Tag Archives: a.a.s

Lost in Walsall

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On Tuesday 25th May I found myself in Walsall for the second time ever to help out with an a.a.s Group project. In keeping with how I’ve worked with them previously, I didn’t really know all that much about the project until I got there.

Upon arrival at the New Art Gallery Walsall I met with artist Bobi Robson, where we were given £10 each and the task to go around charity shops looking for clothes that an alien might wear if they were trying (and failing) to fit in.

It’s amazing how hard it is to dress in clothes that don’t really go well together.

We then had to explore Walsall, though for me the feeling of being lost was completely genuine

I know this is all vague, but that’s how I like it! More about what happens in the project… as it happens.

Show of Science at TROVE

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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.

The Family lives!

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On Thursday 5th November I was once again part of The Family for The Event. There’s something I really like about dressing in dungarees – which I haven’t done since I was about 10 – and marching around Digbeth! Other highlights include dropping in on an event about saftey in the community where we rescued some puppets and eating blue food, which tastes loads better than its plain counterpart

You can read more about my day with The Family on their website

Family Fun Day

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clown faceI’ve worked with a.a.s. group for nearly two years on various projects, most notably Insectoid. This Saturday I’ll be part of The Family for the Family Fun Day, curated by Charlie Levine

TROVE & a.a.s presents:

FAMILY FUN DAY

Sunday 13th September 2009 1-4pm, The Rea Gardens, Floodgate Street, Birmingham, B5 5SL (map)

Have you ever felt that there’s something missing in your life?

The Universal Family of Cosmic Xenogenesis invite you to Family Fun Day, where you can enjoy an exciting array of stalls and activities to learn more about their revolutionary way of life. You’ll be able to clean out your mind and fish for new thoughts; decorate cakes, T-shirts, balloons and your face with positive symbols; get in touch with your power animal in the Robot Petting Zoo; and of course sample the copious free Kool-Aid.

There will also be games like Psychology Mr. Wolf and The Fear Train where you can open up your consciousness, compete for special access to the behind-the-scenes activities of the group, and join them for a shining future in The Other Place.

This event is presented in association with a.a.s. art group and reflects their ongoing interest in transformation and influence. Because the language and techniques of persuasion are all around us it can be difficult to notice them, but if you keep both eyes open and your wits about you, you’ll be able to choose whether you want to go along with The Family’s ideas or find your own path to freedom.

Open to all ages, but some elements are PG rated.

Insectoid

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Some of you devoted readers may know that I work occasionally with an art group call a.a.s. Group. I met them last summer on an art project called Destination Geodecity (watch a video of it here) and since then I’ve worked with them on their Insectoid project and, more recently, the performance at the Crowd 6 event Mingling and Mistletoe.

Today saw the people involved in Insectoid come together for a fictional band photoshoot from skilled rock photographer Steve Gerrard (who is currently offering a discount on photoshoots – only £60!). It saw us walking around in our the Mailbox and Arcadian area in either our jumpsuits or smart clothing. We got quite a few confused looks from onlookers! Overall a great, but tiring and cold day. Photos from the photoshoot coming soon! In the meantime here’s a photo of my mask.

Insectoid

Mingling and Mistletoe

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a.a.s did a performance at the Crowd6 event Mingling and Mistletoe on Saturday evening. It involved us dancing around a Christmas tree whilst vaguely chanting the theme from a popular product and then spewing our guts all over the tree. We then crawled back to our cave whilst blood dripped from our guts creating a pool of festive gore for onlookers to gaze at. Wonderful!

Here’s a video of the performance courtesy of Ana Artstalking (who’s review you can read here). Enjoy!