Year One

History means different things for different people. I started work for b arts on the first day of their twenty-fifth year, so I'm finding out what it was the company did in the past, as well as experiencing what it does now and trying to help us all get to where we're going next. Myself and Ben had a fun half-hour today setting up live webchat stuff. We are, appropriately enough, going to try and have a meeting over the web on Friday with him in London, me in Birmingham and Hilary, Susan and Rebecca in Newcastle.

Off down reminiscence alley

I've been watching Glasto 09.... and trying to piece together some history.
OK, in 1971, Steve and Hilary went to Glastonbury, by hitching and eventually a bus!, and I remember seeing David Bowie, Fairport Convention and Melanie, and getting sunburnt.....
Next time - Beavers and The Mrs in 1987...and my diary the day before it says, "go and collect the minibus, well buy the minibus that came to be known as 'Felton Eccles' after the name of the village that the rugby team (previous owners)....and was this the time, we were stewards in the acoustic tent , as the Brides, for Billy Bragg?
But we certainly saw Van Morrison... and doing a little research tells me that The Woodentops were there! wow! that means Benny Staples( Lynnes partner) how wierd...he gets in the B arts story a little later.
And again in 1989, this time, Susan, Jez, Lynne, Gill - doing what we called 'streetwork' in my diary, but I know was - A to Z, The Mrs, and The Screaming Barbaras...... who did you see? And what was I doing? a conference in York called 'Articulate Fabric'.
Did we go any other times.... and when did we go to the Childrens Festival that Arabella Churchill organised?

Being Amb:IT:ious

Here we are TW and BMC at the East Midlands roadshow for Art organisations in the digital age.
Check out hideandseek and look at some public space gaming.
(excuse the inverted image. How to flip a digital image is this afternoon)

All change at the Barracks

Today, I uncovered a whole host of my artwork, some going back to the early 70's - spots - way ahead of Damien.....and in the spirit of randomness the year is 2003, I am in London at the On Route Carnival conference, and find out that my friends from Sovanna Phum ( Cambodian shadow puppet company) are performing at Battersea arts centre, so Steve and I go over there to see them.....19th get back to Newcastle and go straight to singing gig with Loudmouth women in Adderley Church, next day Refugee Party since it's Refugee week after launching our CD "Fais Do Do" for Shelton/Cobridge SureStart - busy week next week a Connecting Communities application...times don't change much, except this year we are not doing anything for Refugee Week...tomorrow back to sorting, tidying and throwing away.

All in the name of research.

Well here we are, after a great day at Heathfield school we are busy continuing the research.
Inbetween the final edits for another project I found the time to get my hands deep in corn flour and in doing so roped in Nic and Cujo.

Two weeks.

Well we are coming to the close of our second week of our 25th year.
Here are some snippets:

• New office.
• Two new members of staff.
• Lots of thinking.
• Future focused.
  
• Two Cadbury chocolate eclairs (75 kcals).
• Reflection.
• Random post-its.
• Departure of fridge.
  

meditation on a post-it

OK so I moved office
and don't get me wrong it's lovely in here- good company, nice light, there's somewhere to sit that isn't at my desk and there's a through put of people thought not so many that I can't work. I think I don't know what to do. Now I'm effectively letting go of stuff I've been doing- or probably more accurately not doing but holding onto- it just leaves me with a challenge, an edge to peer over.

What is it that I do? And what should I be doing?

Of course I have a list of tasks on my desk but they range from complete the annual submission (a monumental beaurocratic task) through emails to send, to make up show. I am just procrastinating surely....and then

I bought these post-its last night (£1 in Tesco's- Yes, it is the seventh circle of hell) and I'm looking at them thinking- what on earth did I buy them for?

They are pretty who can resist carnival coloured stripes?
The point was I justified the purchase with "I'll need those for work"

but that's not what I need for work- or even to work.

As someone said yesterday- do we sit at desks to tell ourselves, and other people, we are working when actually we should/ could be doing a load of different activities that would be more productive instead, and what prevents us from doing them is that they don't look like work.

They look like sitting on sofas, going for walks, cleaning out the fridge, digging the garden.

I have to give myself permission now to take those post-its (or not), or anything else I need, or don't need and go and do some active and productive thinking because that is actually what the company needs me to be doing.

The annual submission can wait.

Views form an office window.

Today I have been mostly sending emails and contacting contacts.
Being an artist the temptation to look out of the window and dream is always there.
This is one reason why my new desk is facing a red expanse.
Today, up till now I have resisted the translucent temptation, then I looked.
Wow, its a bright day.
I took the following picture and it made me think of an idea first conceived in Scotland by Hilary and myself.
The idea was to take a picture everyday at the same time each day. It would act as a visual diary of where we were and what we were doing.
As I recall it was going to be called '3' or '3 o'clock' How would have thought that only three years later there are things called blogs and twitter or 12seconds tv that do just that?
Whats next then Hilary?

opening a diary at random...1996

I picked out from the pile of diaries sitting on my floor....a diary for 1996.... June 10th to 14th.... what were we doing?

Well, we were doing workshops connected to our schools project 'Respect' a show that investigated bullying and challenging behaviour, and had a radical approach in that it involved the whole school, parent, governors, children, teaching staff, lollipop ladies, dinner ladies, classroom assistants, everybody...they all watched a show and took part in a workshop afterwards.

At the end of the week, Hilary & Jez were off to Flash in the Staffordshire Moorlands to create a procession for the Teapot Club, I will try and find some photos and add them.....and while we doing this Gill was making an application to a Awards for All, I wonder what for?

We had some meetings about Romania & Mostar... probably planning for the summer, and we threw in a days workshop at Edge Hill College working for Wendy, I seem to remember doing some sort of outdoor landscape art thing!

A quote.

Today in the media room (pronounced mee-Ja) looking at all the kit in various boxes and thinking about all new kit we have in more colourfull boxes.
I had a quote pop into my head.

"They say I'm old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast"
The Lorax
Dr Seuss 1972

last day at this desk

So in the spirit of "insight comes with change"
Ben, Deb (who starts work with us on Monday) and I will be sharing the 19 office as of Monday- ish. Once we get the stuff all shifted round. So, to help make me believe I am going to be working differently I am off to a new desk...goodbye old view and light patterns and hello new walls and windows and ways of being.

part of me

Susan was talking about bringing all of yourself to work.....so here is some of me, one of the things that restores my soul.

Something new for me

Stepping into the world of many an acronym starting with NOCN... thinking about how the Children's Centre sessions can link in with this. Pleasantly surprised at the multitude of courses available.

swings roundabouts and where the ideas come from

So we got turned down today ..
It's the danger always of going into a competitive process- The Apprentice- "thank you for the opportunity Suralan".
The headline on our proposal was that it was not innovative enough
Hmm. That's interesting isn't it- we feel innovative
Not like we're treading water artistically
I think. It's not a question I ask myself when I have an idea for a project
Is that a new idea? Does it push back frontiers? Does it raise the bar?

So that makes me think - should we get out and look at other arts stuff more?
Gill would pay a lot of attention to now- the news, the web, early evening TV, what people talk about, write and think about now and what was happening in her life and the work was a rooted response to all that was around her. Question what is around us. Challenge the received wisdom. Push and shove.
I'm learning, maybe. Not enough pushing.
I need thinking time and space.
Less desk more research station.

The sounds of a school

Water.
Laughter.
Gates.
Lifts.
Singing.
Pirates.
HUNG drumming.
Pedal bikes.
Rebecca laughing.

20 years ago today (ish)

Well this week in 1989.........
.June the 1st B arts moved to our first premises in the Barracks, No 9, and in B arts style followed by Gill and Hilary going to Torino to see Fay, where we met the people (L'Arvicola) that would become B arts partners in youth exchanges for the next 15 years or so.
I can see from my diary that we actually moved in on the 7 June, that Susan came back (from London on the 5th) we started cleaning, getting the phone number ( 717326 which we still have) and decorating, and moving 'stuff' from Susans room ( the office) I remember that it was hot....
....and that on our way back from Torino on the train Gill got hold of a newspaper (French) and slowly unpicked the events that were happening in Tianamen Square, we wondered what that would mean for the world, would China change?
And still today on Radio 4 they are discussing the fact that nobody really knows what happened.

Technology.

What did we ever do before an interactive MIDI software system developed by The Soundbeam Project / EMS in which movement within an invisible ultra sonic beam is used to control multimedia software to create sonic sound scapes?

Wish I could tell you but its PC only and Im Apple to the core.

I will find a way.

Today is all about meetings and getting the technology to work!
Reboot reboot reboot

Here we go

We're off

into the twenty fifth year we've been working as a company- and like any other birthday it doesn't feel any different- so far.

However today we welcome a new member of the team- Trevelyan will be starting with us , so we're looking forward to what the day brings. Lots of new beginnings I guess and the trick will be to make them relevant beginnings that have roots and so can grow into something beautiful and useful.

Clinton should be coming by to take pictures of whatever he can find so I'm excited to see them later.


Today the weather is glorious sunshine and see above a picture of where I'm working today

Some facts about 25!

“Under 25″ provides a common cut-off point for designating youth.

25 is the name of the national card game of Ireland

The minimum age of candidates for election to the United States House of Representatives is 25

25 years of marriage designates a silver wedding anniversary.

The atomic number of manganese is 25.

25 is a square number, being 5² = 25

Christmas is on the 25th of December

William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States

25 is the number of days approximately that takes the sun to do a complete rotation on itself.

Year 25 BC was a leap year

Pony (British slang for £25)

Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle at 25 miles per hour.