Artist, writer and educator Måns Wrange along with architect and designer Igor Isaksson are the Stockholm based duo behind Bibliotheca Non Grata which has been commissioned by the city of Umeå in Sweden, in memory of journalist, activist and author, Stieg Larsson’s work. Bibliotheca Non Grata is a public art project in the form of an imaginary library of rejected and thus non-existent books from across the world.

The library as an institution has played a crucial role in defining what is to be considered as knowledge, culture and identity in our society. Countless rejected works throughout history may have been thought of as unsuitable for the literary market, too radical for the thinking of the time or too provocative. What stories and ideas never saw the light of day?

The final commissioned work will be placed in Umeå city library in the newly constructed cultural centre Väven (”The Weave”) designed by the internationally acclaimed architect’s offices Snøhetta and White. The artwork will be placed right at the entrance to the library, hidden behind frosted glass. When visitors approach Bibliotheca Non Grata, the glass section transitions from frosted to clear, so that the hardbound ‘rejected’ books in various languages are revealed.

Wrange and Isaksson are inviting contributions to Bibliotheca Non Grata from established and emerging authors. You can submit your own unpublished work which has been rejected by a publishing house or an institution. A selection of submitted titles of rejected manuscripts will be printed on the spines of 365 hardbound empty book covers — one for each day of the year.

To submit your entry or find out more information about Bibliotheca Non Grata, visit their website here.

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The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival is back this October, bringing hundreds of arts events to venues all around Scotland, all with the aim of raising awareness of mental health and tackling stigma against mental illness—and (of course) presenting some awesome film, theatre, visual art, literature and much more to brighten up your October.

Of course, with nearly 300 events (did you hear that? 300!) it could be a smidge difficult to make it along to everything. Luckily, the hard-working SMHAFF festival team are here with some of their favourites to help you make up your mind.

Vanessa Coffey’s Mirror Mirror

(Gail Aldam, Festival Manager):
“Having worked on the festival for a few years now, it’s always great when we can form a brand-new partnership and bring our audiences something totally new. This year I’m really excited for our first literature weekend, created in partnership with Aye Write! Glasgow’s book festival.  For one weekend in October we’re teaming up to host discussions with some great literary names, including Alasdair Gray, Denise Mina and Sophie Hannah, around ideas of reading, writing and mental health.”

(Alex Queneau, Marketing Manager):
“The event I’m most looking forward to is definitely our screenings of Alan Berliner’s First Cousin Once Removed at GFT and Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, accompanied by Q+As with the man himself. I’m a real film person, and I love going along to Q+As where directors and filmmakers talk with such a passion and love for film—not just their own movie, but the genre. First Cousin is a deeply personal film for Berliner too, created over a period of five years as he filmed his great friend and cousin, Poet Edwin Honig, succumbing to the grip of Alzheimer’s disease. I think the film and the post-show discussion will be a great event for anyone interested in exploring mental health through film.”

(Christine Irvine,  Communications Officer):
“The SMHAFF theatre programme is really strong this year and I’m looking forward to it kicking off with a double-bill of shows at one of my favourite Glasgow venues, the Tramway, on 3 Oct. The double-bill is two shows (not surprising!): one called Mirror/Mirror, exploring eating disorders; and the other, Mental, looking at the intertwining of depression and artistic expression. I love theatre that gets right up in your face and makes you think about things, so this intimate show for an audience of just 50 is right up my street!”

Barrowland Ballet’s Tiger

(Melanie Bavajee, Festival Assistant):
“So hard to pick! At the moment I’m really looking forward to seeing Barrowland Ballet’s Tiger again—we went to the preview night at Platform, and although I had very little idea what to expect when I went in, the show just blew me away with its inventiveness, beauty and emotion. Tiger uses contemporary dance to introduce us to a family who have grown totally dysfunctional; their lives fully caged in. It takes the arrival of a tiger to remind them of how much they love each other.  The talent and stamina of the three dancers was just amazing! A definite must-see of the Festival.”

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film festival runs from 1-26 October, all across Scotland. For more information on what’s going on near you, visit www.mhfestival.com.

The 2013 programme can be viewed and downloaded online here.

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They Magazine is a dialogue between literature and art. Each issue has a unique design and features stories from different authors centered around one unifying thought. We have recently released our fourth issue, The Los Angeles Catalogue, which features short stories from Jason Parham, Jenn Frank, and Cian O’Day.

They is located in Los Angeles and was founded by designer Marshall Rake and myself, Azita Rasoli and started in 2010 as a side project.  As it progressed we started getting a little more serious about our content and began involving other people to contribute short stories. We’re always collaborating and really appreciate everyone involved in making this zine so fun to work on!

Video created alongside director Adrian Ursu.

They N.4 is available here.

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Ever since we started out as a zine and poetry event in Liverpool, we’ve been guided by the network of artists, writers and designers that surround us, and the things that really get us out of bed in the morning – that’s meant that we’ve delivered a massive range of work over the years, from brand identity and digital campaigns, to copywriting and live illustration. Right now, we have a fantastic roster of clients for our design, and an arts programme that produces new language-led commissions in performance, new media and the public realm.

The central strand of our arts programme is currently Electronic Voice Phenomena, it’s about really engaging with the technological interface, and seeing how it can be a kind of tool for experiencing language in new ways. We’ve been experimenting with and developing some new interfaces, such as LiveWriting which allows us to create live-written text animations. Working collaboratively with artists as we did with Sam Meech for LiveWriting is at the core of our values and is a key reason why we’ve been able to stick around for so long.

The Electronic Voice Phenomena theme is going to be part of our collaboration with Liverpool Biennial 2012 this Autumn, where we’ll again be working with Anat Ben David, Steven Fowler, Hannah Silver and Scanner. We’ve worked with the Liverpool Biennial since 2008 and have always aimed to present a completely new Mercy event for each festival. We always say this year will be our most ambitious, but it’s probably more honest to say that we’re always challenging ourselves and the Biennial is a great way of identifying how much we’ve grown over a two year period.

As soon as we’re finished with the Biennial (5 -7 October) we move straight onto the Manchester weekender where we’ll be creating a huge self-generating feedback loop of spoken word, live sampling, processing and projection at The Cornerhouse.

Between then and our EVP Spring tour with Penned in the Margins, we’ll be working closely with Young Pines, our pilot scheme to identify new ways for young talent to break into the creative industries. This year alone we’ve worked with FACT on a network where poets can learn coding, called Syntax, organised documentation from a 48 hour performance by Mark Greenwood, presented an EVP free for all at Cafe Oto and are now getting towards the finishing post with some work with public artist Laurence Payot and designer Scott Spencer.

All this is part of a GFA from Arts Council, which we supplement with workshops, other grant funds, and tickets, and partnership other galleries and festivals like the Biennial, FACT, Ideastap, Cornerhouse and AND Festival – as well as more independent organisations like new music curators like Deep Hedonia, Hive and Samizdat in Liverpool. We’re really proud of these partnerships, and we try to keep up with them all while building new ones. Just now, we’re chatting with super-cool curators Trigger in Scotland.

We were once told Mercy are generous which is something we’ve really clung onto. We wouldn’t grow if we didn’t actively seek opportunities to work with new illustrators and developers, artists and promoters. There are so many opportunities available if people are willing to step outside of their comfort zone.

It’s satisfying to make your living from ideas, but to make it work, it has to be intense most of the time.

Mercy are curating a Liverpool Biennial weekend on 5 – 7 October
.

Mercy Present:

Composite: Feedback
Sat 12th October 2012 | 3 – 6pm | 
The Cornerhouse Manchester.

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The studio came about six months ago when a space opened up in the iconic Nicholas building. A hub for artists for many years I jumped at the chance to be a part of something really special. During that time I’ve concentrated on creating a rather strong aesthetic. I suppose you’d call it Victorian Gothic. Using a very monochromatic colour scheme I’ve tried to not only instill the artwork with a feel of a bygone time, bridging the gap between painted portraits, silhouettes and early photography, but to also give the space a feeling of something long since lost.

People are encouraged to enter the space, so its now not only a working studio, but also a gallery and a retail outlet for some of the other pieces I make. You are even encouraged to bring in old frames or pieces to use in creating something special. Having come from a strong retail background and working in the events field as an art director for the last ten years I was always conscious of creating something that wasn’t just a piece on the wall, but also something that had a history and perhaps a darker meaning. Whether it was an heart ornament, a painted book or a cushion all the pieces could sit comfortably together and hint at something else that was going on inside.

Many of the works are done with vintage fabrics and papers, frames with original distressed mounts and found objects. Most of the portrait work are of artists and authors of the time all of which held darker secrets and had scandalous private lives. The pieces can be taken as simple bizarre objects or take on a deeper more macabre meaning. Its interesting to gauge from the reactions from the public just what someone will either laugh at, me moved by or simply walk away from.

Its about plugging into peoples memories,some good and some bad under the illusion that its a literary theme. Its all packaged up as the romantic side of the Victorian Gothic era, but of course there is allot of suppressed sexuality, the supernatural elements, love gone wrong, religion, madness, monsters, murder, loss and life and death. All of the experiences we don’t like to talk about but make up who we in fact are.

So the studio although having a rather dark theme is handled in a fairly light manner. The customised voodoo dolls, the children’s torture toys, Rorshack cushions or even the gruesome hearts all give the viewer a chance to laugh.

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‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.

THE ADAM AND EVE PROJECTS is a new web based broadcast bringing together the most exciting and important shapers and definers of our cultural landscape in one location. Here the most iconic and emerging creative people / the most respected institutions / and the most progressive brands worldwide, are all in a direct conversation with a global audience hungry for all arenas of cultural production.

Ranging from the informal and spontaneous to the meticulous and long term, exclusive cross disciplinary collaborative projects curated by The Adam and Eve Projects are announced weekly, with ongoing live discussion from these and other esteemed creatives.

Only the most respected and new emerging creative people worldwide, from fields as diverse as Art, Film, Music, Architecture, Fashion, Literature, Design, …. take part. These projects, created across a broad range of media including, video, photography, product, written and spoken word, and illustration are seen alongside direct correspondence from the worlds most progressive and respected brands and institutions.

Browse through the pages of Adam & Eve here.
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