Tagtool Interest Group

This week nineteen people involved in arts and community projects in the city attended the Tagtool network event at Hannah Maclure, all of them interested in working with or using the tool.

My Nine Trades time in Dundee is coming to an end, I'm happy there is now an active group of people keen to utilise the tool in the city. The grand plan is to establish a core Tagtool interest group to support and encourage the use of the tool in the city. Laura Simpson from Nine Trades project will initially communicate with key players to get the ball rolling.

I'm delighted to say that a few things are already underway, we have several arts and community organisations with ideas in the pipeline, and at least ten people/organisations who want to build their own Tagtool.

Plans are underway to host a Tagtool building workshop to happen in the autumn. Hannah Maclure are interested in hosting this as they are already involved with NEoN Festival. The University of Abertay has a strong commitment to working with digital media, computer gaming and illustration.

We have local artists keen to get proficient in using the tool the working Tagtool kit installed at Dundee Central Library is being well used. The library would like to participate in THE BIG DRAW event happening in October 2010 www.thebigdraw.org.

I delivered an event for Sarah Derrick and her team at the DCA's Education department last week and they are enthusiastic about working with the tool in the future.

Keri McGowan Creative Learning Officer at McManus has supported the Nine Trades project from the initial ideas stage so has a special interest in continuing to support the project. McManus wish to train their artists to work with the tool and use it for ongoing projects.

D-Air ( Dundee Artists In Residence) are launching a series of events over the next year that showcase the Tagtool. Starting on Friday 2 July at Hannah Maclure, an event with local VJ's using the library's Tagtool. Jackie from Grey Lodge Community Centre hopes to bring along some young people from their AAAA project who worked with the tool earlier this year.

Dundee Central Library, Grey Lodge and Youth Literacy Team are making connections with students and established artists in the city to work with the Tagtool.

The guys at OMA International (the Tagtool creators) are fully aware and delighted that Dundee is on the Tagtool map. Alistair and I were shown such wonderful hospitality at their event in Austria earlier this year that we hope to be able to welcome them to Dundee one day.

Finally for those of you itching to get your hands on the Tagtool it will be available for you to play with at the Nine Trades Final Gathering 10.30- 17.30 at the DCA Saturday 17 July . If you haven't yet seen it that's a chance for you to drop in and have a go. My work in Dundee is due to be completed at the end of June, but of course I will be back in Dundee for the Final Gathering.

The Spacemakers - feedback week 4

Feedback from Sylvia, Daniel, Alistair and Ken ( 2 DOJ arts students and 2 non arts practitioners)

What's been good?

People have been really lovely and open to collaboration.

Tagtool is amazing and epic! It's made me really question how Im doing art and why I do it.

I like it because it's a collective and people have made a commitment to be there.

Ange is a real character, I wish she was teaching at our art college

It makes me think differently about space.

I have enjoyed Jonathan because he is funny

Im meeting and getting to know people in the arts community

It's not been too arty-farty

I was reluctant at first but I've made slow baby steps into performance.

I have enjoyed that it is not elitist. So much of what's in the arts world feels elitist.

I can say what I like at The Spacemakers and not worry about being judged.

What would you change?

I'd like it to be a longer period that six weeks

I want it to carry on now the weather is good and the days are longer

Id like it to have a positive focus to change spaces

I want it to be an ongoing loose collective

Introducing Liam McGee and Garry Whitton

Liam McGee, fourth year student at Duncan of Jordanstone college of Art and Design brought in his almost completed Tagtool. Alistair stayed behind after his shift and set up the Tagtool so that Liam and Garry could see it in action. Garry Whitton a local animator and VJ planning to use the Tagtool at the Guerrilla Gallery event organised by D-Air at Hannah Maclure Friday 2 July.

Liam's design is slightly different from ours, he has used shorter sliders and has staggered them.

Tannadice event

Yesterday evening an event was held at Tannadice for the participants of the Grey Lodge AAAA project as well as family, friends and associated professionals to come together to celebrate the achievements of the young people who participating in the programme.

I took along the Tagtool for people to try out, I also set up a slideshow display to show off the design work St Johns pupils had completed with the library staff and Nine Trades at two day workshops held in May.

The next day an article appeared in The Courier featuring some of the staff and key volunteers who'd worked on the project

..but thankfully there was no mention of the trophy going missing.

Twelve of us went to see Sweeney Todd

Feedback from members of the LIFE group...

"I've never been out for years and years, so seeing Sweeney Todd was great, brilliant, it was really entertaining The way the story came together was good. It must be hard doing that night after night. The set was amazing. I have never been to Dundee Rep before, I’ve only ever been the Whitehall theatre. I’d go again. It was special because I have been at home for years and never going out.

It’s been a new start for me going out and that."

Michelle

"Overall I found Sweeny Todd to be a great play funny, exciting and keeping me on the edge of my seat listening to the lyrics of each story/song with great delight. I had a really enjoyable night it was really funny kept me really amused and wanting to try and catch each lyric so I could piece together the story which I already vaguely knew but I was really surprised at it normally I wouldn’t want to watch a “musical” but this was far better than any musical I had ever seen it was a great night out which I really enjoyed and would recommend to anyone if you haven’t seen it then I suggest that you go see it!!!"

David

Nine Critiques from Dundee 9.

.....IS IT ART?

"Sometimes when you go into galleries I think 'I don't get that', 'I don't get that' in fact I think, 'I don't get any of this'. This is because we have been brought up to think something else is art, so when you go out to see proper art in galleries you don't understand it. Art to us is 'arts and crafts' and Art Attack TV programe, making things out of pebbles and big photos, collages, or a painting or sculpture, but now we know that it doesn't need to be that at all. It could be anything, someone could go and paint a strip of your fence or throw paint on the fence and half on the ground it can still be art. It could have a meaning to somebody, you can look everywhere and art is there, it's just a different kind of art."

"I don't have to 'get it' for it to be art. Art is also about having your own opinion. Everybody doesn't have to have the same opinion as you. 95% of art might be crap, nonsense, you won't understand it, but 5% will be class, you will love it. It just depends, what speaks to me might do nothing for you, but that doesn't mean it's not valid. This applies to other things in life not just art, it opens your eyes about other cultures and languages. Just because I don't understand it it doesn't mean that it's not any good. " Billy

"My idea of what is art has definitely changed, to tell you the truth I just thought about stuff in gold frames, Michelangelo, Piccaso, Van Gogh etc. Now I see it can be put in totally different context like drawing over text in colouring books or urban interventions. It has just really helped me understand there are all different types of art and has made me look at it from a different perspective." Bruce

The most popular library in Scotland

I told you it was good here....