[spectre] Fwd: Threshold artspace: Perth: two new exhibitions open this Friday: 5th May 2006: 6-8pm

[Chris Byrne]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Iliyana Nedkova <iliyana at crowriver.net>
> Date: 1 May 2006 17:10:08 BST
> Subject: Threshold artspace: Perth: two new exhibitions open this 
> Friday: 5th May 2006: 6-8pm
>
> Horsecross presents two world premieres in the context of curated 
> events at the Threshold artspace in partnership with Perth and Kinross 
> Council, University of Abertay, Dundee and Scottish Arts Council
>
> Beginning Ending
> Michael Windle and Brian Cope
> Exclusive Horsecross commission part of Threshold artspace collection
> Exhibition from Friday, 5 May 2006 onwards
>
> spring_alpha: audiography
> Simon Yuill
> World premiere part of Players – Horsecross’ celebration of artists’ 
> computer games
> Exhibition for 4 weeks only 5-31 May 2006
>
> Related Events
> Friday, 5 May 2006  Admission FREE All Welcome
> 6 pm onwards www.spring-alpha.org launch of new project website
> 6-7 pm Tattoos and Taboos: an informal discussion with Kirsty Duncan, 
> Graham Fagen, Neil Mulholland, Iliyana Nedkova, Edward Summerton and 
> Michael Windle
> 7-8 pm Beginning Ending and spring_alpha: audiography previews and 
> wine reception with Michael Windle, Brian Cope and Simon Yuill
>
> Threshold artspace Perth Concert Hall, Horsecross, Mill Street, Perth, 
> PH1 5HZ, UK
> 0044 (0) 845 612 6320  info at horsecross.co.uk  www.horsecross.co.uk 
> open daily up to 14 hours Free
>
> Threshold artspace is Scotland’s first dedicated gallery for digital 
> public art, with nine unique spaces presenting a varied programme of 
> artists’ films, videos, games, text, photography, performance, light, 
> sound and software art.
>
> On Friday, 5 May, Horsecross is delighted to unveil two world 
> premieres: Beginning Ending and spring_alpha: audiography in the 
> context of two specially curated events at Threshold artspace.  Join 
> us for a great night out in one of Europe's most dynamic small cities.
>
> About Beginning Ending
> This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But 
> perhaps it is the end of the beginning.
>
> Beginning Ending is an artist's film partly inspired by Anne Frank’s 
> Diary of A Young Girl and partly by popular culture TV programmes. 
> Created in the tradition of the performance art for camera, Beginning 
> Ending employs the power of the written word  and offers a cinematic 
> journey through time. This new work by Edinburgh-based artist Michael 
> Windle is the latest Horsecross commission to be added to the growing 
> Threshold artspace collection of digital public art.
>
> For the Threshold Wave, Michael recreated a statement from Anne 
> Frank's diary as a letter-by-letter writing on his studio wall. It 
> unravels gradually, a word per screen, revealing the entire statement 
> at the end. This short sequence is accompanied by a new atmospheric 
> soundtrack created by composer Brian Cope. Beginning Ending is an 
> emotional audio-visual tour de force with strong references to the 
> war-torn world of Anne Frank and to issues which are still topical 
> today: hate, conflicts, freedom, care for others and identity.
>
> The first ever showing of Beginning Ending will also coincide with the 
> final stage of Dr Skin – a  Perth-wide public art project which 
> started a year ago.  The origins of Beginning Ending can be traced 
> back to the Dr Skin project. Michael was one of 16 Scottish artists 
> commissioned to create artworks in the form of temporary tattoos to be 
> worn by people from across Perthshire.  "This tattoo was drawn for me 
> by my niece Heather Colvin",  said Michael Windle. "She was doing a 
> school project about Anne Frank who was the same age as her when she 
> first wrote the words in her diary" .
>
> To celebrate the finissage of Dr. Skin, Michael will be joined by 
> fellow 'tattoo artist' Graham Fagen, co-curators Kirsty  Duncan and 
> Edward Summerton and art historian Neil Mulholland for an informal 
> discussion chaired by Horsecross curator Iliyana Nedkova. Dr Skin 
> finissage is also a reunion of all the people involved. The evening 
> will be opened by the premiere screening of Michael's creative 
> documentary following the lives of the tattoos. The discussion will 
> then try to unravel why tattooing, practiced since prehistoric times, 
> has only in the past decade moved from the margins towards the 
> mainstream of our culture. An opportunity to talk about other 
> contemporary artworks which consider the effect and popularity of 
> tattoo imagery today as well as the use of people's skin as a mobile 
> exhibition venue or canvas for artists' works.
>
> About spring_alpha: audiography
> It is Spring. A high-density council estate is apparent, bordered by a 
> river and a railway ...
>
> spring_alpha: audiography is the latest release of the Sims-like 
> gameworld by Glasgow based artist, writer and programmer Simon Yuill. 
> spring_alpha: audiography is the brand new module of spring_alpha – 
> Simon's long-term project based upon a series of drawings by the 
> artist Chad McCail and the principles of free open source software. 
> This is the first time a version of Simon's project is publicly 
> exhibited in Scotland. The game is set in an industrialised council 
> estate whose inhabitants are attempting to re-create as an utopia. 
> Social change is linked to alterations of the simulation code which 
> runs the council estate. The goal of changing the society also means 
> re-imagining the game's narrative and software – innovative features 
> which none of the commercial games can aspire to.
>
> For the exhibition at the Threshold artspace, Simon collaborated with 
> sound artist Mark Vernon to create a brand new audio environment. The 
> new audio is created from samples recorded in real locations across 
> Scotland. spring_alpha: audiography utilises a unique audio system 
> which can  be synthesized and manipulated in real-time response to the 
> game.  Players visiting the Threshold artspace will be able to explore 
> the urban environment of spring_alpha as an immersive soundscape.  For 
> fans and newcomers alike, the world premiere of spring_alpha: 
> audiography in Perth also marks the re-launch of the official game 
> website.
>
> Part of Players – Horsecross’ year long celebration of computer games 
> and sound toys by contemporary artists – spring_alpha: audiography is 
> showing at the Threshold artspace until 31 May. Players launched in 
> November 2005 and has already premiered ten interactive titles and art 
> games by seven British and Belgian artists. For Players, Threshold 
> artspace has been transformed into a digital playground for young and 
> old to engage with some of the best art games around.
>
> ‘We associate computer games with bad taste and big budget 
> entertainment, with sedentary lifestyle and stereotypes, said Iliyana 
> Nedkova, Horsecross Creative Director (New Media). ‘Most of us, 
> however, are not aware that nowadays a lot of independent artists 
> including Simon, take interest in the gaming world and use the format 
> of gameplay to comment on these largely negative associations. They 
> challenge our views of the commercial game culture; highlight the 
> representation of women; visualise the invisible and ask questions 
> about the future of gaming".
>
> In its title, Simon's project combines spring, the title of one of 
> Chad's drawings with the term alpha, referring in part to sci-fi 
> dystopia such as Jean-Luc Godard's cult film Alphaville. alpha also 
> derives from software development, where alpha software are early 
> proof-of-concept versions in which ideas are first formed.  
> spring_alpha is a game in permanent alpha state, always open to 
> revision and re-versioning.
>
> Re-writing spring_alpha is not only an option available to coders, 
> however. The focus of the project lies in using game development 
> itself as a vehicle for social enquiry and speculation. The issues 
> involved in re-designing the game draw parallels with those involved 
> in re-thinking social structures. spring_alpha is innovative in its 
> approach to the use of gaming as an artistic medium. It incorporates 
> aspects of open source development into both the creation of the work 
> and the way in which it engages the audience – sharing of knowledge 
> and code, and pursuit of innovation through collaboration.
>
>
> More about Michael Windle
> •	Michael Windle was born in 1958  in Fife. He lives and works in 
> Edinburgh.
> •	Michael  studied painting at Duncan of Jordanstone and spent eight 
> years in London exhibiting and developing a practice which embraced 
> the then emerging digital media. He became fascinated with the 
> possibilities computers could give him as an artist not only to 
> augment painting – in a way that printmaking, photography and video 
> can – but also in the production of interactive media, and the 
> creation of random paths and outcomes (something a computer does 
> well).
> •	Michael recently created the video projections for Faust at 
> Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre and is currently helping compile a 
> non-linear video extravaganza to be shown in various venues at home 
> and in the U.S.A.
> •	He is Lecturer in Digital Art at Edinburgh College of Art.
>
> More about  Brian Cope
> •	Brian Cope was born in 1968 in Motherwell. Lives and works in 
> Edinburgh.
> •	Originally a rock band drummer, Brian Cope went on to study music at 
> the  University of  Edinburgh. He is a composer with six years’ 
> experience working in the field of community music and has worked for 
> major national institutions and organisations including, the Scottish 
> Chamber Orchestra, the University of  Edinburgh and more recently, 
> Lung Ha’s Theatre Company. 
> •	He works extensively as a music consultant for the international 
> humanitarian organisation, War Child Holland on projects in the 
> Balkans, Caucasus and  Sierra Leone delivering training on the use of 
> music in the psychosocial rehabilitation of children affected by war.
> •	He is currently working as the Artistic Director for the Drake Music 
> Project  Scotland, a national music organisation that uses innovative 
> music technology to enable disabled people to play and compose music 
> independently.
> •	His composition work spans a wide range of activities including 
> composing for film, multi-media installation and theatre. 
> •	He recently studied with two-time Emmy award-winning composer, 
> Hummie Mann and is currently scoring the award-winning animation 
> Nocturne in Sea Shark by David Swift and filmmaker Jonathan Charles 
> due to be premiered at the St Magnus Festival in June 2006. 
>
> More about Beginning Ending
> •	Beginning Ending is an exclusive Horsecross commission for the 
> Threshold artspace.
> •	Supported by Perth and Kinross Council. The related events are 
> curated and organised in partnership with Perth and Kinross Council. 
> Special thanks to Michael Taylor.
> •	The quote used in Beginning Ending from Anne Frank’s Diary has 
> (almost) 22 words – a perfect fit for the Threshold Wave screen 
> installation. It unravels gradually a word per screen. It is only at 
> the end of this short sequence that one can make out the writing:  
> 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But 
> perhaps it is the end of the beginning.'
> •	Beginning Ending is the latest in a series of artist's videos by 
> Michael Windle documenting the creation of artworks in the studio. It 
> is partly inspired by long summer holidays as a student watching Nancy 
> Kominsky and Rolf Harris showing us how to paint on TV. These artist's 
> videos attempt to subvert the cosy 'potter’s wheel' effect by the 
> appropriation of imagery and sound.
> •	Brian Cope’s soundtrack uses 22 notes and threads the haunting theme 
> in and out of the animated sequences. The composition is enriched by 
> his experiences working as a music consultant for the international 
> humanitarian organisation War Child Holland in battle-torn regions 
> throughout the world.
> •	For further details about Dr Skin project please visit 
> www.doctorskin.org
>
> More about Simon Yuill
> •	Simon was born in 1970 in Edinburgh  He lives and works in Glasgow.
> •	Simon's exhibition at the Threshold artspace is related to his 
> current interest in Free Open Source Software and ideas of autonomous 
> social structures through projects such as  spring_alpha and YOUR 
> MACHINES.
> •	Simon is involved with the several free media labs including the 
> Chateau Institute of Technology, Glasgow and the Glasgow OpenLab 
> group.
> •	Recent exhibitions inlude: Arts Meets Media, NTT-ICC, Tokyo, Japan; 
> MAKE ART Festival, Poitiers, France; Dots and Lines, BBC and Sonic 
> Arts Network.
> •	He has written about the histories and cultures of coding including 
> notational aesthetics in Arab-Islamic art and the links between 
> free-improvisational music and Free Open Source Software.
> •	Recent publications include contributions to Media Mutandis, 
> published as part of NODE.London, Arts Council England (2006); 
> Survival Scrapbooks, commissioned article for MUTE's Public Library 
> project; Programming as Practice,  in Hothaus Papers: Perspective and 
> Paradigms in Media Arts, published by Vivid (Birmingham) in 
> association with Article Press (2006), and Code Art Brutalism, in 
> READ_ME: Software Art and Cultures, edited by Olga Gurionova and 
> Alexei Shulgin (2004).
> •	For further details about Simon Yuill and his practice please visit  
> www.yourmachines.org, www.livingzeroes.org and www.slateford.org
>
> More about spring_alpha
> •	spring_alpha development team includes Ricardo Creemers, Stefan 
> Gartner, Chad McCail, Eleonora Oreggia, Mark Vernon and Simon Yuill.
> •	spring_alpha: audiography game development has been enabled through 
> the Scottish Arts Council's New Media Residency at the University of 
> Abertay, Dundee.
> •	spring_alpha: audiography exhibition at the Threshold artspace was 
> supported by Horsecross and University of Abertay, Dundee.
> •	The exhibition at the Threshold artspace marks the first time a 
> module of spring_alpha is publicly exhibited in Scotland before the 
> launch of the complete project planned to take place in Dundee during 
> the coming year.
> •	At this stage spring_alpha: audiography is showing as a 'development 
> demo' rather than a fully playable game. The Artificial Intelligence 
> modules are still in progress. The players at the Threshold artspace 
> will be able to explore the gameworld audio environment like 'a kind 
> of psychogeographic flaneur-style thing', claims Simon.
> •	The game serves as a "sketch pad" for testing out alternative forms 
> of social practice at both levels. Players are empowered to re-write 
> both the game story and the source code that runs the simulated world.
> •	The original game narrative is based Spring and Evolution is Not 
> Over Yet  –  a series of drawings by Chad McCail, which also shape the 
> game's visual style.  The original stories and images become a 
> framework that is fleshed-out by people's own ideas and experiences.
> •	The basic aim of the game is to change the rules by which the 
> society in that world runs.  This is done through hacking and altering 
> the code that simulates that world, creating new types of behaviour 
> and social interaction.  How effective this becomes depends on the 
> players' ability to spread these new ideas into the society.
> •	Published articles about spring_alpha inlude: Matthew Fuller, Not 
> Vice City nor Nice City, MUTE magazine, issue 28, 2004; Matthew 
> Fuller, Digital Objects, in READ_ME: Software Art and Cultures, 
> Aarhus, 2004; Francis McKee, Judgement Day: Plants, Politics and Art, 
> Map magazine, issue 2, 2005 which is available online from 
> www.mapmagazine.co.uk
> •	spring_alpha is supported by the Netherlands Institute for Media 
> Art; the Piet Zwart Institute; Huddersfield Media Centre; Alt-W 
> Digital Media Fund; Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund; 
> University of Abertay, Dundee and Horsecross.
> •	For further details about spring_alpha please visit  
> www.spring-alpha.org
>
> More about Players
> •	The exclusive Horsecross exhibition Players is curated by Iliyana 
> Nedkova.
> •	Players runs throughout 2006 and admission is free.
> •	Players is showing as a large scale wall projection with various 
> degrees of interactivity at the Threshold Stage, one of the unique 
> spaces within the Threshold artspace.
> •	There are 12 artists featured  in Players. Titles change every month.
> •	All the works selected or commissioned as part of Players do not 
> resemble the big budget commercial games of the entertainment 
> industry. Instead they raise questions about the culture and future of 
> gaming. They also use interactivity and even surveillance for fun and 
> civilisation critique.
> •	Players launched in November 05 with the Scottish premiere of four 
> interactive titles initially commissioned by BBC Big Screen by Peter 
> Appleton, Onno Baudouin and Simon Robertshaw.
> •	The classic artists' game based on 1970's hit Space Invaders, 
> Trigger Happy by Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead featured throughout 
> February followed by a mini-retrospective exhibition Sound Toys by 
> Paul Farrington aka Tonne in March.
> •	The brand new Horsecross commission First Person by Beverley Hood 
> launched in April.
> •	Showing next as part of Players are all Horsecross commissions or 
> Scottish premieres including Influx by Joanna Kane (July); First 
> Person by Beverley Hood (August); September 12 by Gonzalo Frasca 
> (September); Do You Know Your Europe?  by Mare Tralla (October) 
> reproduced by Sam Hill (November)
> •	Horsecross has worked in partnership with Gillies home furnishings 
> who provided the Danish designer Stokke’s Orange Peel chair, which is 
> central to the Players experience.
>
> More about Threshold artspace
> •	 ‘One of Perth Concert Hall’s biggest attractions is Threshold 
> artspace – the innovative exhibition [space …] which sits in the 
> glass-fronted foyer of the hall’ Auditoria October 2005
> •	 'Very exciting – great facility and very interesting programme. 
> Look forward to hearing more...!' Sue Pirnie, Conon Bridge, 
> Ross-shire, April 2006
> •	Threshold  artspace is Scotland’s first and only dedicated 
> exhibition space for digital public art which launched in September 
> along with the opening of Scotland’s new concert hall.
> •	The half a million pounds project makes Perth Concert Hall a centre 
> of excellence for digital arts, on a par with only a few other venues 
> in Europe. Threshold gives an entirely new meaning to concert, 
> theatre, cinema and art-gallery-going, as well as to food culture.
> •	Over twenty new Horsecross commissions by artists from 11 different 
> countries have been premiered at Threshold artspace since September 
> 2005. New shows are continuously produced and exhibited as part of the 
> evolving Threshold collection of artists’ films, video, digital 
> photography, visual poetry, interactive titles, sound toys, Internet 
> art and computer games.
> •	The Threshold artspace features nine unique spaces available for 
> artists’ interventions including an interactive entrance box; a 
> ‘canvas’ of 22 screens dominating the foyer; a playground with 
> flexible screens and interactivity; a trail of sound boxes embedded in 
> the floor; a surprise audiovisual treat tucked away in public toilets; 
> copper-clad roof of the concert hall for an added visual delight
> •	All Threshold artspace locations  are linked together by an 
> ‘intelligent’ control system and open source software which allows 
> artworks to be displayed and experienced up to 14 hours a day 
> throughout the year.
> •	Threshold artspace received £250,000 in initial funding from the 
> Scottish Arts Council through a National Lottery Capital Funding Grant 
> and additional funding from Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Perth and 
> Kinross Council, Perth and Kinross Leisure and Gannochy Trust.
> •	Support towards the Horsecross commissions has been provided by a 
> range of partners and funders.
>
> More about Horsecross
> •	Horsecross has evolved out of Perth Theatre as the new agency 
> delivering cultural activities in Perth Concert Hall, Perth Theatre 
> and to all communities across the Perth & Kinross area.  Horsecross 
> aims to put this part of Scotland firmly on the cultural map both 
> nationally and internationally.
> •	Horsecross is led by Chief Executive Jane Spiers who has a team of 
> five Creative Directors – Graham McLaren (Theatre), Ian Grieve 
> (Theatre), Iliyana Nedkova (New Media), Svend Brown (Classical Music) 
> and Andy Shearer (Rock & Pop).
> •	The development of the £19.5m Perth Concert Hall was a Millennium 
> project and is part of the area's economic development strategy to 
> position Perth as one of Europe's most vibrant small cities by 2010.
> •	The project was funded by Perth and Kinross Council, Perth and 
> Kinross Leisure, The Gannochy Trust, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, 
> Norwich Union and the Scottish Arts Council Arts Lottery.
> •	Horsecross supporters are Perth & Kinross Council, Perth & Kinross 
> Leisure, The Gannochy Trust, Norwich Union Insurance, Scottish Arts 
> Council, Arts & Business, EventScotland, Scottish & Southern, The 
> Cross Trust and BAA Scotland.
> •	The Horsecross name comes from the local area.  Perth Concert Hall 
> sits on the site of the original Horsecross – Perth’s 17th century 
> horse market.  The name is synonymous with bustling activity in the 
> heart of the city.