Excess All Areas - a new art exhibition celebrating our city's musical heritage

We've been hinting at it for many months now, but we are finally ready to announce our partnership with Back to Basics and Leeds Gallery, towards an exhibition of original art that opens next Friday, 17 February 2012.

The exhibition, which has been possible thanks to support from Marketing Leeds, draws together a collection of the iconic images used to promote just some of more than one thousand parties thrown by legendary Leeds club night Back to Basics, since it opened its doors 20 years ago. Each image was created by the club’s promoter, resident artist and “purveyor of good times”, Dave Beer, as part of an ongoing collaboration with designer Nic Gundill - a partnership that has lasted two decades.

 

It also includes a new sound sculpture by the artist Paul Fryer (a sort of portrait of Dave Beer), which has been created especially for the exhibition. Paul is London based but lived in Leeds until 1996. After dropping out of his course at Leeds College of Art in the 1980's Paul was instrumental in creating the widely acclaimed Art-based clubs The Kit Cat Club and Vague (see Lee's earlier post). On returning to London he established his career as an artist, and has worked alongside the likes of Damien Hirst, and with international fashion brands like Fendi.

 

From the very beginning Dave (who, like Fryer, started out at Art college) approached the flyers as a form of free art for the masses - embodying the club’s punk roots - to be shared on the bedroom walls of a generation of club kids. They also embody Dave’s deep passion for and appreciation of contemporary art but - whilst many lines could be traced between this work and that of other acts of appropriation in art (“practicing without a license” as Richard Prince once put it) - in reality, these flyers carve out their own aesthetic space. They represent instinctive acts, specific to both the sub-culture that surrounds them and to the individual who realised them. They capture a point in the club’s story and offer us a lens through which to explore our shared cultural and social history.

HISTORY

Basics, as it is known by regulars to the club, was started in 1991 by a group of friends seeking an antidote to the whistle blowing, white glove wearing rave culture that saw in the nineties. Following the birth of the Acid House scene in the late 80’s, a new dance music sub-culture emerged. It was forged on the dancefloors of clubs like the Hacienda in Manchester, and in the consciousness of a generation of revellers still reeling from the effects of successive Conservative governments, and affected by the black-clad ‘yuppie’ culture of the times. This was the period just after Thatcher and just before John Major’s fortuitously named Back to Basics campaign, and the introduction of a Criminal Justice and Public Order Act that focussed the authorities on a culture it characterised by the emission of “repetitive beats”. For many young people, it was a time that demanded reaction, the A6 flyer would be their platform of choice and the infamously anarchistic club at the centre of this exhibition would be one of the strongest voices.    

In Dave’s own words:

“It was a case of either go out and kick the fuck out of something, or channel our energy into something constructive. Although I chose a career in the music industry, there was a time when I seriously considered a different path, in art. I was inspired by the work of Jamie Reid (an artist I came to know personally, and who designed our 1st birthday flyer - making him the only other person to design a Basics flyer) and I was excited by the possibilities of plagiarising other peoples’ work, taking existing and often already iconic images and overlaying them with my ideas to make a statement about the world outside.

I’ve always approached each flyer as a piece of art, prioritising the image and its message over the actual information about the night it was supposed to be promoting. I spent so much time refining the flyers, many were delivered late; so late in fact that the party had often already happened by the time the flyer went to print?!

I look around at street culture today, at the work of artists like Banksy, and see a real connection between what we were doing then and what they are doing today. It’s crazy to think that there is so much of that work happening now, and not just on the streets - on greeting cards and t-shirts - it’s totally part of the mainstream, and yet back then we were the only ones doing it.” 

Dave first met Alistair Cooke at Art college in Wakefield, where the pair studied fine art, although their vision for Basics was forged years later. Dave dropped out of college to work as a road manager for the Sisters of Mercy and Pop Will Eat Itself. Ali graduated and found himself working in a record shop; it seemed music was a chosen destination for the pair. Their plans for the club came together when they reconnected at a warehouse party and, disillusioned by tone and colour of the Acid House scene, decided to go ‘back to basics’. Along with Ralph Lawson and Martin Lever, the club’s first resident DJ’s (although Martin could only hack two weeks), they opened their club on 26 November 1991 in the Music Factory; “a seedy three storey gay club” on Lower Briggate, over looking the very bridge that gave the city its industrial heart beat. It seems fitting that this should be the inaugural venue for Back to Basics, a club whose impact has been part of the cultural and economic renaissance that led Leeds into the 21st century. It is widely accepted, for example, that Back to Basics and the nightlife culture it spawned has been a catalyst for a growing student population. It is also a fact that the club’s “no trainers” policy was the driving force behind one of the most successful fashion brands to come out of Leeds, Nicholas Deakins; just one example of how the club’s dress code changed fashion and retail at the time. The cultural and economic impact of Back to Basics on this city, and on our culture in general - the likes of Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk are among those to have played their UK debut and found their feet in Basics - can not be underestimated.

Twenty years later Back to Basics remains a pioneer and has retained its rock and roll ethos. Against all the odds, for a club that deliberately turned its back on the commercial world of the club “brand”, Back to Basics has turned 20 and is now the longest running club night of its kind, anywhere in the world. Sadly, some beloved friends have not managed the whole journey, most notably Ali Cooke and Jocelyn Higgin who lost their lives in a tragic car accident in 1993, an accident from which Dave and a former girlfriend, Jill Morris, had miraculously walked away. It is to Ali, Jocelyn and the others that this exhibition is dedicated, as well as to the family of resident DJ’s and committed (and still discerning) clubbers who continue to help Back to Basics go “two steps further than any other fucker!”

 

Whilst some of the images have been displayed in a gallery context before, most notably at the Barbican Centre and Ultra Lounge at Selfridges & Co in London, this is the first time an exhibition dedicated to the artwork of Back to Basics has been shown. For some they will inspire shock and even disgust. For others they will inspire nostalgia and knowing laughter. As long as they inspire something it will have been worth the incredible and often challenging journey we have been through to make this exhibition possible; whoever thought that floppy disks and zip drives would last forever was sadly wrong. Thankfully we were working with Dave, a man whose “fuck forever!” mentality has earned him a place in the dance music Hall of Fame, and somehow we’ve delivered – we hope that you will come and have a look, and we hope that you will enjoy!

Visit www.leedsgallery.com for more information, and for a full catalogue of the works on display.

I'll leave you with one of my favourite quotes from the exhibition walls that I think sums up the ethos of Basics and this exhibition:

“There’s people who make things happen. 

There’s people who watch things happen.

There’s people who say what happened.

What happened?”

Dave Beer, 1996

Hebe has left the building… a BIG move for 2012!

Happy New Year - 2012 is here, it's going to be huge and it starts with a big move for Hebe Media.

The team at Hebe have all had a break, with two heading off to sail the high seas of the Caribbean and another doing some serious quality control on Cancun's Tequila. I was left here to hibernate (cue violins) with the help of a bottle of Hendricks, and to keep any eye on things between drinks.

The break for Christmas came at a pretty critical time in our development as Hebe Media. We've spent the last year laying the foundations for a number of initiatives and relationships that we always saw coming to fruition early on in 2012. Our predictions were right, and we look forward to making a series of announcements on the blog, throughout January and February, starting today.

Hebe Media has never really had a home (okay, you can put the violins away now!) The team has lived and worked all over the UK, as well as internationally. We've tended to work remotely using technology to communicate and share, and then coming together at key moments to make things happen. One of the upsides to this way of working is that it facilitates free movement of people and ideas ('work is an activity, not a destination'), and for us this has meant we've been able to collaborate with loads of interesting people and brands, in all-places. The downside to working remotely, though, is that the social side of things can fall-short (remote working can be remote). When you only see one another when activity demands it, it can be hard to foster the kinds of cultures and behaviours we have always wanted for the Hebe family; 'family' being the operative word. 

When, in 2010, we found ourselves in the same city at the same time, for the first time since we started the company in 2003, Lee and I decided that we should take an office and we found an out-of-town space in Tadcaster. Our first office at Commer House was very good to us. However, as we grew through 2010/11 - developing more and more relationships and opportunities in Leeds city centre - we found ourselves visiting the office less and less, and reverting to our remote working way of life. It wasn't just our location, though, that had an impact on the time we spent in the office. From the very early days of being in Tadcaster, we'd started to talk about what our dream work space would be like, running a series of idea generation workshops to map out the blue-print for the ideal Hebe Media headquarters. Inevitably, it had everything that we didn't have in Tadcaster (it was a large open space that could be reorganised for different purposes; it had a photo studio; it was shared with a wide range of creative people and businesses; it had a social space so it could be used to throw parties but also had quiet spaces where you could focus on work at key times... and so on.) From very early on the blueprint was of a multi-purpose, studio environment shared with likeminded creative people. It would be a place where collaboration took place as a matter of course, and where 'the collective' made a support system and shared infrastructure possible and practical. 

Informed by our work with Hyper Island and our own experiences attending and working with art and design schools, as well as an ongoing conversation with Imran Ali and Leeds City Council, we began to wonder whether such a space might also have an educational function and become a catalyst for innovation and action, in and for the City - what would happen if you pulled a groups of incredibly bright and brilliant creative people into a space like this, and then challenged them to think differently about a wide range of creative problems. So, we began to modify the blueprint, moving away from a studio / workspace and towards the idea of a 'deisgn institute'. I will drop a marker in the sand at this point, because an announcement about the development of that institute will be made on the blog in the not-too-distant future. 

Midway through 2011, Lee was introduced to Laura Wellington and James Abbott-Donnelly, the duo behind the recently opened Duke Studios. When Lee reported back to the team about the plans for Duke Studios it was immediately apparent to everyone here that it matched (okay, it won't have a 1980's arcade or catwalk, but you can't have everything!), and went beyond what we had begun to map out when thinking about our ideal home. To boot, Duke Studios was in Munro House, a building whose doors we found ourselves passing though with some frequency during the latter half of 2011 to meet friends, plan projects and participate in events.

In October 2011, following a period of correspondence with Laura and James about the fit between Duke Studios, Hebe Media and other residents who'd been considered and made it through the application process, we received an invitation to take up residence in one of the large studio spaces in Duke Studios. 

Our studio, midway through construction. Image by Laura Wellington's iPhone

We'll be moving into Duke Studios on 12th January 2012. We've already had the pleasure of meeting some of our new neighbours (full details here) and look forward to meeting more in the coming weeks and months - the scope for collaboration with those we've met is already clear. The video at the top of this post was circulated by Duke Studios in December, as a way to introduce the first five settlers. It also gives you an idea of the Duke environment. For the full tour, though, drop by and say hello!

For Hebe Media, 2012 is set to be a defining year. It begins with a big move into a huge new home. Huge in terms of size, but also in terms of its potential... nine days and counting!

All Points North

We hit Newcastle Upon Tyne last week to check in with the Turning Point Network team. Whilst there we took some time out to interview Julia Bell about All Points North, a project that bring together arts organisations across the North of England to profile some extraodrinary events happening throughout the autumn.

The video of the interview is above, and a copy of the official Press Release for All Points North is below:

This Autumn, the stars align in the contemporary art world of the North of England to produce a unique set of national and international exhibitions and events that present the whole spectrum of contemporary art practice, that tells the full story of artists’ careers from ‘emerging’ to ‘making it’ and ‘arriving’.

All Points North (APN) is an initiative set up to profile the strength of contemporary art events and festivals happening in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber regions this Autumn, alongside promoting the major contemporary art venues that surround them.

APN is centred around six satellite festivals, exhibitions and prizes, highlighting the different stages in an artist’s working life and the internationalism and experimentalism shown by contemporary artists working today.

The progression of an artist’s career from graduation to ‘making it’ is explored via Bloomberg New Contemporaries which offers emerging artists a platform to be thrust into the art scene and the Northern Art Prize which profiles artists based in the North at all career stages. In addition, the Turner Prize 2011 will be presented at BALTIC in association with Tate – the first time this prestigious award will take place beyond Tate.

In contrast to these, the Abandon Normal Devices festival (AND) focuses on how contemporary artists, new, emerging and established are working experimentally across new media whilst the International Print Biennale is the UK’s only event dedicated to contemporary printmaking. Asia Triennial Manchester 11 (ATM11) is a showcase of current contemporary art from Asia and the UK and a partner of The Manchester Weekender 2011 which completes the APN event line-up, revealing the international aspect of contemporary art practice today.

Alongside the events, APN brings to the fore some of the UK’s leading art institutions that are based in the North. These include BALTIC, mima Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, The Hepworth Wakefield, Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth Art Gallery, Site Gallery, Tate Liverpool and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, spaces that consistently show innovative programmes of contemporary art.

With this spectrum of high profile national and international events and exhibitions, prizes, festivals and world-class contemporary art venues, APN alerts audiences to the excellence of the contemporary art offer in the North this Autumn, all of which are in feasible travelling distance of one another.

The All Points North website developed by Axis (axisweb.org) will be launched alongside the project, providing detailed information on all events and venues involved in the project.

For more information please visit www.allpointsnorth.info

Checking in with Hyper Island Manchester

Hyper Island has launched a new, postgraduate level program at the school we helped them to launch in Manchester. Subject to validation in December, Interactive Media Management will be Hyper Island's first MA award and will be accredited by the award winning Teesside University. It builds on the immense success of the NESTA funded pilot, which saw students working on real briefs for the likes of Coke, Google, Sony Games, Oxfam, Nokia and Sky.

We checked in with David McCall, Director of the UK school and interviewed him for the Hyper Island blog, captured in the above video. In it, David reflects on the highlights of the journey so far including the day that Hyper Island students presented their work to the global Head of Creative Excellence for Coke; and talks about plans for the new Interactive Media Management MA.

For those interested in learning more about Hyper Island, there is a great article in Contagious Magazine about their recent weekend Master Class with LBi.

For anyone interested in Interactive Media Management application are due to close on 30 November 2011, but you need to get you skates on as the sort-after places are filling up. If you are not sure if Hyper Island is for you, here are two further videos to give you a sense of the journey:

Calling all film makers - the 2.8 Days Later film challenge is on!

Poster by Jay Cover (www.jaycover.co.uk) of Nous Vous (www.nousvous.eu)

Every single member of the Hebe team is mad about the movies. Our combined film collection makes for an impressive library, ranging from blockbuster classics, to obscure indies, to world cinema... mostly Chinese and Spanish, we have to admit. We're all in some kind of film rental club, and besides me (nearly Christmas - hint, hint) everyone has an unlimited cinema card. We're as close to being film geeks as it's possible to get without feeling compelled to sit in the cinema reciting lines in harmony with the actors.

So, imagine our delight when the team at Trinity Leeds revealed to us that one of the coolest boutique cinema brand in the UK, Everyman, intends to open its first out-of-London venue in the heart of the scheme; and, in order to introduce Everyman to the people of Leeds they wanted us to dream up a project to support grassroots, independent film making in the city. Our gut instinct was to call Matt Maude at Left Eye Blind to see whether we could work together, and the 2.8 Days Later film challenge is the outcome:

So, it’s lights, camera and action for this new project, which challenges aspiring filmmakers to write, shoot and finish a film in less than three days. Registration for 2.8 Days Later opened this week and the main event will take place in Leeds on 18th, 19th and 20th November 2011.

Over the course of three days as many as 150 people, working in small teams, will take up the challenge working from Left Eye Blind’s base in Holbeck, Leeds. Industry professionals will lead workshops covering different aspects of the filmmaking process, and will mentor participants as they create a brand new short film.

“This is adrenaline filmmaking at its best”, says Matt Maude of Left Eye Blind, himself one of twelve finalists in this year’s Virgin Media Shorts competition. “We piloted the project back in June 2011 with brilliant results, we even had filmmakers taking part in the US and Germany. This time we are focusing our efforts on supporting Northern talent in and around Leeds. It’s great to be working with Trinity Leeds and Everyman Cinema, both of whom we see playing a vital role in the future of film in Leeds and the surrounding area. It’s no secret that the future of funding for British film is uncertain at the moment and this is a great example of how private business can support and is supporting grassroots independent filmmaking.”

Film will share centre stage in the Trinity Leeds scheme, which will be home to Everyman Cinema’s first venue outside London. Everyman’s chain of boutique cinemas is widely known for screening independent film and world cinema, alongside major releases.

“Leeds is the birthplace of film and this project is all about tracking down today’s undiscovered talent” says Claire Reynolds, Marketing Manager for Land Securities, the developers of the Trinity Leeds scheme. “We hope to find people who have the potential to rock the future of British film and want to help them reach the big screen. We’re proud to be working with Left Eye Blind and look forward to viewing all the final cuts.”

All the 2.8 Days Later films will be entered into a new Trinity Leeds film prize. Three awards are up for grabs and the public, the media and a panel of industry experts will pick the winners. The awards winners will each receive a prize ranging from free cinema passes, to support towards a further film, to the opportunity to showcase their entry at an Everyman venue in London – as a trailer at the start of a major movie! The winners will be announced at a special, public screening event in Leeds during spring 2012.

2.8 Days Later is open to anyone over the age of sixteen, and thanks to support from Trinity Leeds it is totally free to enter. There are only 150 places up for grabs and registration closes on 15 November 2011. Visit the Trinity Leeds page on Facebook to register your place now: www.facebook.com/TrinityLeeds

The whole team will be heading down there on the day. The only thing to confirm is whether we form a team or go head-to-head in a quest for glory on the big screen - the film challenge is on!