Last weekend saw the fantastic Lydia Lunch at VIVID as part of the weekend of art, performance and film: Deathtripping – curated by Bernadette Louise.

It only took a 20 minutes of reading her own poems and vignettes to understand why she’s such a legend of the U.S. underground. Her longtime friend and Fierce Festival 2012 artist Ron Athey was also there. You can see his forthcoming performance Gifts of the Spirit on Sat 7th April.

Here’s a vid of Lydia Lunch in the glorious 80s. Enjoy. . .

In 2012 Talking Birds will be 20 years old. Perhaps less widely known, 2012 is also London’s Olympic year and so, to celebrate both those things, we are embarking on a year long project called Decathlon – ten artworks, each inspired by the decathlon’s ten sporting disciplines. It is designed to involve a wide range of people as participants and audience…without them having to don shorts or get out of breath. [more at Talking Birds]

CALLS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS:

100 METRES

At the time of writing, the world record for the 100 metres is 9.58 seconds and is held by the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. In March 2012 we will be screening 8 very short films at the Fierce Festival in Birmingham, where each film will be 9.58 seconds long. These 8 films will constitute the final of the 100 metres in our Decathlon. There will be medals for the ‘winning’ three as voted by the audience, and a lavish £95.80 prize for the gold medal holder.

To that end, we are looking for 9.58 second artworks. They can be in any artform – performance, video, sculpture, poetry, installation, happening, drawing, animation etc – as long as the artwork is 9.58 seconds long, and can be submitted to us as 9.58 second video. We are looking for works which wholly embrace the 9.58 second-ness of the idea, and are either natively digital, or document a 9.58 artwork.

Technical and Usage Considerations:

The video can be supplied as a Quicktime movie on CD, or DVD, posted at the address below, or via web-based file sharing sites (Dropbox, SendIt etc) with the link emailed to birdmail[at]talkingbirds[dot]co[dot]uk. Videos need to be of high enough resolution to be projected onto a large screen. The artist must be the copyright holder for the material, and by submitting the work agrees to it being used on the Talking Birds website throughout 2012, the Fierce website, as well as for the screenings during the Fierce festival, if selected, and in publicity for the event. Videos which do not make ‘the final’ will be used, potentially, as part of the ‘heats’ and available for viewing on the company’s website.

Deadline for submission – Midday February 28th 2012
Contact Talking Birds for additional details.

We’re kicking off a new series of micro-profiles of various individuals working in the arts in Birmingham. First up is Charlie Levine. . .

Name:
Charlie Levine

What do you do?
I am an independent curator, Director of TROVE, Curator at Aedas Presents and a writer/art critic.

Where are you based?
I work nomadically and in the offices of various partners.

Who are your key collaborators (or who would you like to collaborate with)?
I have personally collaborated with:
Editor/Curator Matt Price namely on the 5th Prague Biennale UK painting exhibition ‘Some Domestic Incidents.’ We are co-curating another exhibition later this year (2012) showcasing contemporary Hungarian painters entitled ‘The Happiest Barracks’.
Curator Trevor Pitt as Curatorial Advisor to his ‘anticurate’ project at mac birmingham.
Photographer Liz Hingley on her ‘Under Gods: Stories from the Soho Road’ an international touring photography and religious object collection exhibition.
Artist Nathaniel Pitt vis Pitt Studio as guest curator and the Worcester Open as mentor and curator.
Artist Caitlin Griffiths who I have worked with on many projects, she provides a constant soundboard for all my ideas and Kate Eagle who manages Aedas Presents, a contemporary art programme at Aedas Architects Birmingham office.

Organisations, festivals and people I have collaborated with at TROVE include:
Museum of Lost Heritage
Fierce Festival, Birmingham
Minnie Weisz Studio, London
Matt Roberts Art, London
Birmingham City Council, Birmingham
Brilliantly Birmingham Festival, Birmingham
Birmingham Jazz Festival, Birmingham
The Event, Birmingham
Crowd 6, Birmingham
Clarke Gallery, Berlin
Hereford Photography Festival
DownStairs Gallery, Hereford
Fargo Space, Directed by Talking Birds in Coventry
The Burlington Fine Art Club, Manchester
Birmingham Architects Association, Birmingham
ARC, Birmingham

People I would like to collaborate with:
It was a great experience co-curating an exhibition at Curzon Street Station with Minnie Weisz, so I would ideally like to bring in external to Birmingham curators into the city to highlight and respond to Birmingham’s amazing heritage and unused buildings.

What keeps you working in Birmingham?
There’s always more to explore curatorially, and it’s my home.

Is there anything about the city you find difficult in terms of what you’re trying to do?
Access to buildings can be extremely difficult depending on who owns them and how much money they want for short term access.

If you were trying to persuade someone to make a living in the arts in Birmingham what would you say?
I would encourage them to seek part time paid work on the side whether it be in a shop, temping or writing, and be prepared that the arts won’t be a 9-5.

What’s your next project?
TROVE are one of ten plot holders at mac Birmingham in a project entitled ALLOTMENT. The TROVE space opens 28th January and runs until 9th September 2012. I am also Associate Producer of the project.
Aedas Presents has an exhibition by Sparrow + Castice opening on 26th January 2012.
As an independent curator, the next will be the Hungarian painters exhibition with Matt Price in the Spring.

Performance company Uninvited Guests coming to Fierce in special offsite locations 30th March – 1st April. . . co-presented with mac. More details to come soon!

Are you aged between 16 and 19 and from Birmingham? Do you want to gain experience in multimedia journalism? Fancy being part of one of the country’s most exciting live art festivals and getting industry training to boot?
Well, stop the press, because this one’s for you.

Fierce Festival – Birmingham’s annual 11-day feast of live art – is looking for a hotshot group of 10 young reporters to cover the action.
The festival will include theatre, music, installations, public interventions, workshops, talks and digital projects from around the world, developed, restaged or commissioned for Birmingham. It will take place from Thursday 29 March to Sunday 8 April.

As part of the Fierce Festival Press Gang, you will not only get a press pass and guest list to all the Fierce Festival events – you will also be given special access to interview artists and audiences from across the globe, support from industry mentors and a place on a six-week training course on online journalism and live art.

You will also have access to the Fierce blog and be encouraged to create personal responses to each day’s events through video, written narrative, photo and multimedia.
This brief will close on Monday 13 February at 5pm and is open to IdeasTap members aged 16 to 19. If you have any technical queries, email info@ideastap.com. Late entries will not be accepted under any circumstances, including technical issues – so make sure you don’t leave your application to the last minute.

Click here to register.

This project is supported and funded by Birmingham City Council, mac and Fierce.

About Fierce Festival

Fierce Festival develops and produces an annual festival of live art. This includes theatre, music, installations, public interventions, workshops, talks and digital projects.

This year the festival runs from Thursday 29th March – Sunday 08th April. This incorporates the Easter Weekend.

The 2012 edition is the second since the appointment of Fierce Festival’s Joint Artistic Directors Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison. True to tradition, spectacular large scale projects will collide with agenda setting events and wild parties on which its eleven year reputation rests.

Artists from the Australia, Norway, Ireland and the US will feature alongside local and national UK practitioners.

Works have been developed, restaged or commissioned specific to Birmingham. They will take place in warehouses, local art centres, up and coming galleries, historical sites, the streets and disused commercial spaces.

Key to fulfilling this vision is our close working with a variety of partners including main funders Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council and Jerwood Charitable Trust alongside partner venues and organisations both locally, nationally and internationally.

Artists you’ll see and meet:

Fierce have worked with a Caravan of Artists over the last 10 months on the development of their projects specifically for Birmingham. These artists will be performing and sharing as part of Fierce Festival 2012.

Why volunteer with us and what will you experience?

You will meet great artists and other like-minded people.
Have the opportunity to be a part key part of the festival
Get first hand experience, develop the necessary skills required to make performances and events happen and receive a personal reference (great for your CV!).

Plus you’ll have concession or free tickets to events subject to availability and the much in demand staff T-shirts and the post-festival volunteer knees-up!

What will you be doing?

Act as a main point of contact for information about the festival, the programme and the city for visitors from near and far.

Meet and greet audience members at installations, performances, off-site projects such as Daschund UN.
Provide support to the production team (and yes…sometimes this will be moving equipment, manageable furniture and popping the shop)

Specialised Roles

Track by Graeme Miller (Offsite project beneath Spaghetti Junction)

Track is a moveable, participatory installation that throws landscape through 90 degrees and sets it in motion. Face-up and camera-style, the viewer is smoothly moved by their individual ‘grip’ on a slow journey along a 100 metre length of dolly track and invited to gaze upwards.

Installation of the festival hub/ festival parties

Are you interested in getting your hands dirty with some painting and construction?
VIVID’s Garage space will be transformed into the nerve centre of this year’s Fierce Festival and we need volunteers to get the space in order and style the venue.

Selection process

Eligibility: you need to be over 18 years old and able to commit to a minimmum of four shifts over the festival period.

Application: we need you to fill out this basic application form, available to download here and email it to lauracoult@wearefierce.org by 5pm, Friday 10 February 2012.

Meeting: we will host the first volunteer meeting on Wednesday 29 February 2012, 6.30-8pm at VIVID where you will be able to learn more about the fesitval and the available volunteering opportunities. For directions to VIVID click here.

Contact: if you would like further information or experience difficulty downloading the application form, please email Laura Coult, Festival Coordinator at lauracoult@wearefierce.org .

Franko B performed I Miss You at IKON gallery as part of Fierce in 2000.

Even more excited about the future. . .

There’s so much out there this list could be twice as long. Let us know what you think we’ve missed!

January

Circa 1960, London, Guest Project Space 27 -29th Jan. Exhibition-events-collective residency. . . exploring Modernist ideologies.

Kismet Party, Digbeth, Birmingham Sat 28th Jan. Help launch a new arts hub and cafe in this part of the city.

The Mobility Project at The Meter Room. Coventry, 19 Jan – 19th Feb; an exhibition originally from Berlin finds a new home in recently opened visual arts project space.

Shame by Steve McQueen, UK cinema release date 13 January

Their Wonderlands curated by They Are Here at mac, Birmingham till 29th Jan

Painting Show at Eastside Projects, Digbeth, Birmingham till 25th Feb

Bristol Ferment new theatre work from artists in Bristol and the South West.

If you happen to be in South Africa drop in on Fierce co-director Laura McDermott this month during her residency at SLICA – Sober and Lonely Institute for contemporary Art in Jo’burg.

Don’t miss this great film. . . Andrew Logan’s The British Guide to Showing Off.

February

Transmediale, Berlin, Germany. 30 Jan – 05 Feb. Supernow digital arts festival (great club nights too!).

Hamish Fulton exhibition at IKON 15 Feb – 22nd April.

Paper Cinema’s The Odyssey BAC, London, 2 – 25 Feb. Innovative live animation.

Deathtripping at VIVID, Digbeth, Birmingham, 18 – 19 Feb . . . two-day festival journeys into the radical manifesto that emerged from the New York underground, curated by Bermadette Louise.

BLOP 2012, Bristol, 25 Feb – Arnolfini, Theatre Bristol and Inbetween Time Productions are joining forces again to present new and emergent work by live and interdisciplinary artists.

State of the Arts, Salford, 14th Feb – national arts conference- bursaries available for artists!!!

Forest Fringe, Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal, 17 – 19 February. . . micro-festival wonder that sprang out of Edinburgh goes international.

Blast Theory Spacex, Exeter, unique opportunity to look back on a 20 year body of work by this seminal group – till 18th Feb.

March

This is Your Tomorrow conceived by Trevor Pitt at VIVID . . . more details to come.

Flatpack Festival. Film and then some. 14 – 18th March

Infecting the City (Public Art Festival) – South Africa, Cape Town 5 – 10th

Fierce of course!!! 29 March – 8th April

April

Berlin Biennial April 27 – July 1, 2012

International Dance Festival Birmingham 2012 23rd April – 19th May

May

Mayfest 2012 17 – 27th May

Norfolk & Norwich Festival 11 – 26th May

Next Wave Festival, Melbourne, Australia 19 – 27th. Biennial festival for emerging artists.

June

BASS Festival (British Arts and Street Sounds) across Birmingham. A month long celebration of Black music and art.

Documenta 13 9 June – 16 Sept 2012, an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.

LIFT Festival, 11 June – 8th July

Up to Nature - extra special IBT festival in rural Gloucestershire 29 June- 1 July

Cork Midsummer Festival 21 June – 1 July

July

Tino Sehgal at Tate Modern, London, 17 July – 28 October. ‘Sehgal has risen to prominence for his innovative works which consist purely of live encounters between people. Avoiding the production of any objects, he has pioneered a radical and yet entirely viewer-oriented approach to making art.

BE Festival, Birmingham, European theatre festival – new voices from across the continent.

The Olympics 27 July – 12 August. Last on these shores in 1948.

We’re particularly excited by these ‘Artists Taking the Lead projects’. . . Lone Twin’s The Boat Project & Pacitti Company’s On Landguard Point.

August

Forests 31 August – 15 September, Birmingham. Birmingham Rep joins forces with internationally renowned director Calixto Bieito, Barcelona Internacional Teatre and the RSC to present an original play inspired by Shakespeare’s references to forests throughout his work, in a Dante-esque journey through life, paradise, hell, truth and lie.

CORIOLAN/US National Theatre of Wales 9 – 18 August, South Wales

Troilus and Cressida, 3 – 18 August Swan Theatre,RSC production and collaboration with legendary NY performance ensemble The Wooster Group.

September

Dublin Fringe Festival two week festival of theatre, comedy, dance, music and spectacle.

October

Supersonic Festival, festival of experimental sound and warehouse shaking music.

November

Playground Festival, STUK in Leuven, Belgium. Cross-art form festival in a beautiful university town.

December

All Tomorrow’s Parties Nightmare Before Christmas – art, music and film gathered by a guest curator sees in the Winter rain-lashed environs of Butlins.