No (No) festival, No studio, and No more 2023
No (No) festival, No studio, and No more 2023!
Hello Gorgeous person,
I hope you’ve been able to maintain a positive, caring and loving atmosphere around during these winter months. It certainly isn't easy at the moment so however your coping in response to the atrocities going on in the world is valued. Whether that's protesting, partying, donating money, posting on social media or responding creatively to unfolding situations is strengthening the possibilities for alternatives, however small or symbolic that might seem.
I started to write this in the 3rd week of December when i have a tendency to panic with trying to finish things before the xmas hibernation! I didnt manage and am now writing to you from the new year where the days are a brighter blue, a bit squish with formlessness. It took me a solid 2 days before i had the courage to ‘wake’ my laptop. As is tradition to mark this special time of year I have reformatted a hard drive, flirted with the idea of a new (likely temporary) lifestyle habit, (anyone do morning pages?) and visited both Ikea and the dump on a diet of the finest leftovers (cheeses, chutneys and chocolate selection boxes.)
Sadly the flabbiness of Inbetwixmas will be ironed out usually within 2 weeks or returning to some sort of routine but i'm trying to hold as long as possible. So i hope you don't read this and your still enjoying the inbetwixmas eeriness somewhere between a mountain and a sofa and that it arrives in a deserted email inbox still hibernating from the xmas break. But if you have returned and you are actually reading your emails than good for you! i hope reading this gives you similar fulfilment as a seasonal holiday avert or a healthy diet lifestyle product.
No (No) Festival
In the last weekend of November I was planning on participating in ‘No Festival’ curated by artists Joanna Moll and !#mediagroup bitnik around the theme of ‘energy parasites’ a number of artworks and interventions into energy, power and infrastructure were planned until it was suddenly cancelled by Pixself festival in the 24hr before the festival was meant to start with the following announcement -
“Due to increasing differences regarding the scope of their involvement, we feel that the only way of moving forward and still keep the integrity of the Piksel Festival is to end our collaboration at this point.” (for the full statement was released that you can read here)
A statement was written by the curatorial team and circulated (see here) outlining the festival’s actions as a severe breach of trust and a basically a shit thing to do to everyone involved.
With no further details given the curators and some of the artists were now stranded in Bergen and on Saturday Another (No) festival artist, Lars Holdus, hosted some of us at a permaculture food forest site that he volunteers at and we chopped wood, cooked soup and learnt about the different vegetables and plants growing. As I had brought along some dowsing rods some of us went wandering looking to sense special stones and used the conductivity of the copper to guide us to different spots of interest. Bruno Gola also did his last performance of the weekend up at this hillside, manipulating synthesised sounds to both online audience and the devices in the locality as the sun went down and the snowmen began to melt.
Why the festival cancelled its program with less than 24hrs notice is not something I will understand but how the small group of people adapted was inspiring and extraordinary - many thanks to all the people that I hung out with.
Mother House Studios
The only studio with integrated childcare facilities for creative mothers and parents to work has been forced to leave its current location in Catford due to rent increases. I joined with my then 3 month yr old son in November 2021 and have benefited so much for being part of a supportive creative community of inspiring people where play and creativity co-create alongside each other. While the current location is sadly no more, we are looking for a new space in the new year. Financing this type of social enterprise is incredibly hard and the studio members are now volunteering to help with the coordination of such an important project, as every creative parent needs mother house. If you want to find out more about whats happened head over to their Instagram or visit the crowdfunding page. what to make a donation that would really help continue this blueprint for a model creative workplace that incorporates childcare into creative practice.
Control Shift Festival video
A bit of a highlight of last year for me was taking part in Control shift Festival in Bristol, my hometown, in April last year. The programme was really superb featuring algo raves, workshops, walks, and talks and featured some really inspiring and brilliant artists i was fortunate to meet and chat with some. Really well done to the production team who did an incredible job coordinating such a wild programme into one weekend.
Take a look at the control shift video Control shift video to get a sense of what occurred and do follow the organisation for more stuff to come from them this year.
Books I’ve been reading
Underland by Robert Macfarlane - I really got lost in this, short adventures in numerous subterranean underworlds from bronze age tombs in the Mendips, to the catacombs in Paris, to dark matter laboratories in Yorkshire, Robert reflects occasionally poetically on the romantic and mythical enchantment of the worlds underneath us.
Figured Stones - Lithic imaginaries by Paul Prudence - recommended to me by Pete Gomes after reading my last newsletter, Lithic imaginaries is a precious and beautifully poetic book with short bursts of imaginative reflection on stones as interfaces between time, earth and human consciousness.
Weird Walk - Wanderings and Wonderings Through the British Ritual Year my parents got this for christmas and i had to eventually put it down and let them have it. So sadly I can only speak about the introduction that wonderfully articulates the culture, ideas and practice that Weird Walk are cultivating with their zines,events and community.
Sports Banger Lifestyles of the poor, rich and famous book - another christmas gift (that my sister received) but this collection of projects all vigorously documented with collages of images and contributions from the expansive community that orbit the self styled tottenham bootlegger
Topographia Hibernica - short stories from BlindBoy bizarre, cruel, sadistic tales from both human and non-human perspectives, contemporary allegories that mush absurdism, folklore and mental health.
That’s all for now - I will be visiting Berlin at the end of this month for Transmediale festival if anyone is near do let me know and we can have a catch up
have a wonderful new year, look after yourselves. X