Image designed by Mike Snowdon

Courtesy of Nina EDGE

LETS ALL DO THE DOUBLE DUTCH …..Turning Ropes on the Ropewalks

Liverpool’s arts and cultural organisation have commissioned artists to deliver projects aimed at creating a more family and audience friendly city centre. This programme of activities is known as The Golden Opportunity takes place across the city.

This week artist Nina Edge starts to deliver her response to the brief for FACT and the surrounding Ropewalks communities. Following consultations in the area she has devised a mini-series of provocations called Under The Influence. These works change the way public squares and streets are used, extending what we can expect to find in this unique independent quarter. As usual, her work combines playful and political interests.

On March 31^st from 5pm – 6 pm anyone passing through Ropewalks Square, or attending the launch of FACT’s Knowledge Lives Everywhere exhibition will be privileged to see or join in Double Dutch skipping.

A Double Dutch group was formed in Liverpool three years ago. There was an explosion of  interest in  this high energy form, which combines fitness, dance, glamour and music following the storming success of the film “Jump In”.

Group founder Bea Freeman (of Pidgin Productions fame) has promoted and provided Double Dutch – a vibrant urban sport which engages both boys and girls and fascinates viewers.

The Double Dutch team attend community, sports and school events  and would like to one day bring the European Double Dutch championships to Liverpool. Bea and the Double Dutch skipping team were recommended by The Black-e who, like artist Nina Edge use games to promote growth.

This begins a longer collaboration between the Black –E, FACT and the Ropewalks people who Nina sees as players in her Under The Influence area improvements. Although a keen skipper Nina Edge will be standing still at this event to sound record the jumping, skipping and songs. Moving image will be produced by film maker Sandi Hughes and the resulting footage will become a tool to promote street games as a Golden Opportunity to re-define who owns the street and what happens downtown.

Come and see two rope skipping – jump in!

Contact Under The Influence :

Nina Edge 07971 472707 nina.edge@fact.co.uk

Adeyinka Olushonde, Golden Opportunity adeyinka.olushonde@liverpoolphil.com

Lucie Davies, FACT communication  Tel: 0151 707 4405 lucie.davies@fact.co.uk

To set up a Double Dutch Group contact Bea Freeman info@pidgin.org.uk

Nina Edge, Bed in at The Bluecoat.

…….In Bed With The Developers

In homage to fifteen thousand wasted opportunities, fifteen thousand tinned up houses, and fifteen thousand people seeking a place called home,  Edge presents a new live work featuring thousands of  flying keys and the most expansive  door chime in town.

There will be an opportunity to watch telly and talk. Classic regeneration programmes will be shown throughout the day ; ITVs Tonight With Trevor Macdonald Show (the one where they renovate a Welsh Streets House)  and the BBC’s Cheap Homes For Sale (the one where they show how people want to buy the houses scheduled for demolition.)

Some of the radio archive will be available to listen to, and if you have an opinion about the demolition of Liverpool’s terraced houses you can record it.

THIS Friday 19th November 11 am until 4pm The Bluecoat in School Lane

contact nina at welshstreetshomegroup@googlemail.com for more info

Background

Nina Edge is an artist who lives in  Liverpool’s Welsh Streets where  around 400 houses -  including Ringo Starr’s birthplace, are  sealed up and left to deteriorate. They are a fraction of the  12,586  houses in the city purchased by the City Council’s HMRI  team over a 7 year period. The council  wanted to demolish them (along with Nina’s house) and pass the land to volume house builders who planned to build new houses on the land.

On 25^th October the HMRI scheme was abandoned by central government as part of the spending cuts. Meanwhile waiting lists for affordable housing have reached a blistering 23,000 and the failures of housing policy over several decades are laid bare. Despite acute housing shortages, immeasurable social and environmental damage,  thousands of  demolitions in Liverpool   continue apace.  The developers in many cases seem to have flown. Instead of new houses the cleared sites will be grassed over.

The powers that be have said the artist will still be forced out of her home.

It’s enough to make you lose the will to get out of bed. For one day only Nina Edge presents a meditation on what it  means to in bed with the developers.

Nina Edge is currently engaged as Cultural Leadership Programme Associate Artist at FACT

Artwork: Mike, themicrocosm

MISTURADO_18thNov2010_ShippingForecast_PressRelease

In conjunction with the Long Night

Mellowtone & Audio Voyeur present: MISTURADO

Thursday 18^th November 2010 – 8-12pm

Misturado (adj.); all kinds of, all sorts of, assorted, a variety of, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed.

Misturado is a night celebrating the diversity of Brazilian culture.

Take a multi-cultural journey exploring the past, present and future music of Brazil.

With live sets from:

• B Fachada (Portugal) – combining pop sensibility with melodies from the Portuguese folk tradition.
• Lylium Guitar Duo (Brazil) – playing Bossa Nova

DJ’s

• Audio Voyeur
• Gavin Kendrick – soundofdusk.co.uk
• Jonnie O’Hare – Beaten Track/Mellowtone

Tickets £4, £3 NUS

http://www.myspace.com/mellowtonenight

For more information, reviews and/or photo passes please contact: audiovoyeur@tiscali.co.uk

http://www.mellowtone.info

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26283467901&v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=176263349054359&index=1

Mellowtone

Mellowtone’s dreamers and schemers are on a nomadic quest to spread good times through intimate soirees with the heartbeat of live acoustic music.

www.mellowtone.info

BFachada

Educated in the arts, accompanied by a twelve-year program of study in Jazz, Bossa Nova and Portuguese Folklore, Bernardo Fachada combines pop sensibilities with melodies from the Portuguese folk tradition. Inspired by artists such as Toquinho, Paralamas do Sucesso, Tom Waits, Leo Jaime, Gentle Giant, Nina Simone and The Specials. Aesthetically, he borrows even from those reluctant to share, crisscrossing references, baffling critics and using the tongue-in-cheek moniker of an ‘erudite folkie’. With four EPs and two albums released since 2007, it is becoming clear he is perhaps the most important Portuguese songwriter of his generation.

www.myspace.com/bfachada www.mbarimusica.com

The Lylium Guitar Duo

Lylium Guitar Duo was created early 2010 by Ian Costabile and Débora Schneider. Both musicians have Bachelors degrees in music from Faculdade de Artes Alcântara Machado, São Paulo, Brazil and Débora just recently finished a Master of music at University of Liverpool. The sonority developed by the duo shows influence of Spanish and Brazilian music as well as gypsy jazz. With a lot of improvisation and well structured arrangements the duo has been performing at Lunya Catalan Restaurant since March, as resident musicians, and also in private functions and events.

www.myspace.com/lyliumguitarduo lylium@iancostabile.com

Jonnie O’Hare

The roots of funk run deep through his selections of dusty grooves, basement jazz & world beats. This aficionado fuses the sounds of Blues & Soul though to Latin, Brazilian and Afro-beat – expect an education.Gavin Kendrick

Liverpool-based writer and record selector Gavin hosts and DJs for Jazz FM, holds a monthly resident at Funky Sensation at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho, and is also resident DJ at the Latin-themed Liverpool venue Alma de Cuba. He co- writes the programme for the Southport Weekender, and contributes regularly to Shook magazine, whilst hosting the specialist music blog Sound of Dusk, which has recently featured interviews with Amir, Jerome Sydenham, Dãm- Funk and Quantic. Phew!

http://www.soundofdusk.co.uk

Audio Voyeur

DJ, producer, creator and collaborator, Audio Voyeur has been quietly eavesdropping on forgotten sounds to create new noises, obsessively seeking stimulation by aural means. Inspired by sounds both old and new, from Arthur Verocia to Underground Resistance, Sergio Mendes to Madlib, Joao Donato to Flying Lotus. His all-inclusive approach to cultural eclecticism has lead to previous signings on Network Records, Clear Recordings and Hydrogen Dukebox operating under various guises such as Madagascar, The Lithium Project and Raw Plug.

http://www.myspace.com/audi0v0yeur

With special thanks to the Instituto Camoes and University of Liverpool

Liverpool Long Night, www.culture.org.uk

Darker nights have suddenly arrived and I am unusually finding myself embracing the Autumn cosiness of these shorter days, wrapping up in warm wooly jumpers, sipping hot chocolate and indulging in childhood-memory evoking bicycle rides through mountains of crispy leaves.  Maybe it’s the fact that we are enjoying a rather unseasonably dry and mild trundle to winter that is discouraging my urge to head for the duvet until spring although, I actually think that it’s because there’s too much going on here in Liverpool and so I’ve been enjoying myself far too much to hibernate just yet!

So, this weeks Quote Me Tuesday is dedicated to one such ‘great things to do and see’ which is the Liverpool Long Night taking place on 18th November.  An annual event of music, arts, culture and so much more,  running from late afternoon to well past midnight offering a great way to while away a dark wintery evening.  It officially marks the 10 day countdown to the Biennial wrap up and marks the start of DaDaFest.  There are over 50 venues so a programme is essential  ……….So much to see just so little time!

Lori Danelle, Fingerprint paper cut 2010

This weeks Quote Me Tuesday comes from a blog I regularly read and love, a site I tend to visit during those snatched mid afternoon breaks on those occasions when my brain decides that creative input is required…… perfect for sipping a coffee and nibbling a sweet treat!.

I have a personal obsession with paper crafts so was instantly drawn to the topic of the latest post, highlighting the beautifully executed work of Lori Danelle.

To view the post in full, visit thelateafternoon.com and enjoy the fabulous posts this little blog has to offer.

This Sunday will see one of those numerically unusual dates arise which we rarely see but which captures the attention of so many of us (I know it certainly creates a kind of childhood fascination in me!). So, it will be the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, and a seemingly proactive taking action kind of date worldwide.

Take for example A Global Day of Doing organised by 10:10 org with the intention of encouraging all of us to do something on Sunday which has an impact (even if only a tiny weeny bit) on reducing our carbon emissions.  I for one am planning to go technology free for the day eek!

What really inspired me most this week however is the one day on earth project, which is of course this weeks Quote Me Tuesday. This is a fantastically creative international collaboration bringing together filmmakers of all abilities to record their own piece of the planet on, yes you guessed it, Sunday 10th October 2010.

This is a huge project providing the opportunity for us all to get involved whether amateur, professional, or simply plain old human being to create a meaningful and spectacular piece of history.  There is still time to register according to their website so be quick and you might just be in for a Sunday to remember……..

Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool 2010

Friday last week saw the launch of the Liverpool Biennial, an event I look forward to with huge excitement. The city fills with colour and depth, encouraging wanderings and exploration of galleries and public spaces, giving time to escape the cooler, darker autumn days (I cannot actually believe it has been two years since the last event!).

This year seems particularly prolific with around 45 places and spaces to see, explore and get involved.  A great place to start is on Renshaw Street in what was once Rapid Hardware but now a completely empty store providing the perfect backdrop to a diverse and eclectic gathering of international artistic talent  (just avoid the young female volunteer on the first floor if you hope to wander around with a coffee,  you will be barked at regardless of the fact that you may be an adult fully in control of a covered coffee vessel!).

There is no such censorship of the artwork so darkness and brutal depictions are blatant and thought provoking at times, other pieces alternating between the grotesque and the mundane.  The Time Bank is my personal favourite, particularly given my personal endeavours to increase the trading of skills and reduce consumption generally. There is an overall theme throughout, bringing over consumption and capitalism sharply into focus. Definitely worth a visit  or two!

There is so much more to to see so, this weeks Quote Me Tuesday comes, of course , from the Liverpool Biennial….. read, go explore and enjoy!

Since becoming a Freelancer I have experimented with various time management strategies most of which work solely on the basis that grappling with time generally means getting more done, an idea I have to admit has never actually sat comfortably with me (instead it has left me wondering just how do you manage time, this mythical beast that must be tamed?!) Inevitably, all have failed, I suspect due to the feeling that none would work for me long term.

We all have those days where nothing gets done even though we feel that we haven’t paused to take a breather. Interruptions, phone calls, emails and, my personal nemesis procrastination (oh and the increasing distractions of the purring ginger, Catmandu!). Enlightenment finally came this week courtesy of Charlie Brooker’s Guardian column who, in his usual style, detailed a personal battleground of distraction when writing.  A great article as usual but the bit that I found really interesting was his link to the Pomodoro Technique, a time management approach with a difference.

The technique is by far the simplest approach I have seen, focussing not on the management of time as a whole but on harnessing the power of short and intensive periods of working to effectively plan longer term.  Each time period, or pomodoro as the technique suggests, last for 25 minutes during which time no distractions are allowed. None, zilch, zero, just intensive concentration.  Then you get to take a break for 5 minutes. The idea being that you count the number of pomodoros required for any given task, aiding the ability to improve and adjust future project planning.  The bit I like best is that absolutely no gadgets are required other than a kitchen timer (quite possibly tomato shaped, hence the name!) a pencil and piece of paper.

So this week, I am putting the idea into action to see if the technique holds the promise I imagine.  Take a look at the idea in more succinct detail this Quote me Tuesday by visiting the Pomodoro Technique Website.

courtesy of beachhouseliving.blogspot.com

Last Friday the weather here was warm with September sunshine prompting a much needed cobweb clearing ride along the coast.  A fabulous day was had by all, a picnic by the coast always a pleasure to be savoured but, in missing the last Ferry home, catching the train was the our only option.  Travelling by train here in Liverpool is not a cycle friendly option!

Three stations and two trains later we had experienced a lift out of order, leaving us no option but to take a hike up two flights of steps, no space to safely anchor our bikes whilst on board and finally, an apparent lack of lift (or direction to said lift) at the final station.

Frustrated and bruised, this weeks Quote me Tuesday illustrates how well our European counterparts embrace cycle friendly travel as well as a little dose of inspiration a la ‘Tour de Chic’. Ride on……

]]> http://www.creativeavoidance.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=232 0 http://www.creativeavoidance.co.uk/blog/?p=211 http://www.creativeavoidance.co.uk/blog/?p=211#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:30:29 +0000 naomi http://www.creativeavoidance.co.uk/blog/?p=211 Back to work and raring to go today after what has been a fabulous laid back weekend spent with the other half cycling, record digging and cooking some scrummy food! So, feeling lighthearted and with the last week of warm summer sunshine predicted, Quote Me Tuesday this week, for me, sums up long summer days, slow travelling, breathing the air and indulging in the joys of two wheeled travel!

She rides from michele Lugaresi on Vimeo.