bristol-based performance artist Tom Marshman. Theatrical Type Saturday 3 June, 2–6pm Illustrative artist Monique Jivram leads a session inspired by the theatrical qualities of Giles Round’s exhibition. Using simple typography and untraditional drawing techniques, create your own individual placard and explore what we choose to communicate with others and consider how we edit ourselves.
Baby Art Hour
Courtesy Zoe Moyden
Friday 21 April, 10–11am Friday 19 May, 10–11am Friday 16 June, 10–11am £3 for the first child in a family group £1 for each additional child Booking essential All materials provided Led by artist Éilis Kirby, these monthly sessions in Spike Island Café are for under-fives and their carers. Come play with colour, shape and texture and learn easy ways to create, using simple methods and materials. The gallery opens early at 11am so you can view the current exhibitions after the session.
Maeve Brennan, Production still (2017)
Maeve Brennan
Tessa Lynch
8 July to 17 September 2017 Preview: Friday 7 July, 6–9pm Spike Island presents a major new film commission by London and Beirut based artist Maeve Brennan. Informed by investigative research, Brennan’s practice considers the value, care and circulation of materials and their political resonance across cultures and history. In her new film The Drift, Brennan traces the shifting economies of objects in contemporary Lebanon, exploring densely layered archaeological and urban sites and their economies of maintenance and repair. The work is produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London and Spike Island, Bristol and commissioned in partnership with The Whitworth, The University of Manchester, and Lismore Castle Arts, Lismore.
8 July to 17 September 2017 Preview: Friday 7 July, 6–9pm Tessa Lynch works predominantly with sculpture and performance. Her works develop from her interest in the emotional impact of the built environment and from her quest for the existence of a female flâneur or flâneuse, the woman who wanders the city aimlessly. For her exhibition at Spike Island, Lynch creates a site-specific sculptural installation that moves at varying paces throughout the space, questioning the emotional qualities of the gallery’s architecture.
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April
Calendar
Friday 7 6–9pm Exhibition Previews: Giles Round They bow. Curtain. No applause. Andrea Luka Zimmerman Common Ground Saturday 8 1–3pm Creative Writing Workshop Thursday 20 6.30–8pm Novel Writers: Gillian Best Friday 21 10–11am Baby Art Hour Friday 28 6–9pm Open 2017 Exhibition Preview: Test Space Saturday 29 11am–5pm Open 2017 2–6pm (Un)Common 2.30–4.30pm Sian Norris: Literary Salon Sunday 30 11am–5pm Open 2017
p. 2 p. 4 p. 8 p. 10 p. 12 p. 7 p. 9 p. 7 p. 5 p. 8 p. 7
May Monday 1 11am–5pm Open 2017 Thursday 4 6.30pm In Conversation: Giles Round and Lucia Pietroiusti Saturday 6 2pm Exhibition Tour 2–6pm I am Making Art Sunday 7 12–4pm Historical Building Tours Saturday 13 2pm Behind the Scenes Studio Visits 2pm Exhibition Tour Thursday 18 6.30pm Writer’s Talk: Tim Dee Friday 19 10–11am Baby Art Hour Saturday 20 12–5pm Common Wealth Thursday 25 6.30–8pm Novel Writers: Luke Kennard Saturday 27 2pm Behind the Scenes Studio Visits Tuesday 30 6.30pm Book Launch: Charlie Fox
p. 7 p. 3 p. 3 p. 12 p. 6 p. 9 p. 5 p. 6 p. 12 p. 5 p. 10 p. 9 p. 6
June Thursday 1 6–7.30pm Discussion: Art and Its Materials Friday 2 6–8pm Exhibition Preview: Test Space Saturday 3 2–6pm I am Making Art 6.30pm Performance: Alex Cecchetti Friday 16 10–11am Baby Art Hour Saturday 17 2–8pm In Common Thursday 29 6.30–8pm Novel Writers: JJ Bola
p. 6 p. 9 p. 12 p. 3 p. 12 p. 5 p. 10
Book for events online at www.spikeisland.org.uk, call 0117 929 2266 or visit reception.
Spike Island Café
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Home of proper food LOCAL, ORGANIC, SUSTAINABLE, ETHICAL, DELICIOUS We specialise in delicious lunches and catering for weddings, meetings and gettogethers of all kinds. The café is available for free hire. Open Monday to Friday, 8.30am–5pm Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5pm Tel. 0117 954 4030 www.spikeislandcafe.co.uk Image courtesy Eat Pictures
Thank you
Support us
Spike Island is a registered charity (no. 1003505). Spike Island gratefully acknowledges support from Arts Council England and Bristol City Council.
Spike Island is a registered charity (no.1003505) working to nurture artistic talent and bring artists and audiences together. You can support us by making a donation or volunteering with us. Find out more at www.spikeisland.org.uk
Giles Round’s exhibition is supported by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts, with in-kind support from Kriskadecor. Special thanks to Bristol Old Vic Theatre. We are grateful to Emmaus for supplying furniture for Andrea Luka Zimmerman’s exhibition. The Art Writing Programme is supported by Arts Council England.
Also available in large print. Ask at reception, email admin@spikeisland.org.uk or call 0117 929 2266.
Spike Island
Visitor Information
Spike Island is an international centre for the development of contemporary art and design. A vibrant hub for production, presentation and debate, it invites audiences to engage directly with creative practices through participation and discussion.
Gallery open Tuesday to Sunday, 12–5pm (during exhibitions only). Admission to the gallery is free. Prices for events vary, please see individual listings for details. Café open Monday to Friday, 8.30am–5pm, Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5pm. @spike_cafe
133 Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6UX Tel. 0117 929 2266 www.spikeisland.org.uk admin@spikeisland.org.uk
Spike Island aims to be a fully accessible building. There are three Blue Badge parking spaces outside the main entrance. Booking Information Book for events online at www.spikeisland.org.uk, call 0117 929 2266 or visit Reception.
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