Pop! Bang! Wallop! – TROVE’s 3rd Birthday Party

TROVE, whom I recently did an exhibition with, will be celebrating its third birthday on 12th October 2012 5-9pm. To celebrate this occasion they’ve invited past artists and collaborators to exhibit some work with them

TROVE's 3rd Birthday

Over the past three years TROVE have worked with 146 local, national and international artists that have created, exhibited and performed as part of TROVE’s programme.

TROVE have realised over 36 shows in the wonderful TROVE home, the Old Science Museum, and in offsite projects, with venues including Curzon Street Station, mac birmingham, Edible Eastside, DownStairs Gallery, FarGo, The Burlington Fine Art Club, Coexist and ARC.

TROVE is an independent art gallery who have worked with Fierce Festival, Hereford Photography Festival, Hedge Enquiry, Minnie Weisz Studio, Museum of Lost Heritage, Birmingham Architects Association, Birmingham City Council, Clarke Gallery, Birmingham City University and Crowd 6.

At Pop! Bang! Wallop! there will be presents, piñatas and pass the parcel! There will be artworks and cards from past TROVE artists! There will be a bouncy castle! And much much more!

Come and celebrate TROVE’s 3rd Birthday on 12th October 2012 5-9pm.

TROVE, Newhall Square, off 144 Newhall Street, Birmingham, B3 1RY

To celebrate the occasion, in addition to making/glitch a birthday card, I circuit bent a toy for them:

A present for TROVE

I received this toy as a present from the micro residency that I did in 2011 at Fargo Hack Play Space. Although it’s really small, this toy contains a lot of bits to bend and break! The toy originally played several nursery rhymes, contained a single-purpose light and had its own speaker and headphone port.

A present for TROVE

Using great science a lot of guesswork I added in a light-dependant resistor to control the speed of playback, repurposed the light switch to reset the device and made the light only turn on when noise is being made. Pressing and holding the play and skip button causes the speed of playback to double (or triple). I also replaced the sticker on the front with some of my own art. The below video probably explains it a lot better than words ever could:


(If pictures are worth 1000 words then the above video is worth 2095000 words)

TOYBOX at TROVE

TOYBOX at TROVE opened on Friday 15th June. The opening was a great success! Thanks to everyone who braved the rained and came to the opening.

The exhibition featured modified and hacked toys and similar-themed films and performances. Here’s the toys:

TOYBOX at TROVE

Horsing Around by James Gill

TOYBOX at TROVE

Untitled by Katy Morrison


TOYBOX at TROVE

Panther by David Lee


TOYBOX at TROVE

Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy by Claire Davies


TOYBOX at TROVE

Untitled by Sam Underwood


TOYBOX at TROVE

Mid Life Crisis by Duncan McKellar

And here’s a video of some of the more interactive toys in action

The opening also included performances from Richard Peel, Daniel Salisbury and Kate Spence, as well as videos from Emilie Crew, Rosie Curtis & Steph Bryant and Maria Mattos.

Charlie Levine has also written an overview of the opening with some additional pictures

Thanks again to everyone that came!

TOYBOX at TROVE, Friday 15th June

The show that I’m curating with TROVE opens to the public on Friday June 15th from 6pm

TOYBOX at TROVE

Artists include: Rosie Curtis & Steph Bryant, Emilie Crewe, Claire Davies, James Gill, David Lee, Maria Mattos, Duncan McKellar, Kate Morrison, Richard Peel, Daniel Salisbury, Kate Spence and Sam Underwood

In June 2012 TROVE, with Antonio Roberts, are hosting an exhibition about toys. This project leads on from the discovery that the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, where TROVE is based, used to produce more ‘toys’ than jewellery, guns or pens during the industrial revolution; all things it is now more famously known for producing. When researching what toys were produced in this area of Birmingham it was discovered that the term ‘toys’ was used to describe items such as buttons, cuff-links and belt buckles.

With the misinterpretation of the word ‘toys’ TROVE are presenting an exhibition of the contemporary understanding of the word. With a mixture of performance (preview night only), film and modified/hacked toys, this group exhibition is lively, fun and playful.

Preview: 15th June 2012 6-8pm
Open: 16th, 23rd and 24th June 2012 1-4pm

or by appointment
email info@TROVE.org.uk for further information

TROVE, Newhall Square,
Off 144 Newhall Street,
Birmingham,
B3 1RZ (map)

TROVE call out for toys

In June 2012 I’ll be co-curating an exhibition about toys at/with TROVE and Daniel Salisbury. More info, including how to get involved, is below:

Toy Box at TROVE

Image by Daniel Salisbury

TROVE is an independent art space in Birmingham, UK, which run a monthly changing programme of contemporary art exhibitions/events.

In June 2012 TROVE are hosting an exhibition about toys. This project leads on from the discovery that the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, where TROVE is based, used to produce more ‘toys’ than jewellery, guns or pens; all things it is now more famously known for producing. When researching what toys were produced in this area of Birmingham it was discovered that the term ‘toys’ was used to describe items such as buttons, cuff-links and belt buckles.

Calling all hackers and Circuit-benders

With the misinterpretation of the word ‘toys’ TROVE are looking for actual toys, as is the current understanding of the word, that have been altered, hacked, modified or electronically changed, rather than ‘toys’ meaning belt buckles, buttons etc.

Sound like something for you? Email me with your hacked creations (antonio@hellocatfood.com) and include:

  • your CV and a short personal statement
  • a short description of the work/toys
  • links to online footage of the toy is available
  • max 6 photographs of the toy/s you are proposing

The deadline for submissions is 6th May 2012

Notes for application:

  • please make sure you can deliver and collect your toys from TROVE (map); 11th/12th June for drop off and 24th June for collection.
  • If the toys require power, only applications where toys are battery powered will be accepted

This exhibition is also looking for films about toys to show. More info on that is here.

Happy hacking!

Show of Science at TROVE

This week at the old Science Museum there’s an exhibition from TROVE that features a video from a.a.s, which features meeee! And now for some details:

image courtesy of Pete Ashton from his series The former Museum of Science and Industry

Pseudo-science, the make believe, the hand made and discovery are themes running through the four artists in this exhibition. a.a.s. have created a new piece of film and installation for the show dealing with themes of the scientific experiment, whether real or unreal is up to you. The same is visualised in Victoria Jenkins’ beautiful black and white photographic series Lapis Philosophorum of constructed experiments. The works of Lee Stowers and Luke Williams, though also constructed objects, are real, Luke’s camera and Lee’s music boxes are beautiful in their antique appearances. All pieces hint at the historic, at first glance there is nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary, though with closer inspection there is something odd about the works. The double take allows this Show of Science to move from a series of simple objects of science to pieces that make you question its use, its reliability as official face and of the make believe.

I can only speak for the video that I’m in, but if you like anything to do with aliens you’ll love it! The show opens this Friday from 6pm – 8pm at The Old Science Museum [location details] and is open from 30th April – 16th May 2010 by appointment thereafter.