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Rushes from Parking Space

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Strange yellow circles appeared in car parks around town
Stove widows with yellow circles
Clues began to emerge elsewhere and on social media
Meanwhile in a basement under Greyfriars Church other painting was going on
Meanwhile in a basement under Greyfriars Church other painting was going on
On Friday 17th October the Stove members and other members of the public gathered on Level Four of the underground NCP car park for the Annual General Meeting of The Stove Network
On Friday 17th October the Stove members and other members of the public gathered on Level Four of the underground NCP car park for the Annual General Meeting of The Stove Network
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Hannah Brackston and Alex Wilde of Open Jar Artists Collective and Stephen Pritchard of Dot To Dot Active Arts led the discussion that followed the formal business of the AGM
The Stove Network Board worked hard
The Stove Network Board worked hard
Stan and Cara thought hard
Stan and Cara thought hard
Craig Patterson from Burns Cafe served Stovies from the back of a pick-up
Craig Patterson from Burns Cafe served Stovies from the back of a pick-up
The Doonhame Derby Doll Usherettes arrived
The Doonhame Derby Doll Usherettes arrived
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Crucial chat
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Everyone helped convert the space into a cinema
Eating popcorn whilst watching 'How to Start a Revolution'
Eating popcorn whilst watching ‘How to Start a Revolution’
The next day people played street games on the top deck of the carpark
The next day people played street games on the top deck of the carpark
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The skaters were busy on Level 1
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On Level 2 'Mirrorlands' by Mark Lyken and Emma Dove was showing on two walls simultaneously
On Level 2 ‘Mirrorlands’ by Mark Lyken and Emma Dove was showing on two walls simultaneously
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On Level 3 was Mark and Emma’s ‘GabCab’ in which people were filmed talking about where they would like the taxi to take them
Emma Dove operating 'GabCab'
Emma Dove operating ‘GabCab’
Entering level 4
Entering level 4
Where Alice Francis made popcorn
Where Alice Francis made popcorn
...and Max Fox made hot chocolate
…and Max Fox made hot chocolate
Parking Space cinema - screening 'Shell'
Parking Space cinema – screening ‘Shell’
Screening of movies by Mutual Motion (films made by local skaters)...watched by local skaters
Screening of movies by Mutual Motion (films made by local skaters)…watched by local skaters
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Parking Space – by The Stove Network and the people of Dumfries

Lead Artist: Katie Anderson

Stove Artist Team; Matt Baker, Hannah Brackston, Moxie DePaulitte, Doonhame Derby Dolls, Emma Dove, Dumfries Skaters,  Alice Francis, Max Fox, Andy Jardine, Mark Lyken, Will Levi Marshall, Debs McDowall, Mutual Motion, Stephen Pritchard, Colin Tennant, John Wallace, Ailsa Watson, Alex Wilde

Photography: Cate Ross, Colin Tennant, Galina Walls

Thanks to: Members and Board of The Stove Network, Stuart and Sean at NCP, SHAX, Speedy Hire

More images from Parking Space – here

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News Project Updates

New Stove Artists in Residence.

Guest Blog Alert.

Howdy, my name is Mark Lyken and I’m an audio and visual artist who until very recently, 10 days ago in fact, was based in the sunny South Side of Glasgow. Regular collaborator – artist filmmaker Emma Dove – and myself have moved down, lock, stock and barrel full of equipment to Dumfries to begin a joint six-month public art residency for the lovelies at the Stove Network. We’ll be posting regular rambling updates, sharing discoveries and hopefully stimulating discussion over the course of our time here.

Now the thing about residency applications is that at the point of writing it’s dangerously easy to suggest relocating for the duration of a project largely because the part of your brain that deals in that kind of reality is sporting sunglasses and sipping Mojitos, quietly confident that it’s highly unlikely your application will be successful.  This is the same part of your brain you’ll find waving it’s metaphorical arms in a blind panic when you get a call from Matt Baker actually offering you the gig.

I’m joking of course, (mostly…) in actual fact the move down the road went like clockwork and by Saturday afternoon we were unpacking the very last box, chucking a tent, torch and radio in the car and heading for the Sanctuary 2014 event at Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park. Although we were a bit knackered post-move it was a really inspiring event with a relaxed vibe, sound-tracked over the course of 24hrs by a multitude of different roving radios all tuned into The Dark Outside FM broadcast from the hill top Murray’s monument.

All the different models of radio being carried around added very interesting modulations and directionality to the music being received. You might for instance walk past a stationery boom box with decent bottom end with your own trebly handheld radio and become a momentary human high pass filter as you moved in and out of someone else’s earshot, Doppler effects abound – in short, marvelous. There is something about listening to (largely) electronic music when surrounded by very large swathes of nature (or better yet a forest if you happen to have one handy) that seems very fitting. I know it works equally well in urban environments but I do love a bit of electric with my organic. I imagine this is why wooden paneling on synthesisers just feels so damn right.

But I digress…. Personal highlights for us was catching Jeff Barrow of Portishead fame, along with fellow Drokk band member Ben Salisbury, playing a short live performance (that slotted into a ten minute space in the Dark Outside FM playlist) in front of Robbie Coleman’s circular blue neon “enclosure” sculpture (with added dive-bombing bats.) Throughout the night Glasgow label Broken 20’s TVO Orchestra and Erstlaub, along with friends and audience members, performed a partly improvised, partly self-generating set from 10pm to 6am. Yup, that’s 10pm to 6am. Unfortunately it was a cloudy night so you couldn’t see the stars but that didn’t make the location and the event any less epic. Roll on the EAFS Environmental Arts Festival in 2015.

So, down to business. “Who the hell are you two and what are you doing here?”  Well, our collaborative practice involves film, music, sound art, painting and sculpture, which gives us a number of ways to respond to an environment, place or situation. At the core of our work is an interest in exploring relationships to place. Our most recent work – “Mirror Lands” a film and sound installation for the “Imagining Natural Scotland” initiative – explored the delicate balance between nature, industry and rural life on the Black Isle in the Highlands. This piece focused around the local area of the University of Aberdeen’s Lighthouse Field Station in Cromarty, finding radically different relationships to place even within that small geographical stretch. During our short time here to date, we have found that events and connections seem to be spread across a much wider area and we have been wondering how that might affect peoples over arching ‘sense of belonging’.

We have always had a vicarious relationship to Dumfries and Galloway through a large circle of friends in Glasgow originating from D&G. What seems to single this bunch out from other friends, other than a worrying tendency for fire poi, is a stronger than average connection with home. Whether that is simply popping “down the road” for the weekend or just in general conversation, home seems to be ever-present. We are at the very beginnings of our project but the idea of migrations to and from Dumfries feels like an interesting starting point.

What drew us to the Stovies in the first place was their refreshingly broad definition of public art and true to that initial impression our remit for this project is wonderfully open, the only real proviso being that the work should be relevant to the people of Dumfries. Our process is a very intuitive and socially engaged one and we work best when there is time to gather as much material as possible and see what emerges.

Whatever form our research and final work takes, it will debut at the opening of The Stoves HQ and Creative Hub at 100 High Street Dumfries, once renovations are complete next year.

It feels like we have arrived at a very exciting time and we hope we can add to this growing buzz. More project-specific guest blog posting to follow and hopefully see you at the Stove’s “Parking Space” event on the 17th and 18th of this month.

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News Project Updates

Inbetween:Dumfries on TV

Here is the item broadcast on Border TV’s LookAround programme on Monday 5th November:

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News Project Updates

Inbetween:Dumfries is GO…today is the start of Nith Scoping

Nith Scoping has begun TODAY…..get yourself down to the Nith and encounter the river as you never have before:

You can find Nith Scoping on the Whitesands (opposite the bottom of Bank St)

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Musings News Project Updates

Mike Inglis: work-in-progress

Those who follow the work of Mike Inglis will be very intrigued and excited to see the image below. Mike’s work is all about layers of exposure and his relationship to public space is an often troubled one for him. There is an aspect of his work that involves the 3D assembly of very private shrine works. Mike has often talked about ways that he could bring this side of his work into the public domain alongside his paste-ups and graphic work… maybe Dumfries might be about to see something very significant in Scottish art history…

One of Scotland’s leading public/street artists. Mike has been researching ‘outsiders’ and ‘custodians’ in Dumfries since May 2012. He has worked with community groups and historical information ranging from the execution of nine women accused of witchcraft in 1659 to the groundbreaking theraputic community at the former Crichton Hospital.

Mike’s work around Dumfries will include two ‘window shrines’ and six ‘paste-upstreet shrines’ – these will begin to appear in the town centre on November 4th and will be visible for as long as the good folk of Dumfropolis choose to leave them unmolested.

Find out more about Mike Inglis’ work here

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News Project Updates

Inspired by Dumfries

Dumfries and Galloway Standard has had its reporters oot and aboot:

“It wouldn’t be the first town you would think of if you were asked to name a fashion hot-spot of the world.

But thanks to visual artist Lisa Gallacher, a collection of bespoke pieces created and inspired by Doonhamers, and their town, will be exhibited here next month.”

Fabric based in Paling’s Window by Lisa Gallacher

TRDM: Dumfries is one of eight creative projects specially commissioned by artists’ collective The Stove for their exhibition InBetween:Dumfries. The project will culminate in a collection of “Dumfries Inspired” made-to-measure garments being shown at The Stove’s base on the town’s High Street throughout the beginning of November. The Dumfries born, internationally acclaimed artist has collaborated with ten local residents of all walks of life, to create an item of clothing, representing what the town means to them.

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