18 May 2010
Nine Trades walking tour to visit Dundee workplaces
Photo opportunity: 3.15pm on Wednesday, May 19th, at Noris Hairdressing Salon, Reform Street. Invited guests on the Nine Trades of Dundee walking tour will see artist Alan Grieve work. For info on the day, call Laura Simpson on 07851 236478.
A specially organised walking tour will demonstrate how a Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design project is taking art directly to the workplace by visiting a hairdressing salon, pub, office and library in one day.
The Nine Trades of Dundee Walking Tour takes place on Wednesday, May.19th, and will stop off at four of the nine individual projects which comprise the initiative. Nine Trades of Dundee challenges preconceptions about who is an artist by showing how the work of artists who have second, non-art, jobs, is influenced by their experiences in the everyday working world.
Laura Simpson, Assistant Curator at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, explained that the event was taking place to share the artists experiences of the project.
One of the aims of Nine Trades of Dundee is to open up and strengthen potential for future cross-organisational creative projects, she said.
We hope to move that on a little further by hosting this event, and commercial, public and educational organisations are all represented in the party who will be taking part in the walking tour. We want to give insight into the project and stimulate peer response.
A group of individuals involved in a variety of cultural provision projects have been invited to take part in the walking tour, which will look at the following projects:
- Pippa Koszerek's work with secretaries at offices across the city.
- David Yu's work in various Dundee bars.
- Alan Grieves project at Nori's Hairdressing Salon.
- Ange Taggart and her work involving TagTool at Central Library.
The project was initiated by Exhibitions at DJCAD and was inspired by the The Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee, an organisation that has been operating since the 1400s. 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.
More information about all the artists involved in the Nine Trades of Dundee project can be found at www.ninetrades.com.
Notes to editors:
Info about artists who will be featuring on the Nine Trades of Dundee Walking Tour
Alan Grieveworked as a hairdresser for 25 years and graduated in 2008 with a Masters in Fine Art. He continued to cut hair during his studies and works one day each week in Noris Salon as part of his Nine Trades project. He draws customers as they get their hair cut and has a comment of the week wall in the salon where he can start a dialogue with colleagues and clients alike, offering a weekly insight into his thoughts in the form of one or more drawings/illustrated texts. From this exchange he will create a magazine with his colleagues that can be distributed through salons throughout Dundee.
Pippa Koszerek has worked as a temporary secretary in a variety of work places since 2002. She is working with admin staff around Dundee to explore their daily tasks and skills. She initially invited anyone working in admin to email a photograph of the view from your desk which can now all be seen on her project page on the website. Pippa also ran some lunch clubs for secretaries as a way to get to know people and let input to the project. She is now developing joint artworks with some of those lunch club attendees which will be sited within their working environment.
David Yu, a cocktail bartender, is also a sculptor and filmmaker and will create a series of audio visual interventions in Dundee bars. David and his bar staff colleagues are currently filming in several bars around the town. David will edit short films and audio pieces which reflect the character of each of the venues and present them within a sculpture installation in each bar.
Ange Taggart worked for many years in childcare, family support, community work, day care management and academia before studying for a performance and visual arts degree. Her base for the Nine Trades of Dundee project is the Science and Business Department at Dundee Central Library, supporting the library staff and working with voluntary sector providers to help ensure inclusive practice and build support networks. A key element to Anges project is a visual tool called the Tagtool which allows the user to immediately animate a drawing and see it projected onto the wall or onto other participants. It is being used in ongoing projects with different groups from the local community.
About Nine Trades of Dundee:
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 Councils 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.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
