Launch of BitchesTeaBoys at DCA

Tagtool drawing - Billy Howe

The Boots Camp video will be premiered today at the Nine Trades Final Gathering held at the Visual Research Centre in Dundee's Centre for Contemporary Arts. The second public appearance by BitchesTeaBoys, a new arts initiative from Billy Howe and Bruce Mills. There will be a talk on the background of their work at 3pm.

Link to BitchesTeaBoys

Also the there will be two Tagtools avaliable for the public to have-a-go on. Alistair Wilson (Dundee Central Library) and Daniel Tyminski (DOJ/HannahMaclure) will be demonstrating the tool and presenting at 3pm alongside Billy Howe and Bruce Mills

One day to go....

Questionnaire responses coming in...

The Spacemakers happened as part of D-AiR's 2010 performance programme, comprising of six Thursday evenings, generously supported by Hannah Maclure Centre

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I sent out some questions to get feedback on The Spacemakers...

I don't know what made me think I would get a sensible answer from this lot....

Has The Spacemaker's offered a different view of what is art and who can be an artist ?

What did you learn/ gain from the Spacemakers?

How many people can fit into a phone box.

What use, if any, might the Tagtool be to you in the future?

My life had no meaning before it.

What would you say has been the overriding impact of the Spacemakers project?

I can now call myself an artist without a hint of irony

Has the Spacemakers offered a different view of what is art and who can be an artist ?

Not really, but it did make me realise how much my own views on art, its presentation and the type of art I make has become institutionalised since coming to University. Rather worrying!

What did you learn/ gain from the Spacemakers?

That collaborating and talking with other artists is just as an important role in developing my thoughts and ideas as slogging away in a studio. I have also gained an insight into how being spontaneous, rather than overly planned can actually be just as successful, a lot more fun and creatively stimulating for sparking more developed ideas. Art that makes you and others smile is just as worthy as art that makes you question and think. (Also re-enforced my view that art is a tool that can help provoke change but its always nice to be smiling whilst you do it!)

What would you say has been the overriding impact of the Spacemakers project?

Overall I would probably say it had a big effect on removing the installed fear we all had of using unauthorised spaces in the city and the possible embarrassment. Making art about cultural or social issues is a lot more effective when it actually interacts beyond a white space that only people already stuck in the artworld generally see.

What did you learn/ gain from the Spacemakers?

Spacemakers has made me very aware of how vital it is for artists to integrate more with the local community and to involve & engage them with their work...Art should be more about communicating with people and less about image!

On the Tagtool

As for the Tagtool it is a wonderful tool which makes live art possible in a very dynamic and interactive way. Its been really nice to see how many different groups are interested in using it, from doing live drawings, to letting young children express themselves, and even helping people to learn and to break the barriers of more traditional art making...The Tagtool is definalty going to be a big hit in Dundee thanks to Ange :)

On the impact of The Spacemakers

The Spacemakers project has been really lovely...The group has been so friendly and we have supported one another in exploring our ideas and letting go in the city! We have discussed our views on life, society, capitalism, space and the way we observe this as artists & individuals. It has been especially wonderful how everybody in Spacemakers has come from different backgrounds, I feel this has been a vital part within our collective and has meant we have had very different influences and viewpoints which has given us a bigger perspective and understanding of the world and ourselves within it....

Last minute prep...

Tonight, the BitchesTeaBoys engaged in last minute preparations for Saturday...

Philip wears his art up his sleeve

Philip on challenging pre-conceptions of what can be art....

"You have modeled something different to a non-arts audience. I think you have definitely opened up their ideas about art. Because you have emphasised that from the very beginning that anyone can be an artist which has probably stuck with them. You have kept saying this is art, I think it would have been different if you didn't frame it like that or they'd have seen it as kinda fun. But you always mentioned it was art and you have definitely made an impact changing the group members perception of what can be art."

Philip Malcolm, AXIS Project worker from Crossreach (the social work department of the Church Of Scotland.)

Eduardo Abaroa's studio

When we were in Nottingham, one of the things Bruce really enjoyed was visiting Thoresby One Studios and said he liked seeing art in its raw state.

"Ian Nesbitt showed us around Thoresby One artists Studios.

I liked to see how artists work and I liked a lot of the work on show." Bruce

Bruce also spoke well of Eduardo Abaroa's 2008 sculpture 'Another World and Another and Another' which he came across at Nottingham Contemporary's exhibition Uneven Geographies.

"A lot of the work in the Globalisation exhibition needed really thinking about, but I liked Abaroa's globe sculpture with all the clothes and chains. When I really thought about it, it made me think about Oxfam sending stuff to Third World countries."

I decided to check Abaroa out online and found he's a 31-year-old Mexican artist who has an arts studio in Mexico City. He has been making work about worlds and globes for the past ten years.

I also found some photo's of the globe in the studio where he constructed it.

Link to interview with Eduardo in his studio

Jackie Luvs Burgerman

Jackie 'I- can't-draw' McFie one of the Youth Project workers at Grey Lodge has discovered Jon Burgerman, a Nottingham based artist who's inspired her to draw. With a set of five fabric pens (£2.50 each) and a cotton bag (£1) she now has a one-off bag made by herself.

"Maybe you can ask that guy Jon Burgerman for some freebies? I never knew anything about Jon Burgerman before and now I have produced a bag influenced by his style! "

"He's influenced me to be confident to do art, because its achievable. Its not frightening, I see it and I think 'I could do that' ,or 'I could do something similar like that'."

"His style is just really appealing. I think its the mis-shapes and the way not everything has to be square and tidy. Its messy and its just the ideal style for our young people to get into. You can say here you go, make a mess and now look what you have at the end of it - it looks fantastic!"

The bag-pens & Burgerman combination also inspired Grey Lodge youth worker Kerri Sutherland,

" Not only the Tagtool was popular but the T-shirt design and bags. After the Nine Trades workshop I went and made a whole load of bags with my youth group." Kerri

"We have now got four fabric pens that were £2.50 each! We also really liked working with the Posca pens."

Nine Trades was able to provide both fabric pens and Posca pens for the workshop.

"Nine Trades providing the pens, that was really helpful. Grey Lodge is surviving on next to nothing, we just had a big full page article in the local newspaper about the cuts we have experienced. This is an area of deprivation, high unemployment and few opportunities. The Hilltown recently had one of its community centres reduced to rubble due to cuts. The cuts have been brutal in the past year and its going to get worse. Grey Lodge has been going for 122 years its basically been surviving on the commitment of staff and volunteers as well as finding funding. It's very worrying we don't know what's going to happen. At the moment we are waiting on a decision from Children in Need ... if we don't get it something will have to go. The services we provide here at Grey Lodge are crucial for the local community and for some of the surrounding areas too. Through the work we do we can bring young people together, working together, through this work we can address issues such as territorial barriers. Working on a common theme of arts and community, producing a piece of work, something they can work towards over the course of the year." Jackie

Link to Jon Burgermans website

The Tagtool laptop computer based at the Central Library is sporting some of Jon's stickers.

We asked Jackie - What use will the Tagtool be to your work in the future?

"At the moment it would help engage with young people. Especially with those who are not confident with their literacy and not confident within themselves that they are any good at anything. The fact they can pick up that little pen and do a scribble and we get art at the end of it, is great. It will help the fun element in this learning approach. Mixing with other people, team building, loads of things it can cover and address." Jackie