The Olympic torch was passing by Richmond road just a few hours ago… and well.. there were some people applauding it… but not many. London may be organising the fanciest and most technological games in human history but Boris & co can’t deny that many Londoners, especially Hackney neighbors, aren’t welcoming or supporting the event.
And like many other artists Leo & Amaël have their own vision of the London Olympic paradigma… so they just uploaded what they think is London’s vermin own ambition. London is also famous for the number of rats its underground hides… so it shouldn’t be a surprise if they’re more comprehensive & supportive than the average Brit.
olympic vermin still (photo via Beakus)
Co-directed and animated by Beakus‘ Amaël Isnard and Leo Bridle, the short was shot around London, sometimes from the top of a 5-metre pole, and featuring an array of messed-up animated vermin, the film pokes fun at the Olympics and it’s so-called ‘inclusivity’ dogma.
We sadly won’t have time to assist to this year’s Upfest edition but given that next Monday it’s bank holiday you have no excuse to grab a little train and go down to Bristol…
UPfest DDG 2011
Europe’s largest urban art festival will invade Southville (and everything that surrounds North St) once again in its 5th edition covering 2 miles of the city with live paint and creating 20.000 square foot of artwork …
No need to mention the amazing list of international artists that will take all those white walls and murals and that this year brings artists like Ches (Russia), Deuz (France), Frode (Italy), Guy Denning (France) or Mr OneTeas (Monaco). No crisis for the festival as it gets bigger and bigger each year being 2012 the most ambitious of all in terms of programme, activities, workshops and artists concentratio.
Another year, another Turner. This year’s four potential £25K winners are…. (in no particular order… you know how objective we are): Spartacus Chetwynd, Luke Fowler, Paul Noble and Elizabeth Price. But because we aren’t objective enough we shall give this year’s jury a few recommendations right?
Paul Noble - Public Toilet - 1999 (Paul Noble - Gagosian - London)
Starting with our favorite up above: Mr Paul Noble, the surreal architecture & scatological drawing master who was nominated for his 2011 solo show at London’s Gagosian Gallery: “Welcome to Nobson”. An exhibition around Nobson Newtown, his fictional city composed of labyrinthine edifices and deserted topography embedded with modules of dense detail. Such complex structures that tend to mix the worst and most divine features of human species much like Bosch and Bruegel did in the 16th century. The most perverted of all 4, the one who should definitely ear the cash.
Welcome to Nobson (2011) installation shot at the Gagosian Gallery
Although wickedness aside the jury believes all nominees share “a common sense of humanity and lack of arrogance” as well as an interest in the 1960s and 1970s – decades when they were growing up. How about the other 3?
Luke Fowler, All Divided Selves, 2011( Photo Courtesy of the artist, The Modern Institute - Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne)
Luke Fowler (the youngest of all 4 and famous for his mixages of found footage with own material) has been shortlisted for his exhibition at Inverleith House in Edinburgh which showed his third film from a trilogy about the late Glaswegian psychiatrist RD Laing ( who espoused views that challenged the psychiatric orthodoxy).
The other filmaker Elizabeth Price was nominated for her show at the Baltic in Gateshead, whose exhibition will remain open until late this month.
Elizabeth Price, User Group Disco, 2009 (Photo by Elizabeth Price, courtesy MOTInternational, London)
And to shake things a bit (because we also love this last one) Spartacus Chetwynd (well known for off-the-wall performance pieces) has been nominated for her solo exhibition at Sadie Coles HQ, London, “Odd Man Out”, creating once again her a carnivalesque performance involving handmade costumes and sets and blurring the boundary between performer and spectator and improvising improvising improvising!
Spartacus Chetwynd - still from his performance Odd Man Out (2011)
This year’s nominees exhibition is back to London and will be held @ Tate Britain opening on 2 October 2012. The winner will then be announced at the same museum 2 months after: on Monday 3 December. Good luck folks!
We were a bit too late last year to warn you about the first worldwide Robot film Festival, but not for this, their second edition.
Submissions for next summers Film Fest competition are now open (pretty much for half a year as the deadline is June 7th and this year’s edition will take place July 13-14th), and just like in 2011 the only big requirement is to feature a robot as one of the main characters as or framing devices of the narrative.
Robot Film Fest 2011 poster
Hopefully we’ll find this year as many film types… animation, comedy, harsh drama, love stories, feature films… all for the sake of Robots, celebrate their incipient superiority and honor them so maybe they forgive our lives in the coming decades when they take over humanity.
As you can see from the couple of videos above anyone can submit a film, you don’t have to be a VFX expert or a master sci-fi writter, but creativity will certainly help you bringing a Botsker back home, just like last years winners.
botsker - the 3D printed robot statuette designed by Shawn Sims
A $20 fee, an upload to vimeo and you’re pretty much set to participate. Unfortunately there are no monetary prizes (booooooooo, we honestly expected some financial reward for this second edition) but you may be entitled to a ceremony invitation and a botsker. More details to come shortly, precise info on their page.
