FUTURE | VISIONS Exhibition guide by Jazamin Sinclair

FUTURE | VISIONS Threshold Festival 2014 Exhibition FUTURE | VISIONS presents a range of work from artists across the UK, responding to the festival theme of retro-futurism; visions of the future imagined in the 1950s and 60s. The exhibition spans across the Baltic Triangle, with work presented in venues including Unit 51, Baltic Bakehouse, The Baltic Social, District plus new venues Palmer Hill and 90 Squared. FUTURE | VISIONS also features a companion exhibition at Arena Gallery and a collection of work displayed at The Hatch at Hopskotch Liverpool.

The following exhibition guide should help you to make your way around the venues and tell you more about each artist who has work on display. Website: thresholdfestival.co.uk Twitter: @ThresholdFest #threshold14 Facebook: /ThresholdFestival With thanks to our supporters:

Robyn Woolston

[*Installation Art* at 90 Squared]

Returning to Threshold Festival for the fourth year and heading our visual arts programme is award-winning artist Robyn Woolston. Robyn is an artist whose previous installations have included 7,500 ice-cream containers, 45,000 carrier bags, a selection of trees from Ash to Silver Birch as well as a reproduction Las Vegas sign. From site-responsive interventions to socially engaged practice she activates spaces by confronting dogmas, re-appropriating â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wasteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and initiating conversation. Her work has featured within National Geographic Traveller magazine as well as on the front cover of the Green Party magazine: Green World (issue 79). In 2012 she won the Liverpool Art Prize and was awarded a solo show in 2013 at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, during which she exhibited 3.6 tonnes of post-consumer waste prior to recycling. She has shown across the UK, Europe and Australia and focuses upon installation, photography, moving image and print. For Threshold 2014 Robyn will work with a discarded library of over 1,000 analogue cassette tapes. Website: www.robynwoolston.com Twitter: @robynwoolston

Threshold Festival 2014 Exhibition FUTURE | VISIONS presents a range of work from artists across the UK, responding to the festival theme of retro-futurism; visions of the future imagined in the 1950s and 60s. The exhibition spans across the Baltic Triangle, with work presented in venues including Unit 51, Baltic Bakehouse, The Baltic Social, District plus new venues Palmer Hill and 90 Squared. FUTURE | VISIONS also features a companion exhibition at Arena Gallery and a collection of work displayed at The Hatch at Hopskotch Liverpool. thresholdfestival.co.uk With thanks to our supporters:

John Bruun

[*Live Art* at 90 Squared]

John will be presenting a slam poetry performance with visual projections entitled ‘Dreaming of altered realities: Quantum punk poem’. John shares a science reality that can shape our world. He is a scientist and contemporary thinker. He uses his background in physics and applying maths to help understand environmental systems and our living planet. His artwork includes use of documentary photography and poems / writings of moments that help define & for us talk about keypoints in our cross-cultural happenings.

Beauty’s Perception

[*Live Art* at 90 Squared]

Beauty’s Perception is a project based on finding out how the perception of beauty has changed throughout the years, conducted through researching into areas of the arts such at literacy, poetry and music. The project features an interactive walk through video installation, concluding with a slam poetry performance. Facebook: /beautysperception Twitter: @Beautyception

Graham Smillie

[*Visual Art* at Arena]

In partnership with Arena Gallery, we are pleased to announce companion exhibition â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hello and Goodnight: An exhibition of photographs from the early 1980â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Liverpool music scene by Graham Smillie. Driven by a love for music, Graham immersed himself in the scene and captured images featuring some of the greatest musicians in Liverpool at that time; including Pete Wylie, Echo & The Bunnymen and the Pale Fountains. A must see for retro music fans! Website: arenastudiosandgallery.com

That Girl

[*Live Interactive Art*. Venue to be announced]

Johanna Wilson, aka That Girl is an illustrator and designer working in Liverpool. She has recently created artwork for Dan Croll and the SevenStreets Almanac. Johanna will be screen-printing live during Threshold and festival goers can create their own screen prints to take away as a souvenir! Website: www.thtgrl.bigcartel.com

Michael Kirkham

[*Visual Art* at Unit 51]

Michael Kirkham captures intimate, gritty and often touching moments in the human story. In his photography Michael aims to capture emotion, and to draw the viewer into his images. Michael takes images to capture his own life happening as much as anything else. Driven by two life changing events: The loss of his brother as a young man and the birth of his daughter; he strives to capture every moment of his life. Michael’s main influences are: Don McCullin; Martin Parr; Ansel Adams; William Klein; Nobuyoshi Araki; Daido Moriyama; Robert Capa; And Diane Arbus. Over the last two years, Michael has taken part in a number of exhibitions. Notably the Independents Liverpool Biennial 2012 group exhibition ‘Love or Nothing’ organised by TAG (Toxteth Art Group). He has also had two solo exhibitions in 2013 including a well-received show at Headspace, The Egg Café. Michael is a regular editorial contributor for Halcyon Magazine, a Liverpool based publication with a National distribution. His work was used for the cover shot of issue no. 3. Working out of his comfort zone, Michael’s photography for this year’s festival is unique, using techniques that he is new to. Using a double or triple exposure he has created textured, layered images of iconic buildings in the city that reflect his notions of retro-futurism. Website: www.michaelkirkhamphotography.co.uk Facebook: /michaelkirkhamphotography Twitter: @mrkirks2

Tommy Graham [*Live Art* at District] Joining our live art line up is award-winning artist Tommy Graham, who specialises in darkly humorous, comic paintings often juxtaposing robots and surveillance technology. Tommy will create new work throughout the weekend at District. Tommy has been a practising artist based in Liverpool for over ten years. During this time he has worked as an animator on music videos, an illustrator for various companies and has had several paintings commissioned. He has exhibited in Liverpool Birmingham and London. In 2007 Tommy began doing live paintings in front of audiences at various music gigs and festivals around the city, and in 2012 he won a live art competition to commemorate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Tommy’s painting of the Queen as Godzilla breathing fire over the Liver Buildings won both the judges prize and the peoples prize. In 2013 Tommy worked on the Black Duke of Lancaster Project alongside some of Europe’s best urban artists. A lot of Tommy’s work involves Robots dealing with common aspects of the human condition, things like love, guilt and isolation. He likes to take the mundane and turn it into the absurd. He also tries to identify the negative aspects of society and hold them up to ridicule. Tommy believes it’s easy to see problems in society as truisms, utterly unchangeable and wholly depressing. Things like government corruption, the military industrial complex and the vacuousness of mass media. By holding these problems up to mockery and petulant vitriol, an outlet appears that doesn’t involve slamming ones head repeatedly against a wall in despair. For Tommy, a lot of his work is a form of therapy, albeit one that involves a disproportionate amount of Robots, Atom Bombs and Closed Circuit Television. This approach and his cartoonist style stems primarily from influences such as Ralph Steadman, Gerald Scarfe and Steve Bell along with comic book illustrators like Chris Bachelo and John Romita Jr. For this year’s Threshold Festival Tommy is currently working on a new painting that pits Chimps against Robots in a death match. Tommy wants to juxtapose our ability to create hugely sophisticated technology with our inability to escape our more base and primal instincts. He will also be creating three interlinked paintings live at District throughout the festival, so that members of the public can see the process of creating pieces from start to finish. Tommy’s work has accurately been described as ‘a darkly humorous, sardonic blend of comic book illustration and graffiti style graphics’. Tommy is available for commissions, illustrations and live paintings Website: tommygrahamart.com Facebook: /Tommygrahamart

GLORYBOX Photography and Creative Imaging [*Interactive Art* at District]

‘The Bones’: To contribute towards a body of research “Do you feel adequate?” Website: www.glory-box.co.uk Facebook: /GloryBoxPhotographyAndCreativeImaging Twitter: @GloryboxUK

Sparkle* & Adam Irwin (Splinter) [*Visual Art* at Baltic Bakehouse] Baltic Triangle residents and award winning creative studio Sparkle* have teamed up with Adam Irwin from Splinter to produce photo real prints of Liverpool landmarks exclusively for the festival, with a jet-punk twist. Imagine The Liver Buildings surrounded by flying cars and pathways in the sky, or the Baltic Triangle with plane ports for cars. Sparkle* specialise in Motion Graphics & CGI with offices in Liverpool and The Netherlands. They use a unique mix of expertise – in 3D Modelling, Animation, 3D Tracking & Replacement to challenge their clients to think differently and produce stunning material. Using a distinct style they tell stories through motion and print. Website: www.sparklevfx.com/37239/projects Twitter: @sparklemedia or @sparklevfx

Sharon Old [*Visual Art* at Baltic Bakehouse] Sharon is a South Liverpool based craftsperson / artist who uses a variety of mediums, predominantly textiles. She draws upon nature and local surroundings for inspiration. Sharon creates unique items for commission, and has recently had her first exhibition at Baltic Bakehouse. Sharon mostly works with wool and textiles, using freestyle crochet to create vegan friendly animal trophies. Some of Sharon’s commission work can currently be seen in Mello Mello and she also has a permanent installation within Baltic Bakehouse: This was created with the help of Happy Hookers UK and Walnut Brownie Brain design. Sharon chairs the Baltic Craft Collective group. Her set-design work was most recently used at Ottersghoul. Sharon is strongly inspired by nature, her local surroundings, her home county and important people in her life. Website: www.razzledazzlerose.net

Curiosity Arts [*Interactive Art* at Baltic Bakehouse] Curiosity Arts bring to Threshold an installation stemming from the concept and notion of ‘curiosity’ and how we as humans explore it - being curious with what life gives us. The audience are invited to our interactive space to participate and engage in their own curiosities and ask themselves why they are here and what persuaded them to our space. Gifts, quotes and tasks will be inside envelopes asking the audience to actively acknowledge something within the space or within themselves. Facebook: /CuriosityArts Twitter: @CuriosityArts

Danny O’Connor

[*Live Art* at Siren]

Danny is an artist from Liverpool who studied Graphic Arts at Liverpool John Moores Art School. Danny’s work is a celebration of contrasts focusing mainly on portraits and figures with a prevalence of opposing artistic influences. His inspiration walks a tightrope between high and lowbrow sources as diverse as Comics, Illustration, Character Design, Tattoo art and Graffiti to Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Art Noveau, Modernism and Constructivism all pulled together to create hyper-stylised and abstracted works. Contrasts play a big role in what Danny does, it’s probably the most resounding feature throughout all of his work in one way or another. Danny likes to mix natural flowing lines with harsh diagonals. Clean crisp areas of colour with layered messy splashes of paint. Danny is trying to achieve something that appears both modern and almost futuristic whilst retaining a raw traditional aesthetic. The paintings are built up in layer upon layer of paint which gives the pieces great depth of field. They are created with an arsenal of tools that doesn’t settle with convention. As well as the more widely acknowledged paint and brush Danny uses all manner of mediums such as, Correction Fluid, Spray Paint, Ink, Paint Markers, Texture Pastes, Charcoal, Graphite, Oil sticks and Collage. All applied in an equally diverse manner using brushes, fingers, paint rollers, sticks, paper and cardboard to drip, splash, spray, print and stroke the paint onto the surface. Website: www.docart.bigcartel.com Facebook: /artbydoc

ArchiPhonic [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] ArchiPhonic are an architectural design practice located in Liverpool City Centre. Following time spent in the music business and after completing their university studies, they have built on their experience and have grown in strength. Currently they are delivering an innovative office conversion in the popular Baltic Triangle area, which is to house their installation: ‘Insulating the Void’. Website: www.ArchiPhonic.co.uk Twitter: @ArchiPhonic Facebook: /ArchiPhonic

Mark Chapman [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Mark is a mixed-media artist based in Liverpool, who uses a combination of graphic design, art and photography. Over the past few years Mark has built upon his skills as a graphic designer to produce visual art. He has exhibited across the North West, with a solo exhibition at the Dot Art Gallery in Liverpool, and his work has been featured on websites including Creative Boom. Mark is inspired, visually, by various artists, photographers and designers: Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Dan Holdsworth, Stanley Kubrick movies, Alan Fletcher, David Carson, Vaughan Oliver, amongst others. Reading Wired magazine and TED Talks – seeing ideas for the future also inspire him. As well as creating striking visual art, Mark’s aim is for people to be inspired to reflect on the past, present and future. In the 1950’s and 60’s, people had a vision of the future that was based on the new technologies available – space travel, flying cars, homes in the sky, etc. It was also the post-war years, and there was increased optimism for the future that culminated in Woodstock and the Summer of Love. That generation had a feeling that things would always get better. There were demonstrations and protests for racial equality, sexual equality, social equality, anti-war and many others. In 2014, the reality is that there have been some changes, but many things have not changed. These new artworks link 1950’s / 60’s thinking with the current state of affairs in 2014. Text and imagery is taken from various sources, and manipulated into digital mixed-media pieces. These are ‘mixed-media’ pieces in every sense. Website: www.radarcommunication.com Twitter: @radaruk Facebook: /radarcommunication

Adam Collier [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Adam Collier is a student at Leeds College of Art and will be returning to Threshold after exhibiting with us in 2013. A favourite of the team, Adam has created paintings for the festival to reflect our retro-futurism theme. Adam’s work is minimalistic with a broad and diverse use of colour. Adam focuses on the odd and unexpected by constructing visual compositions in a selected medium, which embraces the idea fittingly. The majority of his work is inspired by both photo manipulation and collage. Rekindling a fascination with the human form the two paintings ‘Dreamers’ challenge the unpredictability of the future by questioning today’s ideas and what they will look like in fifty years time. It is a reminder of the ideas generated from the 1960’s that have been created and are still discussed today. Website: www.adam-collier.co.uk Facebook:/adamcollierartist

Danny O’ Connor [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Danny is an artist from Liverpool who studied Graphic Arts at Liverpool John Moores Art School. Danny’s work is a celebration of contrasts focusing mainly on portraits and figures with a prevalence of opposing artistic influences. His inspiration walks a tightrope between high and lowbrow sources as diverse as Comics, Illustration, Character Design, Tattoo art and Graffiti to Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Art Noveau, Modernism and Constructivism all pulled together to create hyper-stylised and abstracted works. Contrasts play a big role in what Danny does, it’s probably the most resounding feature throughout all of his work in one way or another. Danny likes to mix natural flowing lines with harsh diagonals. Clean crisp areas of colour with layered messy splashes of paint. Danny is trying to achieve something that appears both modern and almost futuristic whilst retaining a raw traditional aesthetic. The paintings are built up in layer upon layer of paint which gives the pieces great depth of field. They are created with an arsenal of tools that doesn’t settle with convention. As well as the more widely acknowledged paint and brush Danny uses all manner of mediums such as, Correction Fluid, Spray Paint, Ink, Paint Markers, Texture Pastes, Charcoal, Graphite, Oil sticks and Collage. All applied in an equally diverse manner using brushes, fingers, paint rollers, sticks, paper and cardboard to drip, splash, spray, print and stroke the paint onto the surface. Danny will create new work throughout the weekend at Siren. Website: www.docart.bigcartel.com Facebook: /artbydoc

Amy Freeman [*Installation Art* at Palmer Hill] ‘Yesterday... But shinier!’ A glass bottle is likely to take roughly a million years to degrade. So whilst we’re waiting, why not create a prettier tomorrow out of yesterday’s rubbish? Brought to you by Amy Freeman and Jake Orritt ‘Yesterday... But shinier!’ Is 100% recyclable and it looks quite nice too.

Tommy Graham [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Joining our line up is award-winning artist Tommy Graham, who specialises in darkly humorous, comic paintings often juxtaposing robots and surveillance technology. Tommy has been a practising artist based in Liverpool for over ten years. During this time he has worked as an animator on music videos, an illustrator for various companies and has had several paintings commissioned. He has exhibited in Liverpool Birmingham and London. In 2007 Tommy began doing live paintings in front of audiences at various music gigs and festivals around the city, and in 2012 he won a live art competition to commemorate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Tommy’s painting of the Queen as Godzilla breathing fire over the Liver Buildings won both the judges prize and the peoples prize. In 2013 Tommy worked on the Black Duke of Lancaster Project alongside some of Europe’s best urban artists. A lot of Tommy’s work involves Robots dealing with common aspects of the human condition, things like love, guilt and isolation. He likes to take the mundane and turn it into the absurd. He also tries to identify the negative aspects of society and hold them up to ridicule. Tommy believes it’s easy to see problems in society as truisms, utterly unchangeable and wholly depressing. Things like government corruption, the military industrial complex and the vacuousness of mass media. By holding these problems up to mockery and petulant vitriol, an outlet appears that doesn’t involve slamming ones head repeatedly against a wall in despair. For Tommy, a lot of his work is a form of therapy, albeit one that involves a disproportionate amount of Robots, Atom Bombs and Closed Circuit Television. This approach and his cartoonist style stems primarily from influences such as Ralph Steadman, Gerald Scarfe and Steve Bell along with comic book illustrators like Chris Bachelo and John Romita Jr. For this year’s Threshold Festival Tommy is currently working on a new painting that pits Chimps against Robots in a death match. Tommy wants to juxtapose our ability to create hugely sophisticated technology with our inability to escape our more base and primal instincts. He will also be creating three interlinked paintings live at District throughout the festival, so that members of the public can see the process of creating pieces from start to finish. Tommy’s work has accurately been described as ‘a darkly humorous, sardonic blend of comic book illustration and graffiti style graphics’. Tommy is available for commissions, illustrations and live paintings. Tommy will create new work throughout the weekend at District. Website: tommygrahamart.com Facebook: /Tommygrahamart

Sophie Green [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Sophie Green is an artist and illustrator working from her Liverpool city centre studio. Her work is predominantly light, bright and characterful with a big spoonful of humour. Sophie was recently named ‘one to watch’ as part of the Independent on Sunday’s 2013 Pink List. Sophie has produced work for the London 2012 Olympics, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Lambrini, Crabbie’s Ginger Beer, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Liverpool’s Go Penguins and Chester’s Rhino Mania. Sophie Green evidently has ambitions to make people feel warm inside with her work. It’s tricky to achieve but she does it with Flair. – Christopher Brown, Arts Editor of The Metro Newspaper. For Threshold Festival, Sophie has produced a selection of painted works in celebration / exploration of Jimmy Olsen’s female alter-egos. Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character who appears mainly in DC Comics’ Superman stories. Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Superman and alter ego Clark Kent. Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s Jimmy’s character was involved in many cross dressing adventures, enthusiastically getting into character (and skirts) whenever the situation required. While his character never openly identified as transgender he seemed remarkably comfortable in the role. It seems Jimmy may have unknowingly been a bit of a trailblazer. Jimmy Olsen could barely stand to be himself for more than five pages… Prefiguring David Bowie and Madonna, his life became a shifting parade of costume changes and reinventions of identity. And long before those two performers were challenging the boundaries of masculine and feminine, Olsen was deconstructing the macho stereotype in a sequence of soft-core gender-bending adventures for children that beggar belief when read today. – comics writer and historian Grant Morrison. Website: www.sophie-green.com Twitter: @ sophiegreen Facebook: /sophiegreenartist

David Hand [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] David is a printmaker who specialises in screen-printing. After studying Graphic Design at the University of Salford he then went on to do his Masters at Buckinghamshire New University in Printmaking. It was there that David found a love for screen-print and he spent a lot of time experimenting with what he could do with it from producing limited edition prints to making a short film where each frame was screen printed. David has been very fortunate to work in a number of fields with his printmaking. As well as art, he has also designed posters, t-shirts, textiles and have worked on a lot of interesting projects. This has led him to be able to design all over the world. David has worked on projects here in the UK, in the United States and has seen his work on billboards at various Film Festivals including the Cannes Film Festival. David loves the chance to create, starting a project from its initial conception, printing it and seeing it exhibited. For this exhibition David has produced screen prints around the theme of Retrofuturism that are influenced by the text of John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’. Website: davidghand.blogspot.co.uk

Kieran Harris [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Illustration. Street Art. Screen-printing The DoTell Motel ‘Where Luxury is just one dream away’ is an original concept and design. It is a series of illustrations and character design regarding RETROFUTURISM. Kieran has focused on everything from Googie Architecture to 1950’s cars, diners, fashion, motels, The Jetsons & the space race! Kieran has also taken inspiration from day to day life, the people he encounters are essential to his work as he picks up on certain mannerisms & characteristics and then incorporates those within his work. Kieran’s style of work ranges vastly but always has a strong cartoon influence as well as a graphic design edge with a certain street art outcome. Having such an open mind when approaching making work allows him to provide exciting outcomes, many of which are completely fresh, bold and original. At 23, a fine art graduate, Kieran feels this platform is an excellent opportunity for him and gives him a great chance to showcase his abilities and with such a theme as RETROFUTURISM he feels his work can and will speak for itself.

Barbara Harrison [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Barbara is a digital artist creating work entirely on computer. Her images are mathematical dreamscapes whose roots are in Abstract Expressionism, and whose development is a mixture of photography, onscreen freehand drawing and the amazing algorithms of Photoshop. The work is driven by the pleasure of symmetry and all the allusions and intimations the abstract form may evoke. For Threshold Festival Barbara has created a new series of work inspired by dynamics of mechanical engineering (cogs), maths and geometry (Lissajous curves) and electrical engineering (wave forms) to create a dystopian beauty. The title ‘Near the Tannhäuser Gate’ is taken from Blade Runner’s dying replicant Roy Batty’s ‘tears in the rain’ soliloquy manifesting sadness at the loss of memories which are unique to the individual. Barbara has lived and worked all her life in the North West of England and has been exhibiting her work locally and internationally since 2002. Website: www.barbaraharrison.net

Karen Henley [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Influenced and inspired by humans, creatures, knowledge, up-cycling, nature and relationships, Karen Henley likes to work in various mediums and styles depending mood, weather or what she finds (or someone else finds) in a skip or car boot sale. For this year’s Threshold festival she has decided to let some of her cannibal/vegetarian creatures out of the darkness and into the world of Retro Futurism to explore this ‘new world’. Twitter: @karen_henley

Pippa Jayne Sterrit [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Pippa-Jayne Sterritt: Artist; Student; Professional crazy cat lady and lover of knowledge. A mixed media collage of photography, paint and gathered materials to exhibit an outlook of retrofuturism. Aliens and cosmic matter in particular. Pippa has constructed something bold yet nostalgic of the style of the 50’s era.

Leon Jakeman / Space 13 [*Interactive Installation Art* at Palmer Hill] Multi-media/Installation artist Leon Jakeman has produced a site specific installation called ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ interpreting the flipside to future modernism from the 50’s & 60’s, with an eerie exposed enclosure evoking sensory discomfort, an exploration of the notion that retro-futurism is not universally optimistic yet projecting almost torturous hope of what could be…. Leon specialises in site responsive work. Look beyond surroundings, the familiar relationship, and question auto responses your senses intake.

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If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future. Seekers look for self-realisation or enlightenment in the future. To be a seeker implies that you need the future. If this is what you believe, it becomes true for you: you will need time until you realise that you don’t need time to be who you are. It is when we are trapped in incessant streams of compulsive thinking that the universe really disintegrates for us, and we lose the ability to sense the interconnectedness of all that exists. One thing we do know: Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. As soon as you honour the present moment, unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the simplest action…. Website: www.red-dotexhibitions.co.uk/leon_jakeman.htm Facebook: /Space13.co.uk

Sarah Nicholson [*Installation Art* at Palmer Hill] Sarah Nicholson, a sculptor and graduate of Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, has created a biomorphic organic work for the festival which introduces whimsy and fantasy to create a “vehicle” for contemplation. [Tales of Futures Past or] a Machine for Remembering and Forgetting is a piece of work that will explore the concepts of remembering and forgetting at once, triggering an unease – a threat of stealthy slender fingers reaching into your mind to find your inner-most secrets. Found organic matter is acted upon, bound and protected, made precious, in order to act as a conduit between the pages of a book and the human brain at one end, while at the other end of the machine, quills allow the user to commit their thoughts to paper. Inspired by Eva Hesse and Meret Oppenheim and rhyzomatic theory [Deleuze and Guattari] the work explores the liminal state; the unresolved state. Website: www.sarahnicholson.com

Karl Patrick & Tone [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Karl Patrick and Tone are a twosome collective from Norway who produce illustration and art. Karl Patrick is an Illustrator with his education from The University of South Australia. He has since been attending multiple exhibitions with his work / paintings. Tone has been his student and together they have formed the creative companionship Rart [Norwegian for funny or strange]. They create anything that comes to mind with different medias. It’s more about the process than the product. Influences: Bjørn Algrim; Hans Rudi Gieger; Dave McKean; Femke Hiemstra; Hunter S. Thompson; Mark Ryden; Alphonse Mucha. Inspiration is in everything and seeing something that makes sense creatively. Inspiration is in sudden ideas that you just have to see if they work. Karl Patrick has been the main artist at Galleria, Mosjøen. Attending exhibitions in both Australia and Holland. And alongside artists such as Bjørn Algrim, Bjarne Melgaard, Unni Askeland, Morten Viskum. For Threshold they have brought on one side the darkness and fear for the future that was in the 50’s and 60’s and on the other side the hope and fantasies.

Jazamin Sinclair [*Visual Art* at Palmer Hill] Jazamin is a professional multidisciplinary artist whose artistic practice is made up of painting, drawing, photography, music, design, organising exhibitions, performance, writing and facilitating workshops. Jazamin is also the head of visual arts for Threshold Festival 2014 having volunteered for the festival since it began four years ago. Jazamin has a BA Hons degree in Fine Art and regularly, paints, draws, takes photographs and exhibits her artwork. Passionate about life, all things creative and about changing things for the better, she photographs, draws and paints everyday objects [such as things that you find on a table or in the bathroom or rusty objects when walking past them on the street], highlighting things that jump out at her that other people may not notice. Jazamin strives to bring out the beauty in whatever she creates and strives to make people think. She has lived in various locations across England, Wales, Italy and America, moving over thirty times. Jazamin has been around art, design, music and performance all of her life and was encouraged to question everything from an early age. All of Jazamin’s close family are creative in some way. She is hard-working, dynamic, interested, passionate and engaged in whatever she does. For this year’s Threshold Festival, Jazamin has taken a photograph of a found, discarded squashed coke can and has digitally manipulated & repeated the image (using different colours) in a pop-art Andy Warhol style across a canvas. Pop-art and the repeated images in Andy Warhol’s artworks Campbell’s Soup Cans / Marylin Diptych created in 1962 reflect the utopian view of mass-production and capitalism that was popular at the time. Andy Warhol was one of the founding figures of Pop Art at the time when retro-futurism was at its strongest / most popular. By creating an image that is of a similar nature but using an image of a crushed / discarded drinks can, Jazamin has highlighted the reality / dystopian perspective of retro-futurism. It also reflects society’s ignorance / disregard of waste / capitalism and the throwaway materialistic pop-culture that we have as well as the view that we have abundant resources at our fingertips. Website: jazamin.co.uk Facebook: /jazaminsinclair Twitter: @jazaminsinclair

Alice Lenkiewicz [*Visual Art* at Hoax] ‘In the Sky with Swans’ is a futuristic urban utopia. The piece makes reference to the Apocalypse, the last book of the New Testament, the revelation which John receives is that of the ultimate victory of good over evil and the end of the present age. In this image Alice wanted to emphasise hope for the future in terms of a re-birth of the imagination as opposed to materialism and rationality. The film star Bette Davis drifts through the sky in an air balloon pulled along by swans, messengers of the apocalyptic revelation. The base of the piece depicts urban decay and is a metaphor for inter-related socio-economic conditions implemented by greed and power falling in upon itself, through accumulation and reproduction and overlooked by the robot; tech is the high-growth startup where success often means “those working in technology” but also referred to as “Great Stagnation”. The existence of fantasy elements in the real world provides the basis for magical realism and provides inspiration to evoke unusual and magical worlds promoting the imagination, art and creativity as well as transformative social change. Alice Lenkiewicz has exhibited in the UK and internationally, and has work in a growing number of public and private collections. Alice takes her influences from the Renaissance, modernist painters of the early 20th Century as well as contemporary artists working in digital media such as Wim Wenders, Mat Collishaw and Alma Lopez. Website: alenkiewicz.com Facebook: /HerOtherWorld

Barbara Harrison [*Visual Art* at Hoax] Barbara is a digital artist creating work entirely on computer. Her images are mathematical dreamscapes whose roots are in Abstract Expressionism, and whose development is a mixture of photography, onscreen freehand drawing and the amazing algorithms of Photoshop. The work is driven by the pleasure of symmetry and all the allusions and intimations the abstract form may evoke. For Threshold Festival Barbara has created a new series of work inspired by dynamics of mechanical engineering (cogs), maths and geometry (Lissajous curves) and electrical engineering (wave forms) to create a dystopian beauty. The title ‘Near the Tannhäuser Gate’ is taken from Blade Runner’s dying replicant Roy Batty’s ‘tears in the rain’ soliloquy manifesting sadness at the loss of memories which are unique to the individual. Barbara has lived and worked all her life in the North West of England and has been exhibiting her work locally and internationally since 2002. Website: www.barbaraharrison.net

Kieran Harris [*Visual Art* at Hoax] Illustration. Street Art. Screen-printing The DoTell Motel ‘Where Luxury is just one dream away’ is an original concept and design. It is a series of illustrations and character design regarding RETROFUTURISM. Kieran has focused on everything from Googie Architecture to 1950’s cars, diners, fashion, motels, The Jetsons & the space race! Kieran has also taken inspiration from day to day life, the people he encounters are essential to his work as he picks up on certain mannerisms & characteristics and then incorporates those within his work. Kieran’s style of work ranges vastly but always has a strong cartoon influence as well as a graphic design edge with a certain street art outcome. Having such an open mind when approaching making work allows him to provide exciting outcomes, many of which are completely fresh, bold and original. At 23, a fine art graduate, Kieran feels this platform is an excellent opportunity for him and gives him a great chance to showcase his abilities and with such a theme as RETROFUTURISM he feels his work can and will speak for itself.