Bill + George

PROSPECTING OUR PROSPECTS

2012-02-01T11:42:00.003+11:00

This week bill+george artists Karl and Tess from Makeshift (collaborative dynamic duo) return once again to Western Australia, the magic far away land of iron ore and magnates, to install their final exhibit for Spaced_art out of place, an international biennial of socially engaged art, at the end of their IASKA residency. In this work Sojourn in Esperance Bay, Karl and Tess have undertaken a kind of prospecting of food sources, rereading the landscape as edible; partly inspired by a French naturalist 200 years ago who became lost on the nearby Pink Lake, thirsty, hungry and confused by food sources he could not recognise. The work reconstructs an imagined dining scene in the middle of the Pink Lake, using found objects, video and photographic documentation and an exquisitely crafted pair of French stereoscopes that enable a viewing of 3D images of Esperance's contemporary food sources.

Makeshift's subtle incursions into the landscapes—always beautifully crafted and quietly rendered—remind me, by way of violent contrast, of another kind of prospecting more familiar to us as Australia's mining boom continues to ravish the continent unabated.

In the news again this week is billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, now director of Hancock Prospecting - a mining company that has been ripping shit out of the ground and poisoning the air since 1937. [Here she is with some shit she just pulled out of the ground]

Emerging from teenagehood, I remember the news headlines dominated by a feud between Lang Hancock's wife Rose and his daughter, whose name I could never remember as clearly as the Asian "othered" step-mother/monster that Rose was made out to be. As Gina steps up her bid to control greater shares in Australia's media landscape, we can now all be assured to never forget her name.

This is how Lang Hancock preferred to remember his daughter:

“Allow me to remember you as the neat, trim, capable, attractive young lady … rather than the slothful, vindictive and devious baby elephant you have become. I am glad your mother cannot see you now"

See the brilliant sketch satire of the dispute here.

As reported by Hungry Beast, Rinehart's 7-point-plan for Australia includes: cutting taxes on mining, loosening environmental regulations and bringing in cheap migrant labour from Asia, an act she says would be “humanitarian”.

Not wanting to conflate the two, except to point out by contrast the beauty in tragedy and the tragic in the beauty; the lost french naturalist floundering in a beauteous landscape, unable to understand in order for it to nourish him. And the devious baby elephant, once a daughter who loved her father, even though he was a man who poisoned the air and ground by mining asbestos in a town renamed by Lang Hancock as Wittenoom—the town that little Gina was born in, and which became the site of Australia's largest industrial diaster. By the time little Gina was moved to Perth in 1958, Wittenoom was Australia's only supplier of Asbestos, mining 161,000 tonnes in-between 1943 to 1966.

As a result:

By 1986 there had been 85 deaths from pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. No such deaths occurred within ten years of first exposure to crocidolite. A survey of dustiness in the industry conducted in 1966 has provided a basis for estimates of cumulative crocidolite exposure of the members of the cohort. Exposure-response relationships have been examined. Mesothelioma incidence rates increase exponentially with time since first exposure and also increase with intensity of exposure to crocidolite. Mathematical modelling of the relationship between mesothelioma incidence and intensity of exposure, duration of exposure and time since first exposure results in an estimate of up to 700 cases of mesothelioma in this cohort by the year 2020 (A.W. Musk; N.H. de Klerk; J.L. Eccles; M.S.T. Hobbs (1993). "Mesothelioma: the Wittenoom experience". Lung Cancer (Elsevier Ireland Ltd) 9 (1–6): 405–408).

[Wittenoom has been literally removed from road signs and maps. In 2006, the West Australian Government turned off power to the town.]

IMAGE CREDIT:
Sojourn in Espérance Bay, Tessa Zettel & Karl Khoe, 2011. Production still.

Creative you. Creative me. Creative US.

2011-12-04T22:18:00.000+11:00

'What is currently missing within political discourse, academic research and the art world is a new composition of forces between artists and activists, and a necessary upgrade of the theory toolbox for an accelerated capitalism that is constantly changing its fronts of speculation. What is missing is an extensive cartography of the productive heart of the global cities and a new political grammar of the metropolitan conflicts around cultural production (Matteo Pasquinelli, Animal Spirits A Bestiary of the Commons: 131)

This letter arrived on our door step

2011-10-26T13:38:00.000+11:00

Sustainable living project. An hour from Sydney. Hell Yeah!

2011-09-12T22:31:00.001+10:00

If you are sick of rent hikes in the city and are dreaming about a life of growing your own food, practising your art, but still being in proximity to the city, and living in a community designed around your needs, you should definitely check out this eco-village in the making. Since 2006 a passionate group of people from Sydney and the Central Coast with diverse backgrounds have been hunting for a site to design an eco-community with affordable housing, shared community spaces, food production and of course environmental sustainable design. A bunch of us visited on the weekend to check out where the project is at, and to take a wander on the property they have their sights on: a now abandoned NSW Horticulture industry site in Narara (1 hour and 15 minutes hours north of Sydney) ranging 63 hectares bordered by Strickland State Forest. It's a pretty AMAZING site. Already a site for food production, including a dam, greenhouses, and a 7 minute bike ride from the station. Co-director Bek actually grew up there. (There is hardly a patch of Narara that she didn't ride her BMX bike over.) The prospects for securing the land look promising. But it needs passionate people to get involved. Of course, my usual reservations about 'intentional communities' rise to the surface, but the woman who has been spearheading it, Lyndal Paris, I have to say is pretty awesome. And she seems pretty onto all of the 'software' required in organising community, finance and governance structures. And she is particularly interested in artists taking an active role in designing the community. So I dunno, it seems pretty exciting. Anyone wanna stick their hands in the soil?

What sits before us in our very own librarium....

2011-09-08T13:36:00.000+10:00

What are the chances of your letter getting into the Sydney Morning Herald?! Bill and George Intern, Skye Gibson, who is currently helping us catalogue the Librarium, thought she would give it a good Aussie go. Amazeballs. Five fake gold stars to you Ms Gibson!

BRING BACK THE GREEN BANS

2011-08-27T23:31:00.001+10:00

It's Saturday night and I've just been hanging out at the PCYC in Woolloomooloo watching the 1985 documentary made by Pat Fiske called Rocking the Foundations. A film made about the astounding and amazing Green Bans movement and the Builders Labourers Federation in the 70's in Sydney. Wow. This film screening caps a 4 week walking project made by Big Fag Press and Cross Arts Projects and presented by Performance Space which took people on a lively and intense walking tour of the Green Bans sites throughout kingsCross and Woolloomooloo.This is by far my favourite work of art this year. This is the Sydney that I love and engenders an awkward fucked up feeling of patriotism. Where has that Sydney gone? The Green Bans were put in place (among others things) to stop the big end of time from demolishing low income homes to make way for luxury hotels. Now you don't need to demolish homes you just need to out the rent up.

WE ARE HERE. BUT WHAT ARE WE?

2011-07-20T18:46:00.000+10:00

This week we are contemplating our sector and thinking around a space syndicate that would wrap its loving arms around all our little tiny artist run space enterprises and hold us tightly and keep us safe until the bad awful real estate barons of the neo-liberal world die screaming "But, we CAN eat our money!"

In the meantime perhaps all ARSES (Artist Run Space Enterprises) should get themselves to the national symposium of Artist Run Everything. SEPTEMBER 1 - 4 In Sincity.

CREATIVE CRUNCH TIME (or can Sydney afford to keep pricing out creativity?)

2011-06-14T14:38:00.002+10:00

Panel beaters from last weekend’s panel at VIVID’S Creative Sydney provided a strangely upbeat mix of responses regarding the question “Is Sydney pricing creativity out of the picture?” Or in other words “Is the high cost of living in Sydney fucking over the very creative people who make Sydney a great place to be”.

In this context it is important to note VIVID Sydney is produced and financed by EventsNSW, which is a wing of the Tourism portfolio of the State Government, soon to amalgamate into a new entity called Destination NSW and receive an additional $45 million dollars in public money to add to its $400 million dollar budget. Hence the question seems to be better phrased as: Now that ‘creativity’ is a key driver for the economy, in particular for selling the metropolis to consumers of tourism, how can growth be maintained when it’s obvious to everyone that overheads in the cost of production are so high, and that not all parts of the sector can compete evenly.

So rephrasing the question to “Can Sydney afford to keep pricing out certain types of creativity?” Well, the cynical answer is, errrr, yes. If the vision for Sydney includes main stage musical theatre and $900 million dollar convention centres, then yes. And particularly if your vision is shared by the same decision makers who were not overly concerned that large flat screened TVs in Sydney’s pubs were a valid alternative to live musicians. Or that real estate prices are allowed, nay encouraged to, continue rising by the business community and the government, pushing out anyone who can’t afford to keep paying them. Or that artists who play their part in gentrifying an area for 2 years in a “free” warehouse given over by developers, should be gracious in moving on and leaving their creation of surplus value behind for others to profit from. Yes, the answer is a definitive Yes! Sydney can afford to price creativity out. As long as this is the kind of Sydney you want to live in.

The kind of Sydney that I heard on the panel was one where diversity and experimentation can be reasonably subject to and measured in terms of the market place, which understands creativity as a product that you place in your window for others to buy, and which regards public subsidy as a dangerous habit, much like heroin, that any self respecting successful creative is wise to avoid becoming addicted to, lest it spark a decrease in productivity. I’m not sure whether THAT’S the kind of Sydney, artists and small creatives are likely to succeed in conducting their business in. Let alone, live in.

But no one talked about the uneven playing field, and no one really talked about the crucial differences amongst art practices that require different mechanisms for sustainable growth, making the question either redundant or rhetorical. A bit like asking “Is Sydney pricing out Living”. Well, not if YOU can afford to live here.

Because the reality on the forest floor of our vast and amazing human scale ecosystem is that the “creativity” that is being priced out is not a singular and neatly clipped commodity. It is above all a diverse and multi faceted practice and process, particular to place, and highly contingent on access to affordable space. And not just ANY space, but the kind of space that is fast disappearing into overpriced studio warehouse conversions, overpopulating the area with cranky NIMBY insomniacs. Not only that, but in our not too distant future where knowledge based industries will gain greater and greater hegemony over the way we run our lives, artists or ‘creatives’ in Sydney appear dangerously unclear about their bargaining position as it concerns ‘wealth creation’ through the creation of new value and the distribution of it’s surplus value. Instead artists seem to be rather more concerned with appearing gracious in the face of apparent generosity from big developers, and even taking the time to argue down the importance of subsidy in the form of grants, as some kind of shameful welfare dependency. (Weirdly, I think we are the only industry that does this.)

So instead of there being suggestions about ways in which the property market could be reined in, or even any proper discussion about the ways in which space is absolutely crucial to creative practice in Sydney, there was mainly talk about how to get around it, how to deal with it, accept it, and how to just, well, be more ‘creative’.

Speaking on the panel, Tony Shannon, a business advisor for the Creative Innovation centre didn’t think that expensive rents were a real barrier. He suggested one way to deal with high rents was in making creative business more competitive and robust so they could afford to compete in this environment. (Better marketing strategies for your experimental dance practice, my friend!) James Winter, founder and co-director of Queen Street rehearsal space, pointed to the many hats and roles that he plays in order to make ends meet, lauding the necessity for multi skilling as a survival technique (with a touch of luck thrown in for good measure). James’ theatrical style and dynamic communication technique is what you would call a high earnings asset. A reclusive and dour faced sound artist may what to consider hiring James to increase their market exposure. Next, Kate Murray Cultural Manager for the City outlined the ways in which Council have responded to the cries for help from artists needing space, and the various initiatives aimed at nurturing creative enterprise in the city, notably through grants and provision to artists of council owned property. Merryn Spencer, talked positively about the Renew Newcastle model which has manifest itself in Parramatta city council as a series of pop up studios and shops in the CBD. Nicole Dennis spoke as both a town planner and as artist with the Academy of Emergency Art Sydney in collaboration with Saha Jones. She spoke urgently of the need for conversations between town planners and artists, particularly as neither NSW Metropolitan nor Local Environment Plans with councils are accommodating the specific needs of the cultural sectors and creative industries in their urban planning designs. Finally, Kerri Glassock spoke clearly about her experiences of running an underground jazz venue (re: illegal space) for five years before establishing their now legal venues on Elizabeth and Cleveland Street. Her experience demonstrated the need for lobbying by artists to make changes to legislation so that illegality was no longer the main barrier to a thriving performance culture, a step already making a difference with the removal of the POPE legislation last year. She highlighted the urgency of artists coming together to work with council as necessary to future sustainability.

Not discussed in any detail, were the ways in which different kinds of spaces are necessary to the pursuit and development of certain kinds of practices. Whilst shop windows in a Renew Newcastle scheme might be wonderful for an object-based practice, ephemeral practices don’t need street front exposure. Most often they need large sprung or at least wooden floors to cushion knees for movement. Marcus Westbury has elsewhere explained in detail why the scheme does not pursue these kinds of spaces. But artists still need to take up the debate and start strategizing for ways these kinds of spaces can be retained in our ecosystems. Integral to this process is recognizing that the self-management of spaces by artists for artists is an important part of developing autonomy and leadership in the sector.

However, most notably absent from the debate on the weekend was any discussion about what the causes are for Sydney’s stupidly expensive real estate.

So, why is real estate so expensive in Sydney?

Well I’m certainly no expert in the field, but it doesn’t seem beyond the capacity of the ordinary Aussie battler on struggle street to understand. Perhaps it’s the trickiness in pinpointing a singular cause and effect, when like most things, it’s a range of factors that need consideration. And it’s not because too many refugees and migrants buying up our houses and reducing availability, thus pushing up prices. Price increases have more to do with a number of policy and tax incentives that were introduced during the Howard era such as changes to negative gearing & capital gains tax, changes to superannuation laws and the first-home buyer’s grants which have benefitted property investors. With this sort of encouragement spurned on by low interest rates, and with superannuation money also being tipped into property portfolios and touted as a sure bet, the real estate bubble has been pumped solid, leading to an overvaluation of the market, some analysts suggest by as much as 62%. As Ben Eltham points out, this means that the "middle-ranked house price is nearly 13 times the middle-ranked annual disposable income", turning the Aussie dream home into a reoccurring nightmare.

Whilst this suits the top 2 per cent of the population, the rest of us can go to hell on a small rental hand-cart. Or join the ranks of artists scrambling to take up disused and under-utilised industrial and commercial space, gentrifying the area, enlarging the real estate bubble, all so we can graciously get moved on to the next depressed area. Leaving behind our communities and the arduously accumulated resources and networks that sustain us.

So can Sydney afford to lose its ‘Creatives’?

Well once again if the vision of Sydney is a creative industry defined by graphic design advertising and innovative object design marketed to and consumed by an elite demographic of inner city latte sipping weekend cyclists. Then sure!

But if your vision of Sydney is one where mixed income areas rub up against one another, where difference is really a diverse and healthy difference of opinions, of histories, of dress sense, and of politics, and income brackets, then we can not afford to price creativity out of the equation. Not just because artists working at all ends of the spectrum are questioning and contemplative risk taking and innovative and all those other buzz words embraced by the corporate sector, but because, like the frogs and the bees, when we get priced out, you can guarantee that all other vulnerable layers get priced out too. And then our shared ecosystems and our creative practices start to behave like bland homogenous cookie cutting spreadsheets.

A creative hub needs diversity and accessibility for ALL layers, in order for its ecosystem to function the best. But it seems that in our rush to adopt the rhetoric of markets, and accept the inevitability of real estate speculation to drive up housing affordability, the biodiversity of the creative habitat is being redesigned to suit the accessibility to certain types of consumers, and certain types of creative creatures. And the PRACTICE of creativity is being locked out of our ecosystem, and reassigned further and further out, depleting our biodiversity at the expense of a better and more creative kind of Sydney.

It is not very smart for art workers in our sector to accept the inevitable demise of our habitat in the face of market forces. We need to recognize our resources are explicitly bound up in place and space. Supplementary places provided by councils or by fantastic initiatives such as RenewNewcastle, whilst genuine attempts to recover space, are unable to replace this organic woven fabric. In many cases, and as was noted on the panel, the kinds of spaces available are not appropriate for all art forms, and over time results in an uneven distribution of artform practice across place.

Phrased in a different way, the question could have been read as “Can I afford to be creative in Sydney?” And the answer could have been summarised by “Yes, if I choose a certain creative practice, or yes, if I break the law and don’t get caught”

My preferred answer is “Yes, if artists start coming together across art forms and practices and communities to form a critical mass that can work collectively to remove the barriers to surviving in their city in their chosen practice” This requires artist led initiatives coming together in all their diversity and mapping out what these specific barriers are. And then working to actually change them!

We need to retain community, and not just for artists. We need to fight for our right to the city, as a place that is significant to our practices in ALL their diversity. Our resources are actually out there, on our streets, in our conversations, in our walking to the café and bumping into that person we saw at the gig last night, in our necessity for walking distance to studios and rehearsal spaces, in our close proximity to materials that can be lugged from one place to the other, in our close connections to the places we dwell in, and create and activate. When we get shifted around we lose this. And our resources, often built up invisibly and meticulously over the years, hemorrhage into the ether, usually onto someone’s renovated terrace house, or else they are appropriated by the incoming businesses who profit reasonably well from the surplus value created from our presence.

But when we fight for place, we actually get a better sense of who we are, and expand the sense of what is actually possible. And we can get down to the business of imagineering a better looking Sydney future, not just for the creative ones, but for strange ones, the bent ones, the queer ones, the shy ones, and all those who for what ever crazy reason, choose to remain clinging to its shores.

(this post was written by billandgeorge co-director Rebecca Conroy)

SALMAGUNDI 2ND ANNIVERSARY :: Saturday 18 June, 6pm

2011-06-10T17:57:00.000+10:00

AWARENESS OF OUR CRITICAL MUSCLE

2011-06-09T23:19:00.001+10:00

We don't often post things about other exhibitions and events here (although we should, but we are time poor and lazy too). But one show that has caught our eye here is AWARENESS MUSCLE at the vanishing point in Newtown. A bunch of artists asked to keep a journal over a short period of time to respond to the mainstream or otherwise media. It's an enaging but simple format. And then of course there's the ladies who put it together Saha Jones and Nicole Dennis

"Emergency Rooms consider artists as the cultural barometers of society, using creativity to raise important questions. Thierry says that in order to produce any answers we must produce effort. In the same sense that memory can be trained, an acute awareness can be developed by an effort. This becomes scrutinized through metaphorical de-conditioning exercises which stimulate what he has termed the 'Awareness Muscle', and perhaps this kind of competency is what is lacking in contemporary art.
Saha Jones and Nicole Dennis directors of THE ACADEMY OF EMERGENCY ART SYDNEY bring together a collection of videos documenting their activation of critical formats since beginning a mentorship with French- Danish format artist Thierry Geoffroy in early 2010.
Thierry’s Emergency Rooms movement has launched formats all over the world which respond to emergencies of the day. Nicole and Saha are the first to establish an independent version of his movement, where they work in partnership with him to bring these ideas to an Australian audience. The exhibition will also combine new works created by a selection of Emergency artists who have been invited to participate in a kind of awareness muscle training"

Awareness Muscle Film Screening, Thursday 16 June 7-9pm
Artist's Critical Run, Thursday 23 June 6-7pm

Bring back the typewritter

2011-05-01T22:13:00.000+10:00

We have a penchant for slow things here. Machines that interrupt the speed freak dial of twitterdeck and face book status updates; electronic mail and texting that frequently betrays HOW WE REALLY FEEL Snail mail has a precious authentic aura that is so hard to salvage these days (these daze). Our librarium is a space for slow reading and cups of tea. And slowly but surely soon we will be calling out for interested peoples to join us in slow tagging as we introduce a new archiving program here to catalogue all our delightful small press publications. In the meantime, we put the kettle on and take solace in listening to Michael Winslow and this typewriting performance.

Where are you sleeping tonight?

2011-04-19T21:55:00.001+10:00

Housing affordability in Sydney is a hot issue right now. For artists living in Sydney's ridiculously overpriced housing market it is slightly more tricky than your standard Aussie Dream.

We started Bill+George in 2007 after a year of searching for the right place, which we found through a dodgy real estate and his equally dodgy slumlandlord; a beautifully unkempt cheap warehouse space in close proximity to our previous locale (Chippendale) and public transport. Since then we have had our share of dramas, from 'unsavoury types' residing on one side of our warehouse to the conservative landed gentry on the other who regularly accuse us of being a 'disturbance to the local amenity' including one lady who told us she was 'sick and tired of picking up needles in the park' implying that we were a front for a heroin dealership. Sigh!

Yep, its been a roller coaster. But the space we built from scratch is a base for 14 artists who range across art forms, in particular performing artists who rely on large space to work collaboratively in. But our local artist habitat is disappearing. At a rate of one space a year. Actually that figure is made up, but if we were to collect the data that would be useful project. Since we collaborated on Gang Festival in 2005, most of the artist run spaces we used to host events and projects in, are gone. including the one everyone loves to romanticize about, Lan Franchis. But it was the live culture of Lan Franchis that everyone pegs their fond memories to.

At present we are at a stasis in regards to our DA which would license us to hold 3 'showings' per month, bringing our community together to review work in an affordable manner, which would elsewhere require more money and more time in setting up. These gatherings also ensure dialogue and connections get made with new work before they embark on more serious presentations with higher production values.

What has any of this got to do with Housing? As we struggle to establish our right to conduct our business in these spaces, elsewhere the cost of residential has been steadily reaching new heights. So what is the point? Once we have established our right to be here, what good is it if we can no longer afford to live near our studios, and our communities become scattered and fragmented? The point is that these issues are not mutually exclusive.

Artists need to take a good hard look at themselves if they want to retain their communities and build a more sustainable base from which to work from. And not just artists. Artists need to connect with the communities that they are in. They need to care about gentrification, and understand how they are implicated in it.We need to engineer ways that start a reverse gentrification in the areas we are currently in. Is this possible? Lets starts talking. In the meantime, check out these 2 exhibitions Right to the City and Housing Crisis this week.

OH PLACE OF HAPPY ART MAKING!

2011-03-30T12:32:00.002+11:00

For the first time Bill+George is offering its largest deluxe studio space for rent.

The current studio artist is a video artist slash animator slash motion graphics dude, and after 3 and half happy years at Bill+George, is heading over the seas.

Bill+George is an artist led studio complex with 11 artists working across art forms: We have designers, coders, installation artists, sculptors, video and sound artists, writers and a tango dancer. Our beautiful warehouse is oh so conveniently located equidistant from Central Station across Prince Alfred Park or Redfern station down George st towards Cleveland st.

Yes it's an exciting part of town. And we love it. We found our old warehouse in 2006 derelict and lonely; we brought her back to life giving her a rehearsal and collaborative space in the centre, a sun drenched open kitchen, a palatial bathroom with hot tub included, and a foyer space which leads into our own dedicated library of small press publications.

The lockable 40 square metre studio is $1200 (incl. GST) per month including all utilities. Available 1st of april.

We are looking for a similar company (design/graphics/web) to take up this big space and call it your own. Or maybe you work in some other nook of the creative industry spectrum. If you are interested please send though an expression of interest with who you are what you do and a rough guide as to how you would be using your studio including the number of people who work with you.

Email: Rebecca Conroy

info at billandgeorge dot org

Check us out at www.billandgeorge.org

or for more direct enquiries call Rebecca on 0413763814

We can't wait to meet youse.

"If you wanna fly, you gotta give up the shit that weighs you down." - Toni Morrison

2011-03-14T00:37:00.001+11:00

Salmagundi Studios is inviting artists, performers and other creative dreamers, inventors and vagabonds to participate in our second anniversary group show, exploring the theme of "Flight".

Do you dream of flying? When presented with the dilemma, "fight or flight", is your first instinct to opt for the better part of valour? Have you, through necessity or expedience, had to flee a situation or locale? Do you indulge in flights of fancy? When about to embark on a flight, do feel excitement, anticipation or dread?

An obsession for artists, dreamers, visionaries and inventors throughout time, analogous for ambitions and fantasies, and now such a common practice it's positively mundane. But next time your heading on a flight, just remember you're sitting in a 400 tonne machine, flying through the air, 11 kilometres up in the sky, at around 900 kmh - the correct reaction is FUUCK!

We want your reaction - email us through this email studios@salmagundi.com.au

The event will be held at the Studios in Arncliffe on Saturday 21st May, 2011,

To be included in the first round of publicity, applicants must be received and accepted by the end of March,

Send us a brief Bio, contact details, photos and dimensions of the work, if completed, or a description of the proposed piece and examples of previous work, if not. Please include any websites or online folios you may have.

We'd love your participation in celebrating our second birthday so get in touch.

Salmagundi Stew

Cuppa tea on Sunday arvo with the good people from EngageMedia

2011-03-03T13:15:00.001+11:00

STUDIOS FINALLY AVAILABLE AT BILL+GEORGE

2011-02-22T22:38:00.001+11:00

Yes aesthetically inclined people, 3 studios have become available at Bill+George. Like hotcakes they will be gobbled up quickly so work out how many pretty pennies you have to invest in your creative future. We are having a bit of a restructure of sorts which means that 3 whole spaces have become available. See what you think by enquiring at info at billandgeorge dot org. PRICES $250 OR $440 OR $500 (including GST) PER MONTH depending on preference of size. Includes ALL utilities including the internets, a gorgeous sun drenched kitchen, hot tub and goodlooking creative professionals a plenty! Hotchacha!!!

URGENT: Donations required for Sipon, wife of murdered Indonesian artist and activist Widji Thukul

2011-02-01T03:42:00.001+11:00

CALL FOR SUPPORT: The wife of well known Indonesian poet, Widji Thukul needs help. Siphon is currently in an Indonesian hospital receiving treatment for liver dysfunction. Sipon is the wife of legendary peoples poet Widji Thukul who was disappeared by the Indonesian Military during the uprising in 1998. Siphon has 2 children, one of whom Wani, is now taking after her father and writing and publishing her own poetry. Widji's family live in a modest kampung in Solo, Central Java, and have nothing. Siphon has been supporting her family on her own since Widji was forced into the underground in 1995.

Bill and George was a key space in the hosting of 2 Gang festivals 2006 and 2008 and fostered many friendships and collaborations. Cofounder and director Rebecca Conroy has spent many years living among Indonesian artists activists and friends of Widji's communities.

"Widji was and remains an important figure in my life, before he disappeared, and still to this day. I know very well how expensive medical treatment is in Indonesia, and have previously lost two friends in Jakarta from curable diseases simply because they couldn't afford the treatment." says Rebecca Conroy, co-founder of Bill and George and co-director of Gang Festival.

If you are able to donate (even $20 can do so much in Indonesia), Bill and George Artist Run Space (Pabrik Productions Inc.) can be the conduit for funds before transferring them to the Indonesian based bank account.

If you want to be part of a joint donation you can deposit into the Bill+George Account:

PABRK PRODUCTIONS
Commonwealth Bank
BSB: 06 2498
ACC: 1006-1327

Please email bill and george (info at billandgeorge dot org) to let us know you have deposited: In ten days we will send an email to everyone who has responded with a receipt of the transfer so you know it has all gone ahead.

Wani and Fajar still very much need their mother.

Here is some writing that Rebecca did about Widji and his family when Gang Festival published an anthology of work 2 years ago called "Gang Re:publik" (www.gangfestival.com)

matur nuwun...(thank you)

BNG

oh my, america!

2010-11-24T14:34:00.000+11:00

In November Resident artist and co-founder of Bill+George, Rebecca Conroy trawled through the USA meeting with some interesting artists and spaces. Two big stops were Chicago and Detroit. It seems that Chicagoans are massively into their socially engaged artist practice here and there is much to converse on here. So far Rebecca has met with the Chicago Underground library, Anti Gravity Surprise and Incubate (which closed their space last year). She also visited Links Hall which is a grass rootsy independent arts space with a long history, and the beginnings of a new museum dedicated to tracing and animating the history of public housing. The following post offers some insights from here travels: ....

Ok so Chicago is AWESOME. An ethnically and culturally diverse and dense urban metropolis of arts practices and histories. How do you get your head around this stuff? In less than 10 days? You don't. You simply plan a return trip for 2011. Like all of us, everyone here is grappling with the work/life/art balance and it is comforting (if not a little disconcerting) to hear the same stories about survival here. Arriving at the Chicago Underground Library to join in a meeting of volunteers was interesting, and perversely humorous to realise how closely aligned we are in terms of the internal struggles of a small volunteer run space. The world over we are all balancing the same elements. Conversing with the director Nell Tayor was interesting and useful in further determining the parameters and intentions of our own library here at Bill+George. The CUL has an open source platform, not just online but in the physical workings of its space. This appears to working well, and is a particularly conscious aesthetic in their operation. Their process of cataloguing for example follows a web based approach of tagging key words and entering them into an open source plumi software installed on your laptop. Furthermore this is generated in real time around a table with a group of dedicated aficiandos gathered for "Cataloguing Socials" where food and drink is shared and books/texts/zines in the collection are circulated and commented upon while being inserted into the online catalogue. What a great way to spend a sunday afternoon! CUL is driven by a clear philosophy of inviting and accepting anything in their collection with the intention that it disrupts the normalisng circulatory processes of mainstream culture, whereby only a particular set of texts are available. Concurrently with the live, engaged real time cataloguing it provides and provokes a space for conversation and dialogue about these texts. These texts are then mapped according to where they were published or created, generating a physical sense of where the ideas were generated, place being such an important determinant in content creation.

This is really helping me crystalize some ideas on our own approach to the librarium. Our decision to pursue a select curation of small press which only reached out to a select few artists and practices is all about defining a space for these practices amongst the more dominant and disturbing practices of our culture. We don't have an open community approach like CUL, but who knows this is where may go...

LIBRARIUM OPENING SUNDAY JULY 4

2010-06-24T12:00:00.001+10:00

2010-02-18T15:28:00.000+11:00

FAMILIAR FACES IN OTHER PLACES...

One time only our resident KISS CLUB goes offshore and onsite at Performance space FRIDAY FEB 19. KISS CLUB artists spent some brief moments incubating in track 12 to bring you a real in progress experimental like night of performance. If you're a Club groupie stay up to date on the farcebook fan page

Clubhouse is also presenting a whole load of good offerings including mind auraltering music nights. Have a look at the Pspace website for more happenings.

2009-10-05T17:21:00.000+11:00

WELL, it's been an AMASSING week. Check out Melbourne’s Fringe for some action on the streets and the Take of Your Skin’s project created by Dario Vacirca and the creative team of Well Theatre. This is really the tops story for the week and the rest of this year. (if you look closely you may see Bek running around in a tiny blue tunic. Yes, it was fucking freezing)

Other little tiny event things happening in our little space.

FILM SCREENING Tuesday 13th October KANTANTA TAKWA – the incredible story about Indonesia’s most popular band SUAMI and its leader Iwan Fals. Recently screenned at the Brisbane International Film Festival. We open the doors at 7pm

And its time for smoochy smoochy with KISS CLUB pashing its way onto the faux stage at Bill+george on FRIDAY 16TH OCTOBER. 730PM for an 8pm start.

Meanwhile TUK in Salatiga is getting ready for an invasion of Australian artists. Check out Festival Mata Air which happens this weekend. Sik yo!

Other things of importancy:

1. Locksmith publication deadline: 9TH OCTOBER

2. GRAND OPENING OF SALMAGUNDI STUDIOS: 10th October

3. Artspace seeking volunteers for a major project in January next year. Download info below.

4. 2042 art on the street looking for artists/volunteers.

5. Performance Space call out for CLUBHOUSE applications/proposals/wishlists

1. LOCKSMITH PUBLICATION DEADLINE

Submissions due Friday 9th October, 2009.  Locksmith Project is an independent, curated publication of local, national and international artists? ideas and writing. Locksmith Project provides artists and writers with the opportunity to experiment with works in progress, initial ideas, research, sketches, plans and basically anything that constitutes making art work.  Each issue of Locksmith Project is a limited edition of five hundred copies and is printed in Australia on 100% recycled paper using soy based ink.  Please go to www.locksmithprojectspace.com to download an application form and to view submission guidelines. Submissions must be postmarked by Friday October 9, 2009. We do not accept applications via email.  For any enquiries please email: publication@locksmithprojectspace.com

The Locksmith Directors

GRAND OPENING OF SALMAGUNDI STUDIOS SATURDAY 10TH OCTOBER

Exhibition and launch party for an exciting new creative space in Arncliffe, Sydney.

Free Exhibition from 6pm - 8pm featuring work from Salmagundi artists-in-residence as well as a number of guest artists from the wider artistic community, Followed by launch party and fundraiser, 8pm til late, with Live music, performance, DJ's and video installations,

Live Music from: My Good Sauce/White Knuckle Fever/Le Gato Gruff/Liz Martin + more

Exhibiting artists:Jasmin Poole, Kay Orchison, Kassandra Bossell, Cecile Knowles,Justin Henderson, Lou MacDonald, Jamil Stone, Gawaa,Pierre Cavalan, Dillon MacEwan, Paul Raymond, Matt Fawl, Stefaen Day, Sitt Sitlakone, Dean Sewell, Terry Archer, Rachel Flannery, Brian Paisley, Pete Strong, Pirate Photography, Mike Turner, Dirk Kruithof....more TBA Recommended donation $10

4. Like to help make ‘2042: art on the street’ Happen?

2042: art on the street is a free annual art event presented by Inner West Cultural Services. To be held in Newtown Square 10am-4pm Saturday 24 October and 10am – 9pm Sunday 25 October. www.2042artonthestreet.com.

This year, for one weekend, we are turning the heart of Newtown into a giant colouring-in book just waiting to be coloured in and filled with photos, stories, drawings, paintings, poems…. by Newtown’s creative community.

We are looking for creative people to help straight away to create wallpaper paste-ups.

Tasks – screen printing; cutting paper stencils; arranging and gluing shapes onto paper to create wallpaper.

Work with Collider and Makeshft in a workshop environment (just off King St). If you can spare a couple of hours or a day, every little bit helps; we’d love to hear from you!

Workshop times: Wednesday, 7 October 11am – 5pm Saturday, 10 October 10am – 5pm Sunday, 11 October 10am-3pm

Send your contact details, a brief line about yourself to Camilla at info@innerwestcs.org.au or phone: 9550 4156.

We value your support. Your contribution will be posted on the 2042 website and you will go into the draw to receive an original and unique 2042:art on the street T’shirt.

STAY POSTED.. we have a number of other VOLUNTEER AND PAID POSITIONS AVAILABLE during the festival weekend ... for more details email info@innerwestcs.org.au.

Artspace%20call%20out

2042%20volunteer%20and%20paid%20positions.pdf

2009-09-16T17:22:00.000+10:00

Wow. And more wow.

2009-08-12T21:44:00.000+10:00

Our little space is going through some exciting rough and tumble. New crew moving in, new projects brewing, new events on the horizon. How do you keep up with it all! Sometimes you just don't. And you just let it happen.

Bek just returned from the splendid arts lab with guns blazing. Now she has us all champing at the bit for collaborative cross art forming. We will do our best. Check out the web blog

http://blog.splendid.org.au/blog

Lots of stuff happening. See below:

1. The good people at First draft need help for fire safety modification to building (God we know what that feels like). Attend, donate, give, believe. It's only all of us, so pull some weight.

2. Indigenous artists attention: Indiglab calling out for artists of indigenous heritage also incubate program at PACT and NAISDA auditions. Yaama!!

3. Opportunity for Mural artistes making something at local and great ARI locksmith

4. Urban Theatre projects calling out for artists to apply to their residency program. Yo.

SAVE FIRSTDRAFT FUNDRAISER ART AUCTION

Recently named by Creative Sydney as one of the cities’ top ‘Creative Catalysts’, Firstdraft Gallery - Sydney’s longest-running ARI - has been giving big breaks to budding artists since 1986. Some of Australia’s top young artists got their start at Firstdraft. Now we need your help.

Firstdraft lives in a building that has been served with a compulsory Council fire order. In the coming weeks and months, we must undertake significant renovations to our much-loved space in order to keep our doors open to the public.

Firstdraft will be rebuilding, rewiring and providing disabled access to our 3 galleries and 2 studios. And for that we need money we don’t have. Imagine if Firstdraft were to close... future biennale stars, gallery curators and the next generation of up-and-coming artists may not get the start they need.

That’s where you come in. Firstdraft is holding an emergency fundraiser auction at the gallery on Thursday 3 September 2009 to raise $20,000 for the cause. Former Firstdraft directors and artists, as well as fellow galleries, are rushing to donate artworks for auction in support of one of Sydney’s most important venues for emerging and experimental art. The auction will be hosted by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art.

We need your support too. Come along and snap up some killer bargains. Tell your friends. Get involved! Every dollar raised will go to keeping alive a space that has added to the cultural vibrancy and creative spirit of Sydney for over two decades.

Further information: http://firstdraftgallery.com/070%20Fundraiser/index.html

What: SAVE FIRSTDRAFT fundraiser art auction

When: Thursday, 3 September 2009 from 6-9pm [previews available from 12pm Wednesday 2 September 2009]

Where: Firstdraft gallery, 116-118 Chalmers St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Who: Works have been generously donated by artists and galleries such as: Del Kathryn Barton, Mike Parr, Lauren Brincat, Sarah Goffman, Simon Kennedy, Brett East, Tom Polo, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Michaela Gleave, Mikala Dwyer, Helen Hyatt-Johnston, Jake Walker, Jessica Maurer, Rachel Scott, Newell Harry, Mitch Cairns, Penelope Benton, Jess Oliveri, Sonny Day, Rod Jacka, Lionel Bawden, Jumaadi, Will French, Kate Scardifield, Shane Haseman, Gallery9, Breenspace and Damien Minton gallery, plus many many more.

Fundraiser contact: Debbie Pryor, Co-Director, Firstdraft gallery m: 0423 103 378 / e: debbie@firstdraftgallery.com

Media contact: Jessica Tyrrell, Co-Director, Firstdraft gallery m: 0406 690 824 / e: jessica@firstdraftgallery.com

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: INDIGELAB 2009
PERFORMANCE SPACE

Applications are now open for IndigeLab 2009 – a two-week residential arts laboratory for Indigenous artists led by Wesley Enoch, Brook Andrew and company. Artists who work in different artforms from around Australia are invited to participate in a challenging environment of exchange, experiment and play.

Bundanon, South Coast, NSW
31 October–13 November, 2009

Deadline for applications: 31 August, 2009
More information: contact indigelab@performancespace.com.au or (02) 8571 9111

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: INCUBATE
PACT Centre for Emerging Artists

From 24 Aug–18 Sept, PACT is running Incubate, a performance laboratory for emerging Indigenous artists. Part creative development, part mentorship, Incubate will involve a small ensemble of performance makers participating in a creative process; plus independent time for artists to work in the PACT space with a mentor.

Expressions of interest by 15 August, 2009
More information: contact (02) 9550 5744 or pactad@pact.net.au

2009 AUDITION PROGRAM
NAISDA

Don’t miss this year’s NAISDA Audition Program from 7–9 October, 2009 at NAISDA Dance College on the Central Coast.

If you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander aged 18-30 you can audition for NAISDA and it’s free. No dance experience or school qualifications required. Travel, accommodation and meals all covered by Abstudy. The October auditions program is the only way into NAISDA next year.

More information: freecall 1800 117 116 or visit www.naisda.com.au/news-update

Hey everyone,

This is a call out for anyone interested in creating a new mural for
the wall in Locksmith?s backyard. We have a 2m x 5m wall that needs a
makeover for the next exhibition and publication launch opening on the
3rd of September.

This is a great opportunity for you to get creative and get some
exposure at a Sydney artist-run space.

Let us see your ideas!!!!

Send us an image if you have one, otherwise please give us a detailed
written proposal of your idea.

info@locksmithprojectspace.com

Thanks
Locksmith Directors

URBAN THEATRE PROJECTS - INTERSECTION RESIDENCY
UTP is seeking proposals from artists for our 2010 Intersection Residency. UTP will support the research or creative development of new performance work that is a synthesis of artists, idea, site and public dialogue. Based at UTP rehearsal space in Bankstown, artists are encouraged to explore strong new ideas that resonate with our company purpose and are driven by an artistic inquiry.

UTP will provide up to $15,000 to support artistic teams, rehearsal space and negotiated dramaturgical feedback and support.

Proposals are due by Tuesday 15th September 2009.

For more information and guidelines go to www.urbantheatre.com.au <http://www.vision6.com.au/ch/1p74mvs/117927/43987m9d2.html>

2009-07-01T15:57:00.000+10:00

Ok Kids its seriously smoochy smoochy..the third installment of Kiss Club is hitting the floor on July 10th. Our favorite performance wrangler Kaz has put together a stellar cast so just come along.

2009-05-18T13:43:00.000+10:00

2009-05-02T20:49:00.000+10:00

It's come what MAY.

If affordable housing is the new religion this millennium then we are the Lords Shepard’s. Bill and George was founded on providing affordable studio space for artists, but what the hell, if you can’t afford to live in the city then what fricking use is a studio?!!!

Because of this, BNG crew monger Rebecca has become singularly focussed on radical housing solutions for RIGHT NOW. This involves fraternising with an emerging consortium of stakeholders with the power to purchase land in the city and implement a thing called a Community Land Trust. To find out more about this STAY TUNED. We will be presenting a chatroom event at bill and george SHORTLY with questions and answers and special guests who know all about this business. Serious stimulating. A home among the gum trees, a verandah out the back….a rockin chair! And a community vege patch. Oh stop it…I’m delirious….

SUPERSTAR ARTIST PROFILES

Ex-BNG resident artist Ben Riding is displaying himself in the Grant Pirrie window all this week and next. Check it out:

http://www.grantpirrie.com/exhibition.php?g=window&e=11&s=3&i=1

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE GIFTED AND TALENTED

By George! Applications open now

Check it: http://www.lanewaysbygeorge.com.au/

International Artists Residence

Turin, Italy

The Diogene group of artists is promoting the international competition “Diogene Urbanbivouac”, open to italian and foreign artists. The artist selected will be hosted in a small housing unit or Bivouac , built in an “interstitial” area of the city, that will be the artist’s living and working environment.

The first residence program has been held in 2007 with the artists Giorgio Andreotta Calò and Mario Tomè; the chinese artist Pak Sheung Chuen won the first official competition held in autumn 2008.

Deadline: May 23, 2009

Period of stay: three to six weeks between September 21 and November 7 2009

Budget: up to 7.500 euros (attendance reward, travel and living expenses, Production expenses for the project/s)

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITY: The vanishing point gallery in newtown is hosting a world enviro day film night..... it's happening on friday 5th june at at the vanishing point gallery from 6-9pm. we are asking artists to respond to the theme of climate emergency!! this is a one night only event and i reckon it could be pretty great. i'm contacting you guys to see whether you are interested in submitting a work for the night! we are looking for short films or performances. duration should be say 20 minutes or less. (sorry we can't have any other sort of works because it's just for one night and there will be another show happening in the gallery at the same time )

on the night there will be a guest speaker and then show a bunch of artist's responses to "climate emergency" in the form of short films or performances. please consider making a work for this night or maybe passing this info on to anyone you think might be interested. For more info contact Ingrid at ingriddernee@hotmail.com.

NEWS FROM UDDER SPACE

Ex-Mekanarky crew calling for interest from artists for new warehouse in Arncliffe.

From Dillon: We've just had our offer on a warehouse in Arncliffe accepted by the

landlord, and are looking for Artists to rent studios.

It is an older style warehouse on 2 levels, rollerdoor access on both

levels, with good light, kitchen and some office type rooms.

The lower floor has a concrete floor, the upper one, wood. There is 3 phase

power in the building.

We will be renting spaces at around $1.75 psm per week, which gives you a

7m x 8m space for around $100 per week.

This would include most amenities, plus broadband, electricity would

probably be worked out separately though.

The space is currently an open warehouse space, so first in get the most

say in the studio layout.

The space should become available in 4 - 6 weeks time, but viewings can be

arranged prior to that.

I'll be posting more info, as the project develops, probably through the

old mekanarky website (www.mekanarky.com), and through facebook and

myspace.

GET INTO IT: SOCIALISING INITIATIVES

The crisis and beyond: for a stronger and fairer housing system

A conference – Thursday 2 July 2009, 9.00 am to 4.00 pm – Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, Level 1, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney

Beyond the housing affordability crisis, beyond the global economic crisis … how can we make our housing system stronger and fairer?

Housing policy in Australia has been through a time of dramatic transformation, with the introduction of a raft of new initiatives from the Commonwealth Government, a new era of cooperation between Commonwealth and state/territory governments, and new instruments for funding housing assistance.

Shelter NSW is presenting a one-day conference in Sydney on Thursday 2 July 2009 to explore these issues and more:

New Commonwealth Government housing initiatives
NSW Government’s housing initiatives and implementation of Commonwealth reforms
Public housing – is it to be limited to a role as the housing of last resort?
Community housing – what is its capacity to become more than a service specified and subcontracted by government?
The private sector – is there a crisis, and how does the tax system affect price and supply?
Homeless people – will they really get their day in the sun?
The working poor – will they continue to be the household that housing policy forgot?
Tenants, both public and private – what is needed to create homes?

Speakers include:

The Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP, Commonwealth Minister for Housing
The Hon. David Borger MP, NSW Minister for Housing
Mike Allen, Director-General of Housing NSW
John Mant, lawyer and urban policy consultant
Yuri Grbich, formerly Professor at Law, University of New South Wales and founding director of Atax, UNSW
Kath Hulse, Associate Professor, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne Institute of Technology
Sue Cripps, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness NSW
Carol Croce, Executive Director, Community Housing Federation of Australia
Adam Farrar, Executive Director, NSW Federation of Housing Associations.

Who should attend?

Community welfare organisations, social housing tenants, providers of rental housing, tenant organisations and activists, and policymakers are invited to attend.

Venue

Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, Level 1, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney (5 minutes' walk from Town Hall and Museum stations, nearest cross streets are Bathurst and Park streets). Click here for a map.

Time

9.00 am to 4.00 pm, Thursday 2 July 2009. Check-in on the day of the conference opens at 8.00 am.

Registration

For a registration form, click here.

Registrations close on June 26.

Calling all community activists! School for Citizens at CPD

Ever wanted to know how to influence decision-makers about an issue that matters to you or your community? Are you somewhat baffled by the policy process? Want to know what really goes on inside the mysterious policy-making factory?

The Centre for Policy Development's (CPD) School for Citizens is a new workshop designed to help community groups, non-government organisations and not-for-profits better understand AND affect policy processes.

With short tutorials from media professionals, government staffers and social activist and policy expert Eva Cox, the School for Citizens will give community activists and change agents a basic understanding of the policy cycle and the skills needed to put forward their ideas for change.

The first School for Citizens workshop will be held on Friday May 22, 2009 at the Sydney Mechanic School for Arts - Level 1, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney. Applications open now – places limited! Applications close May 9, 2009 at 5pm.

Visit http://cpd.org.au/events/school-citizens for more information or contact schoolforcitizens@cpd.org.au for an application form. Also be sure to pass this email on to any friends or colleagues you know that could benefit from an insight into the world of policy.

The Centre for Policy Development's School for Citizens – your ideas can change Australia

everybody needs an artist

2009-04-03T14:32:00.000+11:00

BILL+GEORGE NEWS APRIL 2009
SO HOT RIGHT NOW
Brand new funky studio moves

Bill+George was left naked of artists this month when good fortune befell our favourite son Ben Riding and he took his boyish good looks back to the western frontier in preparation for a 6 month stint in Europe. Coinciding with others downsizing into shared space and the building of a new studio at the end means we have spaces available for your inspection and interest.

Details are:

small studio $250 per month

large studio: $800 per month

Writers and online media creative workers: 200 per month

Studio rent includes all utilities, waste removal services, wireless internet and general upkeep and maintenance of the building.

Bill+George was discovered by a collective of homeless artists having lost their beloved wedding circle gallery and studio space in May 2006. Bill+George was stumbled across as a derelict unhygienic warehouse with no plumbing or electricity. It took a bank loan through a generous friend and lots of wall building and steep learning curves over a 12 month period to get where we are today - 12 artists working across fashion design, performance, writing, visual arts, digital media and film making. And one very pretty Tango dancer.

Being an artist run space, rents are kept low in exchange for a flexible work environment. We sometimes hold events like film screenings or performance nights or rehearsals in the main space. We aim for a balance between a studious and professional work space where people earn a living, and bending the rules a little bit in the spirit of good looking conversation; a space where new ideas and collaborations can take off.

We share kitchen and meeting space, a ridiculously oversized and decked out bathroom, and feature big barn doors that open up onto to next doors Argentinean like vista. All in the heart of Redfern, fast becoming the next hot inner city hamlet (for wankers) The above spaces are also very hot and will fast be disappearing. So send an email with details about your practice, how many days a week you work, what kind of sounds you make while you work, and how big your commitment is and which space you have your beady eyes on.
EMAIL: INFO [AT] BILLANDGEORGE.ORG

LEAVING US SHAKING
Kiss club
So we had some kissing action at last months KISS CLUB curated by our favourite performance provok-couture Kaz Therese. Alarmingly beautiful performative encounters by local kids Alexandra Harrison, Ahil Ratnomohan, Martin delAmo and interstate galactic stellar show offs by melbournians Anna Leizbit, and Sivan Gabriellavich. Thanks also to Anne Maree Daziel who shared stories in conversation with Kaz Therse where we learnt how milking cos can lead to great things in Campbelltown Art Center (THE VERY BEST THINGS IN FACT)
Watch this space: more kissing to come

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE GIFTED AND TALENTED
Check these hot offers out if you are young and emerging.
(If you are slow and stagnant, forgettaboutiiiitttt)

Runway submissions: April 15
Emerging Producers Mentorship: April 17
Splendid ArtsLab: May 4
Nighttime Petty Theft proposals: May 4
First draft proposals: May 15

Splendid: Call for Artists
Can you develop an idea that will inspire thousands?
Apply now for our 2009 Splendid Arts Lab.

Splendid 2009 is seeking agents of creative change for 3 weeks of bending art forms and collaboration to create new works for 2010 Splendour in the Grass festival. Splendid is a residential arts laboratory for those interested in cross-artform practice, designed to allow for a diverse range of artists to intersect, exchange and unfold ideas.

Splendid is open to young and emerging artists (under 30 years or in the first 5 years of their practice) who work in the visual arts, theatre, dance, design, installation, architecture, digital media, sound, text, community arts and other creative pursuits.

Applications due: 4pm Monday 4 May 2009
Arts Lab: 20 July to 7 August, 2009
Commission proposals: February 2010
Splendour Installation: July 2010

To apply visit www.splendid.org.au and download the guidelines, selection criteria and application form.

Emerging Producer Mentorships
10 mentorships for emerging producers, agents, gallery dealers and rights managers available through the Australia Council for the Arts opportunities for young and emerging artists program.
For a period of 18 months the selected candidates will have the opportunity to work directly alongside one of the following industry leaders:
The Arts Centre, Melbourne, Vic.
Arts Projects Australia, Adelaide, SA
Desart, Alice Springs, NT
Fremantle Press, Perth, WA
Marguerite Pepper Productions, Sydney, NSW
Object - Australian Centre for Craft and Design Sydney, NSW
Performance Space, Sydney, NSW
Ten Days on the Island, Hobart, Tas.
Text Publishing, Melbourne, Vic.
Woodford Folk Festival, Qld

Applications close 5pm 17 April, 2009.
Mentorships will commence June 2009.

Performance Space presents: Nighttime PETTY THEFT
Call for short works to be presented at Carriageworks on June 19
Check out the website for more detail or download the pdf here
DEADLINE: MAY 4

RUNWAY
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: ISSUE 14 | FUTURES

runway is an independent, not-for-profit publication managed by a group of Sydney-based artists, writers and curators. runway supports and presents practices that are experimental, conceptually driven and community based; and promotes and encourages critical dialogue within the local art community. An integral component of runway is the themed artist pageworks section, which encourages artists to conceptualise new projects within the published format.

We are now calling for proposals and submissions for ISSUE 14 | FUTURES.
runway accepts submissions from contemporary visual artists, writers and curators. Emerging and early career practitioners are particularly encouraged to submit. Submissions should address the theme of the issue, however lateral approaches to the theme are encouraged.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS FROM WRITERS: Wednesday April 15.
DEADLINE FOR FINAL SUBMISSIONS FROM WRITERS AND ARTISTS: Wednesday May 13.

PLEASE NOTE: there are two deadlines for this issue. The first deadline is for writers proposing to submit feature articles, interviews, reviews and other critical texts. The second is the deadline for the approved proposals for writing, and for final submissions from artists.

For more information and to download submission guidelines please go to www.runway.org.au/contribute

Firstdraft call for proposal
Firstdraft is currently accepting proposals for its Exhibition, Emerging Artist Studio and Emerging Curators Programs for the second half of 2009. 
Emerging Curators Program: • A three-week exhibition in the whole gallery (including promotion and opening costs) • Access to and assistance with Firstdraft's equipment and resources • Funding and assistance for the production of a small catalogue to accompany the show and towards curatorial costs 
Exhibition: • Exhibition proposals are invited from individuals and groups, artists and curators

Emerging Artist Studio Program: • A studio space on the ground floor of Firstdraft for eleven weeks • A three-week exhibition at Firstdraft upon completion of the program
For more information please download application forms at http://www.firstdraftgallery.com/050%20Information/004%20Forms/index.html
or email mail@firstdraftgallery.com
Applications for the new Firstdraft/Runway Emerging Writers Program will be available shortly.
Applications close: 6pm Friday 15 May 2009 ___________________________________________________________  CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Firstdraft is currently looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join our dynamic team. Volunteering is a fantastic way to gain experience working in a gallery, looks great on your resume, shows initiative and will provide you with new skills and an increased insight into the contemporary arts community.  As a not-for-profit, independent artist-run gallery for emerging artists and curators we provide a space for a diverse range of practices and projects. As well as the ongoing exhibition program, our current projects include the Emerging Curator program, an on-site Studio program, and an Artists Talks series.  Firstdraft is run by a board of artists and curators on a volunteer basis and has done so, with a rotating directorship, for 23 years. Current directors are Di Smith, Kelly Doley, Cy Norman, Will French, Connie Anthes, Debbie Pryor, Kate Scardifield and Jessica Tyrrell.  If you would like to get involved or for more information, please contact Grace Archibald, Firstdraft Volunteer Coordinator, at grace@firstdraftgallery.com
___________________________________________________________
Firstdraft 116-118 Chalmers St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 t: +61 (0)2 9698 3665 e: mail@firstdraftgallery.com http://www.firstdraftgallery.com
Firstdraft opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday 12-6pm
  Firstdraft is supported by Arts NSW and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.  Firstdraft is supported by Bristol.  Firstdraft is a non-profit gallery run on a voluntary basis by a group of practising artists. It is one of the longest running and most successful artist-run initiatives in Australia. Firstdraft asserts the importance of contemporary art production, dissemination and discussion in society, providing a stimulating exhibition space that is professional and accessible for a diverse range of artistic practices and projects.

2009Splendid_CallOut.pdf

Pettytheftcallout.pdf

built in obsolescence

2009-03-09T09:27:00.000+11:00

This city is an aspirant whore. She is a bridled saxon copulating in the native south. She is replete with adultery and bad breath, from sucking so much cockney, hence forth she bends over, backwards, she tumbles ass over tit, filth and swine.

Syderney. 2009.

STUDIO SPACE AVAILABLE NOW

2009-02-13T15:47:00.001+11:00

GANG RE:PUBLIK SYNDYE LAUNCH!!!

2008-11-21T00:48:00.000+11:00

Hey kids - sunday afternoon book launch. 5PM 7TH DECEMBER

MOVEMBER

2008-11-17T01:43:00.000+11:00

It’s hair lip for some, and Tom Selleck to others (HOT 80’s private eye) - word up to the men doing it for health bits this MOW-VEMBER. Some seriously ugly moustaches parading around Sydney at the moment.

Other news: We are so proud of Bill and George crew member Rhoda and her team at Little and Loud. www.littleandloud.org

Little and Loud is currently focused on supporting Fote Primary School in the Solomon Islands. Please check out their stories, videos and photos, donate and spread the word! News.com.au feature on them: http://www.news.com.au/adoptavillage

ARTSLAB is hurtling towards the tail end of its occupancy and hence towards something something fabulous. Its called Keepin it Smoochy Smoocy. AKA KISS CLUB. DECEMBER 5. Stay tuned for excitement (and more details)

::SPECIAL EVENTS AT BILL + GEORGE::

Gang Re:publik Book Launching

SUNDAY DECEMBER 7. Live Music. Food and Drinks. 5PM

gang re:Publik (indonesia-australia creative adventures)

Gang Re:publik is a brand new anthology of creative exchange from Indonesia and Australia with 200 pages of previously unpublished essays, stories, conversations and illustrations from over 40 fabulous contributors. Edited by Alexandra Crosby, Rebecca Conroy, Suzan Piper, Jan Cornall

((Gang Festival and creative exchange is an artist-led initiative celebrating the deep links between Indonesian and Australian community arts. Gang Festival takes as its theme the Indonesian word for alleyway. It straddles a dual reference to small roads and particular social groupings; it refers to the space betwixt and between more permanent and conventional roads and roles. In Indonesian communities, ‘gang’, forms a critical artery in Kampung culture, where local trade and communities thrive in close proximity to one another. Gangs also evoke images of crevices, margins, and a rich density of peripheral culture. We also draw from the English meaning of the word to describe an exciting cross-cultural collaboration between a large number of art workers who situate their work on the margins of commercial art practice in Australia and Indonesia.))

UTP RESIDENCY

2008-10-24T09:58:00.000+11:00

Urban Theatre Projects (Bankstown)

Check out the call for residency applications!

intersection09.pdf

peepin & squeakin

2008-10-19T20:45:00.000+11:00

Today was Peep Show Chippendale. We lifted our skirts for approximately 40 strangers. And showed them our underbelly - actually we just poured them cups of tea and offered them scones with cream and Jam. And then they looked in zine library while several people danced the tango. How lovely. Thanks to Sami and James at Queen Street for making it possible!! Now we best be getting off to the street party.....

xxx

08.08.08

2008-08-15T21:27:00.000+10:00

Lets imagine that it’s the 8^th of the 8^th month in 2008 and we got this web news out in time.

Instead we were probably stitching up a fabulous meeting with the next round of artSlab-ists who we are proud to announce are: Performance making duo Kaz Therese and Lizzie Thompson; and visual artists Skye Gibson and Claire Conroy. Together these creative ventures will collude and cross fertilise occasionally, trading and sharing ideas as they work on their respective projects in the space. WELCOME!

CHIPPENDALE IS HAVING A PEEP SHOW

On the 19th October the creative skeletons of chippendale will open up to the public for a tour of spaces and industries in a crafty murketing slash networking slash community exercise. Part of Art and About (City of Sydney), Peep show has been in development for some time, taking in ideas from collaborating organs and artists about how to show off and start some serious conversations about getting networked and robust in a local economy kind of way. Bill and George are taking part even though we do straddle the fringe of chippendale, but we still feel a kind of ethnic heritage to the area from the wedding circle days and when Gang festival first roamed the laneways of chippo way back when....so stay posted and tuned.

UPDATE ON FRASERS

Errr....there is none...errr

UPDATE ON UPDATES

Bill and George is still trying to put up its curtains. If anyone knows anyone with some spare tab tracks lying around, pray tell....

Our dream of getting a version of a sprung floor has just taken a gigantic leap forward with news of some dedicated sponsorship. We will announce this when the details are locked in. Suffice to say we are elated. And so are many dancing knees across Sydney. But particularly Hosi's knees, which we can hear squealing with joy right now.

POSTS POSTS AND POSTS: exciting things moving

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

JURA BOOKS – POSTER DESIGNS NEEDED!

Calling all imaginative and talented artists and activists! Could you or someone you know create a political poster that can stand alongside the great political posters of the past, and is also meaningful and relevant to the future?

Jura Books is looking for artists of all ages, styles and levels of experience to submit entries for a political poster design competition. The general theme of the poster should be to explore some aspect of the past 30 years of radical struggle in Sydney, and/or imagine what you would like the world to look like in 30 years time. The poster must also celebrate Jura Books in some way - past, present and/or future, and include our name and website (or street address) somewhere on the poster.

Jura Books has been operating as a centre for social change and innovation for 30 years, and we currently combine a bookshop, library, food co-op and organising space. Over the years we have supported a vast range of political collectives and struggles - feminist, youth, enviro, art, publishing, workers control, and many more. We have put on hundreds of events, from film nights and punk gigs to political actions and worker organising conferences. Jura is also home to one of Australia's best political poster archives. (check out images and more about our politics on our website).

The poster design competition is about commemorating this history, and also building towards an even better future. The entries will be exhibited at Jura and we will produce 1000 copies of the winning design. The winner will also receive a book prize pack valued at $100, as well as the satisfaction of helping a worthwhile cause, and eternal fame/notoriety. The winning design will also be used to help promote and raise money to improve Jura and the political poster archive.

Posters Due before 30th September

Design Size: A2 (59.4cm x 42cm)

For the more info: http://www.jura.org.au/node/728

The Jura Collective

440 Parramatta Rd, Petersham

www.jura.org.au

9550 9931

Opening hours:

Thursday 11am-7pm / Friday 11am-7pm /

Saturday 12pm-5pm / Sunday 12pm-5pm

JURA Books currently stocks all 3 Breakdown Press Poster Series!

Abandoned city buildings/city buildings - we abandon

2008-07-24T15:55:00.000+10:00

"Artist collectives do not make objects - they make changes. They make situations, opportunities, realizations, understandings. They work to keep the experience of art collective, rather than ceding all territory to solipsistic reverie and the reification of investment capital." Alan Moore, Collectivity in Modern Art.

"Is everyone taking crazy Pills??" Mugatu, Zoolander.

And so we gathered in the hearth to lend our eyes and ears to the work of Ben Riding as he wraps up his ArtSlab residency and launches into his next big thing: The Linden Project in Melbourne.

A very big thanks to all the artists that participated in ArtSlab #1 and #2 and to Ben for his insightful presentation on the work he is doing with LAUNCHart on sites/happenings in abandoned buildings. (watch this space for announcement of the artSlab#3 residency artists)

Perhaps it was a happy coincidence, or merely the interference from unreal estate signs cluttering our brains, that this talk created an opening of its own into more practical issues to do with site. And the question of whether to install artworks in abandoned buildings - or perhaps take our art and abandon the city buildings altogether (and run for the hills)

These questions emerge in the midst of an interesting proposal from property developer Frasers Greencliff for artists to occupy a warehouse on the fringe of their CUB development site (Kensington St Chippendale to be precise).....for FREE (eyes roll to back of head, temporary loss of balance).

The Carlton United Brewery site is a veritable suburb at 6 ha., and in the age of carbon footprints represents an opportunity to do things differently. Or at least try out a new marketing approach. And so Frasers have been chatting with City of Sydney about bringing artists onto their slab of land as both a gesture towards the City of Sydney's 2030 cultural plan, and in response to more global conversations taking place about the creative economy and the rise and rise of knowledge-based industries. Oh and Melbourne's laneways.

Conversations about Melbourne and its laneways reached a feverish pitch around the time the NSW liquor licensing came up for much needed revision. Hole-in-the-wall conversations became urgent as we suddenly realised that ridiculously oversized flat screen TV's mounted above our heads were distracting us with way too much Rugby and Channel V, while we tried to have a conversation with another human being. That and the pokies, the exodus of live music, prohibitively expensive licensing fees and draconian laws slapped onto low impact spaces. Melburnians must think we are idiots for putting up with this.

Meanwhile, artist run spaces have continued to spring up and down in the city, defying these silly laws, and in the process we have created some pretty cool stuff. But have we taken time to really reflect on the possibilities, and imagine the reality of where the global economy is taking us? We seem to be losing our fight with the invisible barons of real estate. Our wing and a prayer approach of lurching from one demolished warehouse to another in waiting is quite frankly running out of steam. And shine. Our little red caboose, running on the smell of an oily rag, may sadly be destined for a train museum. Carriageworks? Mmm, nup. I don't think we can afford that. Errr... is there anywhere else we 'creative types' can play? (I hear that lounge rooms in cosy overpriced terrace houses will do for rehearsals and devising new works...)

So as we enter the age of 'creative knowledge and innovation', perhaps we should ask what sorts of spaces does this industry really require. As Neil Armfield asked one rainy evening at Town Hall:

“Who is looking after the breeding grounds, the grasses at the end of the creek where you find the little fish feeding, the place from which a culture can grow with safety and strength?”

Perhaps it is artists themselves who should look after their breeding grounds. Perhaps we need to do things that ensure our ecosystems are robust and sprightly. And maybe these are opportunities for us to talk to one another about how we would imagine a city we could survive in. Instead of one where we scramble for the last crumbs off the table, the last warehouse in the city, or stare perplexed at the last empty monument to 'Art'.

Its vitally important that artists are looking after the breeding ground because it means we have a sense of confidence and autonomy over the circumstances in which we create our work, try out new ideas, spread our wings and take flight on some fanciful caper. And to exercise the kind of decision making which is so crucial to the creation of new work and new ideas, new directions.

ArtSlab is an idea + space for brewing creative collaborative adventures; driven by hope and desire. Hopefully through these encounters, the desire for survival can latch onto a thread of strength and optimism. And our crazy ideas can breathe life into this city, instead of medicating us with impossible market realities and speculative real estate scandals.

Is everyone taking crazy pills?

artslab show off this Tuesday, the 22nd July

2008-07-20T16:35:00.000+10:00

Bill+George would like to invite you to our artslab show off starring resident Artist Laboratorist Ben Riding TUESDAY 22ND JULY 630PM.

Ben will show off his site specific project "The Linden Project". We will then segue smoothly into a free range facilitated discussion about disused and underused sites in the city, including some references to the Fraser's Broadway project which you may have heard about in some rumored form or another.

To be followed by a refreshing glass of wine and general chit chat.

Would be great to see everyone who is interested in space/site and this city come along and contribute to discussion!!!

xxx
the crew at bng

Bill and George are so hot right now.

2008-06-30T14:33:00.000+10:00

Actually we are very cold in our artic warehouse, but new theatre curtains in our rehearsal space should warm things up a bit. They have arrived (finally) and will be rigged in our beautiful space by the end of next week. A round of applause.

What else….?

artSlab DEADLINE EXTENDED until the 15th July. Check out the projects page for details. If you are an artist working in collaborative practice in any medium/discipline and need space with an exciting project then you probably need to apply. Talk to us!

THE LOBBY
We have decided to open up our lobby space to exhibitions and viewings of work. Our launch date is in November (we are sooo organised) but we will keep you posted as the date looms closer. But this is exciting as we are now riding the crest of the artistic wave, now that the establishment/building phase is but a distant memory. The focus on the viewing space (to be called The Lobby) is for artists with not a lot of money (that’s most of us) or time (that’s all of us) to mount a modest sized exhibition in a DIY fashion, ie. Do it Yourself. We can offer a prepped space of 4 walls approx 35m2 and host your opening. All for 200 bucks for two weeks. Sweet huh! The launch is pitched for the 7th November and will be a group show of all the Bill+Georgeous people in the space. Stay very tuned.

BROADWAY FRASERS
We have inadvertently become part of rumblings on Kensington street near the old CUB site. Plans to hold a preliminary gathering/information evening at Bill and George towards the middle of July to discuss possibilities of how his should go ahead. If you have queries/interest please contact bek at bek@billandgeorge.org

EL LOCAL
Tango lovers will be going loco when they find out that we are launching the first of a regular milonga at bill and george on the 15th July. To be known as ‘El Local’ the gig promises sweet dancing for tango dancers of all types 9pm til the wee hours.

We're online!

2008-05-11T20:40:00.000+10:00

Wow wowowoowowoo hoo!!!
Bill and George have finally arrived in cyberspace, taking their brand free new space to the information superhighway. Here you can find out what the hell we are on about and send us messages of love and adulation.

But first: this weeks musings

Our friends from Aerialize together with the very gorgeous Liz Martin and the god dammit child prodigies Bridzilla are performing in an aerial club night at the studio Opera house on May 16 & 17 called “Walking on Air”. Check them out here

And book tickets as soon as you finish reading this sentence because one show has already sold out, and they are only doing two. STOP PRESS: Oh my goodness it is all sold out! BUT don’t worry, they are providing an extra show for the desperate ones that missed out. Double woop.

ALSO our very special and most favourites friends and cohorts from Queens street studios are having their annual space aid art auction on May 17. Rsvp essential!! Visit here. We are comrades in arms so any support for them is support for us too!

By George!! Said the City of Sydney to Bill and George and they invited us to submit a proposal for the laneways project in the city called, By George! Only four projects will be chosen in the end and so we have been bunkered down in our creative think tanks (undisclosed location) to dream up an alternative universe that can be executed on the streets without going over budget or overtly stepping on political toes. Tough call. But we are energised by lots of ideas and hope to draw on a number of our associate artists who have been part of our work in various ways over the years. How excitement.

In other news, Ruby and Bubbles are getting bigger.

And yes, Bek (who recently sleep walked out her first storey bedroom window on the morning of her 34th birthday) has only got another 39 sleeps to go before she can walk without the aid of her Frida Kahlo vest and matching crutches. At which point she will run like Forest Gump around the world several times and grow a beard. Presently she remains wide awake and (still) dreaming.