Wednesday 8 December 2010

Window Art, Liverpool

Whilst I was looking for an example I have seen a couple of times when I have been driving to Liverpool to go to the Tate gallery there, I usually drive down a street just as we are going into the center where there is some really old buildings with contemporary art in all the windows all down the street to brighten them up. BUT I cannot find a website, and don't have any of my own examples to put on. I'm guessing though if who ever is reading this has been to the Liverpool Tate gallery (by car) they will have seen what I am on about. But yeah, as I was looking I came across this 'Drawings for Bold Street Windows'.


The drawings are done by the artist Nina Edge, who is based at FACT, and they are done in relation to a festival they have going on. Judging from the example image I got from the website it looks as though what is draw is a general activity of what is/could be going on on the inside of the building. They are very colourful and have an interesting illustrative style that keeps them light hearted and nice to look at.

Art Walk, Wakefield

Wakefield Art Walk is an event held several times over the year, where certain shops and spaces hold little exhibitions in them all over town consisting of local artists work. You download the map from the website, and then follow it to find the places taking part. I went and did one at the end of last year and found the whole process of it rather exciting, as well as seeing some pretty awesome work. I think a similar thing like this would work quite well in Leeds, and rather than using places that are running to hold the exhibitions, just do up the shops that are no longer used so that they are clean and can be opened for the event.

The first Art Walk event was held on the 18th June 2008, and has been on the last wednesday of every other month since this.

Here is the map for the event that I got from the website.


Here's some photos that I took of the Art Walk the time that I went to it. The photo's are more of the streets we walked on rather than the places because I was intending to use them in a college project but decided not to in the end, but they are still good at giving an idea of what it is like there (very cold, and lots of walking).





Emergence, Barnsley

Emergence is quite an interesting installment that they have going on in Barnsley town center. Basically they have taken a variety of unused shops in different locations all across towns and done them up and turned them into small exhibition spaces. They are available for emerging artists nationwide that want to exhibit some of their work. I really like the whole idea that they have going on, I just personally think they could have tried it in a better place than Barnsley, because not as many people are really into art there as probably other places are.

Here is some things I have found about the installments.


Monday 6 December 2010

http://www.tomsachs.org/

RePrint.Me - Atelier 1A and Modus Operandi




This is a pretty sick website that was posted on the It's Nice That blog, where you can go on and download/print either a weekly or monthly calendar on to your old misprints to save wasting them. 

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Collection 100

Le Le Le Le Le Leeeeeeeeeeeds...

20 facts. 20 opinions. 20 words. 20 statistics. 20 photographs...

= Collection 100.

Facts


"Leeds is the second largest metropolitan district in the UK; extending 15 miles from east to west, and 13 miles from north to south. This wide boundary contains some 562 square kilometers - of which two thirds is Green Belt - affording some of the most beautiful scenery in Yorkshire." (link)


"Natives of Leeds are known as Loiners." (link)

"Leeds is the 'capital city' of Yorkshire & Humber; it's also the financial capital of the North, and one of the fastest growing cities in the country." (link)

"Leeds Bradford International Airport serves 70 destinations in 30 countries, including North America and Asia." (link)

"Leeds was named 'Best Place in Britain to Live' by Henley Management Centre." (link)

"Leeds is one of the top student destinations in the UK and the University of Leeds is one of the UK's top ten research universities.

There are over 200,000 students here, 64,000 of whom are degree students at Leeds' two internationally acclaimed universities.

The Independent called Leeds 'the Best UK University Destination'." (link)

"Famous Leeds people: Chris Moyles, Mel B, Patrick Heron, Simon Marks, Sir Jimmy Savile, Vic Reeves, etc..." (link)

"It is no longer grim up north - The City of Leeds has been voted the UK's favourite city." (link)

"Headingley stadium is a world renowned test cricket venue." (link)

"The Yorkshire Evening Post is based in Leeds." (link)

"Leeds does not have a Church of England Cathedral because Leeds is part of the Anglican Diocese of Ripon and Leeds and the Cathedral for this Diocese is in Ripon." (link)

"Leeds is policed by the West Yorkshire police." (link)

"The Queen visited Leeds as part of her Golden Jubilee visit." (link)

"Mel B from the Spice Girls was Leeds born and bred." (link)

"Leeds is famous for its entertainment, culture, shopping, nightlife and leisure and is one of the best places in the UK to live and study." (link)

"Leeds is the sort of place you won't want to leave. Many students come here for 3 years, but end up staying for much longer." (link)

"The city's safe, friendly environment, fantastic nightlife, and relatively low cost of living make it the ideal location to live and learn." (link)

"Leeds was recently named 'the most cost effective place to study in Britain' by the RBS Student Living Index 2007." (link)




Opinions


Luke O'Brien
"Leeds is a wierd place I agree. I mean really I have only seen a tiny part of it, and it mostly seems dominated by the universities. I think I love Leeds, there is so much to do and there is always someone around to hand out with, the interesting thing is how different everyone is as well like their backgrounds and stuff."

Sophie Wilson
"Leeds certainly took a bit of getting used to for me, coming from quite a rural place, but now I really couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
I love that there is always something to do in the city, and all very easy accessible - the culture is brilliant, and it's a pleasure to live in such a vibrant city!"


Will Cotterill
"Leeds is a strange place, it looks huge from the outskirts but I think it's pretty small, you can't compare it to anywhere else like Manchester or Liverpool because it just seems to have something indescribable about it. I don't love Leeds, well not yet anyway but so far so good. Give us a bit of snow and a few more nights out and I'm sure I will never want to go home."

Beth Yates
"Leeds is brilliant but it took some getting used to. I used to hate it last year, how busy it was, the stinky alleys and it was always disgusting on a Monday morning after people had been out all weekend - but this year, it's been different ever since the summer. I feel more at home in Leeds than anywhere else, I've met some of my best friends in Leeds. The city center feels much safer than Bradford - there are police everywhere, I'm quite happy to walk around Leeds at night whereas Bradford during the day is disturbing. There's always something going on in Leeds, it's never boring.
The only thing I hate about Leeds is the train station, it's horrible ad freezing. They should make it like...I think it's Manchester Piccadilly, much more welcoming and easier to find your way around."

Mitchell Weaver
"I'm still really unsure about this place. It's not how I imagined it to be at all. Not having enough time to see what a great place Leeds could be is possibly the most annoying thing. Sometimes I wander if I'd be better staying at home."

Alex Slippens
"I like Leeds, there's loads going on all the time. I think it's generally a nice metropolitan city everything you need on your doorstep, and more than enough Gregg's to satisfy anyones pasty needs."

Louise Bone
"Good for shopping and nightlife but lacks some tourist attractions."


Dominique Smith
"Great for shopping, good nightlife, overall nice city."

Abi Moore
"A great place to visit but wouldn't like to live there."

Vikki Rigg
"Love the people, friendly and love visiting friends there."

Baljeet Samra
"It's amazing because you're here."

Curtis Layhe
"Bad one way system, nice architecture."

Steph Turner
I don't like it and think it's crap. It's good because it's a sort of big city and the things we have and that. But I hate it."

Emily Long
"Good place to live, lots of things to do and many amenities. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else."

Matthew Parker
"Clean and tidy, good shops or there used to be, haven't been for years. The people are a bit arsey, that's probably a general city thing though."


Emily Ward
"I love Leeds :) always have done. It has an amazing art and music scene. Roads are a problem though."


Kirsty Alderson
"I love Leeds because it's such a cultural place which means you meet so many prople form different backgrounds. It's really student friendly which means there is a lot to do too."


Charlie Crosby
"I really like Leeds, it's very homely for me as it's just like Manchester only more condensed. It has a lot to offer in terms of education, nightlife and shopping. The architecture is pretty nice too."




Words
Here is my words that I have interpreted from peoples opinions I got, as well as what I think work best in relation to Leeds.


   - friendly.
   - northern.
   - creative.
   - diverse.
   - historic.
   - hilly.
   - modern.
   - cultural.
   - exciting.
   - busy.
   - lively.
   - clean.
   - fit.
   - multicultural.
   - big.
   - shopping.
   - energetic.
   - restaurants.
   - universities.
   - students.




Statistics


"According to the data, the population of Leeds is 715,404 - making it the third biggest city in the UK after London and Birmingham.

There are more females (369,570) than males (345,834) living in Leeds." (link)

"'The Complete University Guide in association with The Independant' in it's 2010/11 league tables put University of Leeds at 27th best in the country." (link)

"Of the 301 614 households in Leeds, 33.3% were married living together, 31.6% were one-person households, 9.0% were co-habiting couples, and 9.8% were lone parents, following a similar trend to the rest of England." (link)


"The ethnicities within Leeds are as followed:
   - 89.1% white
   - 5.4% asian or asian british
   - 2.0% black or black british
   - 1.7% mixed race
   - 1.8% chinese and other"  (link)

"Latest figures, for 2008, show 691 under-18s fell pregnant in Leeds." (link)

"This is a rate of 50.6 conceptions for each 1000 girls ages from 15 to 17, an increase from the 2007 rate of 48.1." (link)


"The average number of crimes in this area has increased from 6574.7 to 6579.7 (0.1%)." (link)




Photographs


See the primary photographs I have taken in/around leeds here.

As well as this, I have found an awesome website with loads of different images of Leeds on it. It is worth checking out.

Thursday 11 November 2010

No News Is Good News Mailshot - Direct Mail Examples

I looked at some existing direct mail that has been used in the real world n been sent to people for them to respond to.