Nine Trades of Dundee Walking tour

We were very happy to host a group of our peers from within cultural organisations in Dundee on a Nine Trades of Dundee walking tour on the 19th May. We visited four of the artists sites and heard about their projects.

Tour visitors at Nori Hair Salon in Reform Street hearing Alan Grieve explain about his 'Comment of the Week' wall.

Tour Visitors at the Dundee Central Library watching a presentation by Ange Taggart and her colleague Alistair Wilson.

Busy Day at the Nine Trades of Dundee office

It's been an interesting day in the Nine trades of Dundee office...

Clare Thornton came in for a conversation about the progress of the fabrics she is working with. One will be waxed and will form the outer layer of a trenchcoat and the other will have a specially designed 'Tools of our Trades' pattern hand-printed onto it as the lining. Things are going well and her apprentice Carrie has been amazing in her practical and creative input. Clare brought us up to speed with her plans for an installation for the Final Gathering event.

David Yu is on to filming in his third bar. He has filmed and edited fantastic footage of The Bush Bar where there are lots of stories about personal and community histories. He has also filmed in Fat Sams with a group of apprentices and staff and caught the revelers and staff in action. He is starting work in The Trades Bar too and I am looking forward to seeing some footage.

Ben Robinson is organising a gallery tour especially for his HBOS colleagues to take place at DCA next week at the end of one of their shifts.

David Yu - Filming at Fat Sams

Nine Trades of Dundee artist David Yu has just finished filming at The Bush Bar.  He will be spending this week capturing the lively party atmosphere at Fat Sams.

Pippa Koszerek project - Out of Office

Out of Office: A free networking day for artists who work in offices  

Artists who feel that their day job intrudes or extends into their artwork and daily life are invited to book a place on this networking event that promises a range of zany solutions for creating art out of the everyday.  Taking blue-sky thinking to a new level, art duo Fitness for Artists (Pippa Koszerek and Anna Pharoah) bring the office outdoors, transforming the formal structure of Mostyn Gardens into a hot-desking environment.  

Drawing inspiration from the processes and rituals of the workplace, the event involves a range of activities to connect with other artists and to find starting points for making new work.  

To reserve a place or make an enquiry please contact info@postartists.com www.postartists.com  

Out of Office promises:
√ Fun
√ Over-loaded information
√ New colleagues for the lone worker
√ Adminovator policies: turning your office work into art work  
√√√√ Participants will gain the opportunity to think about conceptual fitness.    

Part of the exhibition Away Day, supported by Arts Council England and Merton Arts Development. www.postartists.com  Led by artists Pippa Koszerek & Anna Pharoah, who work together as Fitness for Artists.

Pippa Koszerek creates organisations as artworks/curatorial projects such as the Independent Art School (1999-) and The Unasked-for Public Art Agency (2006-). She is interested in blurring the boundaries between art and non-art environments and borrows materials or ways of working from other vocations. She is currently undertaking a commission with the Exhibitions Department at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design that explores artist's non-art trades in which she is developing a series of public interventions based on collaborations with secretaries and office workers.

Anna Pharoah’s practice centres on creating performances and interventions that draw upon an audience, or members of the public. She is interested in engaging people in a process of exchange, and through chance encounters. She experiments with scenario and interaction, working within the boundaries of the phenomena that exist within a location or situation already, and extending these to the verge of what is believable.

Some quotes from Saturday Drive in Event

The artist, Chris Dyson, who had devised this event as part of his ongoing Nine Trades of Dundee project with Michelin Type PLC.  said ‘ I am really pleased, the event exceeded all expectations. I found it really inspiring that people saw the value in getting involved, the audience and organisers all played a part in making it a success. This event comes quite early in my project with Michelin where I have been filming and speaking to staff for a few weeks now. I am going to produce a film from my experiences here which will be finished in the summer.’

Rhona Crofts, one of the Michelin employees who had suggested the film Grease, said ‘ I chose Grease because it’s a good film that everyone can enjoy and it’s a classic Drive In Movie. This really was a fun thing to do on a Saturday night and I thought that the event was really well organised.’

Laura Simpson, who is part of the team running the Nine Trades of Dundee Project with nine artists in workplaces across the city said ‘We planned the event to be a fun and exciting way to engage with culture and it certainly delivered on those elements. It was a very positive experience to see everyone work together to deliver the event in good spirits. Our aim with the project to bring creativity to the heart of the workplace was born out not just through the film selection process but by the inventiveness of the Michelin staff and stewards in the creation of 1950’s Americana themed goody bags with gum, cola and popcorn. Some of the team (including Debbie Richardson one of the main Michelin contacts and Clare Thornton another of the Nine Trades of Dundee artists) dressed up in swirling 1950’s swing skirts and I even saw some girls in Pink Ladies jackets watching the film.

There is a lot going on with the Nine Trades of Dundee project at the moment. We have artists working in fabric factories, offices, hairdressers, recycling depots and bars, you can see more about those projects on the website www.ninetrades.com’

A short documentary about the Michelin Drive In event and representations from the other eight projects will be on show at a free public event called The Final Gathering at Centrespace, downstairs at Dundee Contemporary Arts on Saturday 17^th July.

Press Release for Michelin Drive In Cinema

DUNDEE FACTORY IS THE UNLIKELY SETTING FOR A DRIVE-IN SATURDAY

A taste of 1950s Americana will come to Dundee this weekend when the large Michelin factory plays host to a special, one-off, drive-in cinema event as part of a project to take art directly to the workplace

A special high powered projector will be used to show the film Grease in the grounds of the Baldovie Road factory for Michelin staff and their families. They will be able to view the film from the comfort of their cars on Saturday, April 10th. Grease, which is set in the US during the 1950s, also features scenes at a drive-in theatre.

The Nine Trades of Dundee project was initiated by Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, part of the University of Dundee, to challenge preconceptions about who is an artist.  The nine individual projects are run by artists who have second, non-art, jobs.

Chris Dyson, the artist responsible for organising the event, said the response from staff has been excellent, and that he expected up to 50 cars to descend on the factory’s grounds for the ticketed 8.30pm showing. 

“Everyone I have spoken to has been really upbeat and positive about the drive-in cinema,” he said.  “I’ve spent the last few weeks working with staff at Michelin and asking them to suggest films that we can show.  All the people here have engaged with the idea and I think they like how unusual it is.”

Workers at the factory who have been voting for their favourite movie over the past few weeks and Chris added that it was fitting that Grease was the film chosen to be shown.

Chris (27) is a film-maker and sculptor who also works as a metal fabricator at a workshop in Glasgow.  He now attends Michelin one day a week to film events at the plant and interview workers as he seeks to document life at a modern industrial factory. 

He will also cover the drive-in event and the resultant film will be shown at the conclusion of the Nine Trades project at a public ‘Final Gathering event on the 17^th July at the Visual Research Centre downstairs at Dundee Contemporary Arts.

Originally from Leeds, Chris received a BA (Hons) in Environmental Art from Glasgow School of Art in 2005.  Since then his work has been shown across the UK and internationally.  He says that his experiences of working as a metal fabricator have informed his films and sculptures and this is what interested him in Nine Trades of Dundee.

“I approached Michelin because I was intrigued by the large grounds at the factory and how this opened up the possibility of hosting a drive-in cinema,” he said.  “The company have been very helpful and it has been very interesting to hear the views of the people that work there.

“Whereas only another six people work with me in the workshop, there are 800 at Michelin, and many of them have been there for 30 years or so.  The fact there is such a long-standing workforce means they have a lot of stories to tell that are both funny and reveal a lot about life in a factory.

“Hearing them speak, you understand how big a role that the company has played in Dundee over the years.  The workers have a great deal of affection for the place, and this commitment comes across in their interviews.”

Nine Trades of Dundee is a project initiated by Exhibitions at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.  It was inspired by the ‘The Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee’, an organisation that has been operating since the 1400’s.  Originally concerned with commerce and standards of the city it now functions as a charity and is involved in the preservation of heritage.

‘Nine Trades of Dundee’ aims to increase arts access and encourage more participation for non-arts audiences by bringing art activity and creativity to the heart of the workplace.

Ian Peart, Site Personnel Manager, said that Michelin was delighted with the opportunity to work with the Nine Trades of Dundee project as it presented the workforce with a unique chance to share their experiences of life in the plant with Chris. 

“This should provide a fascinating record of the life of the factory through the eyes of the people who work there.  At the same time, it has also given some of our employees, friends and families the chance to see the factory turned into a little corner of the USA by attending the Drive-in Movie set up on site.”

Notes to editors:

Nine Trades of Dundee is a project devised by Exhibitions at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, with major funding from The National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council’s Inspire Fund.

Nine Trades of Dundee has also been supported by University of Dundee Graduates Council, The Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee and Tay Charitable Trust.

The outputs of the ‘Nine Trades of Dundee’ will include nine core collaborative commissions; a ‘Nine Trades Final Gathering’ event bringing together the artists, participants and wider audience; two ‘open door’ tours to see the work in situ; nine ‘Nine Trades Apprenticeships’ for Duncan of Jordanstone students; one ‘Nine Trades’ workshop for a Dundee school; and a linked Creative Learning Resource to accompany the ‘Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee’ display at McManus Galleries.  

The project will commission nine artists with second non-art trades to lead collaborative art projects with workers from that particular trade, and commissions will be developed to fit the individual artists practice and the working environment and the artist will receive curatorial and peer support as part of the larger ‘Nine Trades of Dundee’ project.

More information is available by visiting www.ninetrades.com.

Cell Projects Space - Art & Labour Summit

Art & Labour Summit: Cultural Workers, Artists, Students, and Interns Meet to Organise, Name Names, and Coordinate Demands  

Thursday April 22nd, 6pm-9pm 

Cell Projects Space 258 Cambridge Heath Road,  London E2 9DA 

Free entry and all welcome  

We'd like you to join us for a special event and organisational party open to all who are interested in the better understanding and active transformation of the way art, free labour, and education work. Crises are moments of great opportunity, as we all know, and those defunding and devaluing our labour have been busy applying this knowledge.  

We invite your active participation in an evening of events:  

1. 'Show and Tell' - bring evidence of your current research, campaigns or projects dealing with art and labour to share with the group.  

2. 'Name and Shame' - collectively create a map of power structures on the wall where we name our exploiters, quantify their exploits, draw the hidden or overt links between them and chart the ideas that legitimise their subsistence.  

3. 'Coordinate Demands' - engage in small group discussions to identify your demands.  

4. 'Publish and Get Organised' - we will end the evening by having a look at what we have created to decide where and how we want to publish a map of our most urgent demands and discuss the experimental, pragmatic and sustainable organisational techniques we can use to co-ordinate the next steps.   

This event has been developed as a response and dialogue with the newspaper and website "Art Work: A National Conversation about Art, Labor, and Economics" recently published by Temporary Services. Pedro from 16 Beaver has brought forty free copies of the paper from the US to distribute to participants at the event in London, but you can also download the newspaper as pdf or read the articles online here: http://www.artandwork.us  

This summit is co-organised by Carrot Workers Collective, Micropolitics Group, Lottie Child, Ecosophy Group, Temporary Services, Free School, Short Term Solutions, Independent Art School, ARTSCHOOL/UK, Sophie Hope and Pedro Lasch (16 Beaver)...  

If you cannot attend the event, but would like to participate in the making of the map long-distance, just send us an email at the addresses below.  For any messages, comments, or questions related to this event, contact Sophie Hope - sophiehope[at]mac.com, or Pedro Lasch - plasch[at]duke.edu