12-21 September Bristol, UK
bristolbiennial.co.uk @BristolBiennial
"Experience an ancient uprising of grass men, a cranberry field in a city fountain and a secret gig that breaks all the rules…" These are just a handful of the 31 artworks and events that will populate Bristol over ten days this September. Through an open call, we selected over 50 remarkable artists to present interactive, participatory and thought-provoking projects. Crossing the what? Bristol Biennial 2014 crosses many flavours of line. The festival spans the city, presenting artwork in 30 sites and locations: from Knowle to Easton to Clifton to Harbourside. Our projects cross disciplines, merging installation, performance and visual art. We support artists to traverse the tracks between emerging and established
Ticketed events cost from £2 - £19. All tickets can be purchased on our website: bristolbiennial.co.uk Tickets can be printed at home or sent to your mobile phones to be presented at the event. Keep an eye on our social media channels for ticket deals. Bristol Biennial aims to be accessible and inclusive. Many of our exhibitions and installations are free to view. The Key on the right indicates the venues that have wheelchair access or are suitable for families. For more information, email: contact@bristolbiennial.co.uk
practices. Our international, national and local collaborations are new seedlings planted to grow with Bristol Biennial. Finally, as an artist-led festival, we have sought to creatively match limited resources with ambitious ideas. We owe much to our supporters, sponsors and volunteers across the city, who helped to make this festival happen. Jump on over... Discover artworks on the hoof, feed your brain with compelling talks, play your part in curious encounters, stop and stare at something extraordinary. Hannah Clark Artistic Director, Bristol Biennial
International Artist National Artist Local Artist Family Friendly Wheelchair Access Booking Required
On The Hoof Outdoor and Roaming Art
Play Your Part Participatory Artworks
Stop and Stare Exhibitions and Performances
Feed Your Brain Talks and Workshops
Switch our lights on! Join us to celebrate the launch of Bristol Biennial 2014: Crossing the Line.
There will be refreshments, fun and games! At 8pm, we will switch on Shaun C Badham's neon artwork, I’M STAYING. Party clothes optional. It’ll be off the hoof!
Are you staying or going?
a two year period.
Spelling out "I’m staying", Shaun C Badham’s neon artwork comments on our relationship to place, community and change.
Where will I'M STAYING travel next: your street, your work, your home? Cast your vote now at bristolbiennial.co.uk
So far, over 800 members of the public voted online to decide future locations of the neon artwork, which will move around Bristol over
Join us on Fri 12 Sep, to switch on the lights at our free Launch Party.
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Harvestime for harbourside Hanna and Julia Rohn install a sea of cranberries in the city centre, offering a chance to experience the spectacle of fruit farming. Cranberries are a popular super-food in the UK. While their wet harvesting is forbidden here due to environmental impact, most
locally consumed Cranberries are imported and therefore wet harvested. Cranberry Fields draws attention to the aesthetics of industrial food production, but equally addresses environmental implications and today`s consumer culture. Pick up a rake and get stuck in!
A home from home LandSkapa explores notions of otherness and belonging, through a Finnish lens. The exhibition is a unique immersive experience: located in an inner-city terraced home the viewer is asked to consider the
A Seminar on Cultural Identity What is the value of preserving cultural heritage, and what is the role of the artist as interpreter of these cultural values? Bristol Biennial presents an evening discussion focusing on the impact of migration on creative arts practice.
inner and domestic worlds of those left isolated by migration or a breakdown in the social contract. LandSkapa is a collaboration between Bristol Biennial and Bothnia Biennale, curated by Catherine Bourne.
Speakers include writer Juan Pablo Lopez Quintana (Mexico), performance artist Eva Martino (Italy), artist Solveig Settemsdal (Norway). The event is chaired by Bristol Biennial’s Artistic Director Hannah Clark and curated by Catherine Bourne. Book a free place: bristolbiennial.co.uk
Celebrate with us the first year of collaboration between Bristol Biennial and International Performance Association (IPA): an intense weekend of talks, workshops and a platform for new performance. Over two days we will work with artists, producers and audiences to imagine new ways to collaborate, present and exchange performance art across the world. Find out more about our future plans: wearecrossingtheline.com
A bus journey into the unknown... An artist invites you to board a bus in central Bristol, be dropped off at a mystery location and find your way home from the outskirts of the city. Eric Wang was a Chinese immigrant (19802012), who died when his bike collided with a tourist bus in London.
Alexander produces projects that explore and challenge our relationship to history, shared beliefs and personal myths. Natasha makes site-specific installations that navigate the material and immaterial realms of the body. In an interactive seminar, they will explore points where their practices meet. Book a free place: bristolbiennial.co.uk
Inspired by his story, and Chinese notions of ghosts and reincarnation, Blind Chance investigates the relationship between spiritual displacement and modern capital. The onboard performance will last one hour, before participants are dropped off. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
“Perhaps more common a sight than a truly wild animal, is a luridly-dressed hiker.” Join Alexander Stevenson for an unusual walking tour of Clifton Suspension Bridge, exploring what we mean by ‘wild’. At the point where city meets countryside,
Soundtrack for a deeper connection Listen to a sonic composition that imagines an archaeological dig as a surgical operation, one in which stone becomes interchangeable with flesh. Somewhere between absurd theatre and quasi opera, this audio tour develops the idea that buildings, like bodies, are sustained by the gestures, dreams and memories that flow through them. No booking required. Free (£10 deposit for audio players). See pick-up venue websites for opening times.
bear witness to unusual creatures in the distant landscape. Ticket includes free telescope and an audio copy of the performance. Dress in hiking gear with lots of neon and fluorescent colour. Meet at Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Information Centre. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
Watch an exhibition grow... Ded. Reckoning is the process of calculating a position using previous knowledge. Artists Alice Vandeleur- Boorer, Laurie Lax, Azusa Chareteau and Amy Hancock-Martin invert the traditional exhibition format,
employing a live version of Ded. Reckoning and foregrounding intuition, theory and chance in their artistic processes. Impromptu events and workshops will happen throughout the week, with a final ‘Opening’ night, 6-9pm on Fri 19 Sep.
Immersion in an unfamiliar landscape Desert//\\Scape is an installation and series of lectures, talks and performances hosted by Lacuna Crux, using the theme of this year’s Biennial - Crossing the Line - to provoke thought on subjects including control, gender, collaboration and communication. Lacuna Crux is a Bristol art collective who create exciting artwork, entertainment and experiences. Loft 6D is a 3000 sq ft warehouse unit being redeveloped into an exhibition and event space. Find full details of the exhibition programme: desertscape.wordpress.com
A poetic excavation of second-best diamonds MINE journeys into the extraordinary underworld of an 18th-century grotto, a cave blistered with crystals and coral collected from slavers’ ports, to tell a story of dolour and dolerite amongst the city’s dealt dirt. An audience of six descend with writer Holly Corfield Carr to play cards, trade voices
and dig up a murder mystery, a disastrous meeting, a comedy, a spiralling inferno. Suitable footwear recommended. There will be four performances each night. Meet at the entrance gates of Goldney Hall, Clifton. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk Supported by Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme, designed to nurture emerging writers.
What can you see?
no video signal, only white noise.
Video and photography have an enduring connection with death and the occult.
Come face to face with the ghosts in the machine...
Forest of Fallen Trees is an uncanny live installation, exploring the paranormal belief that the dead can be reached when there is
This exhibition launches as part of Bristol Doors Open Day.
Nostalgia, reminiscence, and an emphasis on the past run through the media we consume, the objects we accumulate, and the content we produce. Reflection is natural, but how often does a glance over the shoulder drift towards melancholic longing for how things might have been? This installation combats sentimentality with an honest critique of the mechanics of nostalgia. Tag your photos with #TheNostalgiaProject to become part of the work. This exhibition launches as part of Bristol Doors Open Day.
A concert that breaks all the rules
Produced in cahoots with Howling Owl.
"[Secret Gig] illustrates the absurdity in the conventions of the live music experience, and the wonderful things that can happen when one distorts a stale, often sanitized formula.� –Colchester Arts Centre
The line-up for the gig will only be revealed upon attendance. Prepare for a night to remember!
Start a conversation that connects the city Over 9 days, shoppers in Bedminster and Broadmead will find themselves in two places at once. A live video doorway will allow real-time interactions with people at the other end of the portal. P O R TA L i n v i t e s u n u s u a l encounters, pop-up performances and unscripted happening, across two very different shopping hubs in Bristol.
Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
Make as much noise as you like. Built on site, using mostly found materials, Sonic Room is both a visual spectacle and a kinetic sculpture that invites vocal and physical interaction. Enter a specially-designed artwork and use your voice, hands and objects to investigate how sound travels through a structure.
Using art to visualize the future People from across Bristol are invited to use a sports-pitch marker to demarcate local flood-zones. The line will begin in one neighbourhood
and pass to the next, sparking conversations about the local impact of climate change and what individuals or communities can do to mitigate, adapt and build climate resilience across Bristol. Find out more: www.highwaterline.org
Bring Your Own Bike! What does a cycle through the city feel like? Kike & Oscar transform environmental data recorded by cyclists into a polyphonic sound and video installation. Harnessing the power of Arduino open-source technology, the artists attach special devices to participant’s bicycles, which feed back in realtime.
See the devices being created on 13 Sep at Create Centre. On 19 & 20 Sep, you can book a slot to participate with your bike or visit the installation for free. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
What makes an ideal citizen? Manufactured Britishness is a short film depicting a fictional system where immigrants undergo bizarre assessments to demonstrate their worth as prospective citizens, including showing appreciation for Newton and demonstrating a calm demeanor when dealing
How do artists survive? In uncertain economic times, artists must make strategic decisions. These one-to-one professional development mentoring sessions will equip students, graduates and emerging artists with the knowledge and confidence to navigate the unique challenges we face. Three mentors draw on their practices as artists, curators, writers and educators to offer critical professional development. Book a slot: bristolbiennial.co.uk
with social accidents and emergencies – all strictly aligned with Britain’s customs, culture and values. Are they British now? Join us for a special screening and artist talk about borders, migration and displacement. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
So here I am. Here we are. Here we go. Over 50 fast-paced minutes, We Used To Wait uses playful interaction, participation and celebration to explore what it means to be ‘live’ and present together in an increasingly digital world. "Provocative, surprising, blisteringly original and, by the end, beautifully celebratory" –BE Festival Join an energetic ensemble performance that pulls you right into heart of the work. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
There will be food, there will be drink, there will be music. The rest is top secret! Join an offbeat adventure with a motley crew, to reclaim overlooked parts of the city.
Consider yourself not just a voyeur but also an agent – an effective and influential contributor to Bristol’s urban space. Tickets £19, only available from Katie & Kim’s Kitchen, 39 Picton Street, Bristol. Ticket price includes food and drinks.
Something ancient is emerging Have we lost our connection with nature? Part-sculpture and part-performance, Grass Men are the living, breathing reincarnations of an older time.
With a touch of the absurd and a hint of mysticism, Grass Men briefly restore an ancient relationship to the lingering green spaces in our urban environment. Pop down to the park and keep your eyes peeled!
An immersive choral sound bath Each audience member is blindfolded and hugged by a singer. Unable to visually gauge their surroundings, participants experience the performance through sound, breath and vibrations of the body.
Get rid of all your worries Megan will spend three days building a haystack riddled with anxiety. Visitors will be invited to contribute by offering up their worries to be destroyed in a Viking P-20 Strip Cut paper shredder.
"A fleeting moment of quiet reflection and calm in a cluttered world" –Bristol Culture. There are three performances of HUG each night. Please note the two different venues. Book tickets: bristolbiennial.co.uk
These will become the primary material for the building of a haystack, constructed directly on a needle. After The Build comes The Search. On 21 Sep, join an interactive performance aiming to find the needle in the haystack.
There’s an elephant in the room The artist selected a building entrance in Beijing, and with the help of a local translator she gained access into people’s apartments. Once inside she turned her video camera on and assumed a pose inspired by classical European sculpture. She remained still for one hour or until someone intervened to end the work. Temporary Sculptures… is a humourous video installation about what happens when social boundaries are crossed, and classicism and the contemporary collide.
Who’s looking at who? An artist is going to commit a crime. The impersonation of a police officer. But this officer will be in plain-clothes, hiding in plain sight, a simulation of the public. Spotting police, spies, ticket checkers and other surveillance workers is an increasingly important skill. Time for some practice! A map of the artist’s projected whereabouts is available to download at bristolbiennial.co.uk.
What now, what next? After Bristol Biennial 2014 has drawn to a close, Hand in Glove invite you to share your experiences and meet other artists and producers over tea, cake and games. Help us shape our plans for the future!
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Interplay is a series of events focusing on social exchange and celebration of artist-led practice and collaboration. Hand in Glove is a Bristol-based collective of artists and curators who produce nomadic projects to showcase and support emerging artist practice.
Hannah Clark Artistic Director Eva Martino Executive Producer Dwynwen Hedd Head of Operations Roz Stobart Administrator
Rowan Lear Communications Manager
Christina Ashmole Communications Assistant Alice Fruer-Denham Project Assistant
Steph Li Volunteer Coordinator Will Kendrick Web Programmer
Garry Edison Cook Graphic Designer
Totally Toys, Nadine's Caribbean Café, Spike Island Café, Mark's Bread, Katie & Kim's Café, The Galleries, Churches Conservation Trust, Bristol Folk House and The Island.
bristolbiennial.co.uk @bristolbiennial