Culture Diary w/c 02-09-13
Monday – Make-Room with Tim Etchells, visible 24 hours a day @ 3rd floor window, 141-145 Curtain Road (East London) FREE
Creating ‘awkward moments of intimacy and encounter in a public setting’, artist and neon sign-maker Tim Etchells teams up with Duggan Morris Architects to transform an otherwise non-descript urban infill in the heart of Shoreditch. Supported by Tottenham-based arts org. Make-Room, the project focuses on experimental platforms for international artists, in this case, injecting a dynamic, sculptural form into a gap between two adjoining Victorian warehouse buildings. Come back for the official launch night (and a few drinks) Thursday 12 September 8-9pm.
Tuesday – Liverpool Pride: Les Invisibles 6pm @ FACT
Directed by art-house cinema regular Sebastien Lifshitz, documentary Les Invisibles takes a look at the lives of a group of 11 elderly men and women talking about their experiences of being gay in a less than openly progressive pre-war France. With recollections ranging from humorous to deeply touching, the film celebrates the pioneering group and their decision to take a stand about their sexuality at a time when to do so would clearly have been to take a huge personal risk.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Dinosaur Jr. 7pm @ East Village Arts Club £20
As our recent 10 best autumn gigs playlist attests, it feels like the back end of 2013 has been set aside and saved for some of the best shows you’ll have the opportunity to see this, or any year. Re-releasing Bug on its 15th anniversary, Dinosaur Jr. continue to sound great on record; live they’re unforgettable; in turn ferocious, nuanced and surprisingly subtle.
Wednesday – Future Station 6pm @ Metal FREE
Metal Gallery’s quarterly arts surgery Future Station returns this week with a practical session on fundraising led by artistic director Colette Bailey. A great opportunity to hear from, and mingle with, other artists and like-minded types, this week’s Future Station also boasts a presentation and discussion by Hungarian born brothers and performers, the Katona Twins.
Thursday – Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This Private View 6pm @ Open Eye Gallery
The exhibition’s title refers to a direct quote from the celebrated combat photographer Tim Hetherington (who died two years ago), whose work here – drawn from his book Infidel – offers, at times intimate, insights into the lives of US forces serving in Afghanistan. Alongside the almost 30 images, the show includes a video installation asking questions around what, journalistically, are the stories to be told in the soldiers’ downtime.
Nicola Ellis and Aura Satz Private View 6pm @ Castlefield Gallery (Manchester)
Programmed under the gallery’s 2013/14 overarching theme of ‘Altered Realities’, Manchester-based Ellis and London-based Satz present brand new work, viewing ‘the world through the lens of technologies and materials that are modern but no longer considered as cutting edge’. Expect a first-time ‘black box’ installation of Satz’s film performance In and Out of Synch (originally shown at the Tanks, Tate Modern in 2012), alongside works on paper, painting and sculpture.
Friday – Connecting Cities @ FACT
FACT continues its ongoing investigation in to the role of the art gallery’s engagement with the public in the 21st century with this experiment in connectivity and geography. Aiming “to use the communicative and network potential of urban media facades”, the project (initiated by Public Art Lab) looks to bring Europe’s cultural consumers closer together.
Saturday – My Neighbour Totoro 3.30pm @ FACT
One of Studio Ghibli’s most charming, yet perilous-feeling creations, My Neighbour Totoro marks the close of getting on for a month of the Japanese animation house’s screenings. Following sisters Satsuki and Mei as they traverse a move of house with Dad while their ailing Mum struggles to recover from an unnamed illness in a nearby hospital, Totoro opens up a mystical world of benevolent spirits and real-life trauma. Deservedly one of the best-loved animations from director Hayao Miyazaki, or anybody else.
Sunday – Marginal Consort 7pm @ South London Gallery, main gallery space, £12/10 concs. Part of At the moment of being heard exhibition (last day)
A rare three-hour concert from ‘legendary’ Japanese collective, Marginal Consort. Forming at the Bigakko art school in 70s Tokyo, their extended sets are described as exploring ‘forms of sound and ways of playing that never coalesce into music, but create a group dynamic of ebb and flow.’ Before the concert, you’ve got a last chance to see exhibition At the moment of being heard (first floor galleries); with a four star review from Timeout, this exhibition has pulled together international artists, composers, writers and performers, all ‘engaging with sound and modes of listening’. Fabulous.
