For months we’ve been talking about ‘art in the zone’, thanks to the brilliant projects that have come out of the Bristol Temple Quarter Commissions. Since last November, the Enterprise Zone has been turned into a nocturnal playground, had a piece of street art specially created by Inkie and a giant inflatable green shoot erupt at Temple Meads station, seen story-telling in Harts Bakery, theatrical performances, films and poetry. Hundreds of people have taken part, either as artists or participating audience, and helped to create awareness of the once neglected space and future opportunities within Bristol Temple Quarter.
In April, audiences imagined the future of Bristol Temple Quarter through a moving and cinematic performance called Give Me Back My Broken Night and 16 imaginative films were created in 117 hours deriving inspiration from areas within the Enterprise Zone as part of the Encounters 0117 digital film challenge.
Now the commissioning project is nearing the end and it will be going out with a serious bang. Here’s a round-up of some of the things to look out for in the next few weeks:
Featuring a series of specially commissioned short films and lens-based works, Second Chances is a theatrical guided tour and pop-up cinema experience, mixing the past, present and future of Temple Quarter.
It opens with the premier screening of Each Shining Hour, by Joe Magee, and closes with the premier screening of The Zone, by Nathan Hughes. The tour will be followed by a special debate hosted by Burges Salmon and featuring Colin Skellett, chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, that will explore the future of the Enterprise Zone and ideas around reinvention, progressive urbanism and seeing things differently.
See more here: www.second-chances.co.uk.
BikeTAG Play Test: Colour Keepers May 19th & 20th
Part exploration, part battle, part collaboration, part art experience, Colour Keepers is a fun opportunity to play on bikes in the city, to set colours free and co-create light trails using led lights. With five colours to play for, players will explore the Zone as they battle to win, trying to avoid Dark Matters at all times, who has the power to capture colour.
This extraordinary free event, scheduled for dusk on Sat 18 and Sun 19 May (20:15, 20:40, 21:00,21:20, 21:40 each night ) will be used as a public Play Test to gather feedback from players. It’s the first game created using the BikeTAG system, and the very first time it will be played with a full line-up of particpants. Come and be part of the experience , try out a brand new game at a very early stage, and then let the artists have your thoughts on the experience.
Book your free ticket from Watershed Box Office.
Festival of Ideas: Creative Gateway
Do you have an idea for something that could provide a better welcome to the city at Temple Meads Station, help visitors learn about the area and Bristol, and guide them on their way to destinations?
There was an excellent response to January’s call for ideas and a shortlist of ten has been drawn up. The winner will be announced on May 20th.
Shortlisted projects here: http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/2013/news/short-list-announced-for-bristol-temple-meads-quarter-gateway-project/
Anna Johnson: Bristol Billboards
Comenius Associates Ltd: Isambard’s Kingdom of Scientific Adventures
Coombs Jones Architects+Makers: Cabinet of Curiosities
Dan Gregory, Common Capital and Pop-Up Bristol: Tickety-Boo!
Dave Morgan-Davies: Glow
Doug Francisco – The Invisible Circus: The Time Tunnels
Jnr Hacksaw: Transient
Joe Melia: Here
Marcus Lanyon: Reverse Heritage Graffiti
Pubali Bardhan Dickens: BRISTOL: Say it with Letters
Praxis Makes Perfect – 23rd May, 8pm, Motion nightclub
In a double first for Bristol, Mayfest welcomes National Theatre Wales to the city and stages at Motion, the vast club in the heart of the Enterprise Zone.
Enter the exclusive world of Praxis Makes Perfect. Become part of an immersive gig imagining the life of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, the millionaire Italian communist at the heart of many of the most extraordinary events of the 20th century. Smuggle a manuscript out of Russia, be tortured by the CIA, play basketball with Fidel Castro. With Feltrinelli, anything is possible.
Conceived and performed by Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip of Neon Neon.
Tickets £15, booking from www.bristolticketshop.co.uk
Temple Songs: The Beautiful Machine – May 25th
Also part of Mayfest, The Beautiful Machine: an acapella chorus led by composer and director, Jennifer Bell.
Over the duration of the festival, the ensemble will be staging original songs and soundscapes exclusively for people working in the Bristol Temple Quarter.
Jenn is also inviting staff and the public into an empty office space within Bristol Temple Quarter to experience all four songs composed for the project, a unique song cycle and an intricate, heartbreaking celebration of the quiet victories of every day.
The Enterprise Zone location for this event is currently secret and will be revealed shortly before the event. Tickets £5, booking from Bristol Old Vic – t.0117 987 7877.
Spike Island – New Project Space in Bristol Temple Quarter
Groups of artists, curators and producers are invited to submit proposals for an exciting opportunity to establish a new project space for Bristol from July 2013.
This project aims to re-energise independent artist-led activity in the city and to help artists explore the potential of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone. Spike Island will work with the successful group to find and secure a suitable space within Bristol Temple Quarter.
The project will receive support from Spike Island staff alongside a budget of £1,000 per month for six months.
Voxelate: a new sculpture commission by Luke Jerram
Temple Meads station, date tbc
Voxelate is a series of 3D pixelated sculptures being developed exclusively for Bristol Temple Quarter by world-renowned artist, Luke Jerram.
The sculptures act as three-dimensional pixelated portraits. As with a pixelated two dimensional image made of squares, from a distance the sculptures can be easily read. As the viewer gets closer, the object will appear to fragment into cubes.
Luke Jerram is known worldwide for his large scale public engagement artworks. His celebrated street pianos installation, ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’, has been presented in over 35 cities so far, reaching an audience to date of over 3 million people around the world. In 2010, Jerram was voted ABC ‘Person of the week’.
Find out more here: http://www.lukejerram.com/projects/voxelate
