Cinema Collection | Manchester | Cornerhouse and AMC Cinemas

Cinema Collection | Glasgow | Glasgow Film Theatre and Grosvenor

Exhibition | Centre for Contemporary Arts - Glasgow | Rachel Maclean - Happy & Glorious

Description taken from website...

http://cca-glasgow.com/programme/52f268ec1cd9e3674b000004

Happy & Glorious is a new cinematic exhibition by Glasgow-based artist Rachel Maclean that explores ideas of national identity, class and Empire.

In this solo exhibition Maclean presents A Whole New World, recently commissioned for the Margaret Tait Award by Glasgow Film Festival, with the support from Creative Scotland and Lux, and 2012’s The Lion and The Unicorn, alongside Please, Sir… – a brand new split-screen video work for CCA.

Taking its title from a lyric in the British national anthem, Happy & Glorious presents a darkly humorous take on contemporary national identity, exploring contentious symbols of patriotism, imperialism and social status. 

The viewer is invited into to enter a shape-shifting realm in which an Adidas-striped Oliver Twist mugs a Tudor Prince at knife point while a well-dressed imperial lion summons a globe from a magical soda bottle. Maclean is the only actor in the work and mimes to found audio plundered from a myriad of sources, including Britain’s Got Talent and various productions of the film The Prince and The Pauper. 

Aesthetically mesmerising and grotesquely maximal, the work presents otherworldly digital realms, reminiscent of both a post-apocalyptic video game and a monstrously comic 18th-century caricature. Shot largely against green-screen, Maclean creates worlds in which identities merge and unravel, presenting feverishly positive visions of nightmarish unstable apparitions. 

A one-day symposium on Sun 15 June will accompany the exhibition. Organized within the framework of Rachel Maclean’s show, speakers will look at the role of the artistic voice in shaping an environment that represents, changes or moves away from forms of national or local cultural identity. See link on the left for more information.
Speakers: Erden Kosova (Istanbul), David Bailey (London), Jesse Presley Jones (Dublin) and Rachel Maclean (Glasgow).

The exhibition will also be accompanied by a film programme engaging with the process of independence and social change. 

--

Part of GENERATION, a landmark series of exhibitions tracing the remarkable development of contemporary art in Scotland over the last 25 years. GENERATION will bring an ambitious and extensive programme of works of art by over 100 artists to over 60 galleries, exhibition spaces and venues the length and breadth of the nation between March – November 2014, with the majority of exhibitions taking place over the summer of 2014, as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme.

Trip | An exploration of Edinburgh - Part Two | Polaroids, Whiskey and Castles

Trip | An exploration of Edinburgh - Part One | Nessie, Highland Cows and Cinemas

My Edinburgh trip in images..

Edinburgh

Hostel

Place

Castle

Polaroids

Writers museum

Harry Potter Exploration

Cemetery

Loch Ness Tour

Cinema Collection | Edinburgh | Cameo, Dominion and Filmhouse

With my new Polaroid camera and my love of cinemas, I decided to start collecting polaroid images of all the cinemas I come across. The first in the collection is the three picture houses of Edinburgh.

Graffiti Workshop | Burning Candy | Leeds College of Art

Burning Candy workshop with a visiting High School. Influenced by the Burning Candy, we had to opportunity to create our own graffiti onto boards. 

Print Workshop | Burning Candy | Leeds College of Art

Print Workshop - Workshop Assistant

Exhibition/Talk | Burning Candy | Leeds College of Art

Film Work | WHICH TOILET? Mixed gender? What?! | Julia Brown

I recently had the opportunity to work with Julia Brown, Mary Broome and Nic Brannan on a video that was made to encourage discussions about genderisms. Since uploading this video it has encouraged a discussion about getting gender neutral toliets at Leeds College of Art and stands as a great example of how effective one video can be. 

This is one thing I admire about the work of Julia Brown, she has a voice that sparks positive change around her through her visual and creative ideas to portray problems around us. It's always a pleasure to work alongside fellow students, especially Julia, Mary and Nic who have a very interesting, in-depth look into the world.

Check out the video below!

HOARD | Towards An Archaeology of The Artist Mind | Installing work

Having got the space with the Hoard project last month, I have finially found the time to start installing and exploring my ideas into writing, quotes and extending these through various processes and ideas. Today a big blank canvas stood before me, which is enough to scare me a little. I spent this time expanding four quotes that are centred around litrature and writing in which I then combined this idea of finding meaning of each and every word. 

It's a fantastic space to start to expand and explore my research, which I feel is what my work needs right now. As soon as I stop working, I start to worry and rush an idea, at least now I can continuously store and work in a space. I am going to try make this a weekly thing and document this week after week to see where this may take me.