tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2009-11-12:/Test Bed is a project working with eight artists to make new artworks with the people and places of the Five Ways area of Birmingham. This blog is a place for discussion about the project between the lead artist, the eight commissioned artists and any other interested party.MokoFeed2009-11-12T11:05:37+01:00tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-11-17:/2007/03/20/earwig_oh~1938064/#c5236526Count Mein Fornow2007-11-17T19:22:19+01:002007-11-17T19:22:19+01:00this bird in the garden isnt a blackbird but it hangs around with the blackbirds and i think it now thinks it is a blackbird the other blackbirds don't seem to mind it even though its obviously not a blackbird it might be a cuckoo that was brought up by blackbirds and instead of doing waht it was supposed to do according to naturelike laws which i suppose for most baby cuckoos is throw out your host birds babies let their mum and dad bring you up than fly the nest to behave cuckooly just decided to stay i've never heard it sing or do that cuckoo noise thing either but someone once told me that cuckoos dont sing 'cuckoo' its takes two cuckoos to do it one doing the cuck the other the oo - i enjoy watching this bird with the blackbirds living in what looks like true harmony wonder if it met another cuckoo it would change its behaviourtag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-04-19:/2007/03/21/what_is_an_artist~1944995/#c3327261robotJAM2007-04-19T11:28:50+02:002007-04-19T11:28:50+02:00This is whats wrong with public funding, I agree arts should be funded but how they measure and the hoops you have to jump through make the process more about admin rather than getting on with the art side of it.<br> <br> tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-22:/2007/03/19/bedding_down_and_bedding_in~1932872/#c3091890Pauline Bailey2007-03-22T01:50:01+01:002007-03-22T01:50:01+01:00Yes please! More 'Slaminars'! On a personal note they have definately added value to my Test Bed experience. Having an opportunity to discuss my work and engage in soem interesting debate about content and process as been really good for me. I gained so much from delivering my seminar last week and I'm grateful to those who made comments and asked questions that gave me food for thought.<br> <br> There were alot of things that resonated with me from Sandra and Mark's gig, and some of the more detailed conversations with Mark have been inspiring to say the least, particularly around issues of process and methodology, dealing with sensetive issues in your work, engaging people in your work and dealing with annonimity. I'm often having to find ways to enable groups of individuals that I work with to be themselves without revealing themselves. When they want to express their realities through a creative process there's still the chance that people don't want to disclose their identity.<br> <br> This is definately something I will be revisiting with my Test Bed project if people are going to share their 'Stories Behind The Scars' The use of objects always works well for me in so many ways and even today, during a 'taster' workshop I was facilitating with a group of women, some amazing and powerful stories/life scripts started to emerge.<br> <br> I would love to see the 'Slaminars' continue in some form beyond Test Bed because I think people would get so much from the exchange that could feed into their creative practice. tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/what_is_an_artist~1944995/#c3087711Paul Groves2007-03-21T18:07:01+01:002007-03-21T18:07:01+01:00I prefer "leakage" to output....words is my life after all.<br> <br> I think there is scope for another article here Lee, connected obviously to Test Bed and other projects.<br> tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/21/what_is_an_artist~1944995/#c3087591rachelcreative2007-03-21T17:52:31+01:002007-03-21T17:52:31+01:00I'm not much good at definitions these days but I always get a mental picture when I hear talk of an artist's "output" ... isn't that their invisible bodily gaseous emissions?<br> <br> It surely can't mean their art? Output is such a functional, manufacturing type of word.<br> <br> Good on you Lee for grappling with a definition of an artist and one you're happy with too!<br> <br> I'm going for the don't ask approach at the moment. It's just words innit? :-)<br> <br> Off to stipulate some targets and generate a mission statement to inform my output productivity ...tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-21:/2007/03/20/earwig_oh~1938064/#c3083959Dr David Ethics2007-03-21T10:15:27+01:002007-03-21T10:15:27+01:00There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those that understand binary and those who don't...tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-20:/2007/03/20/earwig_oh~1938064/#c3080111Sandra Hall2007-03-20T20:43:40+01:002007-03-20T20:43:40+01:00To Paul and Lee - earwig etc ... in agreement - Rhonda said something great a few weeks ago - in context of a discussion of how to describe 'getting on in the world' and associated discussions<br> she said: "there are two types of people in the world - those that understand ideas - and those that don't" which is great.... i too was party to discussion verging on nostalgia last night regarding the 'early days'of FPLa and Friction- there was a will to push through and do - knowledge sometimes inhibits - i find myself in this awkward shape shifting role(s) in this art place:- manager, consultant, fund-raiser etc i don't always get it right and sometimes the sheer weight of knowing the levels of what is going on, or shifts in the creative 'industries' landscape is overwhelming and work hard at trying to make sure it doesn't impinge, colour or adversely affect decisions i make around the right thing to do, but hopefully inform it.. - and the right thing to do is multi=faceted process is the quality of the work and engagement with our groups at the right level, are the artists resourced and supported, goddam here comes evaluation - how do you create a creative evaluation matrix that doesn't feed quantative research and and and and yet we (good community/artists at large) use their creativity in all pre=production and post-production way throughout the proceess to make extraordinary things happen = and its not just this community there are people beavering away against the odds in all walks of life thank god. i was inspired yesterday about a story of a bloke who is collecting ancient varieties of plant seeds from all the countries in the world and burying them in a big ark in a mountainside where the permafrost will further aide and abet the promise that they are saved and savoured for future generations. what a geezer. long live the seed shaman. i'm woffling now - yes push through, make it happen, fripple with naivety, don't get bogged down which that you cannot immediately change. over and out, will post about my 'testbed' experiences as an artist very soon. Sandra. tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-20:/2007/02/09/not_community_arts~1710666/#c3077421julie o2007-03-20T16:34:20+01:002007-03-20T16:34:20+01:00How doo. As a do-er on the Test Bed project (yes i think capitals are needed)I thought id put my two pennyworth in. The talks from the other 'do-er's have been pretty good, giving colourful insight into the varied approaches of practice, and (sometimes) offering a glimpse of the deeper character. Its quite refreshing to find the space where people can chat, talk and show their work/ideas in whatever fashion they desire. The talks have visually been highly contrasting/pieces of work in their own right? and why not. Think of the beautiful, deliberate and paced stage set for Mark Storer's talk in contrast to say Julie Oneills short and perhaps slightly cryptic showing of snippets of her live work experience..opportunities to show work in a setting which i feel has a distinct lack of pretentiousness pressure in the air, can only be a good thing. Which reminds me: of the words: 'freedom of expression/expression of freedom'..My own research process for Test Bed has been suitably undulating, imagine a small wooden boat, with one oar and a small leak under the seat, pushing its way over a sometime choppy lake..hmmn. Amongst other duties i have been: Attempting to initiate, develop and nurture a 'relationship' with staff of Birminghams department of work and pensions, local shop owners, walking, watching, gathering, talking, interviewing and am now left sitting in the front room on the carpet,surrounded by an assortment of detritus (evidence)...which is of course the body of work.<br> Last but never least..such opportunities as Test Bed attempt to gather together active and interested people who often will then go on to, plan, plot, scheme and conive further happenings and eventfull occurances together.<br> Lovely. tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-20:/2007/03/20/earwig_oh~1938064/#c3076332Dr David Ethics2007-03-20T14:37:58+01:002007-03-20T14:37:58+01:00'If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got'tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-20:/2007/03/20/earwig_oh~1938064/#c3075688Paul Groves2007-03-20T13:27:45+01:002007-03-20T13:27:45+01:00Selective deafness is so important, no matter what you are trying to achieve. <br> When people try and justify to me the reasons why they are not shaking things up or making changes by stating: "But we always do it like this", I try my best to ignore them and carry on regardless. <br> There is no point in standing still. <br> Also, there is no point in listening to those who lack ambition or creativity. <br> tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-03-19:/2007/03/19/bedding_down_and_bedding_in~1932872/#c3067272rachelcreative2007-03-19T16:23:59+01:002007-03-19T16:23:59+01:00Instead of seminar may I suggest a "slaminar" ... or perhaps a "shazaaminar" ... hmmmmm ....<br> <br> My favourite though, in honour of Friction Arts being the inspiration for such gatherings, is to call them "Fricti" :-)<br> <br> You are invited to a fricti ...<br> <br> <br> All the very best to everyone involved with the show.<br> <br> I've enjoyed your blogging. More please!<br> <br> Rachel<br> <br> tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-24:/2007/02/09/not_community_arts~1710666/#c2880432George Saxon2007-02-24T00:30:11+01:002007-02-24T00:30:11+01:00Test Bed Engineer reporting:<br> <br> Hi it’s George Saxon here. One of the ‘artist’ personnel…<br> <br> So I’ve been trying to solve this problem which in essence is simple but the route is complicated and fraught with problems. I wont go into that right now…that belongs to role play, I think.<br> By the way, I like the bit about 'zoos' for (proper) art. I've always resisted where I can working in such places...proper art can be seen found and heard anywhere. Sorry, I digress..<br> <br> <br> So essentially I’ve been trying to develop my idea for test bed…<br> The last two weekends I’ve been planning to spend some time in the Curio shop and hang around the shopping square at Five Ways, just watching, photographing, filming and observing. I’d also been planning and intending to stay overnight. So last Friday was to be my first overnight stay...<br> Unfortunately, I think I just got a bit scared about staying there on my own at night…(yes I know, I’m a scaredy cat), also the ideas began to get confused and I was running into problems. By dusk, having spent a number of hours working through ideas and filming some tests, I abandoned my overnight vigil. <br> <br> Today, Friday. A well planned and prepared overnight stay; camp beds, sleeping bags, food, equipment, extension leads and I even managed to drag Alice (my daughter) to spend the night at the Curio Shop (to hold my hand incase there were sounds and noises that made me jump). There, that’s the ‘essense’.<br> I’d phoned you earlier today and you said that Sandra, Harry, Simon and all were there at the Curio Shop. So of we went…Alice and I arrived, it was like seeing long lost friends again, and the work I intended to do went out of the window – well some of it anyway.<br> We all started talking to each other about what we were planning to do on the project…ideas, doubts, exchange!!! It was just what I needed, there was such a buzz around the place as we all got involved talking to each other, just being there, thinking, working and making loads of cups of tea. <br> The energy and electricity was amazing and It suddenly felt unnecessary to work through my well planned and well intentioned vigil. All my plans are subject to interruption and change, anyway.<br> <br> It is often so rare that you experience a genuine flow of exchange as we were immersed in our “activity” developing the various strands of the poetics of our ideas. <br> It was as things should be - artists working together and participating in each others ideas…<br> <br> So my well intentioned vigil has now been postponed, but not indefinitely.<br> I might even be nearer to solving the problem. But then tomorrow’s another day.<br> <br> Great to see this blog Lee.<br> <br> Geo.<br> tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-20:/2007/02/20/role_play~1772051/#c28506952007-02-20T11:52:05+01:002007-02-20T11:52:05+01:00 cool thanks and I'll take a looktag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-20:/2007/02/20/role_play~1772051/#c2850672Leegriffiths2007-02-20T11:48:17+01:002007-02-20T11:48:17+01:00I'm using this blog to document a project I'm working on called 'Test Bed'. Basically I'm shepherding 8 diverse artists towards making a variety of artworks in a run-down shopping precinct in central Birmingham. If you go back through the blog log there's more info. I'll pop over to yours later. Cheers.tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-20:/2007/02/20/role_play~1772051/#c28504762007-02-20T11:10:57+01:002007-02-20T11:10:57+01:00 very nicely put...what is the project you're working on? and good luck with it.<br> <br> I get nearer to original idea with every rewrite think I'm on the final run this time has been a long haul project spanning decades. Sorry did mean to woffle on loltag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-15:/2007/02/09/not_community_arts~1710666/#c2815631Sandra Hall2007-02-15T14:29:17+01:002007-02-15T14:29:17+01:00OOps - please see my reply to 'shopping shopping shopping' this was really a reply to 'not-community arts' - or at least a comment on it - oh dear i'll get the hang of this eventually. Regards for now, Sandra. tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-15:/2007/02/13/shopping_shopping_shopping~1734234/#c2815620Sandra Hall2007-02-15T14:25:59+01:002007-02-15T14:25:59+01:00Dear Lee, its good to see your blog in action. Sandra (Hall) here - this is the first time i've ever done one. I'm in Arnhem, Holland about to embark, tomorrow, billed as 'an expert' for PopKunst. this is a project initiated by a composer Merlijn Twaalfhoven, no i can't pronounced his name either, but he's well worth a gooogle. so its a one-day event workshops, lectures, film and debate about 'community arts' no less. there are quite a few 'experts' gathered to talk, discuss and disseminate about a variety of projects. i'm interested in the word 'expert' - i don't feel like one and i don't know what one looks like. i can talk though. and i love talking about work. my other current thinking nugget is 'community' what is it? what do artists, commissioners, people think 'community' is? - at my latest count i'm in at least 50 different communities. try it - think of all the communities you are in - I'm in the smokers community, female community, birmingham, balsall heath, born in kenya community, born in may community, lover of cuba community - all larger or smaller sub groups, communities - so as a member of many - and now apparently in the 'expert' community - i return to what does the commissioner/public etc want or expect from our 'community work'? and what are the pressures to patch up or orchestrate social engineering; its an idea to be clear on this before embarking on a series of assumptions from either commissioner, oneself, the public or indeed the communit(ies) we work with- part of my test bed work will be to try and identify, through working with John McQueen (great photographer)- interviewing a variety of people - to identify and create composite pictures of people's inner fears, the unearthed, unvoiced, often unconscious images of fear. this is my starting point. <br> so - am i now a member of the 'blogging' community ??? sandra. tag:testbed.blog.co.uk,2007-02-12:/2007/02/09/not_community_arts~1710666/#c2792673Harry Palmer2007-02-12T16:53:48+01:002007-02-12T16:53:48+01:00Hello. Harry Palmer here. I am one of the artists commissioned to work on Test Bed. The work I do is eccentric eclectic from performance activity in rowing clubs to allotments to bridges, car boots, village Halls, the streets - lots of collaborations in lots of different art forms. I currently co-publish The Eccentric City - The world's first dedicated eccentric newspaper. <br> <br> Like Lee, I am interested in the atomic nature of the person - that is, I work with people not as a community artist, but as a potential for ordinary explosions - that which is conveyed with tremendous ordinary conviction - is far less mediated than attempting to out-do someone or something for the sake of reinforcing 'the powerful'. I talk alot at present about ethos and ethics - they are key to the work that I make.<br> <br> For Test Bed I am creating four new short films about peoples 'signatures' - what meaningful and resonant pieces of paper have they signed for in their lives? From my initial conversations and recordings - these films will feature inner city inner worlds...I look forward to my exploration with the people of Birmingham (a place where I live and work).<br> <br> -Harry Palmer.