I am giving a talk entitled ‘Co-op, Co-opt Coup?’ at S1 Assembly, Sheffield on Saturday 5th February 2011.
S1 Assembly
11.30 – 12.00. Open studios, viewing of FIFTEEN exhibition, coffee.
12.00 – Introduction: Emma Cocker and Charlotte Morgan
SESSION 1
WHY/WHAT/HOW artist led spaces.
12.15 Presentation by Neil Mulholland.
COMING OF AGE –how to move on without settling down.
12.45 Candice Jacobs, Robin Kirkham, Julie Westerman.
13.30 Panel discussion with Candice Jacobs, Robin Kirkham, Julie Westerman, Neil Mulholland.
2.00 – 2.45. Lunch and viewing of temporary archive of material contributed by artist-led groups and organizations.
2.45 – Chair: Introduction.
SESSION 2
TESTING SPACE
3.00 Presentation by Rebecca Fortnum
3.30 Panel discussion with Jim Prevett, Haroon Mirza, Charlotte A Morgan, Thom O’Nions and Rebecca Fortnum with input from studio holders.
4.15 – 4.30 Coffee and cake.
SESSION 3
BEYOND SPACE – DIY, ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVITY
4.30 – 5.10 Profiles of Tether, The Royal Standard, The Woodmill, Reactor.
5.10. Presentation by Jim Shorthose.
5.30. Questions, issues, points of discussion, provocations: Andy Abbott, Megan Wakefield.
OPENING OUT
6.00. Plenary audience discussion:
6.30. Informal screening.
FIFTEEN is a group exhibition marking 15 years of S1 Artspace
kate allen – simon + tom bloor – theo burt – ross chisholm – chris clarke – katie davies – sean edwards – josephine flynn – babak ghazi – tommy grace – jerome harrington – steve hawley – paul housley – george henry longly – duncan marquiss – haroon mirza – ryan mosely – emily musgrave – steve dutton + percy peacock – james pyman – james richards – florian roithmayr – giles round – matthew smith – sarah staton – graeme stonehouse – shaan syed – rosanna traina – nicole wermers – julie westerman – katy woods
Curated by Louise Hutchinson and George Henry Longly
Inhabiting any new premises requires its potential occupant to conduct a survey and inspection of the building to test its condition and value. For an artist-led space, this survey involves more than an assessment of bricks and mortar, it has to be tested in other ways. To mark the inauguration of its new premises and the occasion of its 15 year anniversary, S1 Artspace has invited over 30 artists to survey its new space, to test it out according to the criteria of their specific practices.
The exhibiting artists have already played a key part in S1’s history, they include previous and current studio holders as well as artists who have contributed towards S1’s programme over the last 15 years. The exhibition attempts to address the notion of the survey show: it is not an occasion of looking backwards, a retrospective survey that simply attempts to celebrate what has already been. Rather, the exhibition itself is presented a s a testing space, where selected artists have been invited (back) based on their capacity to both reflect and test out key concerns and issues considered intrinsic to S1’s programming (past, present and future).
Some works act as support structures for presenting the work of other artists, elsewhere collaborative approaches are made more central, where the line between individual and collective practice is wilfully blurred. The critical concerns of the exhibition (and issues relating to artist-led activity more broadly) will be further addressed through a series of talks, panel discussions and events, collectively entitled S1 Assembly. Together the exhibition and events programme operate both as a survey of S1’s (past) activity and for surveying its new premises and the potential therein; where the past is drawn upon as a way to test the conditions of the present, as a point of provocation against which to develop and debate possibilities for future action.
