Culture Diary w/c 24-03-14
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Monday – Robin Tarbet 10am-6pm @ Upper Vide Spaces, the Bluecoat Liverpool — FREE
Looking at Robin Tarbet’s work is like being in the Death Star from Star Wars. Combining printmaking and casting with live film and three-dimensional sculptural assemblages, RCA graduate and lecturer at Kingston University assumes “the role of curious folk scientific explorer”. A good companion piece to the Bluecoat’s current print/scanning exhibition, The Negligent Eye.
Tuesday – Behind the Wall of Sleep present THE BISMARCK – NORWEB – EBEORIETEMETHHPITI 8pm @ MelloMello Liverpool — £3
Seattle four-piece The Bismarck — “Being asked to turn down since 2002″ — punk rock it up to Mello on Tuesday, playing tracks from new album Wild Prairie Rose. Support comes from ‘alternative post-punk shamble skronk’ Liverpool band Norweb. Ridiculously good value and good fun.
Wednesday – Joyce Pensato: Joyceland 10am-6pm @ Lisson Gallery London — FREE
Creating frenzied characters in the likeness of Batman, Donald Duck and The Simpsons, NYC-based artist Joyce Pensato paints almost exclusively in shop-bought black and white enamel, charcoal and pastel. A unique chance to see her Brooklyn studio, ‘Joyceland’, transported in full into the gallery, complete with stuffed animals, talking toys, plastic action figures and collaged ephemera of postcards, found adverts and posters that she refers to and draws inspiration from in her work.
Thursday – Future Everything Festival @ Manchester — Ticket Prices Vary
This consistently innovative ‘festival as laboratory’ celebrates its 19th year with world premières of live music and exhibitions. Check the site for the full programme — including a two day conference — but our live highlights include: the world premiere of ‘Projectors’ (Sun 30th, RNCM) from composer Martin Messier (of the Sewing Machine Orchestra); young British producer Evian Christ‘s (Sat 29th, RNCM) live lineup of European underground electronic music ‘auteurs’; and the debut European performance of The Space Lady (Mon 31st, Manchester Art Gallery), whose adoption of Casio’s cutting edge new keyboard technology in the early ’80s influenced a generation of artists. Must see.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Science Fiction: New Death Launch 6-11pm @ FACT Liverpool — FREE
Ever feel like life is increasingly unreal? Are we getting a future we don’t want or, for better or worse, the future we deserve?Artists James Bridle, Jon Rafman, Mark Leckey, Larissa Sansour and Ryan Trecartin, plus award-winning science fiction author China Miéville, explore how technology is creating new ways of living (and dying), of fashioning identities and the growth of cult-like communities. The Double Negative will be hosting a series of events during this exhibition, including a special three-part Book Club, and a screening of Moon (2009) with guest introduction. Watch this space!
Friday – Threshold Festival @ Baltic Triangle — ADV Discount Tickets Available From £5
Liverpool’s grassroots fest is back with its usual line up of live music, exhibitions, talks and panel discussions. Highlights include an In Conversation with Bjork co-producer Graham Massey and electronica artist Paddy Steer on their experiences with major labels; David Pattie on his book Kraftwerk: Music Non-Stop (2010); and the fun of spotting the ‘next big thing’ in a huge line-up of young bands. See what we thought of Threshold 2013.
Saturday – Artist’s Talk: Maia Conran In Conversation With Gil Leung 1.30-3pm @ Grand Union Birmingham — FREE
Welsh artist Maia Conran discusses her current exhibition Here is the Yard, with writer, artist, curator and Head of Programme at LUX, London, Gil Leung; brief moments filmed, or found by the artist, transported into sculptural sound installation, at this brilliant artist-led studio and gallery space.
DAN CROLL plus WE THE WILD 7.30pm @ The Kazimier Liverpool — £8
Every time we go on Spotify, there’s Dan Croll’s bespectacled face, smiling back at us. The singer brings his particular brand of ‘sleek, vibrant Scousepop’ back home to the Kazimier this Saturday, topping off a world tour, rave reviews and generous airplay on BBC 6 Music/Radio 1.
Sunday – Bolshoi: Marco Spada @ Picturehouse Cinemas Nationwide
Live via satellite from Moscow, this swashbuckling ballet recounts the escapades/problems of the ‘big-hearted’ bandit Marco Spada, his daughter Angela, and Count Federici who courts her. At the time of its creation in 1857 at the Paris Opera, Marco Spada was a great success; this grandiose version has been recreated especially for the Bolshoi by French choreographer Pierre Lacotte.
