TOTFREEAL LY

AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL THERE WERE 532 INDEPENDENTS IN 2006.

FOR THESE ARTISTS, CURATORS AND VISUAL MEDIA ACTIVISTS THIS PUBLICATION IS LITERALLY A SOUVENIR AS IT NAMES EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM.

TOTALLY FREE ALSO LOOKS AT THE RESPONSES OF A COHORT OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS TO MAKING ART OUTSIDE THE INSTITUTIONALMAINSTREAM. IT IS INTENDED AS A STIMULANT TO THE DEBATE OF OPTIONS AND TACTICS FOR THE FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY AND SUCCESS OF THE INDEPENDENTS.

INTERVAL (2006), VIDEO, SUKI CHANIMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

NOTHING IS PRIVATE, NINA EDGE40 KELVIN GROVEPHOTO: PETE CARR

02

ASYLUM’S TURNSTILE, GINO SARCONNELIME STREETPHOTO: PETE CARR

ASYLUM’S TURNSTILE, GINO SARCONNEBOLD STREETPHOTO: CARMEN SACCONE

03

Australian-born, Liverpool-based artist Adam Nankervis works with a collisionof tactics, an array of tensions and assemblage, a merger of disputations, negotiationsand dialogues and a broad wealth of visual art vocabulary that connects his practicewithin the territories of artists like Maurizio Cattelan, Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Broodthaers,Kyoichi Tsuzuki, Gregor Schneider, curators like Massimiliano Gioni and Ali Subotnickand the strategy of the artist-led project / curator / gallery / space / publisher. And similarto Schwitters’ grotto Merzbau, Nankervis’ home is the site for his art: private home, publicspace, public life, private life, self as institution, life’s work and man as museum.

Rooted in a long-standing history of the museum, collecting, the impulseto travel and obtain, Nankervis is a kind of Pitt Rivers Museum on contemporarytopographies. It’s a simultaneous mix of “paleontology, natural history, archeology,ethnography, optics, cosmology, art”, complimented with a notion of abstracting objects,art, happenings, exhibitions, screenings, performances and materials that essentiallyreinvigorate their original intentions with new, assembled, contrived meanings. His homeis at once artists residency centre, gallery, venue, and arena for exchanges, presentationsand dialogues. It is a showcase for the incongruent, museum, vehicle for a tension betweenanonymity and recognition and a place to live. With no minimalism here, thanks; thephotographic documentation presented on his web site bombards the viewer with a senseof plenty. As he says it’s never vacant unless it’s selected to be so.

04

BY ALEX HETHERINGTON

MUSEUMMAN 25 PARLIAMENT STREETALSO SEE WWW.MUSEUMMAN.ORG

05

Nankervis describes his activities as born “out of necessity”. Museum Man hedescribes as “an open cabinet of curiosities spelling a history of two cities with an eclecticmix of art and artifact, which has now manifested and transposed its dialogue of a lived inmuseum from Berlin to Liverpool.” It is also a mirror to the institution that correspondsa deliberate attempt to question the institution, the collected and the commodity and apathway between art circuits and art circuses. This is the spectacle of the museum itself ondisplay, the mechanics of its making rendered transparent. He describes it as a mechanismthat deconstructs and demystifies the routes in art, and channels resources that result in“entry, accessibility, and validation”. The turnaround is remarkable, with the space / homeoccupying shows, DJs, performances, screenings, events on a totally super-active, super-agitated, super-curious level. How this happens is organic, by word of mouth, byinvitation, by being social, democratic and non-judgmental and by retaining a philosophyand vision that is open, encircled by anticipation and accepting of what may occur.The artists and their work, and what they gift, leave behind or install within this scenario isits central modus operandi, and it’s in this collision of potential chaos, unending streamsof energy and input, cultures and geographies, people, audiences, artists and party-goersthat Nankervis lives. It’s what he describes, with total genuineness, as a “privilege”.And it’s what makes this activity hold such value: the familiarity and informality of home,questioning the rarefied and remote, engaging the display and its audience, the signs ofart alternative guerrilla strategist and sybaritic bon vivant emerge as a unified seductivepolicy. It’s enthralling to hear about installations and performances in the kitchen andbathroom or art agendas and philosophies being scrutinised in hallway and cupboard, ofopening up the basement for discotheques and discourses.

Nankervis further illuminates this policy with answers about how this comesabout and how it can be approached: the disparate in assemblage, the mutating mass ofinformation, the spill of activity and conjoining and commingling, the non-defining andambiguous tally for the attention of audiences and participants to emerge with their ownconclusions and choices, of their own selection, of being their own curators in decidingwhat to engage with and what to, not reject, but wait off until later. It’s not a factory either;Nankervis doesn’t make a living from this, it’s not rooted in celebrity or in showmanship,or as a vehicle from destabilising the institution to becoming central to it, to be temptedand allured by it.

From it’s origins as Another Vacant Space in New York in the early 1990s, wherecommodity, economic failure and recession and opportunity merged, transforming as aform and function in Berlin (with a stopover in Copenhagen) through transformation to itsdestination now as residency in Liverpool, for Independents Nankervis, the Museum Man,presents his Blur Prints. Another Vacant Space which represents not a culmination ofactivity but a slice of it away from his home / space / museum to reinvest and restageits vibrancy in an open arena where it can be shared and experienced.

Maurizio Cattelan’s Wrong Gallery project, also in New York, once presentedan artwork by the British artist Adam McEwen. It said: “Fuck Off We're Closed”. I couldnever imagine Nankervis displaying this sentiment, though he might present the artwork.Rather it would seem his sign would say: “We’re having a cherry-bomb pink floor. Let’s Party!”

06

An asylum seeker can be thought of as statussought by a person physically present within acountry, having fled their own on grounds thatare detrimental to their person, liberties or wellbeing. Further, the individual must have a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race,religion, nationality, membership in a particularsocial group, or political opinion, if made to returnto his or her country of nationality. If the persondoes not have a country of nationality, then theymust fear these grounds upon returning to theirlast place of habitual residence. One of these fivegrounds of asylum must be proven in order forthe individual to win an asylum claim. Asyleesdiffer from refugees in that the asylee has alreadyentered the country when they are trying toobtain status.

This is paraphrased from American and Britishimmigration web sites. It’s broadly speaking theadministrative description, matter-of-fact, generalinformation, fast tracking, deporting, humanfarming overview of what an asylum seeker is. It does not describe who an asylum seeker is.

If we chose to describe an asylum seeker fromBritish, European or Northern American pressquotes, we might receive a different kind ofdescription, which is usually bound up with terms– depending on the level of journalism – like:mistrust, alien cultures, difference, them andus, outsider, economic migrant, freeloader,ignorant peasant, job thief, extremist, victim,pretender, coward, freeloader, the dreadfulunknown, black, enemy. Refugee meanwhile isbound together with terms like natural disaster,innocent victim, war-torn, escape, sanctuary andRed Cross, United Nations peacekeepers, BobGeldof and Bono, the BBC’s Michael Buerk.The language and terminology, the premiseand definition differ depending on a judgmentcall of when you think someone in need is themastermind of their own demise. Or not. And what it is you think they want.

Another definition of asylum seeker is;communicative, open, resourceful, courageous,interacting, social, inclusive, participant. Or another: “I’ve witnessed the edge of sanityand barbarity, can you help me because I don’t want to die.”

BY ALEX HETHERINGTON

07

TURNSTILEFRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 20062.45PM WOOD STREET4.00PM ST GEORGE’S HALL5.00PM ALBERT DOCK6.00PM GREENLAND STREET

This concept of frictions and tensions betweendetachment and language, awareness anddefinition, the general, the homogenised and thepersonal, the social and the intimate is an elementat play in the recent work of the London-basedperformance artist Gino Saccone. Saccone in hisdevised, community-led performance work, whichin the past has also explored relationships ofremembrance and interventions between outsiderand insider, has a simple goal to reveal theprocesses of awareness and the production ofawareness. In his piece Turnstile, he does thisby taking the celebratory aspects of the parade,merged with the immediacy, vigour and enmityof the protest and collapses them together to forma public procession that invites interaction,dialogue, human contact and engaged experiencethat at once reveals the nature of misgivings andapprehensions, definitions and stereotypes andreplaces them with opportunity and communication.

The parade and the protest are signifiers in oursociety which express notions of free speech,celebration, dissent, ritual, memorial, occasion.With mirrored banners and placards Saccone’sTurnstile is a procession of the protective andpersonal and will feature a group of asylum seekerstaking to the streets of Liverpool reflecting backtheir immediate surroundings, reflecting back theirimmediate condition and inviting a truth to bemanifest, shared and enjoyed. Saccone describesan inventory of injustice, human fears and terribleexperiences tempered with a desire for an encounterof assumption, meeting, contact and revelation.

The parade in recent art has taken on different forms;from Matthew Barney’s numerous ostentatiouspageants in his work and films, catwalks of theweird, glamourous and superhuman, of ceremoniesto fetish, desire and beauty to Francis Alÿs’ projectslike Seven Walks that assemble notions of authority,trespass and the transient, or Santiago Sierra’sinterventions that reveal, through exploitation,the duality of economic advancements andpersonal poverty. Saccone, though, presentssomething that is rooted in a social consciousprocessed through communication and workshopsthat feature real people with real experiences thatare not bound by either commerciality or artstar vanity.

At the same time, the location of this work,Liverpool – reinforces its sense of the internationaldestination and origination, of immigration andemigration, of departures and arrivals, of humantrafficking, of slavery, of the colonial, of Empire’sbuilt. And at this time where asylum seekerremains such a point of contention Saccone’sperformance will remind us of a lineage ofbarbarity, of a history of exploitation that isboth familiar and unfamiliar. Nevertheless, thebasis of this work is human contact, somethingthat the parade as a social form has beendesigned to stimulate.

Since the birth of representational art, people have been paintingportraits as a way to represent and understand humanity. And yet asartist David Hancock sees it, our understanding of portraiture is bothlimited and stifling. Hancock has chosen to explore and challenge theidea of portraiture, claiming that it can be, ‘so much more than apainting of a little kiddie in the living room’. I’ll Be your Mirror, anexhibition curated by David Hancock, invigorates the idea ofportraiture for the 21st Century.

Hancock entered the BP Portrait Award a few years back and wasdisappointed by the stereotyped way in which the sitters were oftendepicted. When looking at a portrait he would often feel a sense ofdetachment from the person on the canvas and as if it was actuallyexpressing more about the artist, ‘The works felt false, as if they didn’t get to the heart of the sitter’.

Portraiture has mostly made as its subject the great and the good, but to avoid this stigma, the artists of I’ll Be Your Mirror look towards awider group of people, objects and animals in their paintings, to capturea sense of our globalised society at the beginning of this century, takingmany different approaches to the concept of the portrait. I’ll Be YourMirror includes the work of some artists who do not normally orexclusively make portraits, but work has been commissioned especiallyfor this exhibition, by artists including Leo Fitzmaurice and Rui Matsunaga.Hancock’s own painting featured in the exhibition, I Wear Black on theOutside, is also a slight departure for him, in terms of his body of workthus far. This painting, his most recent to date, marks the start of aseries of works that will focus more specifically on portraits andpeople, up close and personal, rather than depicting figures within a broader landscape.

I Wear Black on the Outside is a painting with echoes of theAnnunciation, and is based on a real-life story, sent in a letter toHancock, about a girl who saved her friend from committing suicide inhis bedroom when she came across him wielding a knife. The figuresin the portrait are not highly posed; the eye of the artist is that of ahidden observer in the bedroom. Life is breathed into the portrait, also thanks to Hancock’s photorealist technique and skill as a painter.

08

BY LEO WOOD

I’ll Be Your Mirror is co-curated by Richard Meaghan, whose workalso features here and who helped Hancock curate his last collaborativeexhibition, Jerusalem. In this previous showcase, the artists tookWilliam Blake’s poem of the same name as a starting point from whichto explore the idea and sense of the landscape as it was understoodby the Romantics, in all its wild power, with the aim to create, ‘newworlds with a sense of the poetic’.

Hancock and Meaghan also co-curated an exhibition at the LiverpoolBiennial 2004, Le Petit Paysage, translated as The Small Landscape,and exactly that; an exhibit of small landscape paintings by over 25artists; both an interesting concept and a practical solution to thedifficulties of transporting many artist’s work all across the country for the event.

Other artists featuring their work at I’ll Be Your Mirror includedJemima and Dolly Brown, an artist whom Hancock had admired forseveral years since seeing her work at New Contemporaries in 1997.Jemima’s pieces are based around the persona of Dolly Brown, analter ego who started life as a blow-up doll and since has developedand is depicted in many different guises in Jemima’s work. In theexhibition, she turns on its head the long English tradition of ‘domestic’portraiture in a series of sculpted and sort-of dismembered Dollyheads in flowery wreathes, all with a hint of 1970’s interior design.

Gordon Cheung, who has worked on several previous projects with Hancock contributed to I’ll Be Your Mirror. Whilst Hancock wasreluctant to include artists who had already exhibited at Jerusalem,David realised that Cheung, though he was more well known for hisdystopian landscape visions, was onto something interesting in hisportraits of the Top 10 Dead Celebrity Earners; personifying a ‘deadrich list’ of people who could almost be the gods of the dystopianworld that Cheung had created in his landscape paintings.

On a different note, Isabel Young make portraits of animals in herwork, and in doing so, elevates the status of the animal at the sametime as challenging our understanding of what should and should notbe an artist’s subject in portraiture. Isabel remembers famous animalsin history, such as ‘Nero’, King James’ lion, and her miniature-stylepaintings are certainly an interesting alternative to taxidermy.

I’ll Be Your Mirror exhibited in a corridor space, on the 6th floor of theGostin Buildings, Hanover Street, nicely placed between the Tateand the Adelphi. Slightly haphazard maybe, but is in the very nature of Independents to investigate the use of alternative ways to exhibitas all precious gallery space is used up at the Biennial. Appropriately,these alternative approaches to the portrait were shown in analternative exhibition space.

I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR6TH FLOOR GOSTIN’S BUILDING, HANOVER STREET

09

Liverpool-based artist Nina Edge’s life is her work, in a way that could inprincipal be related to the ongoing, mammoth Real Life projects of Glasgow-based artist Ross Sinclair. Like him she works with modern motifs, symbols ofthe institutions that define our lives and institutional contexts, the individual inrelation to those institutions and ideas that flicker between the public domainand the private existence, between policy-making, think-tanks of progressiveactions, sweeping changes to social dynamics and their effect on life and society.Her array of output in material and conceptual terms is equally broad, fromperformance to objects, installations to interventions, activated and activistresponses and fabric-based pieces and texts. All rooted in a contextual,conceptual response to issues, political circumstances and community-sitedactions and activities. These issues and ideas, though, are directly sourced fromher own situation not abstracted from objective observations, but from somethinglived through, experienced and challenged on a day-to-day basis.

I conducted a lengthy conversation with Nina over the phone inpreparation for her new piece to be shown during Independents. During theconversation we discussed a number of weighty issues, a number of politicalchanges we have both witnessed since Thatcher and the changes she has madeto her approach to being an artist and making art. We spoke also about the terrorwaged by Britain against itself, of Bush and Blair as masters and defenders of theshareholder, the paranoia devised by the media and our politicians, and thejourney that we have gone in recent times from optimism to dismay.

10

BY ALEX HETHERINGTON

11

NOTHING IS PRIVATE40 KELVIN GROVE

She started off by describing the installation and production of her newwork for Independents. The piece is a specially-made net curtain to be installedin the front room window of her terraced home; the net curtain she explains is aform that at once conceals and reveals, decorates, adorns and disguises, itspeaks of a very British phenomenon related to home, class and period. The netcurtain I remember was used during an installation at Tramway by Pipilotti Ristcalled Show a Leg in the early part of this decade. Rist’s video projections lightwas caught on and spilled through screen upon screen of net curtains beautifyingthe vast space of Tramway’s main gallery. All frilly forms, whirling stitching,floral patterns and curving fringes filling Tramway with images of outside andinside, vibrant video colours and human bodies in motion and fall. It was abeautiful experience. But Nina Edge’s net curtain is a more rebellious,disobedient piece of work additionally rooted in protest, and polemic andpolitical slogans; it is an invitation to peek and vocalise at the same time. It hasbeen made as a direct response to the disintegration of public and private, ofgovernmental scrutinising on personal affairs, on policies that effectively makecommunities disappear, of the enrichment of the wealthy and rendering thedissident as extremist, the market-force and profit as paramount and an action todemolish a way of life and homes literally to enhance the portfolios of propertydevelopers and replace public and social liberties and responsibilities withprivate ideologies, agendas and values. The net curtain has been made, as Edgedescribes: “is the only way she knows how to” in response to misguided socialengineering though she is becoming more and more conversant with legal speak,administrative jargon and political policy loops. She divides her time with artproduction and leading an action group in protest at the wilful destruction of herway of life and the lives of others in her community.

So instead of the usual net curtain, familiar, kitschy, floral and femininewe see a beautifully made political graphic sown on a machine that is heading forobsolescence, removal, disappearance itself. Edge is not critiquing progress orchange; she is though critiquing changes that defy, devalue and fragment whatwe come to term as “our way of life”: our free speech, our liberties or our abilityto debate and protest. Changes that are replacing core values with profits, socialneeds with spreadsheets and existence with economics.

Nina Edge lives in a community that is being threatened by physical andsocial annihilation in order for a programme of new house building to occur thatwill place housing stock in the hands of private concerns. It is a policy of theshort-term and abstracted; it pulls resources away from where they are neededand sets up competition where the public and private are merged, mainly to thedetriment of the public and the growth of the private. Edge asks a fundamentalquestion: what is the private and what is the public? She is an artist who works ata grassroots local level because it’s happening to her; the threats to her way oflife are happening to her and by extension to us all. This work is made from aneed to articulate, communicate and inform. It is immediate, tender, desperate,engaging, inviting, social, elaborate, reactive and active. It is finely conceived,in the tiniest of details, inviting inspection and broadly formed, demandingaction. Real Life. Indeed.

12

MUSEUMMAN, ADAM NANKERVISPARLIAMENT STREETPHOTO: PETE CARR

LEGEND HAS IT..., MICHELLE WRENMUSEUMMAN, PARLIAMENT STREETPHOTO: PETE CARR

SECTOR F13, PAUL MATOSICWOLSTENHOLME SQUAREPHOTO: PETE CARR

13

14

For better or worse, I have not followed an artist’s trajectory of developing underthe tutelage of galleries and institutions,and receiving the exposure critical to theestablishment in the art world. I have alwaysfunctioned on the contextual need to givea sense of place in areas within cities, andthus worked with bureaucrats and steelworkers rather than curators and critics.

Art is tightly controlled by the few, andthis often disturbs a clear understandingof the meaning behind it. I feel better aboutwhat makes a city beat; the pulse of itsarteries and veins. In each city there is adormant dream. My projects show thatthe aims of the system allow for spacesof dreams within itself. The issue is howto deposit, dig into the dormant dream.

The unfolding of the dream should be slow,layer after layer until the dream manifestsitself to the city. After each layer is revealed,much resistance is encountered. This isnormal, as the dream is not yet a realitybeing lived. The most difficult bureaucracyto unfold is the art bureaucracy. I wouldlike to unfold it so that it becomes prosaic,yet insane and provocative.

Over the years I have clarified my ideas forthe making of urban projects, learning fromexperience and defining the essence ofcreating dreams for cities. Perhaps the bestway to illustrate this is to describe thechallenges and pitfalls of three of myprojects, in Prague, Beirut and Melbourne.

PragueEach project begins and ends with a story.In the middle, there is very little to do withart. The Prague project came to be definedby the juggling of obtaining authorisationsand budgeting. The necessity of obtainingdifferent authorisations seemed to

propagate itself in Prague, as the closer I came to the realisation stage, the moreauthorisations were required from us.Just some of those were from the officeof the President of the Czech Republic,The Prague Municipality, The Magistrate,the historical heritage preservation groupsfor Prague and the nation, the castle ofPrague, the owner of the bridge, the grouptechnically responsible for the bridge,the police, the public transportationoffice... authorisations were extremelytough to get, especially those obtainedby being put to the vote. Pockets ofreactionary groups were a constantproblem, and I felt myself more in thedomain of politics than art as I shuttledback and forth to Prague for three years,lobbying for support. The Prague project,true to form, began with many refusals,and ended with the patronage of the cityof Prague and the endorsement of thePresident of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel.

Another important lesson I learned duringthe Prague project was the importance offlexibility. The project was conceived forthe Charles Bridge, a European heritagebridge, and I was raising the hackles ofdifferent groups with my proposal to installmy twenty-two sculptures for two weeks.It was only when I decided that my workwould be better seen if placed on theManes Bridge (parallel to the Charles),that everything began to work.

It also taught me a very important lessonin getting the community, and not justthe bureaucrats, on my side. The Pragueproject could not have been done withoutCzech people to help me negotiate throughall the grey areas of local culture which Ihad no possible way of grasping. In thevery end, when I was let down by the

company in charge of the installation of the works, a whole village, roused bysupporters, came to Prague with theirtractors and cranes to help me out.

BeirutIn 1993 I returned to post-war Beirut;which was a desolate place. The prevalentpost-war amnesia was almost worse thanthe war years, with a morose populationvoluntarily under anaesthetic. Peopledefending their allegiance to differentreligious symbols had created the basisfor a long war. I wanted to bring to thecity a multiplicity and diversity of signswhich could be interpreted by individualsas they pleased. I wanted to break thegrim attachment to symbols that hadtaken us beyond the brink. And, mostimportantly, I wanted them to be non-monumental; to appear and move toprovoke astonishment, curiosity andamusement, and then to leave.

I began with urban art installations at theSursock Museum (’94) and the NationalMuseum (’95); the first experimentationof the archaic procession in sculpturalform. Solidere, the company in charge ofthe reconstruction of downtown Beirut,had not taken on any cultural projectsuntil then, despite having received lots ofproposals. This was probably based ontheir policy at the time of not wishing tofavour an artist from any particular religiousgroup. But I strongly felt that it was timefor the city centre to be re-appropriatedwith cultural projects that would expressthe mosaic identity of the place. I explainedto them the concept behind a project thatwould move in the city – beginning by theinner ring and ending at the Mediterraneancoastline three years later. The idea was thatthe project and rotation of sculptures wouldchange depending on the development

BY NADIM KARAM

15

of situations in Solidere and Beirut in general.All of the sculptures would not be placed at one time and I would only change theirlocation at night to create an element ofsurprise for the city. I explained that I wascoming to leave.

The discussions took some time. Meanwhile,I was busy with the urban art installation Iwas preparing for Prague. It was only whenthe sculptures were installed in Prague inMay 1997 that Solidere agreed and theproject went ahead.

From the start it met with strong politicalresistance and attempts to take away thesculptures and cancel the project. Theirprominent apparition in all newspapers infront of the recently completed ESCWAbuilding in Beirut city centre was perceivedto minimise the building’s importance.The project nevertheless continued,accompanied by debates in the press andan official protest from the Order of Artistswho, without understanding the temporarynature of my work, bitterly criticised thedomination of the city centre by one artist.While the criticism built up around a certainsite, I was busy preparing the next stageof transferral to another site, as part of mycommitment to create an ephemeralwork. The works always moved suddenly,confounding critics and fans alike. OnNew Year 2000, the sculptures leftdowntown Beirut.

The sculpture I called the Wild Cat, placedon a traffic island in front of the NationalMuseum, was re-baptised by the Beirutpopulation as the donkey with three ears.In the popular imagination, the three earssymbolised the Maronite President, theSunnite Prime Minister and the ShiiteHead of Parliament. I was completelyunaware of this, being in Japan on post-

doctoral research, but it seemed that popularlore gained so much credential that aMinister gave orders to remove the sculpture.The then French Prime Minister, JacquesChirac’s visit to Beirut and the NationalMuseum was imminent and they did notwant him to see a sculpture belittling theLebanese government! I returned fromJapan to find the Wild Cat placed in thegarbage dump.

MelbourneFor The Travellers, the most recent of my urban works, I was in the apparentlycomfortable situation of receiving acommission. However, the project hadbegun very differently. In 2001 I had beeninvited to lecture in Melbourne and onvisiting the Melbourne infrastructuredepartment, I was given a CD about theSandridge Bridge competition with thefive selected finalists. I was convinced thata different approach would be better forthe city, and as soon as I returned to BeirutI began working on a counter-proposalwhich I submitted a month later.

The initial competition had givenparticipants the possibility to build up tothree floors on the bridge, based on theidea that the generation of funds throughcommercial development would then payfor the maintenance of the bridge. I feltthat any project of that kind would dividethe river and both banks of the river intotwo, in other words it would cut the cityinto two. But it was equally clear to methat the quality and industrial archaeologyof the bridge should be enhanced byrestoration. What we were proposingwould not generate direct income for thecity, but had the potential to become acultural icon that would revive memoriesof the migrants who travelled across thebridge on a train. I proposed to place ten

9m high sculptures on the bridge, eachone representing a wave of migration toMelbourne. Functioning like an urbanclock for the city, the sculptures move outand back on the bridge three times a day.

My proposal, it seems, confused previousdevelopment plans, but remained on theshelf for three years until the State of Victoriadecided to realise it as their major culturalproject for the upcoming CommonwealthGames in Melbourne. A further year passedbefore they could mobilise funding, so inthe end a project I had almost given upon was realised in a frantic ten months.

In the process towards a creative project,I believe in the importance of flexibilityand urban interactivity as compared torigidity and absolutism. I take up the pento sketch, but when I begin; several handscome to join my hand, pressuring it to movein one direction or another. At first I amannoyed, and then I begin moving the penagain, sometimes in their direction, sometimesin mine. As we approach the end, the handsretreat to let me complete the sketch.

THE BEIRUT SERIES AND ITS EFFECT ONGLOBAL WARMING – WATERCOLOURS,UPSTAIRS AT EDITIONS, COOK STREET.

SKETCH JOURNAL, MUSEUMMAN, PARLIAMENT STREET.

16

In the summer of 2006, the new National Theatreof Scotland (NTS) presented two shows. One ofthem, ‘Realism’ by Anthony Neilson, was performedat the Royal Lyceum Theatre as part of the EdinburghInternational Festival (EIF). The other, ‘Black Watch’by Gregory Burke, was performed in a speciallyconverted army drill hall as part of the EdinburghFestival Fringe.

To have two productions by one company in rivalprogrammes raises fascinating questions aboutour understanding of the words “festival” and“fringe”. The same kind of questions might beapplied to Liverpool's Independents Biennial inrelation to the International Biennial ofContemporary Art. If the same company or artistcan appear in either event – or even both at once– how are the two things to be distinguished?

How can we say that those artists who feature inthe Edinburgh Fringe or the Independents Biennialare truly more “independent” than those in the EIFor the International Biennial if they’re potentiallythe same people? How can we believe that onegroup of artists is less mainstream or more radicalthan the other when, in other circumstances, theycould be colleagues? Could it be that fringes andfestivals are interchangeable with only anadministrative structure to set them apart?

The answer that Edinburgh supplies is thatdistinctions do exist, but they’re less clear-cut thanthe simple mainstream/underground definitionwould make us think. The more closely we look at the two NTS shows, however, the morecontradictions we initially face.

In the EIF, Anthony Neilson’s ‘Realism’ was a light-hearted theatrical experiment that showed a boring day-in-the-life of a thirtysomething man.Over the course of an uneventful Saturday, he ate,drank, slept, went to the loo and watched television.The novelty was that, in addition to the tediousstuff, we also got a lurid representation of hisinterior life: daydreams, sexual fantasies, self-pitying musings and all. Some people, mostnotably Labour peer, Roy Hattersley, found it“pretentious nonsense”. Others were offended by its bad language and explicit sex. Others stillwere delighted by the boldness of its imaginationand comic flair. One newspaper arts editorlambasted the play in print, only to change hismind and publish a retraction a few days later.

Gregory Burke’s Fringe play, meanwhile, was a portrayal of Scotland’s ancient Black Watchregiment on duty in Iraq. Based on interviewswith soldiers, it was a timely challenge to theliberal-left anti-war consensus and gave voice to a working-class experience that usually goesunheard. It became such a hit that even PrinceCharles couldn’t get a ticket. A national andinternational tour is now being scheduled.

So what was it that made one play Fringe and one play EIF? It couldn't be a matter of budget,given that the same well-resourced company was responsible for both. It is true that there were many shows on the Fringe funded bystudent grants, generous parents and tolerantbank managers, but Black Watch wasn’t one ofthem. It had a cast of ten, one director, twoassociate directors and a high-tech sound andvideo design. The NTS does not make public itsbudgets, but it’s likely ‘Black Watch’ actually costmore than ‘Realism’.

If you think of the EIF as the “official” event, theembodiment of high-culture values, and of theFringe as the home of the subversive and theground-breaking, then you’ll have difficultyexplaining how the controversial show turnedout to be ‘Realism’ (EIF) and the mainstream hitwas ‘Black Watch’ (Fringe). The facts don’t fit.Prince Charles wanted to go to the Fringe, LordHattersley regretted going to the EIF. That’s notthe way establishment figures are supposed tobehave – unless, of course, we’ve made wrongassumptions about EIF and Fringe in the first place.

Paul Gudgin, the artistic director of the EdinburghFestival Fringe, says the Black Watch / Realismcase demonstrates the different ways audiencesrespond to the two festivals. “They were bothincredibly successful in their own way, but theygot an utterly different audience,” he says. “If youchanged the shows around and put them indifferent festivals they would have got differentaudiences. The momentum and near hysteria thatbuilt up about ‘Black Watch’ would not havehappened if the shows had been the other wayaround. The EIF audiences are like the horse racingfanatics who have studied the form and they knowin advance what they want to do; whereas theFringe is much more like someone turning up atthe race track and deciding what to go and see. A show like ‘Black Watch’ becomes a must-seeevent and creates an opportunity that you justdon’t get in other places.”

Before exploring these ideas further, let’s have arecap about how Edinburgh came to be home tothe world’s biggest arts festival. It all began in1947 when, in a mood of post-war optimism andgood-will, the Edinburgh International Festivalwas launched. It was an attempt to emulate theEuropean festivals, such as the Salzburg Festival,which the founding director Rudolf Bing hadenjoyed in the inter-war years. In the firstprogramme, the city’s Lord Provost wrote that he hoped visitors would “find in all theperformances a sense of peace and inspirationwith which to refresh their souls and reaffirmtheir belief in things other than material.” Bing’s first programme included GlyndebourneOpera, the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells Ballet, as well as amix of chamber concerts and recitals by local andinternational artists. The blueprint has remainedto this day.

BY MARK FISHER

17

But that same year, a curious thing happened.Eight theatre companies which had not beeninvited by Bing decided they would come toEdinburgh anyway. They included Glasgow UnityTheatre and London’s Pilgrim Players and, betweenthem, they staged ten plays in smaller theatresaround the city and as far afield as Dunfermline.The term “fringe” was coined the following year –an improvement on “Festival Adjuncts” – but thedefining principles of the event were establishedfrom the start. Crucial among them was that noinvitation was necessary to perform. On afundamental level, what distinguishes the EIF fromthe Fringe is not quality or ambition, but thesanctioning or otherwise of an artistic director.

From its spontaneous roots, the Fringe began itsorganic growth. The first Fringe Programmeappeared in 1954, a central box office was set upin 1955, and in 1958 a formal Fringe Society wasestablished. Over the decades the event grew ata sometimes alarming rate, eclipsing the size ofthe EIF and, for many audiences, coming to definethe spirit of Edinburgh in August. The 2006 eventfeatured 28,014 performances of 1,867 showsstaged by an estimated 16,990 performers.

With that huge rise in scale has come an ever moreprofessional approach to the administration ofthe Fringe. As recently as the late-80s, the wholething was run by only two full-time employeesplus a team of seasonal workers. Today there’s acore staff of 12.

Such a professional operation might seemcounter to the old “let’s do the show right here”ethos, but the founding principle remains: anyonecan join the fun without waiting to be asked.That’s not to say there aren’t costs involved. For an artist to get on the Fringe mailing list for a year costs £10 (email) or £20 (post), in return for which they get bulletins and practical advice.A 40-word entry in the Fringe Programme costs£200 or £300, depending on how close to thedeadline you leave it. That fee also pays for theFringe Office’s services, including the box office(they take a 6% cut on sales), the distribution oflistings information and the marketing of theevent as a whole.

To an impoverished artist it’s a lot of money, butstill only a fraction of the costs of venue hire,accommodation, transport, publicity and staging.You can choose to sidestep the Fringe organisation,but going it alone in the world’s biggest artsfestival can be hard work. Surveys suggest that70% of audiences regard the Fringe Programmeas their number one source of information andthe Fringe’s box office accounts for about 35%of tickets sold.

“I love the open access of the Fringe,” says Gudgin,who’s been in charge for nine years. “In some waysthe Fringe is more of a federation of venues – someof which are so big they could be festivals in theirown right – but still it’s the case that a companywill appear from nowhere at a small venue andwill do well. That’s still important. Our own R&Dis built into the festival.”

Although he has no direct artistic influence overthe programme, his work during the year doeshave a bearing on what audiences get to see.“You can have a lot of influence,” he says. “That doesn’t mean your pet shows are going toappear but, for example, we’ve been two or threetimes to New York with the intention of makingcontacts over there. We’ve had a significantincrease in the number and the calibre of showsfrom New York. We can’t take the credit becauseit’s down to the venues to programme them, butwe’ve opened up channels of communication. It has a subtle influence on the programme."

Learning lessons from the Edinburgh Fringe canbe difficult because of its unique history. It hasoften been emulated, but no city could mimic thespontaneous way it started. “A lot of other fringefestivals programme part of the festival and havepart of it non-programmed,” says Gudgin. “That’sdifficult because you end up with the haves andthe have-nots. Here it’s not so black and white.Other fringe festivals find it difficult to get a senseof scale and openness, yet keeping a threshold of quality.”

The success of the festivals in Edinburgh (alsotaking place in August are the International FilmFestival, the International Book Festival and theArt Festival) can be attributed to the profusion ofartistic activity in the city. Take any element outand the whole thing would suffer. “I think a catalystfor the festivals being so strong is this balancebetween competition and cooperation,” saysGudgin. “But Fringe performers are not settingthemselves up in opposition to the EIF, it’s not on the radar. They come either just to be part of it or to generate more work for themselves andgetting a profile and press coverage.”

Gudgin’s advice to anyone trying to run a fringeelsewhere is to do it for the right reasons. “It comesdown to the motivation for the festival,” he says.“A good motivation is to give a platform for aparticular style or medium of work. But if you setit up with the aim of killing off a rival festival infive years, that’s the wrong way to be heading.The motivation has to be artistic rather thanpolitical. The festivals that start with strongartistic identities are the ones that survive.”

A five-minute walk up the Royal Mile from theFringe Office, the newly installed artistic directorof the EIF is musing over the festival phenomenon.Jonathan Mills arrived in Edinburgh in October2006 with a track record that includes stints atseveral festivals in Melbourne and Brisbane.Replacing Brian McMaster, who led the EIF for 15years, he is pursuing a policy of “evolution notrevolution” although, significantly, he is planningto commission visual art as well as the standardmix of opera, dance, concerts and theatre. Thedifference between EIF and Fringe, he says, is todo with the way they are programmed and theway audiences respond.

“The most important distinction is the scale, the scope and the ambition of the work,” he says.“There’s been plenty of extremely edgy, scabby,difficult sort of work in the EIF that could easilyhave been in the Fringe programme. It comes downto the curating of the programme, the overallarchitecture and design of how the programmefits together and what you want to do.

“These festivals will only continue to work if theyfulfil two fundamental needs: the need to nurtureartists and the need to nurture audiences. There’sa profound distinction between finding a showthat has an audience and building an audience for a show. These festivals are important becausepeople will accept a different level of participation.They have a different set of expectations. They’reprepared to gorge themselves and go to lots ofthings in a short space of time and to be openminded in their attitudes.”

In other words, the merit of a festival, whether“official” or fringe, is in the effect it has on audiencesand artists. It might be generally true that one ismore high-brow, the other more experimental –and it could be that the tension between the twois creative – but what’s more important is that afestival is festive. It is a disruption of our normalpatterns of behaviour, a celebration, a bringingtogether of people, ideas and experiences. Morethan any individual work within it, the festivalallows us to take time out from our daily lives and make us look at the world differently.

Sometime in 2005, after three attempts (1999, 2002 and 2004), the powers-that-be gave uptrying to curate the Independents. The Afoundation put its money into Greenland Street – a new,all-year round gallery with its own agenda and curatorial team. A fine addition to the City’s visartsinfrastructure, but no more handouts and websites for Independents. Fed up taking flack forinaccuracies in the Independents’ listings, the International Biennial said DIY. The Biennialpowers-that-be have always wanted their very own fringe / underground with a vibe of trail-blazingcool and radical fun, but they wanted to control and curate it. Oxymoronic or what? Independencecannot be curated. Wherever quality-control walls with their ‘conform or keep out’ signage arebuilt, groups will splinter and rebels rebel. It’s Nature. And it’s natural that elements of the 2006programme were embarrassing and others inspirational. And it’s good to pick and choose whatyou praise or dismiss. And it’s good to resource and word-up your favourites, but whichever wayyou push it, a door-policy is not the solution.

New Kids and VeteransIn 2006 a still on-going attempt was made to list everyone who took part and where they camefrom. The DyingFrogArtsNetwork continues this work begun by Adele Cropper. So far we have532 records. Several ephemeral events did not upload information to our website. There will neverbe a definitive number. Of these 532 Independents 99 were foreign nationals, 86 Liverpool-based,28 from London and 18 from Chester. The remainder hail from 30 other UK towns and cities.However of this total 133 exhibited in ArtinLiverpool’s web-based Digital Show, although this is agood thing, it is not quite the same as spending the time, money and effort in coming to Liverpool.Notwithstanding, it appears, probably for the first time, Liverpool-based artists were not themajority, but in fact the largest minority, of Independents in 2006. To be representative any threeIndependents would comprise a scouser, a.n.other UK resident and a foreign national.

This class of 2006 may be considered as two groups: new outsiders and veteran insiders. The former being the larger. Typically 2006 was their first Independents and often their first visit toLiverpool. The City was a scene they wanted to be on, they got out, networked, had fun and didn’tstay around long, but want to come back for more. Participation was critical to their decision toattend the Biennial, accessing the quality of the International programme as an art-lover was notenough in itself.

18

BY JOHN BRADY

Some veteran insiders have issues. Of the Biennial powers-that-be perhaps it is the City itselfthat deserves their full attention. ACE provided the funding for the Creative Facilitation Office (CFO)and grants to individuals and groups. The International Biennial receives very significant fundingfrom Liverpool City for a curatorial gambit from which Liverpool artists are excluded, namely theinvitation to foreign-national artists to come to the City and to make an artwork with Liverpool asit’s subject-matter. The John Moores Painting Prize does not attract such antagonism because itis open to everyone and selected on merit. Liverpool artists submit work and, from time-to-time,get selected and win prizes. Liverpool City can resolve the matter by releasing funding to theIndependents and its CFO, thus ending the financial exclusion of Liverpool artists whilstmaintaining the International’s curatorial integrity.

WebsiteIn 2006 the Independents website was independent. Built and managed by Peter Hagerty usingfree open-source software, the site enabled Independents to upload directly images, texts andinformation for the 124 exhibitions and events they listed there. Set up in July, it had 47,000 visitsin August and a high of 98,000 in September. Its 270 members formed the core electorate in thevoting of artist members to the Independents Board of Trustees.

Peer GroupingTotally Free is a first step toward the much desired critical scrutiny of the Independents. Severalartists and writers (based in Manchester and Scotland) attended during the Independents andauthored profiles of Independent artists that featured on the website and are reproduced here.This is the beginning of peer-group review drawing on independent others without local axes-to-grind that helps develop a wider audience for the Independents. The CFO made an agreementwith A N Magazine (the monthly national magazine for artists) that an Independents Biennial imagewould be the front cover for either the September, October or November issue. Their editorial teambegan considering images in August and from their shortlist of Ben Parry, Gino Saccone, MichelleWren, Nina Edge and Suki Chan selected Wren’s work for the November front cover. More peergroup review of the Independents. Note, not institutions or ‘authority’, but other independentartists, artist groups and activists. The CFO welcomes suggestions as to how to encourage anddevelop further peer group liaison. Could it work both ways, could (should?) there be, e.g. anIndependents Biennial Nottingham or Independents Biennial Sheffield? Perhaps at every Biennialthere is an indigenous body of artists marginalised by the arrival of globe-trotting Internationalists?Is, what Venice, Sao Paulo and Sydney really lack, their Independents? Would this be the“nurturing of local incompetence” championed by Stephen Wright (Biennale de Paris) as antidoteto a globally imposed “international competency”?

Future StuffPragmatically, will Independents 2008 be predominantly performative and digital as city centredevelopment ends the supply of idle warehouses as alternative artspace? In the Capo’Cul yearthe International’s public realm pavilions will be up and away in the unregenerated North End.Ironically, 2004’s finest Independents item Further Up in the Air, in a Sheil Road towerblock, wasconsidered too far out at the time. Obliquely, The Art Organisation (TAO) were the 2006 equivalent(although museumMAN’s a contender), not because of any one exhibition, but by what they did.Opportunist and driven, this micro-outfit secured five empty commercial premises and turnedthem into an artspace network of fast turn-around exhibitions, filmshows, Live Art and an artistshostel – all without a grant! Maybe the future is a mixed economy where the Independent, thebureaucrat and the entrepreneur find common ground.

The good news is the Independents survived independence. Although size isn’t everything, it gotbigger than before, bigger than the International. European, North and South American, artistsfrom more than thirty UK towns and cities and scousers together doing Art is good. However, theIndependents CFO is fragile, it has a PO Box address, a website and a laptop. The most importantasset is the Independents individually and their input to the recommendations for the futuredevelopment and strengthening of the Independents Biennial is critical to its future vitality. Theserecommendations will be presented in April 2007. In the meantime myself and the Independentsproto-Board welcome notice of insights, options and initiatives that may be of potential benefit.A monitoring and evaluation exercise will conclude also in April when various figures, most notablyaudience attendance figures will be made available.

19

WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO BECKY SHAW AND MARK RAMSDENS’INSTITUTIONS WITH FRINGES,THE INTERNATIONALER, LIVERPOOL,MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, 2005.

20

BY KAI-OI JAY YUNG

Taking part in Liverpool Biennial 2006 was dynamic;scattering of opportunities, interweaving connections,provoking discussion and extending my art innovation.Graduated from Dundee University, May 2006, myparticipation in five separate events arrived at aninvaluable stage of my professional visual arts career.My return to Liverpool has been influenced by the city’srapid transformation outwards, yet, characteristicaccent, multi-ethnicity, Chinatown... relocatesLiverpool as home.

My practice springs from compulsion to create, inciteexchange and reassess cultural belonging. My sculptures,videos, drawing constructions and performances spewforth from multi-directional fragments of life. Theydislocate cultural formers imposing absolute identitiesand rigid systems of being. Following a French degreeand public relations career, it was teaching English inChina, that a student’s observation ‘you’re a banana; yellow on the outside, white on the inside’ instigatedsuch art discourse. My formative assertions concerningidentity have since dissipated. British born; regularfamily meals at Far East and Wah Sing schoolingcannot cement ethnicity.

Having exhibited at Gene Culture, meeting GaynorSweeney and Transvoyeur was to lead to an awesomecollaborative opportunity; Trampoline / Distribution.Held at View Two gallery, the event was antithesis to the International Biennial launch party. Though I showed Trampoline at both, contexts andmotivations diverged.

The official International launch attempted to linkexhibitors to a venue reflecting Liverpool’s historyand landmark buildings. I proposed video performanceTrampoline as outdoor projection; nine hours oftrampoline assault edited into seven minutesimmersion, ...Carling Academy saved the launch fromhealth and safety rebukes by The Crypt, Anglican,Bridewell; Trampoline showed where crazy golf wasplayed and drinks poured.

In contrast, I renegotiated Carling’s Trampolinethrough Trampoline / Distribution at Transvoyeur’sLive Art Platform. I was keen to disintegrate gallerystillness. Collaborating with four pianists, for thirtyminutes they performed live score Distribution toTrampoline’s incessant repetition. As moving image /sonic fixated by everyday spiritual jouissance, I transposed thematic concerns onto audience’sseated viewing. What resulted was a sublimely hypnoticexperience, suggested shifting cyclical relationships.

Tucked away in Matthew Street, signature red doorView Two had communicated profit venture galleryto me; walls adorned primarily with curious framedcontent. Then I discovered the top floor, and metfacilitator Samuel Skinner who voiced programmeintentions. From Chaosmos to Kinetic Fallacy’smultimedia, Skinner attracts music and art lovers tounusual, enjoyable art music; a stimulating inversionof the gallery’s perceived representation. AlongsideFACT and Arena, View Two has become an importantspace of exchange for me.

Indeed, Liverpool’s artist community is organic, with space to think, meet and talk. I was generouslywelcomed and supported by fellow artists, collectives,independent curators. Coinciding Your Fridge Doorlaunch reflected my ignited hunger; to supportLiverpool’s exciting growth. Meeting The Gang; theoverriding infectious spirit was clearly led by Liverpool’sinhabitants. No need to infiltrate a closed clique orpre-fabricated curatorial presumptions to join in.From artists to taxi driver, people in Liverpool recognisethe real social possibilities for art and culture. Portlegacy... cages... MetaConceptual... The Caravan...diverse cultural identity... Let’s address the riots andslave history, Metal locates in Kensington, RoyalStandard in L8. This is how we get into Liverpool’sneighbourhoods; art dissemination post biennial.

21

TRAMPOLINE, CARLING ACADEMYTRAMPOLINE / DISTRIBUTION, TRANSVOYEUR LIVE ART PLATFORMTHE ROOM, BRACKET THIS III, ARENA HOUSEFRENCH FANCIES,WALK THE PLANK, SALTHOUSE DOCK

ALSO SEE WWW.MYSPACE.COM/KAIOI

Indeed, opportunities were pleasantly spontaneous,like encountering New Bird Street’s China Pavilion,or hearing Milk Float’s calamitous melodies. MeetingWalk The Plank’s Pugh and Potter on their CanningDock ship also proved a loyal upholding of ‘only connect’epithet. My visceral sonic visual French Fanciescontributed to Grow Your Own Cabaret. Initiallyscheduled for Liverpool Live, even failed generatordid not hamper audience spirits. Lower deck behelda mystic brew of alchemic vaudeville that encompassedesoteric dance to drama.

For me, however, the lynchpin of my Independentsactivity is encapsulated by connection to Mercyorganisers Thomas Harold and Nathan Jones.Bridging the divide between printed word, art andperformance, Bracket This began with foundingpremise that artists come from diverse culturalbackgrounds, Mercy encourage “vital emergingartists with a critical regional focus”.

My commission for Going Native was pertinent;completing circuit between Independents andInternational efforts for artists to respond to locality.This overriding ‘context sensitive’ impetus had beenpurveyed by the Board. Cautious of my cue as Chineseartist wrestling with Chineseness in Chinatown, I couldnot repudiate the simple enquiry: how do peoplenegotiate their understanding of location in terms of where they left?

I deployed my Cove Park residency, Scotland tocounter-pose regional narratives with my own culturalheritage, extending this into a wider discourse ofmythology and notion of self. Curatorial site choicewas dilapidating Arena House; its multiple historiesfed into my resulting sonic visuals. Through The Room,I opened up rigid systems of looking, splinteringillusions of singular cohesive identity. Shot in disusedammunition bunker, projected performance,obfuscated automatic drawings and amorphouscollage constructions interspersed and destabilised

Arena’s dimensions. The Room spilled into conjoininggritty poetry performances and musical improvisations.A micro-environment operating within Mercy’sdeliberately uncoordinated salon directive. BracketThis III enabled my work to exist on its own terms,whilst navigating audiences beyond building throughthe socio-cultural economic infrastructure of Biennialand into Liverpool’s streets.

All my activity has been catalyst for my reconnectionwith Liverpool. The infrastructure is being laid –Independent’s website as discursive forum – networksare inviting, physical spaces beg supersocial networking.It is difficult to leave home, but core tenet of thefestival reminds us of art’s nomadic expanse. Such are2007’s parallel investigations; a Munich residency incollaboration with The Royal Standard and Metal;transferring local into artist geo-diaspora. Meanwhile,with Walk the Plank I celebrate Chinese heritage in‘Beyond The Arch’, re-anchoring the very locality thatcentres me to Liverpool.

It’s promising to hear people are looking Northbound...Liverpool irrefutably nurtures local and internationaltalent. Prior to returning, I feared a mega structureBiennial to be counterattacked, prompting outlawedIndependents, fringe art jarring of mechanics; cute.Such is good versus evil neat fairytale; reproduction,commercial market, white space versus derelictguerrilla tactics. Conversely, taking part proves amutating hyperactive flux of artists and rhizomaticgeopolitical histories. From cross-fertilised partnerships,assemblaged happenings, democratic strategic artforms,hybrid audiences, the entire city pulses with all kindsof art for all kinds of people. There is no clear them /us demarcation; it is alongside and within the Biennialframework that Liverpool has welcomed me. Howreassuring to be contradicted. Liverpool is fulfiling its potential and I am proud to enriching its story.

22

MANDY ROMERO, TRANSVOYEUR PERFORMANCE ART PLATFORMVIEW TWO GALLERY, MATHEW STREET.PHOTO: PETE CARR

UNTITLED, TIM ELLISTHE ART ORGANISATIONPHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

23

THE REASON OF THE BODY, ROSIE CLARKEWOLSTENHOLME SQUARE (TOP BACKWARD LEAN, BOTTOM FORWARD LEAN )PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

24

“I went to Goldsmith’s but I don’t really think of myself asa Goldsmith’s graduate.” Michelle ‘Mosh’ Wren laughs— the first of many knowing smiles flashing across herbright, open, youthful face. Instant intrigue: not only did‘our Mosh’ attend the trendy art school she got a First.“I only applied for it as a last choice,” says Michelle,candidly. “My tutor at school said ‘why aren’t you applyingthere? — Go on’. I was like ‘oh whatever’, turned up andfound out it was a really good art college.” And the First?“Yes. I think it bowled a lot of tutors over. It was reallyunusual.” Michelle, some might cynically say, looks likean art school dropout. It makes her achievement atGoldsmith’s all the more sweet.

“I do photography,” she says gesturing to a scale modelof a theatrical proscenium arch, in cardboard, pepperedwith pictures. “This piece has fallen apart now — it wasn’tmade very well but this is my world. This is New Cross(the location of Goldsmith’s).” She points to photos:“This is an amazing punk club... it used to be a massive,dirty big pub it’s amazing. They refurbished it all one year.I superimposed this graffiti from the Berlin Wall on there...”

A quick proviso. Mosh is a solid talker. Yet somehow shemanages to get through a lot of words without shoutingor breathlessness. “This was about reclaiming the spaceand making your world your world and how like everythingwas changing all around us but we all used this space forwhat it was.” The down-to-earth spirit and the girl-next-door quality are natural to Mosh. In art terms, she invokesthe maverick spirit running throughout art history, enliveningand enriching it. It all makes for an infectious blend.

Zestful Michelle embodies the urgency among someartists to stand up and be counted — to be a signpostfor yourself and your soul rather than a weather cockblown about by the whimsical ways of lifestyle choices,regeneration, globalisation, war, you name it. “At uni, forthe first two years I was unconfident — I was trying todo things to please the tutors. I was a bit of an underdogthere. I’d only ever read The Daily Mirror when I went therebecause my mum bought it, do you know what I mean?And all of a sudden you’re on this course at Goldsmith’sand I was getting The Guardian every week and stackingthem up to read like novels.”

That knowing smile breaks again. “It took me two yearsto realise you are what you are Michelle. And so I did thatin my last year and half of the tutors were like ‘what areyou doing? Michelle stop it.’ Everyone had glossy printson nice mount board and mine were all like cut up.” Of course, rough drafts can have greater impact for theirhonesty. Refreshing too is Wren’s avoidance of wearingher Goldsmith’s first as a badge or stake on those elusivesirens recognition and success.

“I could have a job at the BBC now.” She laughs again.“But I don’t crave that... I didn’t really want my phototook.” She laughs further at The Guardian and The TurnerPrize. It’s rare to find in a young artist, the knowledgethat in terms of its solipsism, its blinkered view ofpopular and high culture, the right-on left can hinderthings just as much as the catch-all, bad old right. “Me andmy friends used to work in FACT... we had a great time...people used to walk around in suits in there, thinking theywere really important.” (She drops into an impersonationof an art world snob cum knob swollen with self-importance, complete with smarmy, all-knowing, post-everything grimace).

BY TIM BIRCH

25

LEGEND HAS IT ..., MUSEUMMAN, PARLIAMENT STREET AND A N MAGAZINE FRONTCOVER (NOVEMBER 2006).

“This is my problem with the Biennial. It’s just reallynot attractive to the people. All these other people comedown just for the night and say, ‘oh yes, art’. But whatthey want to be doing is getting the people down herefrom the city — and actually being like ‘this is a massivefestival on your city’... like Adam (Nankervis, who hasquietly convened museumMan). He was the first personwho said to me you can come and do what you want here— he let us put parties on here... Everyone else puts upobstacles — you can’t fly post anymore unless you paythe Council to fly post for you.”

Back to art. Michelle picks up a tiny shrine, which she’sbuilt into a matchbox, in homage to “a hero” — a soldierwho stood guard at his posting during Pompeii. It’s an oddstory of blind servitude but, also, one of naked loyalty andcommitment and resolve. The ability to see the other sideto a story sets Michelle apart from many young artists.

I am ultimately led to Michelle’s signature piece. “I madethis for this exhibition,” she declaims, “it’s like a poemand you follow it round.” We look at the medium sizedwall-based piece — again a kind of shrine. “It’s aboutwhat’s happening in Liverpool at the moment... you knowI didn’t really want to contribute to the Biennial — I justthink art can be really self-indulgent sometimes.” True.And a fitting cue for my own brief self-indulgence. My absolute favourite object that Michelle has influenced(arguably a more precise term for her activity than made)is a Rubik’s cube — the coloured panels have beencovered with sections of the Liverpool A-Z. A curiousthing happens when you hold this in your hand or toywith it awhile trying to reconfigure the messed upcityscape. The simplicity, the clarity of the idea comesthrough the medium, the object, the handling (hers andyours). It may well remain missed by most critics andaudience alike but, in my view, it’s one of the best piecesacross both the official and Independent Biennial.

Michelle’s art could be disparaged easily for its literalimpact, its playfulness, and the reliance on the ‘easy’media of photography. But her art actually operates inan intriguing way, pulling in two distinct directions: herpictures display vision as well as reportage. “Nice newapartments get built everywhere but no one can live inthem... and there’s this old theme park in Liverpool, it’sincredible. At the end of my (visual) poem everybodygoes to live in the old theme park and rebuilds the city.” The cynical might sneer: the faux revolutionary radicalismand idealism of youth etc. But there’s soulful sincerity toMichelle and her work. “Basically the road where I live isgetting knocked down (She flicks a hidden switch and aspotlight reveals the road itself).” She talks on as we lookat the rubble, juxtaposed with images of regeneration.

She summarises: “We’re the capital of culture andeverything 2008 but I live on the streets where they won’tget any benefit. There’s all this money that the councilare investing, they’re saying they’re investing in tourismso the people from the city can work harder to make thecity a nicer place for people to come to.” She rumbles on.

Art’s a blast with characters like Michelle in it. Hermatter-of-fact style is quite charming. And her curious,excitable mind has made its mark on my own. All toosoon it’s time to go, but not before Mosh tells me of afanzine she publishes with friends. “It’s called Pigeons,Flies and Fleas sub-titled The Revolution of theUncounted.” Count me in.

I hope one day The Guardian and the BBC and, yes, eventhe Turner Prize ‘discover’ Michelle. But if they ever do,Michelle will not need their credentials as she’ll be toobusy building upon her own — the ones she establishedthere and then at the Independents Biennial 2006.

Huge changes to the physical and social fabricof the city of Liverpool are taking place. In reaction tothese changes, Jump Ship Rat (JSR), a local art collective,have chosen to explore Liverpool 08’s prevailing culturaltheme ‘City in Transition’, and to make an artisticinterpretation of Liverpool’s changing urban fabric.

JSR, who have been themselves pushed out oftheir home by new building developments and as aresult do not have a building space to work from, havelooked at ways of addressing these changes; findingways of taking art beyond the city’s interior spacesand onto the streets, extending the notion of temporarypublic art. Ben Parry, one of the original founders of JSR,says that, ‘to match the city’s development we needto re-invent the way in which artwork is encountered and experienced’.

Parry has engaged and explored the changingnature of the physical and psychological urban fabricthroughout much of his work, seeking to discover, ‘newand unknown territories where art becomes engagedwith the social and political realities of everyday life’.But Ben Parry has mixed feelings towards the rapiddevelopment of Liverpool, as he says that having novenue to work from has created new challenges forhim as an artist and has been liberating in a way; Ballet Mechanique has been born as a result of this.

Collaborators Ben Parry from Liverpool andJacques Chauchat from Paris, have decided to taketheir historical practice of working with reclaimed materialand kinetic sculpture, out of the gallery and into the streetwith their sonic junk street machine. A fully charged 1975milk float picked up from a Dairy Express ‘milk floatgraveyard’ has undergone a metamorphosis to becomean ‘electro-mechanic orchestra’. The float has beenbuilt up to a height of 5 meters with an integrated seriesof mechanical sculptures made from the detritus of thecity; discarded objects collected from Mersey Waste’sdomestic disposal sites – ‘45 cubic meters of kling,clunk, slash and boom’.

26

BY LEO WOOD

In its alteration, the milk float has become akinetic cacophony of interlocking motors, pulleys, wheels,cogs and other mechanisms, creating a sound toreverberate through the city. Parry calls this, ‘the animationof objects in anarchic motion in which the spectatorexperiences the poetic language and song of detritus’,resounding the pace, dynamism, movement andinfinite chaos of Liverpool. In recycling the actual wastefrom the city, the milk float also transforms itself into aconceptual vehicle for urban ecology, reflecting thecity as a living organism in a constant state of changeand modification.

Following the transformation of the milk float at thehands of Ben and Jacques, its original function can alsostill be seen as an integrated unit within the new dynamicand complex art machine; the original milk float beingitself a part of the ecological system of a city, enablingthe process of food production and supply, mappingthe urban terrain and exemplifying the concept of thesustainable community inherent in the milk round.

In all these ways, the milk float reflects andrepresents the past, present and possibly future of thechanging city of Liverpool. Yet the irony to this is that asa machine, the milk float is also functionless, a sculptureof the absurd, ‘debris in perfect disorder’. In operationfrom 14th September, Ballet Mechanique made ajourney throughout the city each day throughout theIndependents, offering all those it met a surprise encounterand the discovery of the unknown. Ben Parry suggeststhat this aspect of the piece is important to him; ‘I likethe idea of cultural hijack and to stopping people intheir tracks’. In this way, Parry’s reference to Dadaismbecome apparent, a rejection of traditional artistic andcultural values. He regards The Milk Float as aninterventionist piece that takes people by surprise,against their active choice to experience art within thesafety of an art gallery. This is not a sanctioned artwork.The milk float has a fixed route, reflective of the milkround of old, and Ben likes the idea of building up anaudience throughout the duration of the Independents,‘to have people in offices looking out their windows ata certain time each day’. But the journey of the float willalso always have an element of flexibility and opennessto change. The milk float will create spontaneous andmemorable moments in an otherwise routine day. Aswell as being an artistically innovative and challengingpiece, it is also simple anarchic fun. So keep all eyespeeled not to miss it, though this seems impossible, whenBallet Mechanique hits your street, heads are sure to turn.

27

BALLET MECHANIQUE TOURED THE CITY DURING THE INDEPENDENTS BIENNIAL.

28

BY TIM BIRCH

“I haven't got an art degree and there

is a certain amount of snobbery around

that... I came to this through work first

of all as a journalist with BBC News &

Current Affairs.”

So states Max Zadow as we meet inside

the FACT café. Well used to teasing out

a narrative then, Max outlines his

backstory. "I have a long history with

the Biennial. My first commission was

when I pitched an idea to ‘White Diamond’

(Liverpool-based art organisation and

periodical publisher of an art fanzine).

It was a digital art piece. I hate it now

but at the time it meant quite a lot to

me. So each time I try to do something

for the Biennial and this year there are

quite a few pieces which have ended up

being used in the Biennial. It’s been a

good way of coalescing activities — of

giving them a focus, a place for premieres,

a space in which they can be seen and a

focus for collaboration.”

Collaboration is a key word for Max.

A strong character and an eloquent

speaker, Max nonetheless is quick to

emphasise that his modus operandi is

teams. He summarises three core

group-led activities. “First of all there’s

Onteca (a multimedia company and

Max’s current employer). Then there’s

Digital Production by Disabled People

(a local organisation). It’s an art

collective I’m co-founder of... with Ross

Clark — a good strong local artist, went

to Central St. Martin’s — proper artist’s

pedigree (he winks). We co-founded this

group. There are eight of us currently —

we have a strong line up of talented artists

who work very well together. And it’s

growing. Our main art practice centred

on that group — it’s a name we fight under

— a flag of convenience. We’re pushing

forward a project of films, pushing issues

in disability and consciousness and what

digital, multimedia art is.”

The effort is paying off in terms of bona

fide presence throughout the Biennial.

Max was involved with work shown at

the official Biennial’s launch party;

three films were made and shown under

the umbrella title, ‘Ghosts of the Future’

as part of the Independent strand; and

there’s an intriguing city tour. “Ghosts

of the Future was three films by three

local artists who happen to be disabled,”

says Max. “Each one is designed to be

projected onto buildings which are

currently not accessible to disabled

people but will be in future. It’s a

statement of intent by the people who are

renovating those buildings —including

the Bluecoat — saying ‘we mean it that

we’re going to make these buildings

accessible. And here are these ghosts

of the future, these artworks created by

disabled people we are displaying on our

walls as a flickering foretaste of what’s

to come.”

29

It is only when our conversation arrives at

disability issues that Max’s own disability

is brought to the fore. He walks with two

canes. Earlier I’d helped him ease slowly

down into his chair — a task by which,

he says, the FACT staff know him well.

“Interpretation of a Dream was my film

— basically my id, ego and superego

fighting it out onscreen. It’s about

seeing myself as an integrated person

in the future.”

The different warring parts of Max’s

personality, compounded by disability,

make for an intriguing multiple personality

disorder. “My id was a Ming the Merciless

crossed with a businessman / 1930s

gangster,” explains Max. “I represented

my ego as a gothic Richard III and my

superego as a girl in a toga.”

I can see the first two ‘in’ Max. What

about that last one? “It’s to do with

my past, the old anima thing and my

religious beliefs — I like techno paganism

and I like to shove in at least one

reference to the goddess in every

piece... my supergo being a Minerva,

Athena figure: wisdom and yet that

incompletion. Also that was a chance to

bring in Rebecca Virgo who’s a disabled

artist.” What’s telling is Max’s honesty

(“that incompletion”) and his will to

empower a team at every opportunity

(working with artist Rebecca Virgo).

What about the third core group for Max?

“The Gang. We met each other at the show

which broke Robin Archer. A multimedia

show, the commission for the Capital of

Culture. It cost £240,000 — and actually

wasn’t all that bad. There were a series

of workshops we’d all been brought on

to run... well personally I soon realised

there are all these people so much

better than me.” Graciousness in defeat

is another of Max’s traits to warm to.

“Liverpool is full of multimedia artists,”

says Max. “But, well, we all said actually

there’s a lot less pretension about us,

and a lot more wit and ability to work

together... so we organised a group of

us to meet every couple of weeks and

discuss matters of mutual interest.

We’ve been going about a year and we’ve

had Gang shows, swapped skills and

resources and so on. In a city where we

need more artistic output we have to do

it for ourselves.”

DIY has been a prevalent attitude in art

on the back of those so-called ‘sensational’

1990s (Hirst et al). But isn’t it downright

difficult for disabled artists? “What’s

good about this Biennial is that a lot of

the high profile establishment venues

have really bent over backwards to make

sure they are accessible. There was a

piece of work which I was involved with

shown at the opening party of the

official Biennial — they could have got

somewhere up ten flights of stairs but

they made sure it was somewhere with

a lift. The Independent’s opening party

was up ten flights of stairs but the reason

was they couldn’t find anywhere they

could afford... so there’s this tension

between what I want to support — work

generated by the grassroots and by people

doing it right here, right now — and those

ten flights of stairs... In fairness the

Independents have been thinking access

all along — every event had to register

whether it was accessible or not.”

Max is an empowered, proactive, generous

artist. As we sit in FACT’s café Max loudly

chastises FACT for never having dedicated

a show in their main spaces to local

North West artists but he also applauds

the current Biennial showing at FACT.

He’s passionate about multimedia art yet

bemoans art in general. “Now people can

be artists without creating art. And that

worries me,” he says. “I think we need to

get away from that and get back to the

idea of the artist as creator. That might

allow us to make a bit more art and spend

less time worrying about it.”

Ending on a high, Max is in buoyant mood

about the tour. “Me and Matt Fraser, him

off the telly, are going to do a tour of

Liverpool: Disability, Architecture and

Access on the 27 and 28 October —

organised by the Bluecoat... we’ll visit

famous people’s houses like Hitler and

the only bloke who shot a Prime Minister

— so that’ll be two local heroes.” Max

shares the wicked streak of black humour

running amongst disabled friends I’ve

known. The content of the tour?

“An exciting adventure into, er, stuff.”

Our Max is not one for the hard sell.

“Anyway Matt's writing the script so it

should be good,” he summarises. “It’ll

be a laugh — Matt’s a fun guy and we’ve

got some surprises.”

GHOSTS OF THE FUTURE,A SERIES OF FILMS BY ROSS CLARK, ANNE CUNNINGHAM AND MAX ZADOW. SCREENED AT THE CARLING ACADEMY (BIENNIAL LAUNCH) AND 3345 SLATER STREET.

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ACCESS IN THE CITY, BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK: 2,A LIVE-ART COACH TOUR WITH MAT FRASER & MAX ZADOW (TWICE DAILY DURING LIVERPOOL LIVE 06).

ON THE EDGE, AT THE ALIMA GALLERY (FOR THE INTERNATIONAL & DADAFEST PROGRAMME).

FOR MORE ON MAX ZADOW SEE WWW.ONTECA.COM

In conversation with Sarat Maharaj, the Chilean artist Mario

Navarro spoke about his work in response to the quick pace of the

contemporary art world. His most recent work, which is the result of having

worked collaboratively with a group of people who have had brain injuries,

was exhibited at the Central Library as part of the International Biennial

programme. It embraced a multiplicity of ideas introduced in various

organisational systems. In another project, Navarro curated an exhibition

where the exhibiting artists changed the works on display every day. His aim

was to connect things that, in his opinion “should be connected”.

In a realm of similar concerns and efforts, the Art Organisation

(TAO) currently run five temporary exhibition spaces in Liverpool city centre.

All venues are housed in derelict buildings and operated on a shoestring

budget. With the encouragement by TAO’s director and curator Gregory

Scott-Gurner, complete turn around of exhibitions are done pretty much over

night. Furthermore, the process from proposal to exhibition can at times

take less than a month since the whole idea is that the concepts as well as the

actual installations are worked on by the artists themselves.

TAO has over the past six years gathered experience at the 491

Gallery which has run as a non-funded space in Leytonstone. In an effort to

expand that experience and to grow with different communities, TAO came to

Liverpool in 2004. There was obviously no lack of derelict buildings in the city

centre at the time and they basically picked the ones that looked interesting

and approached the property developers to see what that they could get their

hands on. The results are the five venues now in operation.

Approaching dereliction as inspirational and the process of making

these spaces habitable empowering, while at the same time trying to get access

to free live and workspace, TAO is a grass roots organisation with numerous

members and an expanding network. Everyone who wishes is welcome to be

part of this slightly anarchic constellation as it works its way through the city.

It operates organically and in a completely ‘analogue’ manner which in obvious

ways work to the organisation’s advantage as it creates a strong unit between

likeminded people. Its temporary and nomadic nature is built on the ethos

of recycling; stuff found in the skip on the street, wood from demolished

houses, colleagues, friends and family contribute material and objects to

the functional, friendly and sparse set up of these spaces.

30

BY CECILIA ANDERSSON

Walking down the street in summer 2006 I came across the Meta-

Conceptual Gallery on Roscoe Street, fully graffitied and with TAO’s logo on

the façade. The meta-concept stayed as a riddle with me for a while, but then

I gave up on solving its meaning, at least for the time being. In further

conversation with Scott-Gurner who invented the terminology, he explains

that it stands for that which we some times are unable to express and possibly

feel unable to name as knowledge, but still feel we possess and somehow

‘know’, perhaps as part of a consciousness not fully explored and less

understood. However, the meta-concept is intensely real. Meaning beyond

concept, it defies intellectualisation and instead demands action. This is the

knowledge of a body that makes, and through making that becomes real.

Having developed and staged a 24 hour experience in 1999,

Scott-Gurner felt the activities mostly fell within what could be called a

post-conceptual movement. The current meta-conceptual activities are

explored and carried forward in various ways and in various constellations.

As a brief overview of the impressive schedule that took place in the

five spaces, the Projection Space on 2 Roscoe Street offered classic, silent,

black and white films accompanied with a live musical score every Wednesday

night. 52 Roscoe Street functioned as a community gallery and rehearsal

space for various groups and activities. TAO’s communal living space on 102

Seel Street was open for visitors by appointment and had room for guests who

wished to stay overnight. 34A Slater Street hosted the International Gallery

which put on three high quality exhibitions and the RE-Evolutionary Gallery

(Wolstenholme Square) was home to a series of group shows.

It will be interesting to see what implications an initiative like this

may have on future activities in the city. In many ways, it would have been

great had TAO taken up abode here a bit earlier, but as there is still lots

of ‘community regeneration’ to be done, this way of working may well be a

functioning model or tool for a grass roots organised regeneration, for

example at some of the warehouses along the river. TAO provides a valuable

model for thinking about community, about regeneration and about the

current role of art and artists in this context.

31

FOR FURTHER DETAILS ABOUT THE ART ORGANISATION, THEIR LIVERPOOL VENUES AND FEES PAYABLE BY PARTICIPATING ARTISTSSEE WWW.THEARTORGANISATION.CO.UK

32

AARON STEED / AARON MILLER / ADAM NANKERVIS / ADAM SLOAN / ADAM SLOANE / ADAM WEBSTER / ADAM VINCENT / ADRIAN PRITCHARD / ÀGATA ALCAÑIZ

AGNIESZKA SZUBA / AILIE RUTHERFORD / ALAN WHITFIELD / ALAN WHITTAKER / ALAN MCKERNAN / ALAN WILLIAMS / ALBERTIN / ALEJANDRO CASALES

ALEX JACKSON / ALEX HARTLEY / ALEXANDRA WOLKOWICZ / ALICE LENKIEWICZ / ALISON BAZELY / ALLEN MORGAN / AMANDA OLIPHANT / AMANDA FERGUSON

AMANDA NEWALL / AMELIA CROUCH / AMY CROFT / ANDOR KOMIVES / ANDREA COTTON / ANDREA MORA / ANDREA SZOCS/ ANDREW TAYLOR / ANDREW

GALBRAITH / ANDREW HODGE / ANDREW BRACEY / ANDREW MOTTERSHEAD / ANDY MAGEE / ANDY COUNCIL / ANDY SMITH / ANGELA PRESNAIL / ANGELA

REDFERN / ANN ELLIS ANNE CHARNOCK / ANNE LISE STENSETH / ANNE-LAURE FRANCHETTE / ANNFRED FOSTER / ANNIE HOUSTON / ANTONIO SASSU

ANTONY GORMLEY / ARTHUR ROBERTS / ASTRID STEINBRECHER / AUSTIN HOULDSWORTH / BARBARA LAMB / BARBARA HARRISON / BARONESS VON

CARRIE REICHARDT / BARRY COOPER / BEATRIZ GARCIA / BECCY WILLIAMS / BEN ANDERSON / BEN CHAPMAN / BENJAMIN EGERTON / BENJAMIN PARRY

BIRGIT DEUBNER / BRENDAN LYONS / BRENDAN BYRNE / BRENDON FLETCHER / BRENT PATTERSON / BRIGITTE JURACK / BRITTA JAGER / C. PARAOAN

ADRANEDA / CALLUM MONCRIEFF / CANNON KING / CARLOS SARRIA / CATERINA DAVINIO / CATHERINE SHEA / CHARLENE DAVIES / CHARLES NUTTALL

CHARLESWORTH / CHARUVI AGRAWAL / CHERRY TENNESON / CHRIS BOYD / CHRIS WRIGHT / CHRIS DICKASON / CHRIS FRASER / CHRIS HAUGHTON

CHRIS BORKOWSKI / CHRISTIAN LINDEMANN / CHRISTINA MAIGA / CHRISTOPHER TURRELL / CIKITA Z / CLAIRE WEETMAN / CLAIRE CHAMBERS / CLAIRE

BAITES / COLIN SERJENT / CONSTANTINE SOTERIOU / CRAIG ATKINSON / DAN MCBRIDE / DAN HARVEY / DANIEL CROWE / DANIEL SIMPKINS / DANIEL

SHAW-TOWN / DANIEL DERRON / DANTE MARCUCCIO / DANY LOUISE / DAVE BIXTER / DAVE KENT / DAVE BROWN / DAVE MILLER / DAVE REINBOLD / DAVID MILES

DAVID HANCOCK / DAVID BUCKLAND / DAVID COWEY / DAVID KNIGHT / DAVID L. KING / DAWN WOOLLEY / DAWN HANNAH / DAWN HOCKNELL / DEREK CULLEY

DEREK VERRILLI / DHANANK PAMBAYUN / DIANA KRILOVA / DIANE DWYER / DIANE FRASER-BELL / DOINA STICI / DOLLY BROWN / DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ

DOROTHEA FAYNE / E L S KERSHAW / ED BIXTER / ELEANOR HAWKRIDGE / ELIZABETH HODGKINSON / ELLAKASIA NORDSTROM / ELSA TIERNEY / ELVIRA PEREZ

EMIL MORITZ / EMILIO MARTINEZ-GONZALEZ / EMMA SWEENEY / EN BURK / ERICA GLASIER / ERIN B LILLIS / ERNESTO SAREZALE / EUGENIA IVANISSEVICH

EVA GYORFFY / EVONNE KEELER / FAMOUS WHEN DEAD / FFION DAVIES / FILIPPO BAMPI / FIONA WARD / FIONA SINCLAIR / FIONA CURRAN / FLETCHER

KLIMOWSKIL / FONCHON FRUNLICH / FRANK MOORE / FRANK ROONEY / FREDERICK JONES / FUMITOSHI SANO / GARETH KEMP / GARETH HOUGHTON

GARY HUME / GARY SOLLARS SOLLARS / GAUTIER DEBLONDE / GAYNOR EVELYN SWEENEY / GEMMA HARRIS / GEORG GARTZ / GEORGE LUND / GEORGE JONES

GEORGIA BASSEN / GIANNI BIANCHINI / GILES HINCHCLIFF / GILES CORBY / GINO SACCONE / GORDON CULSHAW / GORDON CHEUNG / GRACE SCHWINDT

GRAHAM WATSON / GREGORY BYATT / HAGERTY PETER / HAMID GHALIJARI / HAMISH MARR / HANNAH JONES / HANNAH WOOLL / HARIS ALI MIRZA

HAYLEY NEWMAN / HE YUN CHANG / HEATHER ACKROYD / HELEN FROSI / HENNA RYYNANEN / HERVE BERILLON / HIJIRI / HOLLY CORNFORTH / IAN MCEWAN

IAN TURNOCK / ISAAC HOLK / ISABEL YOUNG / ISSAY TAKAMADOKA / JACQUELINE MARIE OKUHARA / JACQUES CHAUCHAT / JACQUI CHAPMAN / JAMES BUSO

JAMES BENNETT / JAMES HORN / JAMES ROPER / JAMIE TORODE / JAN WILLIAMS / JAN BENNETT / JANE FAIRHURST / JANE HUGHES / JANE OLDFIELD

JANE CHAVEZ-DAWSON / JANICE EGERTON / JAPI HONOO / JASON JONES / JAY YUNG / JAYNE HANNAY / JAZAMIN SINCLAIR / JEAN GRANT / JEANNE

STURDEVANT / JEIMY MARISOL MARTÍNEZ GALAVÍZ / JEMIMA BROWN / JENNIFER DEAN / JESS MACNEIL / JESSICA BOWSTEAD / JESSIE BLINDELL / JILL ROCK

JIM GILES / JO SWIFT / JO GOMEZ / JO HOWE / JO DERBYSHIRE / JO GOUGH / JOANNE MILLEA / JOCHEN ALLARDICE-GREIN / JODIE SVAGR / JOE CLARKE

JOE MAWSON / JOE THOMPSON / JOHANN STAFFORD / JOHN O'HARE / JOHN ANGUS / JOHN ANTOINE LABADIE / JOHN DAVIES / JOHN HUGHSON / JON NASH

JONATHAN ALDOUS / JOSEPH RICHARDSON / JOSEPH WATLING / JOSHUA TENNANT / JULIA INGLE / JULIE ROBSON / JULIE JONES / JULIE ANDERSON

JUNE NELSON / JUNE NELSON / JUNE KINGSBURY / JUNE HOBSON / JUNICHI TSUNEOKA / JURGEN KISTERS / KAI-OI JAY YUNG / KATE DANDIANI / KATE

GILMAN BRUNDRETT / KATHRYN KIMBER / KATIE SHIPLEY / KATRIONA BEALES / KATRIONA EDRICH / KATY-ANNE BELLIS / KAYE MARTINDALE / KEITH FARQUHAR

33

TAO COMMUNITY GALLERY, ROSCOE STREETPHOTO: MIKE CARNEY

KEN ASHTON / KEN CHASSEUR / KEN BYERS / KERRY MORRISON / KEVIN HUNT / KEVIN GAFFNEY / KIM FIELDING / KRISTY GOSLING / KYOGO / LAILA QURAISHI

LARA ALLEN / LAURA BAXTER / LAURA PULLIG / LAURENCE PAYOT / LAURENCE WARD / LEAH HILLIARD / LEANNE ELIZABETH / LEE WELLS / LEIF GAUTE

STAURLAND / LEIGH FLURRY / LENORA CLARK / LEO BABSKY / LEO FITZMAURICE / LEON JAKEMAN / LEON ASHLEY / LEONG WAN KOK / LEWANDOWSKY

LIN HOLLAND / LINDA PITWOOD / LINDSAY EVANS / LIS EDGAR / LISA WILTON / LISA BARRY / LISA WILTON / LISA JANE WRIGLEY / LI-SHENG CHENG

LIZABETH GATLEY / LOUISE BRISTOW / LUCIA LOBONT / LUCY JONES / LUCY SMITH / LYNDA COOKSON / M SITARA KUMAR / MADHURI KATHE / MAGGIE AYLIFFE

MANDY ROMERO / MANN / MANO GERANIS / MARCO A DELGADO / MARCUS COATES / MARCUS YOUNG / MARGIT SCHOENING / MARIE HANSEN / MARIE BERGIN

MARIE-LOUISE WILLIAMS / MARK HARRISON / MARISA STRACCIA / MARISOL CAVIA / MARIT VICTORIA WULFF ANDREASSEN / MARK LOUDON / MARK

FULLERTON / MARKUS SOUKUP / MARTIN HAMBLEN / MARTIN CLARK / MARTIN ALLMAN / MARY FITZ / MARY GREEN / MARYANN TURKERMAN / MATT INCLEDON

MATT MIGNANELLI / MAURICIO SALMON / MAX ZADOW / MAX EASTLEY / MEIINDA FARKAS / MELANIE SULLIVAN / MELISSA BUGARELLA / MEREDITH

BRICKEN MILLS / MERIJN ROYAARDS / MICHAEL WHITBY / MICHAEL SEAL / MICHAEL COSTIGAN / MICHAEL PACE-SIGGE / MICHAEL AITKEN / MICHAEL

RICARDO ANDREEV / MICHELE NOACH / MICHELINE ROBINSON / MICHELLE JONES-HUGHES / MICHELLE JONES / MICHELLE WREN / MIEKO NOGUCHI

MIKAIL MAHARADZE / MIKE KERSLAKE / MIKE CARNEY / MIKE CHAVEZ-DAWSON / MK / MOIRA KENNY / MONICA CILMI / NADIM KARAM / NAGACHOO

NATHAN PENDLEBURY / NEAL DAWSON / NEIL MORRIS / NEIL PETERSON / NEIL CAMPBELL / NICK HARDY / NICK EDWARDS / NICK ELLIS / NICK WILLIAMS

NICKI MCCUBBING / NICOLA BOCKELMANN / NICOLA FITZSIMMONS / NICOLAS KENDALL / NICOLE BARTOS / NINA EDGE / NINA ROWAN ELLIOTT / NORMAN

GIBSON / ORAN O’REILLY / OSVALDO GONZALEZ / OWEN LEONG / OWEN WILLIAMS / OYSTEIN AASAN / PABLO BISOGLIO / PAOLA DE GIOVANNI / PARABHEN LAD

PATRICK COYLE / PAUL MATOSIC / PAUL LUCKRAFT / PAUL DAVIS / PAUL STANLEY / PAUL NIELD / PENNY WHITEHEAD / PERSEGHIN / PETE CARR / PETE CLARKE

PETER HATTON / PETER DOVER / PETER R. SMITH / PETER CLEGG / PETER LEGG / PETER WORTHINGTON / PETER RICHARD SMITH / PHIL DISLEY / PJ COBBS

PUI LEE / RACHEL DOBBS / RACHEL WHITEREAD / RACHEL JONES / RADU BIMBEA / RAPHAELE SHIRLEY / RAY LIAM SHUM / REBECCA KEY / REBECCA

FRENCH / REBECCA DAVY / REBECCA REID / RHIAN RUSSELL / RICH WHITE / RICHARD WHITBY / RICHARD HOOPER / RICHARD PROFFITT / RICHARD

MEAGHAN / RICHARD ASHWORTH / RICHARD SCOTT / ROB DELISLE / ROB EVANS / ROBERT SHEPPARD / ROBIN SCOTT / ROBYN WOOLSTON / RODNEY

DICKSON / ROIE CLARKE / ROSIE FARRELL / ROSS PAUL TAYLOR / ROY MUNDAY / RUI MATSUNAGA / RUSSELL WEBB / RUTH GILBERGER / RUTH PIPER

RYAN BRAMAN / SACHA WALDRON / SANDRA CRISP / SANDY VIKTOR NYS / SAM WALKERDINE / SARA PREISLER / SARAH RICHARDS / SARAH LAWTON

SARAH CLEAVER / SARAH NICHOLSON / SARAH MCCAULEY / SARAWUT CHUTIWONGPETI / SASSU / SCORDO / SEAN HAWKRIDGE / SEAN HALLIGAN

SEBASTIAN PEDLEY / SEHER SHAH / SEJMA PRODANOVIC / SEVENSHEAVEN / SHARON MUTCH / SIGAL ANVI / SIMON BENDI / SIMON D. EDEN / SIMON NAISH

SIMON TURNER / SIOBHAN DAVIES / SJ HYDE / SONJA BENSKIN MESHER / SONKE FALTIEN / STEFFIE RICHARDS / STEPH PRESTON / STEPHAN FOWLKES

STEPHANIE RICHARDS / STEPHEN MCKAY / STEPHEN FORGE / STEVE GATLEY / STEVE GALLOWAY / STEVE STRODE / STEVEN ASHTON / STUART ROBINSON

STUART SEMPLE / STUART CAUGHLIN / SUE MASSEY / SUE LEASK / SUKI CHAN / SUSAN SHARPLES / SUSAN DISLEY / SUSAN LAUGHTON / SUSANNAH

HEWLETT / SUSANNE CHRISTENSEN / SUZANNE SMITH / SUZY WALKER / SUZY JONES / TABITHA MOSES / TAEHOON OH / TERENCE BURKE / TETSUSHI SEKIYA

THOMAS GODDARD / TIM BOL / TINE WILLE / TOM GRANT / TOM GODDARD / TOMAS CYHITSKI / TONY KNOX / TONY SMITH / TONY PHILLIPS / TORBJORN

SKARILD / TYLER COLLINS / URNIEZ / VALENTINA FERRANDES / VANESSA BARTLETT / VANESSA CUTHBURT / VERONICA MOOS BROCKHAGEN / VICKY

WOODGATE / VLADIMIR MARTINOV / WALTRAUD BOXALL / WENDY WILLIAMS / WENDY MOODY / WILLIAM CURWEN / WILLIAM MONACHESI / XIA LOU / YOKO

KOMATSU / YURIKO INOUE / ZIV QUAL / ZOE ANSPACH / ZOE FAGG

34

BALLET MECHANIQUE, BEN PARRY AND JAQUES CHAUCHATPHOTO: MYRIAM TAHIR

NATURAL SELECTION, KERRY MORRISONVARIOUS SITES

DURING THE INDEPENDENTS MORRISON LOCATED ANDMAPPED DERELICT SITES TO EVALUATE THEIR POTENTIALAS A WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE. TO REDUCE THE CARBONFOOTPRINT OF THE PROJECT, SHE NAVIGATED THESTREETS OF LIVERPOOL ON HER BIKE UTILISING HERINDEPENDENTS BIENNIAL OUTININOUT CONE.WEEKLY REPORTS PRODUCED BY THE ARTIST AND DR ALICIA PROWSE (BOTANIST) WERE EXHIBITED AT THE OUTHOUSE, MENLOVE AVENUE. SEE WWW.LIVERPOOLWASTELANDS.BLOGSPOT.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

35

ART CAR PROJECT (TOP TO BOTTOM – HILARY, VIRGINIA, LISA)LAURENCE PAYOTPHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

DISCLAIMEROPINIONS IN TOTALLY FREE ARE THOSE OF THEINDIVIDUALS WHO EXPRESSED THEM.

COPYRIGHT OF IMAGES REPRODUCED HERE REMAINS WITH THE ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO KINDLYPROVIDED THEM. COPYRIGHT OF WRITTEN CONTRIBUTIONSIS HELD JOINTLY BY THEIR AUTHORS AND INDEPENDENTSBIENNIAL. THEY MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED, COPIED ORTRANSMITTED WITHOUT CONSENT.

36

CONTRIBUTORS

ALEX HETHERINGTON IS A VISUAL ARTIST AND WRITER. HE HAS WRITTENFOR STRETCHER AND QUEEN’S NAIL (BOTH SAN FRANCISCO), ANNEX,THETRANSMISSION GALLERY, MAP MAGAZINE, THE LIST, SCULPTURE MATTERSAND THE GLASGOW FILM OFFICE. VISUAL ART PROJECTS HAVE INCLUDEDEDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL, FILE 2006, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, SOUNDLAB,COLOGNE, 60 SECONDS OF PLAY, ATLANTA, NOTEBOOK, BALTIMORE, F.CITY, LANCASTER.

CECILIA ANDERSSON DIRECTS WERK LTD, A CURATORIAL AGENCY WITHEMPHASIS ON WORK CARRIED OUT IN THE PUBLIC REALM. WERK ORGANISES,PRODUCES AND PROMOTES CONTEMPORARY ART PROJECTS AND EVENTS.SEE WWW.WERKPROJECTS.ORG

KAI-OI JAY YUNG IS A VISUAL ARTIST FROM ELLESMERE PORT. SEE WWW.MYSPACE.COM/KAIOI

LEO WOOD SINCE COMPLETING HER MA AT EDINBURGH, WOOD HASFOCUSED ON ARTS FESTIVAL MANAGEMENT. DURING 2006 SHE WORKED AS PRESS OFFICE MANAGER AT THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL,AS A YOUTH ZONE VOLUNTEER AT ZIMBABWE’S HIFA (HARARE INTERNATIONALFESTIVAL OF THE ARTS) AND ENGLAND’S HAY LITERARY FESTIVAL. ARTS JOURNALISM INCLUDES WRITING FOR THE SKINNYMAGAZINE AND THREE WEEKS.

MARK FISHER IS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST AND CRITIC SPECIALISING INTHEATRE AND THE ARTS. HE LIVES IN SCOTLAND AND WRITES FOR A VARIETYOF PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING THE GUARDIAN, SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY, THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE HERALD AND THE SCOTSMAN. FROM 2000—2003,HE WAS THE EDITOR OF THE LISTMAGAZINE, GLASGOW AND EDINBURGHS’ARTS AND EVENTS GUIDE. SEE WWW.MARK-FISHER.PWP.BLUEYONDER.CO.UK

NADIM KARAM, LEBANESE ARTIST AND ARCHITECT, HAS REGULARLY HELDACADEMIC POSITIONS IN TOKYO AND BEIRUT, AND WAS DEAN OF THE FACULTYOF ARCHITECTURE ART AND DESIGN AT NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY INLEBANON FROM 2000—2003. HE WAS SELECTED IN 2002 BY THE UN ANDTHE CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITYAS CO-CHAIRMAN OF THE LONDON CONFERENCE ON THE RECONSTRUCTIONOF KABUL, AND BY THE FIRST ROTTERDAM BIENNALE AS THE CURATOR FORLEBANON. HE IS A MEMBER OF THE ADVISORY BOARD FOR THE DUBAI DESIGNFESTIVAL 2007. KARAM’S CROSSOVER PRACTICE FUSES ORIENTAL ANDJAPANESE THEORIES OF SPACE, HE DESCRIBES IT AS ‘HAPSITUS’ I.E. THEUNPREDICTABLE OUTCOME OF CHOREOGRAPHED HAP PENINGS AND SITU ATIONS. HIS FIRST BOOK, VOYAGE, WAS PUBLISHED IN 2000 WITHBOOTH-CLIBBORN EDITIONS, LONDON. THEY WILL PUBLISH HIS NEW BOOK,URBAN TOYS, IN 2007. SEE ALSO WWW.HAPSITUS.COM

TIM BIRCH, SINCE 1995, HAS WORKED AS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST ANDCRITIC — COVERING A BROAD SPECTRUM OF SUBJECTS, BUT NEVER STRAYINGTOO LONG FROM THE VISUAL ARTS.

EDITOR —JOHN BRADYPICTURE EDITORS — MIKE CARNEY, PETER HAGERTY, ALEXANDRA WOLKOWICZDESIGN AND PRODUCTION — MIKE CARNEY, MIKE’S STUDIOWEBSITE — PETER HAGERTYMEDIA RELATIONS — WENDY GRANNONADMINISTRATION — ADELE CROPPER

PUBLISHED IN 2007 BY NONCONFORM, 62 HOPE STREET, LIVERPOOL, UKISBN 0-9550808-2-7

INDEPENDENTS BIENNIAL LIVERPOOL 15 SEPTEMBER – 26 NOVEMBER 2006WWW.INDEPENDENTSBIENNIAL.ORG

JOURNEY WITH RESTRAINTS, BIRGIT DEUBNEREN ROUTE TO ST. NICHOLAS’ CHURCH, WATER STREET.PHOTO: PETER HAGERTY

FROM THE BEIRUT SERIES AND ITS EFFECT ON GLOBAL WARMING,NADIM KARAM, UPSTAIRS AT EDITIONS, COOK STREET.PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

PROVIDING CORPORATE IDENTITY AND ON STREET SIGNAGE, THE 2006 OUTININOUT CONE PROVIDED A VISUAL TRAIL FOR ART LOVERS SEEKING OUT THE 124 INDEPENDENTS EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS. VENUES PLACED THE CONES OUTSIDE IN THE STREET DURING OPENING HOURS AND BROUGHT THEM INSIDE AGAIN WHEN CLOSED. THE CONES WERE SOURCED AND CUSTOMISED FOR THE INDEPENDENTS BY NINA EDGE.