The University of Salford gives us an insight into their upcoming festival featuring the talents of their graduating students…

Open to the public over the weekend of 15 – 16 June, the Create at Salford Festival will showcase the talents of 800 final year arts and media students. The event combines the best in student art and design, performing arts, music, computer gaming, animation, TV news broadcasting and much more in a free festival of creativity for MediaCityUK and Salford Quays.

At IWM North, part of Imperial War Museums, on Saturday 15 June, follow the stories of three real GI brides brought to life by performance students, enjoy a 1940s-style swing band and jive, or enter ‘The Bunker’, where visitors will be challenged to help save humanity from the end of the world. The following day the museum will host war-themed electro-acoustic concerts by music students.

Cara Peeney, Fashion Image Making

At the University’s MediaCityUK campus, on the Saturday 36 students will showcase their designs in a Fashion Show with cutting-edge collections. The public can also enjoy a tour of the building’s cutting-edge facilities through playful, unexpected ‘pop-up’ student performances, and a range of live music gigs from the Egg Foyer stage.

On Sunday 16 June the University’s state-of-the-art Digital Performance Lab will host a fairy tale play with a Salford spin. The Very, Very, Very Sleepy Princess is a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty written, produced and performed by the Scallywags Children’s Theatre Company, a group of second year performance students.

Rachael Pegram

Throughout the weekend a range of demonstrations will be open, including the chance to play student-created computer games and try out stop motion animation, while visitors can experience a range of exhibitions showing some of the best work from art and design students, covering visual arts, photography, fashion, graphic and interior design among many other courses.

Professor Allan Walker, Head of the School of Arts & Media, said: “This event is the highlight of our academic calendar and its innovative format … at the Media City Campus means that we will be presenting an exciting range of specially commissioned pieces, live music and one-off performances alongside the static exhibition work.”

The Create at Salford Festival is open to the public on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June, and takes place at the University of Salford, MediaCityUK, Salford, M50 2HE; IWM North, Trafford Wharf Road, The Quays, Manchester, M17 1TZ; and the Open Centre, MediaCityUK, Salford.

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

What:
Tiny Universe describes themselves as “a creative playground and online store set up to promote the idea of play, creativity and imagination.” They have a shop which sells some pretty good-looking sketchbooks and stickers.

It may seem like it’s aimed at a younger audience, but in fact Tiny Universe was started by illustrator Simon Wild who actively promotes the creation of colourful, brilliant, imaginative things.

Why we like it:
Apart from the totally original and fun interactive website, Tiny Universe allows you to upload your doodles, designs and other creations for a chance to be featured on their gallery here.

Find out more:
Website | Twitter

//////

For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

1. Pylon Cabinet by Namon Gaston

2. Re:Polo by Peter Ward

3. Sea Defence by Andy Murray

4. Domestic Selections by Nick Ross

5. Odds and Ends Lamp by Daniel Ortiz

//////

See more Top 5s selected from the network here.

What:
Tate Collectives is an online community for young creatives where you can upload your work, collaborate with artists and get involved in Tate’s activities.

Why we like it:
With student resources including exam help, advice about applying to Art School and regular workshops at Tate Britain & TateModern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, this is an invaluable resource for the next generation of artists.

Find out more:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

//////

For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

Although there are many collaborators and friends of the Center, Cat and Zack have formed the heart of the team in most locations. The Center is currently at work on the “Spice Mix Super Computer” for AND’s Mobile Republic.

* * * *

On our adventures traversing the globe, we have not stayed anywhere for more than 4 months in the past 2 years. With such a nomadic existence, ‘where we make’ is always changing.

On a flight: a good place to think, read and sketch, and catch up with stuff offline.

We have developed a variety of strategies for concentration and focus. For example, Zack works best early in the morning at a coffee shop with headphones on listening to drone music, while Cat works best in the peace of the late night when it seems the world has gone to sleep there are no other distractions (except for the occasional snore from Zack).

Just in the last week, we have worked at Bold Street cafe in Liverpool, on a plane, a train, in an airbnb room in Manhattan, and right now at a house with a large kitchen garden in Connecticut, charging our computers along the way and catching wireless connections where we can. These strategies have worked to greater or lesser effect in all of our temporary accommodations over the last year:

CANADA (Vancouver)
INDIA (Bangalore, the Koorgi Region)
IRELAND (Dublin)
NETHERLANDS (Amsterdam, Leiden, Rotterdam)
NORWAY (Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen)
SINGAPORE
SWEDEN (Stockholm, Uppsala)
UK (Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Milton Keynes)
USA (Portland, New York City, Connecticut)

Our amsterdam apartment and office, while working on Pray for beans Project. The closer the deadline, the bigger the mess!

Every place we visit is an opportunity to connect unexpected dots. Moving around so much means we can exchange ideas, artifacts and recipes between seemingly unconnected places and people. I am sure we wouldn’t be making a Spice Mix Super-Computer in the UK if we hadn’t spent time in Bangalore being drawn into spice-rich karnatakan cuisine. Our Smog Tasting project in Bangalore was prompted by a quote in Harold McGee’s “On Food & Cooking” which seems like a particularly American approach to food. And so on.

Smog Tasting took us to the rooftops of Bangalore for a week of in-situ cooking.

The AND festival’s Mobile Republic is a microcosm of our last year. So far we have visited Manchester, Liverpool and London to work on the project, and we will be taking the caravan on the road to 4 locations in northern England. Taking on a project like this in an unfamiliar place is always a challenge because the simple tasks, such as sourcing various materials, become research efforts in their own right. The upside is that we generally see the places we visit from an unusual perspective. There can’t be many visitors to Liverpool who have strolled along Edge Lane to visit the B&Q.

The sign with no sign on edge lane by b&q, Liverpool, source: google maps

We do not have a permanent home or studio. We have attempted to consolidate our travel kit to the absolute essentials, but it is hard to bring an entire kitchen with us!

Here is an example of our other work space in the Netherlands: the kitchen of a restaurant that we took over for one evening. (Photo Credit: Lucas Evers)

Following food stories around the globe has been amazing, but we are looking forward to finding a landing spot and opening up the Center for Genomic Gastronomy as a non-nomadic entity. Maybe 2013?

All images are courtesy and © The Center of Genomic Gastronomy

Find out more:
Website | Blog | Twitter

/////

Want to take a look at more suggested blogs by artists? Look here.

Give us yer money.

Go on…

For the duration of our fundraising campaign to date I’ve fancied that appeal up, down and left of centre in attempt to marshal a non-aggressive but determined approach in raising money for the production of our new short film, NEVADA, which I’m co-producing with Cinematographer David Liddell.

David and I have worked together across a few projects now, including short films, PARIS/SEXY (2010), BLOOD IS THICKER (2011) and BAROQUE (2011). The last we made on a budget of about £500 + titanic favours, and filmed in a rat-infested crypt with no running water, nor toilet facilities. BAM. You can see a wee teaser for this film HERE.

BLOOD IS THICKER (2011)

We’re not doing anything as noble as running for charity, nor are we producing a film that shines light on a politically overlooked topic for debate. But we are endeavoring wholeheartedly to make a film that will be both beautiful and meaningful and explore in a small way, what it means to be human. The value of which will be greater to some more than others. The impact of which, I hope, will reach even more.

NEVADA is a psychological portrait of two lovers, who fucking hate each other; who are well beyond breaking point, and who must separate.  Taking the story and image of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller’s marriage as a springboard for content and style, NEVADA is a contemporary experimental study about humans and how exhausting hatred is, while also examining themes of identity and guilt.

PARIS/SEXY (2010)

The project has evolved from a small commission for award wining folk trio, LAU and will be made specifically for an arts festival, which the band are curating for Kings Place in October. Our film will premiere with live accompaniment by LAU during the same slot as KING CREOSOTE & JON HOPKINS – details of which are HERE. LAU have generously provided a budget for this venture but it’s tight. Our previous experience has taught us that creative options become more and more narrow the lower the financial threshold goes.  Although I took some persuading at first, we agreed it was worth considering crowd funding.

Putting yourself out there is rough. Exposing yourself when you’ve made a film is tough enough.

All independent filmmakers in Scotland know that the opportunities to get work made with financial support are incredibly limited. For a couple of years now, I’ve battled with two ways of thinking about my approach to getting films made. The artist in me wants to produce work, and thinks, fuck it – let’s make it happen. Write something worthy of everyone’s skills, get your Granny to cook soup and pay your crew with endless gratitude.

It is a way to go, and I’ve taken that road many times.

But there’s another side for the eternally emerging filmmaker like myself, which seeks to assert that we deserve support to make more work of the type, which has been proven to interest and engage viewers in the past. My ego seeks the endorsement of film financiers.

But punishing the world by denying them Paxtonworks while I’m hanging about waiting for validation, isn’t going to significantly starve the world’s movie-watching appetite…

And despite how pretentious it might sound, films like NEVADA are the ones I need to make. This project comprises a collection of things I care deeply about, themes that preoccupy me. Any artist worth their salt knows the feeling of needing to make certain work to exercise demons. And thankfully collaborators including David Liddell and our other hugely talented Heads of Department feel similarly, and want to create this piece with me.

BAROQUE (2011)

So there it is, once more into the breach old friends…

We’ve got the team in place. We’ve got the story and we’ve got the drive in droves. But we really, really need some more financial support. And it’s the support of good-willed strangers that we desperately need to entice…

So, why should you, kind stranger, give us yer money?

With just two-weeks left to go, we really need to PUSH the campaign. It’s the boring compulsory costs like insurance and travel expenses, which are really stretching our resources and sucking funds from our design and camera departments, which we so passionately want to keep healthy.

If everyone we were friends with on Facebook donated $10 (just over 6 quid) – we’d easily double our target. And it’s that kind of donation we’re seeking from multiples of ALL YA’LL.

We SO don’t want to patronise anyone considering giving – we won’t try and tempt you with a meaningless credit in exchange for cash. There are some quite cool ‘perks’ on offer with our campaign but the biggest reward David and I can offer is our gratitude, and while it might sound unexciting, it is huge and very real. And if you are brassic lint, you can still help us significantly, by spreading the word like runny jam via Facebook, Twitter and old-school word-of-mouth style.

And it goes without saying in the artist’s community it is the flow and exchange of favours and resources that enables the best work to emerge. If there’s anything we can do to help you – all you need to do is holler.

Thank you very, very much -
RUTH

For further encouragement, seek enlightenment on the following paths:
RUTH’S BLOG ABOUT MARILYN | DAVID’S BLOG ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY
www.paxtonworks.com | www.davidliddell.com
@ruthpaxton | @davidliddelldop

//////

See more blogs by artists here.