Jeff Coombs Projects

MIll24

2010-01-24T19:06:00.001Z

Jeff Coombs Projects is currently involved in a series of 24 hour exhibitions at Islington Mill, Salford.

http://mill24.blogspot.com/

My Town: Sophie Coombs' Manchester. By Millie Ross

2010-01-22T13:47:00.001Z

Wimbledon College of Fine Art graduate Sophie Coombs moved up to Manchester to study Fine Art Sculpture and found herself quickly immersed in a vibrant scene of active young artists, making exhibitions, events happen, with some help from their local community. Sophie, a curator and artist herself, seems to e at he helm of this movement. We asked her what makes Manchester home.

Where do you live? Manchester

Where do you work? I'm a student at MMU [Manchester Metropolitan University] studying Fine Art Sculpture and I curate shows in empty spaces throughout Manchester.

What are you working on? Currently working on Mill24 a series of 24 hour art events and an exhibition at Islington Mill in Salford. Along with making artificial natural environments for my degree. i'm working on creating a range of Tracy Islands before and after Thunderbirds.

How do you get around (bus, train bike, car?) Walking.

Your favourite gallery? Castlefield is a great space but the Whitworth has put on some pretty ace exhibitions. I wasn't sure I would be able to see a Gregor Schnider in England.

Where’s the best place to shop? Oldham Street.

Best place for a good coffee? China Town. Have a bubble tea.

Best place to see some nature? The peak district isn't far on the train, go there and that is real countryside.

Favorite piece of street/public art near you… Turning the Place Over by Richard Wilson in Liverpool, I know it's not Manchester but nothing tops that.

The view from your bedroom is… More terraced houses, like in Coronation Street.

The view from you workplace/studio is…My studio is in the basement. if I look up, merky glass.

Favorite late night haunt…Keko Moku, good cocktails.

Where do you go for music? Your Mama's Cookin for some proper dancing.

How does the city influence your art? I see everything two dimensionally, so it's just a backdrop which happens to have very tall buildings and highrise train tracks. It's great, it's bleak, it feels really victorian but also utopian. The combination of architecture is mad. Sometimes it feels really safe and sometimes really dodgy and scary. My works is always about my personal confusion in situations and the inability to understand, finding it funny and frustrating. I guess that's what Manchester is to me, familiar but also totally alien. That's what happens when you downsize from London I guess.

Strongest or most unusual memory? Going to Asda in Hulme at 3 in the morning, being so scared and running home through wasteland being followed by a stray dog.

Your favourite discovery? The basement of the Righton building at MMU.

Name a song that best sums up how you feel about your town. Harry Nilsson- Coconut. "It's too cold to go out at the moment, if I do go out I want a cocktail."

Name an artwork that you feel represents your town. Anything by Daniel Pickles.

See Sophie's jotta portfolio here

And her curating blog Jeff Coombs Projects here

published on Thursday, 21 January

2009-11-14T23:36:00.000Z

PORTAL Private view

2009-11-14T23:30:00.002Z

PORTAL

2009-11-14T23:18:00.003Z

James Nicholas

2009-10-26T23:18:00.002Z

James Nicholas will be doing a performance for Portal

Seminar Two : Triangle of U / Kwakwaka'wakw
Turf Transportation / Death of Grass

Kwakwaka'wakw are a tribe in Northern America who still perform Potlatch.
Triangle of U is a theory of wheat cross breading.

http://jammienicholas.com/

PORTAL

2009-10-26T23:06:00.002Z

PORTAL

Private view: 29.10.09 6-8pm
Exhibition: 30.10.09- 05.11.09 12-4 pm

A group of London based artists studying at Central St Martins and University of Westminster primarily working with video, projection, performance; time based, and technology based mediums. The shop space will become a temporary screening room/stage for work exploring a range of different themes and concerns, transposed from an established cosmopolitan and creative hub to somewhere with an exciting and vibrant up and coming arts scene.

THE JEFF COOMBS PROJECTS aim is to utilise empty retail and office spaces for Manchester based art projects and events. Artists are invited to take part in creating site-specific artworks that also relate to their current practice. JCP’s encourages artists to work together on projects to create a new found aesthetic inspired by Manchester’s creative community and understand their own work better through the communications with others.

The exhibition space has moved from the Karen Millen unit to the Old Gant unit.

This will be the last exhibition in the current Jeff Coombs Projects series.

Barnaby Lambert

2009-10-23T12:32:00.001+01:00

Return (2009)

I brought a six kilogram slab of Sculptors Clay. I took it back to the raw clay soil of Epping Forest near my family home, and I returned it to the earth.

Ruth Daniels

2009-10-21T18:34:00.000+01:00

Surrogate

2009-10-21T18:30:00.000+01:00

Jeff Coombs Projects location change.

2009-10-19T22:53:00.002+01:00

'Surrogate' will be the last show that is being shown in the Karen Millen unit. I will update you shortly on the venue for the last exhibition 'Portal'. You won't have to go too far though as it will still be in the Triangle.

Surrogate private view 15/10/09

2009-10-19T10:46:00.002+01:00

Surrogate

2009-10-19T10:44:00.000+01:00

Surrogate

2009-10-19T10:41:00.001+01:00

Surrogate

2009-10-19T10:38:00.002+01:00

Article from jotta

2009-10-13T18:24:00.001+01:00

Jeff Coombs Project

By Millie Ross published on Monday, 12 October

Manchester Metropolitan University student and curator Sophie Coombs, under the moniker of Jeff Coombs Projects, utilises empty retail and office spaces around Manchester, encouragng site-specific work from artists and in turn creating a new found aesthetic inspired by Manchester’s creative community. We ask her about co-curating the recent jotta show Space Within.

Could you briefly describe the common thread in the work of the three manchester artists, and why you curated them together with the jotta artists?

I'm very good friends with all of the Manchester artists, so I know all their work very well. They all have a wonderful ability of sourcing and working with found objects. That, combined with beautifully positioning and lighting, makes the pieces appear almost filmic and it becomes a complete experience. All of the Manchester artists work completely personifies them, I suppose by working with people you don't know you get a pre-concieved idea of how they are through the work they make. Then when you get to know the artists you have a completely different outlook on the work and you see how it relates to them, it's like being let in on a secret. The whole event was a quite a social experiment. I always think that art is based on a form of communication between the artist and the viewer, but rather than this lasting a couple of minutes, for me it was for a week.

What interesting elements did you note in the way the artists worked together in the space? Did they work well together, was their a communal/collaborative feel?

I realised that I had unintentionally put together a show that was all men. Once I had acknowledged that, I realised there was also a lot of wood used in the works - in very different ways. The London artists were using more bought wood, whilst the Manchester artist were sourcing a lot of their wood from skips. I suppose these similarities in medium meant there was a lot of sharing of tools and helping each other out, which would not have necessarily ocurred if it was a mix of video and painting etc. They all got on really well, I left the artists often to just get on with their pieces, so the London artists really had to communicate with each other and the Manchester artists if they needed to source material in town.

What glitches, if any, were encountered?
Opening and closing times are annoying because you have to stick to shopping hours. Also, as it is a family shopping centre there were a few shocked responses to the Fuck Machine. This meant that I had to turn it around so that you could only read 'IT'S MAGIC' instead of 'THE FAMOUS FUCK MACHINE!' (but to be honest I think that it added to the piece).

http://jeffcoombsprojects.blogspot.com/

Jotta Curator Ellie Greig reponse to 'Space Within'

2009-10-13T18:17:00.003+01:00

Ellie helped curate the show and came to Manchester to see some of the installing

What do you think Manchester has to offer as a cultural city?
From what I have observed form only two visits to Manchester, the genral vibe I get from artist/curator relationship is that there is a huge amount of creative support from both sides. There also seems to be an active encouragement from landlords and organisations, making it fairly easy to occupy unused spaces.

Have you noticed any particular themes in visual aesthetics that are common within Manchester based artists?
I can only comment on artist that I have seen come out of the MMU, but there seems to be a current mode of practise concerned with using what one finds-a very economical approach to use of material. I also observed that O'Sullivan and Pickles both explore themes related to myth and landscape, which is interesting.

What was your initial reaction to the space?
Throughout my time spent curating exhibitions the space its self has nearly always been the very first stage of engagement. The recession has had a huge effect on independent curators and artistic collectives as it has opened up new opportunities to work within unconventional, often free architectural vacant spaces. Each space, from shopping centres, to Victorian warehouses has influenced the approach taken by the curator, artist and spectator. In the case of SPACE WITHIN we constructed an exhibition that 'attacked' the modern interior with materials found in the area and sculptures that disrupted a modern idealism found within buildings like the Triangle. Through the Triangles failure as a commercial consumer hub, we created something that engaged with the environment in which it was shown, as well as offering a fresh approach to the topic of regeneration.

Was it interesting working with an unconventional exhibition space? Do you find that it inspires the artists to push their creativity to produce a more original form of artworks than within an original gallery format?
I think working with found spaces is a challenging experience and there is more risk of the space dominating over the work, rather than support. It does to a degree, dictate what work can be shown in a particular space, and site specific works often work best in 'unconventional' spaces.

Sweet Valley Monodrama by Katie Hare

2009-10-13T18:12:00.000+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o14Gwwyqatk

Lizzy Rose

2009-10-13T18:05:00.003+01:00

In my work I am interested in old pictures in books, crumbling monuments, bad taste videos, housing estates, boot fairs, the seaside, charity shops, floristry, and the pathos of film.
In this work I hope to convey the limitlessness of consumerism but to also show how we are connected in what we own and discard.

Katie Hare

2009-10-09T19:00:00.002+01:00

Sweet valley monodramas 2, a selection of short dramatic pieces adapted from the sweet valley high series of Young Adult novels. Love, death, comas and bowling.

Millie Findlay: One of the artists that will be featuring in PORTAL

2009-10-09T15:23:00.004+01:00

I am currently interested in the issue of identity and image, and have recently been using images of myself for the first time.
I enjoy the passport photo as a portrait, as it is mechanical, meaning that there is no personal relationship, just the machine and myself. I am also awarded only three choices of photograph in most cases, meaning a snap decision about my image is made.
Seeing out of the corners of my eyes is sometimes quite frightening.

Millie Ross, editor of jotta, response to Manchester.

2009-10-09T12:18:00.005+01:00

What do you think Manchester has to offer as a cultural city?

From my two brief visits Manchester seems to be a buzzing hub of young, proactivity as far as the arts are concerned. I've been impressed with the supportive community spirit that enables young artists and curators, and self starter art groups to organise their own shows in fantastic and unexpected spaces across the city.

Have you noticed any particular themes in visual aesthetics that are common within Manchester based artists?

Perhaps the use of found materials and objects in sculpture and installation.

What was your initial reaction to the space?

I was excited by the slick interior of the Karen Millen store- I loved the displacement of the works in such a polished retail environment, and the reflective surfaces were great!

Was it interesting working with an unconventional exhibition space? Do you find that it inspires the artists to push their creativity to produce a more original form of artworks than within an original gallery format?

Yes seeing how the artists reacted and delt with problems that working in a "non-art" space was very interesting, and it seemed a challenge for them. Also the way in which they responded to each others work as it developed in the space, they might have found inspiration there, and in having to scour the inner city shopping district for supplies seemed to have incited a lot of feeling in some- not always positive!

Surrogate: Private view 15th October

2009-10-07T12:40:00.001+01:00

Surrogate

| Sam Derounian |Joshua Duncan | Hannes Hellström | Ross Little |
| Tom Marshallsay | Claudia Nova | Max Prus |

Private view: 15.10.09 6-8pm
Exhibition: 16.10.09 - 21.10.09
Opening hours: 12-5pm
Address: Karen Millen unit, Triangle Shopping Centre,
Exchange square, Manchester M4 3RT

Jeff Coombs projects has invited Glasgow based artists to respond to the empty retail space with their response to art and popular culture.

The crowd rejoice in the dance. A dance that is no more fabricated than ourselves and our relationships with each other and the world. The dance is both glorious and tragic.

I don't hardly know where to begin. I remember, we were cruisin' home from the art gallery. I'd had such a wonderful evenin' sittin' there watchin' my art screamin' and tearin' her hair out and carryin' on. She was sooo full of life. Then... Well, we were about three miles from home when all of a sudden it started to rain. And I do mean rain - I couldn't hardly see nuthin'! Well, we kept drivin' for about another mile when all of a sudden I see this stalled car right smack in front of me! Well, I wasn’t about to slam on the brakes 'cause I didn't have none to start to with. So I swerved to the left, and what do I see? Some mush-head, on a motorcycle, headin' right at us!
And I knew at last, me and my art were about to meet the leader of the pack.
Well, when I come to I looked around, and there was the leader, and there was the pack, and over there was my art. And over there was my art. And way over there was my art! I want my art back, gotta have my art back, I miss her oh, so much, can't live without her touch. [Wind, digging] It's been many months now since that fateful night, and you know somethin', I've tried, believe me I have tried - but I just can't make it without my art.
So, I've decided I'm gonna have back her one way or another.
Oh art, I dig you so much. A-heh-heh! [thud] Hot dang - pay dirt!
[Creaky door opening, shuffling, creaky door closing]
[Muffled] I got my art back, now I got my art back, I love her oh, so much, can't live without her touch, I got my art back.

THE JEFF COOMBS PROJECTS aim is to utilise empty retail and office spaces for Manchester based art projects and events. Artists are invited to take part in creating site-specific artworks that also relate to their current practice. JCP’s encourages artists to work together on projects to create a new found aesthetic inspired by Manchester’s creative community and understand their own work better through the communications with others.

Space Within: Private View 2nd October

2009-10-05T15:57:00.004+01:00

Space Within

2009-10-05T15:52:00.005+01:00

Robin Shepherd Untitled 2009 Wood, Manchester Bricks and paper Dimensions variable

Craig Barnes Everything is repairable. Everything is broken.
2009
Dimensions variable

Andrew Brown - I Want To Tear You Open & Then Sodomize You With My Vehicular Sex Utility (I Also Fucked Your Mum)

2009, Mixed Media, Dimensions variable

Theo Turpin - 'As Things Stand' - A Proposed Sculpture for the Triangle Shopping Center, Manchester

2009, Gouache, Ink and Pencil on Paper, 92x65cm

Patrick O’Sullivan - Untitled

2009, Flour, Dimensions variable

Daniel Pickles - Overdressed, Unconcerned And Comfortably Numb. (Indulging In The Pleasures of the Wealthy.) Oh Somebody Make Me Afraid of What I've Become…

2009, Treated Wood & Found Objects

Dimensions variable

Paul Allcock - Empty Pallet

2009, Burnt Cardboard, 30 X 21 cm

Space Within Opening Night

2009-10-04T22:34:00.002+01:00

By Millie Rosspublished on friday, 02 october

jottaContemporary and Jeff Coombs Projects unveiled Space Within in Manchester tonight, which saw a week-long social experiment of sorts, as five selected jotta artists from London travelled up, slept on floors and in dorms and created site specific work in an old Karen Millen store.

First of the Londoners to arrive in the space was Joe Stevens. His site specific sculpture entailed buying, finding or taking 23 discrete items from the ground floor, 30 items from the first floor and 28 items from the lower ground floor of the Triangle Shopping Centre, according to the sequence set out by a previous work in which he used a 3 colour system of confectionary to produce a minimal floor sculpture (Mento System, 2008). Following this logic Stevens constructed a new sculpture dependent upon the random variable of what is discovered within the Triangle.

Next up to Manchester was Craig Barnes and jottaContemporary curator Ellie. Kindly driven by Carig, Ellie brought up Theo Turpin's work, a plan for a proposed sculpture for the Triangle Shopping Centre, and Paul Allcock's a sculptural work exploring braille like binary forced into found bits of wood with oak and compressed charcoal and Empty Pallete, a cardboard etching. Robi Shepard also arrived that day and together he and Craig set up studio on the disused shop space. An old Karen Millen shop, thus it was designed in her typical aesthetic, with rough unpolished wood floorboards and stairs, large glass walls and glass shelving, and one particularly reflectove, curved black glass wall with panelling that gave rise to a surprising and complimentary mirror effectone the pieces were in place.

During their time planning, sawing, building, drilling and generally getting handy, Craig and Shepard discovered the differences in creating work on site, and in a retail space. Number one was a lack of wall sockets, they also had an interesting time wandering around Manchester city trying to find hardware stores, eventually finding a Swedish hardware which supplied their needs.

They were aided and inspired by the Manchester artists, Daniel Pickles, Andrew Brown and Patrick O'Sullivan, who all also created their works on site. Daniel taking Craig and Shepard on a day trip to Burnley to hunt out his found objects, including a pair of unusually small antlers from an antique market.

Have a look at the jotta website to see Patricks work on the home page.

http://www.jotta.com

Space Within: jotta and Manchester join forces

2009-10-04T22:33:00.000+01:00

By Tanya Szwarnowskapublished on wednesday, 30 september

Three Manchester Metropolitan University students and exciting new talents Daniel Pickles, Andrew Brown and Patrick O’Sullivan will be exhibiting their works alongside jotta artists and anticipation mounts as the exhibition nears. jotta speculates on what we can expect from the site specific transformation of an empty shop space.

Rarely does a vacant shop cause us to ponder the philosophy of an empty space. However, this October jottaContemporary in collaboration with Jeff Coombs Projects and Manchester Metropolitan University will be posing such questions with 'Space Within', an exhibition which occurs inside an neglected shop in Manchester’s Triangle Shopping Centre.

Daniel Pickles’ work has a primary interest in mankind’s endless pursuit of happiness, but more specifically, a fascination with faith and how it compels people to exceed the limitations of the body. Pickles also has an interest on the affect of the invisible, of that which cannot be proved or asserted but is, nonetheless, followed devotedly. His work assesses the significance history, events and emotion have on items while his use of ‘found objects’ echoes the work of Marcel Duchamp as he finds a beauty, romance and significance in what is often discarded.

The artist’s instalment for ‘Space Within’ is a meandering collection of various ‘found’ objects including boots, bottles and plants. The snaking composition of everyday finds embodies the timeline of human existence and the objects also work as a comment on consumerism, specifically the notion that in order to be happy one must obtain endless possessions.

Andrew Brown’s work examines what he considers to be the myths that surround sub- cultures in modern society, from science fiction to rock music. Through his art Brown endeavours to explore the invisible flow of information that surrounds these various niches, believing that often exclusive areas become accessible to a more general audience because of the knowledge they share, which at the same time debunks the whole notion of sub-cultures cut off from the mainstream. His sculptures pose these questions in their reluctance to offer substantial meaning, suggesting the reliance culture has on ‘entry points’ into an object’s understanding, a theme that fits well with the dissection of meaning in the ethos of ‘Space Within.’

Patrick O’Sullivan’s work explores how the human mind understands its environment. His theory revolves around the idea that all human minds have a physical and visual affinity for natural images such a mountains, plants and even mud as they have forever been familiar to the viewer. O’Sullivan’s goal is to challenge these previously forged relationships, producing work that supplies the viewer with something that is non-specific, something that removes all prior natural attachments and makes the viewer ‘invent, suppose and exaggerate’ a new attachment to the work. In doing this, he fills in the space between the viewer and the work allowing a free and independent attachment to form based purely on the relation the object has to the space it is occupying. When viewing O’Sullivan’s work neither prior knowledge or understanding of it is needed, whatever feelings or thoughts occur when viewing the pieces are all correct and individual, there is no definitive understanding.

All these mind -boggling theories will be actualised at ‘Space Within’ and although these artists have their manifestos it is important to enjoy the art for what it is and what it brings to Manchester; filling in an empty space, giving it purpose again.

If you are in Manchester join us for the Private view of the show

Friday, 02 October 2009

16:00 - 18:00

Karen Millen unit, Triangle Shopping Centre

Exchange Square

Space Within: Setting up.

2009-10-04T22:24:00.003+01:00

Joe Stevens: mentossystem_2 layout plan

2009-09-30T23:27:00.002+01:00

2	2	3	2	2	1	1	2	3
3	1	2	3	2	3	2	3	1
3	1	3	3	3	3	1	1	2
2	3	3	2	3	3	3	1	1
2	1	1	3	1	3	1	1	3
3	1	3	1	3	3	2	3	1
3	1	1	3	2	2	2	1	2
1	1	1	3	3	1	2	2	3
3	2	2	1	2	1	2	1	1

Correspondents to Joe Steven piece justanotherdayingamespace

2009-09-30T23:20:00.002+01:00

Lower Ground Yellow 1

1. 12:07 Can of coke

2. 12:13 Battery (big)

3. 12:13 Battery (big)

4. 12:14 1 pence piece

5. 12:15 Karen Millen tag

6. 12:16 Filthy pen

7. 12:18 Orange triangle

8. 12:19 Letter N

9. 12:19 Letter I

10. 12:19 Letter K

11. 12:19 Letter E

12. 12:19 Letter M

13. 12:19 Letter L

14. 12:19 Letter L

15. 12:19 Letter R

16. 12:19 Letter N

17. 12:19 Letter A

18. 12:22 Piece of pipe

19. 13.38 Buddha statue courtesy The Titchy Coffee Co.

20. 13:40 Piping bolt

21. 13:40 Piping bolt

22. 13:42 Letter E

23. 13:44 Bent screw

24. 13:49 Tape measure

25. 13:49 Y-3 flyer

26. 14:20 White sugar

27. 14:23 Blue plastic (ice lolly mould)

28. 14:33 Carnelian stone

Ground Floor Red 2

1. 11:58 Masking tape sculpture

2. 12:25 Piece of plastic

3. 12:25 Battery

4. 12:25 Sweets

5. 12:26 Silica gel

6. 12:27 Small box

7. 13:53 Chest of drawers

8. 14:02 Rock

9. 14:11 Babies dummy

10. 15:27 Glass pane

11. 15:34 Plastic cup (crushed)

12. 15:34 Glass pane

13. 15:37 Plank of wood

14. 15:40 A screw

15. 15:52 Some blue tack

16. 15:53 Wiring

17. 15:53 A pin

18. 15:53 A tic-tac

19. 16:00 Fuse

21. 16:03 Paper on nail

22. 16:03 Paperclip signature

23. 16:06 Knife

1^st Floor Blue 3

1. 13:06 Card stand

2. 14:49 Postcard

3. 14:49 Postcard

4. 14:49 Postcard

5. 14:49 Postcard

6. 14:49 Postcard

7. 14:49 Postcard

8. 14:49 Postcard

9. 14:49 Postcard

10. 14:49 Postcard

11. 14:49 Postcard

12. 14:49 Postcard

13. 14:49 Postcard

14. 14:49 Postcard

15. 14:49 Postcard

16. 14:49 Postcard

17. 14:49 Postcard

18. 14:49 Postcard

19. 14:49 Postcard

20. 14:49 Postcard

21. 14:51 Green wine gum

22. 16:16 Coffee cup

23. 16:16 Coffee cup

24. 16:16 Coffee cup

25. 88:88 -

26. 88:88 -

27. 88:88 -

28. 88:88 -

29. 88:88 -

30. 88:88 -

2009-09-30T22:46:00.000+01:00

Max Prus

2009-09-30T14:44:00.001+01:00

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Mix together the tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and honey, then use to coat the art pieces. Lay the coated art in a single layer on a baking tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes until cooked and starting to blacken at the edges.

Claudia Nova

2009-09-30T14:43:00.003+01:00

Love is the best, most insidious, most effective instrument of social repression.”

- Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Fassbinder’s idea of the exploitative potential of love contradicts the romantic idealism we are commonly sold in films and love songs. This disparity is what inspires my artistic practice. Imagery from pop culture serves as a language in which to discuss the semiotics of love, lust and the power dynamics at play therein.

In this exhibition the discussion centres upon the 1930 song ‘Falling in Love Again’ by Friedrich Hollaender, and 2 of its most famous interpretations by Marlene Dietrich and Klaus Nomi.

Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt,
Denn das ist meine Welt – und sonst gar nichts. (German original)

Falling in love again, never wanted to,

What am I to do, can’t help it. (English version)

Tom Marshallsay

2009-09-30T14:38:00.003+01:00

I am interested in the interrogation of the notions of masculinity through the examination of certain Idol and Fetishes. I am concerned with the workings of the family and the role of icons such as Wrestlers and Religious figures

Recently I have been working with Video, by working in the media in which these figures are traditionally represented, the work can be seen to transcend these models and the role they play. I aim to explore these entities further and to represent them from a critical point of view but often with a sense of empathy.

Ross Little

2009-09-30T14:37:00.002+01:00

My recent work has been focusing on delusion and how this manifests itself in society. I am interested in the explanations and meanings given to life, and how people have come to these often absurd conclusions. I do not offer any obvious or alternative meanings to the many questions that come with these issues. Through the reworking and juxtaposing of absurd and surreal imagery with the everyday banality of life, I hope that my views on existence begin to become apparent, but never fixed.

“This life cannot be the excuse for the next”- Martin Kippenberger.

Hannes Hellstrom

2009-09-30T14:35:00.001+01:00

I am interested in the signs, spaces, messages and objects of consumer culture and its deep impact on our lives. I have also tried to deal with my own ambivalence towards what is on one hand a system that rewards us for our hard work by giving us material wealth, on the other an unstoppable force without meaning and conscience. Does personal freedom form its core or a never-ending loop of the same empty message?

The reoccurring signs and shapes in my work is an attempt to ad an element of commodity or brand image to my practice, defining the repetitiveness as something reassuring and something that gives you a feeling of “all is well” when the actual atmosphere is dark and in ways a vision of dystopia.

Josh Duncan

2009-09-30T14:33:00.003+01:00

"The victim tears fitfully at his clothing. A woman begins aimlessly slashing at things with her knife. A person runs half naked into the bitter friezing night, screaming out at the village, eating the shit of dogs. Eventually the person is calmed by others in the family, with great compassion, helped to sleep. Perlerorneq. Winter."

Arctic Dreams-Ice and Light-Barry Lopez

Sam Derounian

2009-09-30T14:30:00.001+01:00

Sam Derounian’s work is a formalist project for all its gestural qualities. As emotionally and psychologically loaded his work is, Derounian ultimately abstains from committing his works’ meaning to the trajectory which it initially seems to follow. This prolific abstinence from meaning is communicated largely through drawing, painting, and screen-printing processes. Derounian’s timeless narratives evoke feelings of unease and nostalgia, that are centered around the concept of mimesis or ‘re-remembering’, striving to be as whimsical as they are unsettling.

Floor plan of the space

2009-09-22T18:55:00.002+01:00

Portal 29th October

2009-09-21T23:56:00.004+01:00

Portal

A doorway, entrance, or gate, especially one that is large and imposing.
An entrance or a means of entrance: the local library, a portal of knowledge.
The portal vein.
A website considered as an entry point to other websites, often by being or providing access to a search engine.

Joe Stephens intentions for 'Space Within'

2009-09-21T23:51:00.001+01:00

For Space Within artist Joe Stevens intend to buy, find or take 23 discrete items from the ground floor, 30 items from the first floor and 28 items from the lower ground floor (of the triangle shopping centre) according to the sequence set out by a previous work in which he used a 3 colour system of confectionary to produce a minimal floor sculpture (Mento System, 2008). Following this logic Stevens will construct a new sculpture dependent upon the random variable of what is discovered within the triangle. The algorithm below shows the sequence of events:

floor > item > interpretation > intervention In total, 81 items bought, found or taken from the triangle will be used.

Addendum Video games are inherently utopian architectural constructs. This is because they are bound by the rules and systems of their creation. The utopianism derives from an inability to deviate from a predetermined structure. Whatever the rules say cannot occur, absolutely will not happen.

Robin Shepherd

2009-09-21T23:45:00.001+01:00

http://www.hannahbarry.com

Paul Allcock

2009-09-21T23:34:00.001+01:00

Artist Paul Allcock intends to explore his interests in use of found materials and utilizing everyday objects. For Space Within Allcock will exhibit an etching piece and a sculptural work exploring braille like binary forced into found bits of wood with oak and compressed charcoal.

http://www.paulallcock.org

Patrick O'sullivan

2009-09-21T14:51:00.002+01:00

The ability of the human mind to interpret/misinterpret and understand is the central focus of my work. My frequent reference of proverb, fable and superstition, provides myself with a platform for insight into general connotations surrounding such rudimentary images, of often natural basis. These images such as mountain scenes, plant growth or mud, to mention a few, are familiar to a viewer both visually and physically, making the relationship previously formed and the attachment having already occurred. By supplying a non specific, basic sculptural situation the viewer is encouraged to invent, suppose, exaggerate and attach profound meaning to the shape, image or sound that stands before them. I aim to create a point of interest for viewers to dwell upon freely, creating connection between the work itself and the unique experience of the viewer. This depth or focus is made possible only due to the space the piece is occupying, and the occasion of which it has been encountered. This I hope removes any need of exacting knowledge or of definitive understanding and instead replaces this with a greater emphasis upon individual emotion or instinctive acceptance.

I aim not to invent new and unfelt instincts but instead try to re-invent or aid the realisation of a previous sensation and create immunity to suppression. Supplying representational scenery from natural origins removes any sense of epic proportions, overwhelming feats, or unique marvel which may distract from other sensations, and instead is replaced by simple, primary human interpretation/misinterpretation

Few Questions for the Free For Arts organizers. Lois and Helen

2009-09-20T19:00:00.005+01:00

How has Manchester responded to your proposal of a free arts festival?

Resonably well, The companies/sponsors that have got involved are very enthusiastic and keen to support both us and Manchester, however there were some companies that didn't take to the idea at all. We found that people started to contact us once we had got the ball rolling, rather than the other way around which was very exciting. The artists were very responsive, and everyone is helping out as much as they can, and introducing new people all the time. Which is great.

Has it been inspiring working with unconventional exhibition spaces?

Yes, it's been great seeing how artists respond to the spaces, and seeing who can work where. We're really thankful to all the companies that have given their spaces for free, as they're all so varied and in some cases have inspired the work contained within them. We think its good to always question what a gallery is, and in the festival we are using the whole city as a gallery as our locations are sprawled across the city centre.

What events are you excited about?

All of them! We're excited about our own exhibition obviously, and there's the possibility of an unusual 'part b' to that (possible details to follow), also the performance events are something new to us and have been the most challenging. We were inspired to add the performance part to the 'Arts and Performance Festival' after seeing the Marina Abromovic Event at the Whitworth Art Gallery. Which was amazing. We're just excited to be working with so many people in so many different ways, and are looking forward to seeing all the varying artworks that will be taking place. It will be a busy week!

Prior to the beginning of the festival what elements would you consider reworking to improve the festival for next year?

Starting the planning earlier would be the first thing, as we didn't realise how many people wanted to be involved, and as a positive result of this next years festival will be much bigger!

In many ways do you feel that, as artists and curators, your general response to dealing with the organization of the festival and communicating with others is infact your own artwork rather than the polished aesthetics of the final festival events?

We feel that art is a lifestyle, something that you live and breathe. It's difficult to separate the different aspects of our art as we do all of them as one. I (Lois) feel that from working closely with Helen, the themes of my work have developed from spacial/movement ideas to environment, relationships and communication. Both of us feel that it would be difficult to work solely on projects, without having control of how they would be displayed and the process of making this happen. We're very involved with the ideas of space and feel its important to know the final exhibition space to develop the work.

What have you generally learnt from communicating and working with large amount of people?

That everyday is a new challenge, and it's fantastic. Everyone is so different and that's the magic of life.

http://www.wecurate.co.uk

The Art Guide

2009-09-15T01:23:00.003+01:00

Developing and supporting the market for contemporary visual arts in the North West

The Art Guide is a detailed listings site that provides access to up-to-date information about visual arts activity in the North West region. It includes details of art fairs, artist book launches, exhibition previews, open studio days, talks, conferences, and live art performances.

The main aim for The Art Guide is to develop and support the market for contemporary visual arts in the North West region. This will be achieved through marketing resources and joint activities that bring together the promoter and the audience or buyer. We aim to broaden audience knowledge for the support of contemporary living artists, and their work, through the provision of better information dissemination regarding opportunities to engage with artists, collectors, promoters and curators.

Jeff Coombs Projects has a profile on The Art Guide which will list all the exhibitions featured in the current series.

http://www.theartguide.co.uk/Profiles/?Profile=288

Visit http://www.theartguide.co.uk for information on a variety of art events that will coincide with The Jeff Coombs Projects Triangle Space.

Jeff Coombs Projects home page on free for arts festival website

2009-09-15T01:07:00.000+01:00

http://www.freeforartsfestival.co.uk/#/jeff-coombs-project/4535358527

Max Prus

2009-09-14T12:56:00.003+01:00

Max Prus will be one of the artists from Glasgow School of Art who will be featuring in Surrogate.

http://maxprus.com/

Invite for 'Space Within'

2009-09-10T16:45:00.002+01:00

Daniel Pickles

2009-09-10T07:30:00.003+01:00

Manchester based artists involved with 'Space within'

I am interested in how we as human beings choose to exist in the pursuit for happiness. my interest leads me to investigate the unknown feeling of faith and how this can drive people to push themselves behond the limitations of there own body.

I find a romance within the object (being found or otherwise) in the reflections of events, the histories the object carries and how they effect our condition.

Escapism I belive to be the souls means of survival as I take influence from poetry, literature, the bible, film and music to formulate the suject matter within the work I produce. I also have an interest in the way we perceive language in comparison to the image.

Andrew Brown

2009-09-10T07:20:00.006+01:00

Images by Manchester based artists Andrew Brown who will be exhibiting in 'Space Within'

By examining the sub-cultural mythologies surrounding things from science fiction to rock music I hope to expand upon it's knowledge hierarchy. I hope that by revealing the flow of information within such systems of self-governed snobbery it can become accessible to a general audience. Through linking these factions of information control and dissemination I feel all sub-cultures can be viewed as fictive, they are connected to form a culture as large as the 'mainstream', as is quite easily seen at any time. Pop music no longer exists and is labelled as being in an 'independent' style which is wholly senseless, these paradoxes of culture are what I am interested in exploring. The internet has created a worldwide sub-culture which can be accessed by anyone, making it larger than could be possible without such a ready supply of information and entry points. Some information can only be received with a prior knowledge of the subject, one signifier can trigger association until a valid view is presented of a work, when working with such material personal views cannot be validated, it is based firmly in given information.
Be it through a 'sculptural' object to a magazine there will be entry points, but they will function as only that, they cannot be viewed as whole without the cross-referencing of ideas and even the germination of knowledge on such subjects that could be alien to a viewer. Some works may never become wholly accessible, this may be because of the sprouting of given information into new webs of associated interest and these new links cannot be fully explored within the parameter of one idea, theoretically a work may be completed a year later in another work, this is the way in which I aim to present information, uncluttered yet undecipherable until more knowledge can be gained, no matter when this new flow of information may be.

Visit for more information on the events involved

2009-09-10T07:04:00.002+01:00

http://www.freeforartsfestival.co.uk

History of the Triangle

2009-09-10T07:01:00.000+01:00

STEP BACK IN TIME AT TRIANGLE
WITH THE LAUNCH OF A HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

FROM 29 June 2009, take a trip back to 1837 and experience the historical Grade II listed building over different decades before it became one of Manchester’s biggest fashion hubs.

Triangle Shopping Centre, in Exchange Square, will be paying tribute to the building’s history and celebrating 172 years of trading by installing a permanent photography exhibition in unit 22a on the Ground Floor for Manchester’s history aficionados to enjoy.

Local architects, Manchester Library and various private collections have supplied the photography.

The present building is one of Manchester’s finest iconic structures and stands on the site of an earlier structure built in 1837 trading from Hanging Ditch. This was replaced in 1897 by the current building, which opened for business in 1903 as 'The Corn Exchange', which was eventually renamed ‘The Corn, Grocery and Produce Exchange’ as the use of the building changed.

In its heyday, ‘The Corn Exchange’, was the gathering spot for thousands of traders from all over the region and an epicentre for trade in Manchester and the North West, this continued until the economic depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

Following the Second World War, trade gradually declined and the trading floor fell into disuse. The building, was used briefly by The Royal Exchange Theatre Company from 1976 and it also served as a filming location for Granada Television's 'Brideshead Revisited'.

From this period until 1996 it became a gathering place for alternative communities and contained a large market with small stallholders selling clothes, jewellery and second hand record shops. Many of the shops were temporary structures on the trading floor of the exchange, with other shops operated from permanent units and offices around the perimeter.

After the devastation of the 1996 IRA bomb The Corn Exchange was renovated, rebuilt and reopened in the year 2000 as Triangle Shopping Centre (because of its shape). The stunning Edwardian ceiling is to this day one of Manchester’s finest examples of early 19th Century architecture and it is now home to a range of restaurants, boutique and high street stores.

The exhibition focuses on five significant periods in Triangle’s history; The Old Corn Exchange (1837-1897), The Corn, Grocery and Produce Exchange (1903-1996), The Manchester IRA Bombing (1996), The Rebuild (1996-2000) and The Emergence of Triangle (2000-Present).

The Francis House trust will benefit from contributions made at the exhibition, and all of the periods showcased in the retrospective will include informative text, quotations and historical images.

Theo Turpin

2009-09-04T14:48:00.003+01:00

“Where Marble Stood and Fell Into an Eternal Landscape,I Stand Ephemeral”

Gregory Corso

Theo Turplin intends to exhibit an unrealised proposal of a monumental sculpture to be situated in the centre of the Triangle Shopping Centre, Manchester. The aim of the sculpture is to re-define both the architectural experience of navigating the space, and therefore affect the recreational experience of visiting the shopping centre. The sculpture itself will deal with ideas of time and adaptation, the ability of a place to change to purpose. It is this ability to renew, that I want to not only display, but add to and be a part of with this sculpture, a monument to the changing history and unknown future.

The installation of the sculpture would signal a new stage in the life of this former corn exchange. The addition of a large-scale public sculpture would offer a new possible direction for the center, developing a new and individual identity with which it could progress into a more autonomous existence as opposed to the homogenized retail environment that so epitomized the time of its inception.

The sculpture will play with the different viewing points of the space, emphasizing the elements of verticality with the abundant natural light that is present in the space due to its large domed glass ceiling. The sculpture proposed will deal with ideas of ascension and dissension, highlighting a point of balance between the two.

Craig Barnes

2009-09-02T12:25:00.008+01:00

Craig Barnes methods of practice respond to the artifice & idiocy, glory and magnificence of modern living. Whilst it takes heed of tradition, art history and critical theory, it is occasionally belligerent and contrary, but it is never intended to be nostalgic. Digger employs an arsenal of seemingly redundant modern objects and disposable ephemera, using them to test notions of object fetishisation. His aim in doing so to open up a space for new consideration of formal sculptural qualities now sometimes themselves deemed redundant in an age when cultural experience becomes increasingly conceptual, momentary and two dimensional.

For Space Within Digger intends to exhibit a flat pack kit building, the specific purpose of which will be determined upon arrival, as well as creating a piece that will literally scratch the surface of the former Karen Millen store in which the exhibition will take place.

Manchester Free for Arts Festival

2009-08-27T13:20:00.009+01:00

Space within is apart of the Manchester Free for Arts Festival. The Private view on October 2nd will be one of many exhibition opening happening on the same night around Manchester.

October 2^nd – October 9^th 2009.

The Free For Arts Festival is a not-for-profit celebration of art and performance. Manchester will play host to a weeklong series of events fuelled by the varying ideas of local artists and performers united by their desire to provide inventive and unique experiences for the public “on the house”.
The work will range from contemporary art exhibitions located in diverse city centre spaces to innovatively presented interactive events and one-off performances taking place each evening.
Free For Arts. Free For All.

hello@freeforartsfestival.co.uk

Website coming very soon

Joe Stevens

2009-08-26T19:12:00.004+01:00

I use the grid to provide structure to my life and art and to provide freedom from sensory overload. Placing certain restrictions means it is easier to focus on what is relevant and important to me as an artist and as a person. The main concerns in my activities as an artist are media technologies, art history and the performativity of algorithms; the notion of software and interactivity; how software is linked to marketing, branding and consuming; the relationship between the inside and the outside, the code and the environment, the biological and the technological and the role of the artist in the context of media art. Through research-led practice I use the grid as a methodological tool in order to demonstrate how the grid is not a work in itself, but a means of creating it. If the grid is a starting point for study, must it follow that nothing before the grid has any relevance? The grid exists by and for itself, with the ontological assertion that its structure is without precedent, extending in all directions, to infinity and beyond. My focus therefore regards the question: How can the grid function as a methodology for artistic practice?

The idea of the grid acts as a framework that underpins all of the work that I do be it sculpture, performance or painting. I believe that an artist can forgo specificity of form and instead opt for a diverse range of output that is concretized not through media but through a consistent theory that eschews any kind of hierarchy or bias. That way, the work and the ideas behind them hold equal emphasis. Integral to this approach is an openness of thought and action, the realization that what is made is not derived from the self, but from truth. The work is not centrally governed by an omnipotent artiste, rather by an external order that is noticed and thus acknowledged. This is the role that I choose to adopt. I will follow it until such order can be disrupted and overcome.

Before, I have made sculptures out of candy whose appearance was derived from the algorithm, or set of instructions, contained within each packet. The colours of each individual piece of candy were translated into directions and the candy then placed directly onto the floor in geometric patterns. The results were subsequently translated once more into actions. Later, I translated the same pattern into strips of coloured tape.

Space Within: Artists

2009-08-24T18:16:00.004+01:00

SPACE WITHIN
Andrew Brown I Craig Barnes I Daniel Pickles I Joe Stevens I Paul Allcock I Patrick O’Sullivan I Robin Shepheard I Theo Turplin

Private View: 02.10.09

Exhibition: 01.10.09-08.10.09

Opening Hours: 12-6pm

Address: Karen Millen unit, Triangle Shopping Centre, Exchange Square Manchester M4 3TR

jottaContemporary in collaboration with Jeff Coombs Projects and Manchester metropolitan University present Space Within an exhibition that exists within the interior space of a vacant shop in Triangle Shopping Centre, Manchester.
The exhibition is aimed at exploring the relationship between object and the space in which it occupies. Site-specific artworks created with materials sourced form the local areas transform the space with both sculptural and analog methods of practice challenging a sense of passing idealism that modern architecture now exemplifies. Artworks engage with and appropriate the architectural setting and refer to materials, both visible and invisible, found in the everyday space.

jottaCONTEMPORARY identifies young and emerging artists who utilise varying discourses and disciplines. By creating an online profile of artwork on jotta.com artists are given a platform for their work to be viewed, discussed and interacted with; encouraging artists to explore diverse projects and new approaches to exhibiting. jottaContemporary selects artists from within the jotta community, as well as showcasing artists who are still studying, recently graduated and working with young collectives all over London.

Space Within

2009-08-24T15:55:00.001+01:00

Jeff Coombs projects are currently working in collaboration with jottaContemporary. jotta is an online and offline community for art design and communication founded in partnership with the University of the Arts. JCP and jotta are both very interested in creating a strong communication between the London and Manchester art scene. 'Space within' will hopefully be the first of many exchange exhibitions happening between jottaContemporary artists and artists currently studying at MMU or working within Manchester.

Please visit:

www.jotta.com

Images of the space

2009-08-24T15:43:00.000+01:00

Jeff Coombs Projects: The Triangle

2009-08-24T15:36:00.001+01:00

Artists are invited to take part in creating site specific works which also relate to their current practice. Jeff encourages artists to work together on projects to create a new found aesthetic and understanding of their own work.

The current location for the Jeff Coombs Projects is within the old Karen Millen unit, at the Traingle shopping centre, Exchange square. The space will be in action from the 25th of September for 6 weeks. The first Private view will be held on Friday 2nd October.

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