Fiona Banner
Tornado
23 July - 5 September 2010
Hillgate Quay, Gateshead, NE8 2QS
Tornado by Fiona Banner is a new co-commission by Locus+ and Great North Run Culture forming part of the Cultural Olympiad's Open Weekend.
Fiona Banner
Tornado
Tornado by Fiona Banner is a new co-commission by Locus+ and Great North Run Culture.
Fiona Banner's proposal involves the physical and conceptual transformation of a recently decommissioned RAF Tornado jet fighter cast as a large, single bell, utilizing the metal from the fuselage.
Initially, the bell, will be situated in a busy public space to coincide with the Cultural Olympiad’s Open Weekend of July 24 / 25. Individuals, families, schools and sports groups will be invited to activate or ‘play’ it.
The Tornado was collected on 30.04.10 and is currently being stripped down into its component metal parts before going through the smelting processes.
The cockpit and remaining bulky parts have since been 'fragged'. The first pre-smelt has happened and the Tornado has been turned into 246 Aluminium ingots.
An interview with Fiona Banner appeared in today's Guardian newspaper:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jun/21/fiona-banner-interview
Tornado ZE728 in flight photo by Philip Stevens
Idris Khan
Artist's talk
Idis Khan will be talking about his practice and the up and coming Locus+ commission this Thursday at the Miners's Institute as part of the Locus+ and NEPN photogrphic lecture series.
6:00pm - 9:00pm Refreshments will be served.
The Lecture Hall
The Miners's Institute
Newcastle upon Tyne
Richard Grayson
The Magpie Index
The Magpie Index is a new single-screen high-definition video art-work by artist Richard Grayson, focusing on legendary singer-songwriter Roy Harper.
Opening night:
9th April 2010 6pm, with the screening at 7pm
Baltic Centre of Contemporary Arts, Gateshead
Screening over the weekend of the 10th and 11th April 2010 at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm each day
The Magpie Index has been commissioned by Locus+ and the De La Warr Pavilion
In The Magpie Index Roy Harper delivers a series of monologues to camera. Each section addresses a different aspect of his work, his philosophy and history, covering the counter culture; religion and superstition; ornithology; nature and the environment; political engagement and the end of politics as well as Harper’s experiences in the music world and the importance of changing light bulbs.
Roy Harper released his first record, Sophisticated Beggar in 1966 and was revered by contemporaries such as Led Zeppelin for the uncompromising way he followed the dictates of his conscience rather than the prerogatives of the music business, (‘Hats off to Harper’ on Led Zeppelin III acknowledged this). He was resident at the legendary Les Cousins Folk club in Soho in the early sixties and became a staple of Free Festivals in the late sixties and seventies. He worked with musicians such as Jimmy Page, Dave Gilmour, Keith Moon, and Kate Bush, who describes him as ‘one of the greatest of English song writers’. Recently Joanna Newson invited him to play the Albert Hall with her as his work was formative on her record ‘Ys’.
The Magpie Index explores the ways that a fierce personal vision has developed and how this might have shaped the belief systems of a cultural movement. The work moves from the biographical into the social and cultural spheres to present this individual voice in ways that allude to the traditions of the radical non-conformist, the visionary and the outsider.
A film by Richard Grayson
DOP / Camera: Ken Dodds
Sound: Rob Tickell
Editor: Richard Alderson at Dene Films
Produced by Locus+