NotLost Festival

Towards an Architecture is part of NotLost Festival, a 3 week long arts festival based in Nottingham. Click here for more information.

Towards an Architecture

Sixes & Sevens present Towards an Architecture. An installation featuring works by Nottingham based artist Simon Franklin and Brighton based artist David Bance.

The practices of both Bance and Franklin are concerned with the re-evaluating and re-use of Modernist ideas and motifs. Specifically those of high-Modernist and Constructivist architecture, Suprematist and Minimalist non-figurative art and domestic design.

Whilst both artists share an interest in the achievement of Modernism to blend visual form, conceptual content and a social purpose, Bance and Franklin present differing contemporary positions.

David Bance creates paintings and installations blending visual form and conceptual content with an interest in the physical substance and formal qualities of paint. Bance’s work counteracts the bullish sloganism of the early 20th Century avant-garde and the hubris of high-Modernist architecture with a painterly interest in the qualities of his medium, using brushstroke and mark making in a cautiously experimental way to create strange semi-abstract spaces. His works are rendered in a manner which can be either deliberate and methodical or indifferent and combative, slipping between representational and abstract modes. These contradictory spaces create a more tainted, melancholic interpretation of Modernist art and design.

Simon Franklin’s sculptures reference geometric abstraction and high-Modernist design. His use of bold, matt colours, sleek curves and sharp edges suggest a utilitarian functionality reminiscent of mid 20th Century domestic design. However, his choice of materials (Franklin primarily uses paper) and a playful treatment of scale create uncertainty regarding the artworks’ density and strength resulting in more delicate objects which, as in Bance’s practice, corrupt the Modernist iconography apparent within the work, showing evidence of the artist’s hand, craft elements and ideas of fragility and failure.

The exhibition does not simply re-deploy these historical styles and debates, but presents a more fragile, human understanding of the ideologies and achievements of the Modernist period. Each individual work informs another whilst simultaneously blurring any linear path. This creates a strange space of jarring contradictions; social/Socialist utopia and anti-humanist dystopia, high art and utilitarian design, representation and abstraction, subject matter and material.

Private view: 8th July 7pm - 9pm

Opening times: 09th July - 12th July 12pm - 5pm

Location: Backlit

www.sixesandsevenscollective.co.uk
www.backlit.org.uk
www.notlostfestival.co.uk

Pile at Chapter Gallery - Images

Images courtesy of Phil Barbot and Chapter Gallery.

'Pile' at Chapter Gallery, Cardiff

Sixes & Sevens members David Bance, Lotti V Closs and Simon Franklin exhibit works at Chapter Gallery in Cardiff from 04.02.11 ~ 20.03.11 as part of 'Pile'. For more details click here.

Gods and Rockers

Gods and Rockers is a look at how two entities can create themselves. For believers, both speak truth and exemplify a way of life, for the detractors they are based on what may appear to be delicate reasoning. Bringing together artists who work with myth, ritual, idolatry and belief, these three events aim to begin a conversation about the creation of enigmatic figures seen as ‘Gods’ by their followers, and to discuss, perhaps, the nature of authenticity when considering systems or movements that are based on debateable truths.

David Blandy’s work involves ideas of pilgrimage and of searching for truth, authenticity and experience. In ‘Crossroads’, he looks to discover a true experience of the blues whilst traversing the Mississippi Delta in search of the spirit of Robert Johnson, a mysterious figure within the annals of musical history. Blandy’s pilgrimages are fixed in cultural movements. In ‘Five Boroughs of the Soul’ he brings together the discipline of the warrior in Kung-Fu and a fascination with musical personalities and the meaning of ‘Soul’ in his Barefoot Lone Pilgrim. Both works involve ideas of discovery and ritual as well as visitations to places made significant by extraordinary acts or events, whether well documented or mythical.

‘Rock My Religion’ discusses ideas of how rock and roll became comparable to a religion. Dan Graham brings together facets of idolatry (both created and incidental) with the response of those whose lives intertwined with a cultural shift. The audience, or followers, embellish the myth of the figure by creating expectation and hysteria; a movement is created not just by its leader, but by those who choose to exacerbate what is created.

Ben Judd uses ritual to question the nature of belief. His interest in the out-there’ and the not-so-normal intertwine with the exclusivity of secret societies and occult practice to question how and why people are drawn into circles of belief. The performative acts often question the role of the participant as a carrier of perceived truth, leading to a discourse around ideas of the viewers’ perspective and the willingness to believe.

Ben Judd

Nottingham Contemporary, 26^th November, 11am, 1pm and 3pm, beginning in the foyer.

Free, no booking necessary.

11am – Sue Tribe, Shaman
1pm – Robert Hawk, Shaman
3pm – Jenny Cross, Psychic Medium

Nottingham Contemporary

Weekday Cross

Nottingham

NG1 2GB

David Blandy

Nov 30^th – Dec 5^th, The Black Swan, Tether. Tether is open Thursday – Sunday 12-5pm. Free, no booking necessary.

The Black Swan

Tether

17a Huntingdon Street
Nottingham
NG1 3JH

Dan Graham

3^rd December, Tethervision Studio, 8pm,. Free, please see sixesandsevenscollective.co.uk for booking information.

Tethervision studio

Tether

17a Huntingdon Street
Nottingham
NG1 3JH

Curated by Dan Green

Pile

Sixes & Sevens present a comprehensive sculpture exhibition co-curated by Simon Franklin and the artist Craig Fisher.

20.11.10 ~ 11.12.10

Private View: 19.11.10, 6pm - 9pm

Price: free

'Pile' sets out to question the conventions of exhibiting work within a group exhibition. The works interact with each other in some cases becoming ‘piled’ on top of one another. Rather than stand as works in their own right, a sense of autonomy will be lost to the curator’s vision. The collection of individual objects will become one overarching piece, a visual spectacle, where the works act as the material and start to make the definition between the artist and the curator.

The exhibition will feature works from Nottingham based artists, as well as emerging and more established artists from the East Midlands and the UK. Participating artists include, David Bance, Jonathan Baldock, Katriona Beales, Lotti V Closs, Sean Cummins, Sean Edwards, David Ersser, Craig Fisher, Dan Ford, Simon Franklin, Lynn Fulton, S Mark Gubb, Frank Kent, Brendan Lyons, Laura McCafferty Zoe Mendelson, Jock Mooney, Audrey Reynolds, Lucienne Simpson, Derek Sprawson, Debra Swann, Lee Triming, Gerard Williams, Annie Whiles and Neil Zakiewicz.

Location:
Surface Gallery

Surface Gallery is an independent, volunteer run, contemporary art gallery in Sneinton. It's core interest is to support the professional development of early and mid-career artists, curators and people wishing to work in the arts.

Address:
16 Southwell Road
Nottingham NG1 1DL

See map: Google Maps

The Other Interior

Sarah Duffy presents The Other Interior; a series of immersive overnight experiences for one participant at a time in a hotel room in the city centre of Nottingham.

Drawing on cinematic and literary depictions of hotel rooms such as those of David Lynch and the magical realist hotels of Haruki Murakami Novels, The Other Interior, will reveal to the participant, the hidden inner life of a hotel room, filled with the residue of previous occupants and the lingering presence of others.
If you are planning on visiting Nottingham to see Sideshow and the British Art Show 7 and are currently looking for somewhere to stay, then why not combine your overnight stay with becoming a participant of a unique one-off personal performance by booking into the Ibis Hotel, 16 Fletchergate in the heart of Nottingham's city centre, just up the road from Nottingham Contemporary.

Sarah Duffy is a Nottingham based artist who has exhibited in both the UK and Japan. Her practice is interdisciplinary and encompasses performance, installation and video work. She has also been involved with curation, both inside and outside of ‘Sixes & Sevens’.

The Other Interior will take place on 30, 31 October / 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27,2 8 November / 4, 5, 11, 12, December.

If you would like to experience this unusual performance you will also be able to make use of Ibis hotel's special Sideshow reduced rate of £50 per room.

Pre-Booking essential. Please note booking is for 1 person per room, per 1 night experience only.

To book a room please email: marie@sideshow2010.org and leave details of your name and address plus a contact telephone number. The artist will then be in touch with further instructions about how to book into the hotel for your exclusive 1 night experience.

This project has been made possible through kind permission of Ibis Hotel, Nottingham. Sarah Duffy and Sideshow would like to thank manager Richard Carline for all his assistance.

IBIS hotel
Fletchergate
Nottingham
See map: Google Maps

Sideshow is funded by:

Against The Grain

New article on a-n's student pages featuring Sixes & Sevens.

Click here to read Richard Taylor writing about us, The Mutual and Rubric Journal to discussing how graduates might collectively take opportunities to begin their careers.

Alternative link to article - a-n.co.uk/students/article/644146

Tropical Cake Boutique

Come and join Sixes & Sevens in The Lincolnshire Poacher:

Artist and Animator Ben Wheele will be giving a contemplative overview of his past work including a sneak preview of his new short animation 'Tropical Cake Boutique'.

He will be considering the problems of animation within fine art practice and whether the 'mark of the maker' can be possible in digital media. His work ranges from emotionally unsteady 'landscapes' of tackiness to comical, even grotesque, disruptions of logic.

Ben Wheele is currently studying Animation at the Royal College of Art and graduated from Nottingham Trent University in Fine Art last year. His films have screened at festivals internationally, including Rotterdam, Annecy, Melbourne and London International Animation Festival.

The talk will start at 8, but come along from 6 to enjoy our Tropical Cake Buffet.

Friday 14th May

The Lincolnshire Poacher, 161-163 Mansfield Road,NG13FR

www.benwheele.com

sixessevens.blogspot.com ~ sixes-and-sevens@live.com

VOICE/UNDER Viral

VOICE/UNDER

VOICE/UNDER is an investigation into the way artists use the tension between sound and image as a tool. The featured work uses the inherent contract and fusion between the two registers within its structure, sometimes to create disparity and at other times to collude in order to raise questions of perception, language and understanding. The resultant questions might lead us into obscurity, or intrigue us as to the narrative possibilities decided by the viewer’s individual interpretation of what they see and hear.

Featured works (more TBA):

John Smith – Gargantuan – ‘A wonderfully witty example of how to conduct pillow talk with a small amphibian.' - Elaine Paterson, Time Out.

Dan Walwin – Silencer – takes the recognisable form of an interrogation, and fragments it over two different locations and turns it inwards by the use of a single actor playing dual roles.

Andrew Brand and Alison Ballard – Wires and Bows - An experimental animation from a moving train comparing the movements of telegraph wires with the sounds of violins

Erica Scourti – Statement of the Art - Press releases taken from a wide range of contemporary art exhibitions are collaged together and translated into French, German and Spanish and back into English using internet translation software.

Emily Wilczek - Walk (in progress) – As the camera's motor kicks in, we hear its loud whirr, and the screen goes from black to the images being shot, by one of the walkers.

Gareth Hudson – Future Proof – ‘Telegnosis like a time-telescope - a rare gift, which allows one to look through the veil of the present into the future’

Jordan Baseman – More Than Religion

Curated by Ellie Russell, Dan Green and Amy Fisher.

Friday 7^th May 2010

Screenings at 7, 8 and 9 pm

Tickets £1.50 on the door (includes a glass of wine/soft drink) – Please e-mail in advance to book if possible.

Tickets cannot be purchased from Broadway Box Office

The White Box Studio

Broadway

14-18 Broad Street

Nottingham

NG1 3AL

Satellite Images

Call for Submissions - Voiceunder

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - Voiceunder

SIXES&SEVENS are hosting a one night screening event at the White Box Studio at Nottingham’s Broadway Media Centre. We are looking for moving image works, lasting no longer than five minutes that deal with the relationship between the image and the soundtrack/voiceover.

We are interested in work that plays with the tension between these two registers, touching upon the fusion that happens between a sound and an image when they occur at exactly the same time and the questions they ask each other.

The Screening will be held at the beginning of May (exact date tbc) and offers a great opportunity for artists to showcase their work in Nottingham’s exciting and innovative Media Centre.

Please send proposals or links to the moving image piece you are choosing to submit to:

sixesandsevens.submissions@hotmail.com

or - send us a DVD of your proposed moving image piece in its entirety to:

248 Alfreton Road,
Nottingham,
NG7 5LS

Your proposal must include documentation of previous work and a short description of your practice. (500 words MAX)

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS 12.00pm Friday 26th March

Satellite

Nottingham based art collective, Sixes & Sevens, will host their second event 'Satellite' in the café bar of Nottingham Contemporary. The show will feature work from an exciting range of artists and musicians from across the country in response to Nottingham Contemporary’s current exhibition 'Star City'. From Soviet ideals of the future to the Science fiction of the communist era, 'Star City' is a show dedicated to exploring past visions of the future as well as the legacy of the space race. For one night only, Sixes & Sevens will transform Café.Bar.Contemporary into a platform for discussion, performance and video that will serve to investigate further the themes of Nottingham Contemporary’s superb current exhibition.

Line up (more TBC)

Miss Hypnotique will be playing the Theremin, performing classical and popular Russian music including works played by Latvian Theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore. The Theremin is the world's first electronic musical instrument, played without touch. It was invented in 1920’s Russia and represented the sonic values of the USSR. After playing the instrument Lenin declared ‘Soviet Russia equals Communism plus electrification’ before sending its inventor Lev Termin to Europe and USA to spread the Soviet electronic gospel.

Cosmunatic Peoples Unified Party Of Free Sound; Joey Bell along with members of ‘Cuban Crime Wave’ (taking their inspiration from German experimental band ‘Einsturzende Neubauten’) will perform a set using samples from sci fi movie scores.

Adam Goodge will give a performance lecture presentation uniting the works of two unlikely bedfellows, Karl Marx and Cliff Richard.

Aaron Williamson presents a cover version music video of David Bowie's ‘Drive-In Saturday’ which is performed entirely in British sign language by the artist and a team of silent, space age backing dancers.

Gareth Hudson presents a video art work based on an outlook on Ascension and the persistence of loss.

Wiracha Daochai will count down to the return of soviet ideology with his unique performance ‘Red Bomb’.

Meg Tait and Emily Birrell present an interactive installation. The latest gaming technology is explored as the Guitar Hero phenomenon is parodied in cardboard and is arguably more fun than ever.

Simon Raven will be performing as a ‘Star waiter’ throughout the evening offering the audience the chance to take a little piece of his costume away with them at the end of the night.

Sarah Duffy will be giving us a different take on David Hasselhoff’s legendary ‘Looking for Freedom’.

Gemma Land will be showing ‘THE LOST VIEWS OF SPACE CITY’, a photographic project investigating the Market Estate in North London. The estate was built in the sixties and was originally nicknamed ‘Space City’ by the press. The estate has been plagued with anti social problems since it was built and is now due to be demolished next month.


Satellite is curated by Meg Tait, Emily Birrell and Sarah Duffy

Part I Review

Reviewed by Jo Lee

Sixes and Sevens is the collective name for a group of recent graduates from Nottingham Trent University. I have to declare an interest here, given that I’m a lecturer on the Fine Art course from which they came, but owing to the peculiarities of my timetable I don’t currently work with students in the final year of their study, and thus came to their Surface Gallery show with a certain critical distance. But another interval has already opened up given that it’s now some two months since the exhibition had its short run, a period in which I had intended to set down more immediate critical reflections upon these works and the artists who produced them: and so it is that I find myself at yet more of a remove than I’d ever intended…

Of course, such a delay comes down to the usual pressures for artists/writers/academics, when it seems that the realities of professional life conspire to erase one’s own creative and critical space. And in this I find myself thinking about the realities for this most recent crop of artists emerging from University, who would doubtless love to be busy with deadlines of their own. Like countless of their peers elsewhere, all trying to make sense of who they want to be now the institution has ceased to define them, they are making do with jobs in service or retail industries, inching their way into potentially more satisfying, but frequently lower paid arts administration or simply trying to subsist for a while on meagre benefits, whilst all the while worrying about their student debt. The name of this grouping itself, Sixes and Sevens, immediately evokes the uncertainty pervading this stage of creative life, and the exhibition title Part 1 apparently designates this as a first step on the road to their creative career.

In the press release, however, the group asserted their ‘uncompromising sense of optimism’ and on the evidence of the exhibition they are clearly a resourceful bunch, using whatever comes to hand as material or context for their continued practice. But despite this, there remained a lingering melancholia suggesting more mixed emotions. One work employed found promotional flyers as the ground upon which to paint, but transformed these contemporary artefacts into something curiously antique. Elsewhere a bag had been constructed from envelopes the artist has received through the post: despite the enterprising approach, I surely couldn’t have been alone in this work prompting a recollection of all the project proposals one writes when just out of university, and which return unwanted, thudding rejection through the letterbox? A similarly downbeat effect was at work in the piece All my ideas sound better on paper, though here it was the opposite reality: the dawning sense that the marvellous conceptual idea never quite emerges into the world as one hopes.

The show’s curatorial premise was never to present a uniform idea, but to allow this group to exist in its diversity. As a result we could see in one handy location many of the pre-eminent concerns of contemporary art practice: an investigation and re-working of the everyday; the knowing artistic reconsideration of Romantic ideals; a concern with folklore, myths and symbols; the concatenation of author, performer and spectator; the experience of expectation, disappointment and failure in making and viewing art… But despite the variety of approaches, practices and media, it seems that ultimately a coherent theme does emerge from the exhibition: Sixes and Sevens gave a clear view of what it means to be emerging artists in the second decade of the twenty-first century, burdened by financial difficulty, weighed down by art history and existing outside the UK art capital, but nonetheless still full of creative and critical ambition, and very determined to use collective strength to invent their own opportunities.

Joanne Lee is a Brighton-based artist and writer whose work explores a curiosity about everyday things. She is Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University. http://web.mac.com/generalistjo

Part I Images

Part I

Part I

10^th-14^th November 2009

Part I is the debut show from the Nottingham based artist group Sixes & Sevens, an umbrella organisation supporting a number of artists committed to hosting diverse art events and collaborations throughout Nottingham and the East Midlands. The show brings together a varied mix of practices and interests that exist within the group.

There is no particular theme that the work in the show uniformly adheres to, but more an approach or ideology that is embraced as a whole. The basis of the show is not to reflect on outside events such as financial instability or uncertainty of our place in the art world, but to continue with the same positive principles as ever, and an uncompromising air of optimism.

Private View Monday 9^th November, 6pm – 8pm

10^th – 14^th November 2009

12pm – 5pm

Surface Gallery

16 Southwell Road,

Sneinton,

Nottingham.

NG1 1DL