[Brochure a collaboration by Lyall Bruce & Johanna Basford]

On Sat 6th Feb 2010, Censta and members went on Dundee Popup, a tour round the city’s creative people and places.  Artists, designers, illustrators, film-makers all gathered for a day of behind the scenes studio tours at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Duncan of Jordanstone and WASPS, private artist talks with Martin Boyce and Daziel and Scullion, plus an exclusive preview of the soon to be opened McManus Gallery after a 4 year refurbishment.

Members were blogging, tweeting and documenting in stills each part of the day, so you can take the tour for yourself.

As well as a day for members, and the city’s creatives to meet and discuss their work and practice, Dundee Popup created some LTD edition artworks. Censta members  SooperDD and Johanna Basford worked together to produce the booklet detailing the day, and Superfly worked with artists from the site to create a poster gallery round the city. Read more about it here.

To top it all off, we had an evening of talks from members, followed by wine and some rather fine Central Station cakes, created by Nikki McWilliams.

To see some of the photographs from the day look here. Read the rest of the blog to find out more about the day, and click here to find reviews and thoughts by the members who joined us.

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What? A tour of the creative world of Dundee, Central Station style. Private talks, tours and presentations. As well as lots of members meeting & discussing.

Where? Dundee

When? 11am – 8pm Saturday February 6th

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[SuperFly poster by Jen Collins - part of a series]

11am:
Meet us at the Reception entrance of Duncan of Jordonson College of Art & Design. We’ll have a quick chat…and then the tour begins. Join us for some or all of it and come visit us at The Rep for a coffee stop.

11:30am options:
i) See the new exhibition at Cooper Gallery, Public Image, accompanied by a Curator talk & listen to sculptor student Julie Duffy talk about her practice

ii) Meet some graduates from DJCAD who’ll talk about how they’ve got themselves noticed since leaving

iii) Have a private tour of Dalziel + Scullion’s studio space

1pm options:
i) Go to Generator Projects for a private talk and tour

ii) Go to WASPS for a private studio tour

iii) Go to a screening of a film selected by Martin Boyce, with a live soundtrack by saxophonist Raymond MacDonald (please note there is a charge for this event & booking is necessary)

2pm options:
i) Get a rare private walkround of Realtime Worlds

ii) Have an exclusive peek inside the newly renovated McManus Galleries

3pm options:
i) Pop along to The Visual Research Centre

ii) Go to the DCA Print Studio for a private tour

3.45pm:
Hear an exclusive Martin Boyce talk about his No Reflections exhibition at the DCA

5pm options:
i) See the SuperFly Pop-up exhibition at the Hannah MacLure Centre

ii) Hear Yann Seznec talk about his Gelkies exhibition at the Hannah MacLure Centre

iii) Take a look at Handmade Heaven’s handmade wares at the Hannah MacLure Centre

6 – 8pm:
Join us for This is… Sit back and listen to a selection of our members giving quick-fire presentations about their work & practice. Then a chance to chat, mingle, drink and nibble

[Cupcakes by Nikki McWilliams]

My first foray into Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) was straight into the bowels of the building, as we went down the stairs into the Visual Research Centre (VRC). The VRC is dedicated to practice-led research, and is home to research staff and doctoral students from the Schools of Design, Art & Media.

As a researcher by trade, I am fascinated by archives and research led spaces. It’s such a luxury to have time and space to sit and take in work, theories or products – in a quiet space and in a considered manner, rather than the throng of information that google offers up when carrying out a search. (And the folks at team Censta know what a web lover I am, so that’s a fairly strong comment coming from me!)

We visited 3 spaces at the VRC.

First the Rewind Micro Cinema. A collection of early artists videos, ranging from the 1960s to 1990s. Rewind has catalogued and preserved the works, which are now available to view in a dedicated room at VRC. A small white cinema, with space for 2 or 3 to cosily sit and enjoy an afternoon of secluded viewing. It felt almost like a white washed spanish villa inside, with white curtains and feeling like being cocooned in a serene space. I watched, or listened to one piece, Clapping Songs from Tina Keane (1979 so very much drawing me back to an age that would have me knowing these songs too). I needed to leave, as we had more to visit on our Dundee Popup tour, but would recommend a few hours spent in the VRC to anyone who enjoys immersing themselves in the work.

What also struck me about the VRC was the way in which Rewind has preserved the works. The practitioners who produced the videos have been interviewed to find out where the work was displayed, how it was installed – was it a TV installation, at a festival etc, so the original screening can be recreated.

The Rewind works do tour, but you can also book in time to go and view the videos at the DCA. Get in touch with the Duncan of Jordanstone folks, or visit theRewind site.

IMAGE 2

Photo Credit: Ross McLean

We also visited the Centre for Artist Books, and had a peek into a Phd installation about to be unveiled this week, but you’ll have to wait till my next installment to hear about those. As even an internet addict has to go offline sometimes!

Thanks very much to Laura Simpson for the tour and talk.

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To find out what Dundee Popup was all about or to read more reviews & blogs  from the day, click here.

Well, if i’ve confirmed one thing today it’s that i’m an idiot!

Firstly, (and not so relevant to this blog) I left my car in a space for two hours and paid only for 20mins – now I have a ticket!

Secondly, I’ve lived or worked within 10 mins of Dundee for nearly 17 years and i’ve never once been to the DCA Print Studio, or it’s predecessor in the east end..!

If you have the slightest interest in print making, regardless of experience, stop reading this and get down there.

Due to contractual obligations, and for the benefit of those who live a little more that 10 mins out of Dundee here’s a breakdown of what we saw this afternoon…

Our guide, (sorry, didn’t catch the name and forgot to ask afterwards) gave us an overview of the many styles of print available at the studio. By far the most popular is Screen printing, but you could also have a try at Etching, Block, Lino and Litho (I may have missed others..?). With materials getting increasingly expensive there are many modern alternatives on offer and many aesthetics can be achieved though different materials.

If you’d like to have a shot you really should just go down there and have a chat. If i’m honest i’ve often thought about trying it out but have felt intimidated by such a specialised environment. I’m glad to say that these fears were complete unfounded and the studio was relaxed and open to enquiries. It’s also incredibly cheap to sign up for either taster, speciality or even ‘one to one’ sessions so you really should just go down and find out what suits you.

If you’d rather find out by more while in the comfort of you own home you could visit the DCA website for details of membership and other fees… but don’t be an idiot.. if you’ve been thinking about it don’t wait nearly 20 years.. just do it!

Oh, and if you go by car put plenty of change in the meter..!

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To find out what Dundee Popup was all about or to read more reviews & blogs  from the day, click here.