Irreverent dispatches from the frontline as comedian Phil Kay lands on Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2010.

Central Station captured the Scottish comedian as he discovered exhibitions, performances, happenings, clubs, gigs and  radon encounters and ‘did GI’. His antic were caught on camera and made into a series of comedic shorts, released daily throughout the festival and seeded through the comedy networks like Chortle, The Humor Blog and rereleased on Central Station Facebook and Vimeo.

We asked our members to get involved via Twitter, telling us the most exciting exhibitions and events that Phil should cheek out and giving them the chance to meet the man himself.

@Censta would #GIPhil like toe meet at Kelvingrove to check out Shrigley this avow?

“Leave me a comment or tweet us an invite @Censta and tag #GIPhil. That’s me – for this weekend I’m an artistic soldier. Sir yes sir.”
/philk

“Today we’re going in search of a white bike, looking at collages, making some flickboos and probably playing my guitar. Rumour has it, we’re also going to be followed by a BBC reporter. Stalker.”
/phlk

“We’re going to someone’s flat…a lady called Janie Nicoll. She invited us by tweeting at us. I hope she has tea. You’d think she would, since she’s invited 15 artists into her living room, plus all the GI visitors too. Might put a wash on while I’m there.”
/philk

“Exhibitions, performances, happenings, clubs, gigs and random encounters, Phils going to be doing the lot with Central Station”
/Censta

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Watch Phil Kay doing GI here.
Browse our Top 5 dispatches from Phil here.

Read through these blogs for more insight into the weekend:

Thoughts from Phil:
And so it begins…
Art and bicycles

Thoughts from folk who experienced Phil:
Phil Kay Does G.I – Title Sequence Funtimes by Jessica Ashman
Sunday Somthings… by Kirsty Swain
Those were the days… by Kirsty Swain
My GI with Phil Kay & The Film Crew Pt. 1 (Sat) by Heidi Kuisma
Openning of GI with Phil Kay by Mathieu Sagnet
Very Funny by Kirsty Swain

1.  Phil Kay on his love of white bikes. NVA’s White Bike Plan was a project that released 50 White Bikes across the city.

2. Phil Kay on the limitations of interviewing with Glasgow Podcart’s Halina Rifai.

3. Phil Kay gets a Twitter invitation to check out the David Shrigley installation with Central Station member Angharad McLaren.

4. Phil Kay visits HALLelujah2 a group exhibition curated by Janie Nicol and held in a Glasgow flat. The exhibition brought together fifteen UK based artists linked in drawing, printing and collage…and Sparky…..!

5. It’s never easy when you lose a pet. It doesn’t matter whether it’s through bereavement or carelessness, it’s just not very nice. Phil Kay recalls his own experiences when he ponders the nature of reality and illusion in this hairy little number filmed during his visit to Hallelujah 2.

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See more of our Top 5 selections here.

If you’ve been reading our other “Phil Kay Does GI” blogs…which you really should have been, they are very interesting and insightful…you’ll already know that on Saturday, we were shadowed by a reporter from the BBC Radio Scotland Comedy Café, hosted by Janice Forsyth. The programme we’re going to be on airs on Friday 23^rd April from 1315 to 1400. If you didn’t know that, well…now you do. You’ll also know that Phil Kay doesn’t like interviews, particularly if you’ve seen the first of our video instalments at the Sketchbook exhibition, where a rather frightened lady with long hair discovers exactly how little he thinks of them. I think the word “rubbish” may have been used.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that it was supposed to be just him being interviewed…not me.  I’m not Phil Kay. I don’t even have a beard, and I certainly don’t wear tartan on a daily basis. I’m not that fashionably adventurous. The most I will do is wear a denim shirt over jeans. Although I have been known to dabble in harem trousers, and I own a fedora. I also once wore a jade green jump suit and polka dot callots, (not at the same time….that’s a bit Sue Pollard)…anyway, that was in the eighties and doesn’t really count.

If you fancy hearing more about what the K-Unit got up to with on Saturday morning (apart from eating carrot cake for breakfast and stroking other people’s dogs) @ Glasgow International, you can do two things…watch our video blogs, and tune in to BBC Radio Scotland Comedy Café, Friday 23^rd April 2010, 1315-1400.

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.

We started our evening of art exploration for the opening GI festival in the West end of Glasgow at Welcome HomeGallery for the Glasgow PODCART exhibitionSKETCHBOOK.

What a great little venue.  I’d never seen Welcome Home this busy. Our very own Kirstie Swain had some work on display there amongst work by Bronto Skylift , Lauren Gentry , Sephanie Spindler and many more. The idea behind SKETCHBOOK was to show how artists generate and develop their ideas and the process’s which they go thought to create artworks.
I recommend getting on a White bike and pay Welcome Home a visit.
These included drawings, scripts, scribbles ,notes and lyrics and  drawn/wirtten on sketchbooks torn bits of paper, A4 sheets….

Our schedule was so busy that we didn’t have time to stay any longer and had to move on to our next opening at the GI HUB on Miller street.
There Phil decided to take a closer look at the Whites bikes and went for a ride on miller street. We then headed inside to check out the provo’s white bike plan exhibition which included the bike that got painted on George square during the manifesto.

From there we went to Glasgow Arches for Forest Fringe. Phil and I indulged in a game of pong on a giant screen to much of phil’s and my amusement.

Phil got the opportunity to be involved with artists and their work.

That’s Phil on the right hand side!

Phil got talking to a couple of musicians who wanted to write a song form him based around 5 questions they had previously asked him. Unfortunately the event closed early and we never got a chance to hear the song …

We will attempt to re-visit the Arches in the hope of get this song written and recorded for you all to hear.

To finish off our night we made our way towards Glasgow Art School for the second last Optimo, where Finnish trio Opel Bastard played an incredible dj set till the late hours of the morning..

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.

If you’re having Kay-Unit withdrawal symptoms like we are…(oh how we miss those snazzy tartan breeks and that lovely beard)…don’t fret. It’s okay. Everything is going to be alright, becuase you can see exactly what he got up to right here. Bye bye Phil, it’s been a blast. We’re knackered, we’re beat, we’re in need of a good night sleep….but at least we got our bike back :)

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.

After a quick bite to eat we headed to 212 West Princes Street to see Jane Nicoll’s curated exhibition HALLelujah 2 which brings together the work of fifteen artists from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales. This exhibition came with a welcome twist as the artwork is set in the hall way of Jane Nicoll’s beautiful flat. It was lovely to see artwork in a domestic setting and let’s be honest (and maybe a bit cheeky), have a wee wander in someone else’s flat. After viewing the artwork Phil ended up singing a song with Sparky the dog and we planned the rest of our day over cups of coffee.

On our drive to City Centre to check out what Le Drapeau Noir at Renfield Lane opposite from Stereo was all about I found out that Phil Kay used to live on the same street that I live on at the moment. The phrase ‘It’s a small world’ comes to mind. At least it wasn’t the same number. When we got to Renfield Lane there wasn’t much happening yet other than Phil unravelling their black flag so we had a nice dinner break munching Stereo’s food and planned to visit the cafe again later on in the evening.

From Stereo we headed to Jim Lambie’s exhibition ‘Neon’ at The Modern Institute. It was bright, colourful and full of all creative, arty types enjoying chat, drink and the artwork. Neon is an exhibition I’d like to visit again when not so busy and take my time walking around in the space. The Modern Institute also had a book shop which seemed to have plenty of inspiring looking books not available in mainstream shops. Their big windows created a sort of fishbowl effect on the opening night as a group of people looked in from the dark Glasgow evening into what seemed like a burst of colour and enjoyment. It all made the world seem a bit drab and boring on our drive to pick up Phil from Stereo where he had cycled using a White Bike to see The Trembling Bells.

Our next stop was Guantanamera Record launch event at The Grand Hall at Trades Hall. Unfortunately due to visa and volcano issues, artist José Andres Ramirez hadn’t been able to come along as planned. I spent most of my time in there trying to get a signature from someone who had been filmed. While I finally succeeded in my task, but only after being asked to draw a shoe (who said that being a runner/assistant isn’t glamorous), Phil had a wee dance in the light of two big screens showing the two artists singing Guantanamera.

We finished the night at Le Drapeau Noir, a venue rumoured to be THE place to be during the festival. We entered the absolutely packed place about midway through Gummy Stump’s energetic set. The night continued with ‘Love Alien’, an artist Michelle Hannah dressed in silver skintight spandex taking the stage, or top of the table to be correct. After her spoken word performance she walked around in the crowd sharing her alien love by giving hugs and bringing a smile on people’s face. Phil Kay then improvised song about volcanic ashes before people dressed as bushes took over the dancefloor. This was our cue for the exit and some well deserved sleep before another GI day on Sunday.

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.

When we got there, we watched a man playing a big organ…he was good…obviously practices. I did my very own song too from one of the balconies overlooking the foyer. Surprised people having their lunch. Then we visited the David Shrigley exhibit where I had a chat with a lady called Ang. She said it was surreal, I thought it was fun.

Next stop is a fringe festival event called Hallelujah 2in West Princes Street. At some point in their life, everybody in Glasgow lives on West Princes Street. It’s the Andy Warhol of Glasgow. We’re going to someone’s flat….a lady called Janie Nicoll. She invited us by Tweeting at us. I hope she has tea. You’d think she would, since she’s invited 15 artists into her living room, plus all the GI visitors too. Might put a wash on while I’m there.

If you want us to visit your event next, then leave me a comment or tweet us an invite @Censta tagging it #GIPhil

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.

First stop was the Sketchbook Exhibition at the Welcome Home Gallery where we perused the warblings and scribbles of artists, writers and musicians. They even made a cake and they gave us retro sweets. Then we popped into the GI Hub on Miller Street, swung by the Micro Festival by Forest Fringe at The Arches,  and ended the night at ledgendary Glasgow club night Optimo at Glasgow School of Art for the GI Party.

Today we’re going in search of a white bike, looking at collages, making some flickbooks and probably playing my guitar. Rumour has it, we’re also going to be followed by a BBC reporter. Stalker.  Do you want to recommend a GI core or fringe festival event for us to visit? Tweet us the details @CenSta. Do it. Especially if there’s cake. Or leave a comment on my blog. Even if you don’t want us to come and visit, leave me a comment anyway. I like a good natter.

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.

Hello! Just thought i’d do a little blog post about a piece of work i’ve done recently for Central Station: a title sequence for Phil Kay Does G.I. Or Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, but that’s quite wordy. I made a little, lo-fi cutout animation combining my scribbly illustrations and After Effects, trying to get across the manic personality of Phil Kay and the idea of him zipping around Glasgow, experiencing bits and pieces of G.I.

It was a lot of fun to do and hopefully accurately reflects the spirit of Mister Kay’s adventures. Stay tuned for the videos! I’m quite intrigued to see what antics he gets up. The tweets from Central Station’s Twitter as they whiz around Glasgow with the man himself sound like they’re having fun.

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.