Useless?

12 December 2012
Sarah Britten-Jones provided a fascinating survey of recent work by a range of interventionist artists, and considered the criteria that might be used to judge whether art can or should be useful.  This Artspeak discussion was so vigorous that the audience hung around for ages, not wanting to leave.  Definitely a useful session!
http://sarahbj.co.uk/

The Transition from Uni to Studio

14 November 2012
OHOS artist Emma Curd gave a thought provoking Artspeak talk about her own practice, her fascination with discarded materials perceived by some to be disgusting, and her work in elevating them to a state of beauty.  A good discussion followed on the difficulty of moving from a fine art degree to a sustainable state as self-supporting artist, with strategies for keeping going.
http://emmacurd.tumblr.com/

Spectrum

12-14 November 2012
Very many thanks to Sarah Isaacs and Jake Broadway from the University of Reading for curating Spectrum, an excellent exhibition of work by the Fine Art BA finalists.  More please!

Spectrum

The Private view of Spectrum - an exhibition of works by Final Year Artists of Reading University will be held on 12th Nov from 7-9pm.

To coincide with the end of the exhibition there will be a talk by Emma Curd a recent graduate and studio member. This is part of our artspeak series and aims to discuss the highs and low of leaving University and what next. this will be held on Wed 14th Nov from 7pm.

Only Wolves and Lions Performance

2nd, 3rd, 4th November 2012 – Sitelines Festival organised by South Street Arts Centre.

Only wolves and lions eat alone, you should not eat, not even a snack, on your own. [Epicurus].Mixing cooking, performance and a good chat Only Wolves And Lions takes a fresh look at human behaviour in the pursuit of happiness.

Drawing on research surrounding community, isolation and the meaning of the word crisis Leo Kay and Unai Lopez de Armentia invite you to cook, eat and speak together. Bringing you collective action, anecdotal storytelling, and the odd philosophical musing, they host a dinner with a difference! Unfinished Business provide ‘carbs and condiments’, however in order to enter the event you must bring one raw ingredient to contribute to the meal for 16 people. If you are coming in a group, keep your ingredient a secret!

To Book Tickets please go to;
tohttp://www.readingarts.com/southstreet/whatson/event.asp?id=SXD979-A7820B97

Photographing Your Work

As part of the Artspeak series of workshops, talks and seminars, Artist Anna Mitchell led an engaging and insightful session on photographing art work. The workshop covered studio lighting, manually setting up your camera, shooting 2D and 3D work and allowed participant's to ask questions about their specific arts practice.

Drawing and Exploring artspeak workshop

Sunday 23rd Sept saw an array of installations set up for this drawing workshop with Julia Rogers.

The workshop was well attended and artists could wander amongst 8 different areas to draw and take inspiration from.  The work ranged from geometric shapes, hanging, tangled work, wire and paper rolls, ripped and torn fabric, a pile of falling boxes, feathers and a reflective surfaces installation.  Each area was created to provide inspiration for everyone and lighting was used to create interesting shadows and atmosphere.  If anyone has requests for a particular workshop please contact OHOS and we will endeavour to provide something for you in future workshops.

Heritage Open Days 2012

Thur 6 & Fri 7 Sept 12 noon - 4pm
Sat 8 & Sun 9 Sept 11am - 5pm

Visit the interior of the Keep and enjoy an exhibition of historic military artifacts from the Royal Berkshire Regiment kindly lent to OHOS by the Wardrobe Museum in Salisbury, plus information and images about Afghan campaigns past and present, Trooper Potts VC and art activities for children.

There is also art on show by OHOS artists Sarah Britten-Jones, Peter Driver, Robert Fitzmaurice, Ingrid Jensen, Anna Mitchell, Steve Perfect, Clemens Steigleder and Roxana Tohaneanu-Shields.

Many thanks to Reading UK CIC for organising Heritage Open Days.

What do you do with a Raspberry Pi?

artspeak
Autumn is nearing and artspeak is ready to spring onto our horizons again.
The first talk is about the Raspberry Pi.  

Wed 12th Sept
7pm - 8.30
They are difficult to get your hands on as demand is outstripping production. But why are they so sought after? What can you do with one? What is all the fuss about?
Mark Wetton will be discussing, demonstrating and answering any questions that you may have about the Raspberry Pi.

The session is an introduction to this new small computer. There will be demonstrations of some things it can do, with discussion and questions to discover how those present might benefit from using it, and what other equipment and help might be needed. We hope that sharing ideas about potential uses might lead to a further session looking at these in more detail, and possibly hands-on practical workshops.

The main focus will be potential uses to artists, but interested people from other fields, especially education, will also be welcome.  No prior expertise is needed - just come along and find out about this natty new gizmo!

£3 donation welcome

Echo

Echo: 7-15 July, Mon-Fri 3-7, Sat & Sun 11-5
arjeea21's latest exhibition at OHOS's gallery at the Keep is attracting visitors of all ages. Works include film, photography, 3D, painting, drawing, ceramics and performance.   Participating artists are Gerhard Bissell, Sadie Brockbank, Lesley Brown, Peter Driver, Robert Fitzmaurice, Marianne Frank, Gill Goodwin, Angela Huggett-Willis, Ksenija Krotin, Philip Lee & Cally Trench, Helen Lunn, Jerry Lunn, Gordana Naslas, Steve Perfect, John Pumfrey, Clemens Steigleder, Marie Sudwell, Roxana Tohaneanu-Shields and Janet Walton. www.arjeea21.com

Oxford Road Community Fun Day 2012

Well over 100 children enjoyed designing and decorating an "OpenHand" on Saturday 30 June at Kensington Park in West Reading.  The sun shone, the rain mostly held off, and OHOS's new showerproof gazebo prevented all the art materials from blowing away in the blustery wind.  OHOS artists Kate Lockhart, John Lockhart and Ingrid Jensen prepared and managed the event, with help from friends and family.  Special thanks to Kim Jakubiszyn and helpers for organising the Fun Day, the cadets from Brock Barracks for helping us pack up the gazebo at the end in the wind, and to Reading Borough Council for funding through a Comunity Grant.

Surfaces: Works on Paper

16 June - 28 July 2012
Sput+Nik Gallery, Porto, Portugal presents Surfaces: Works on Paper, an exhibition of work by the AMBruno Arts Collective, curated by Steve Perfect and John McDowall.  The idea of ‘skin deep’ is a commonplace, but some thinkers have sought to overturn this view of the superficial, and place significance, complexity and profundity in the surface. OHOS artist Ingrid Jensen is pleased to have the work pictured here included in the exhibition.

Cultivation Field

In June OHOS was pleased to host  part of Cultivation Field, an excellent exhibition curated by Kate Corder as part of her PhD research at the University of Reading, It included Reading-based artists and some from as far afield as France, Germany, Denmark, Finland and the USA.  Kate said:  It explores plant and land cultivation through diverse art practices. Plant life could be considered a low-tech material, because it is vegetation, but in the second decade of the twenty-first century plant life is in constant production as part of consumerist high tech industry. Cultivation Field looks at the cracks in land cultivation systems, collective engagement within local communities, plant based objects and methods of production. www.cultivationfield.org  The other part of the exhibition was hosted by Jelly.  The image shows work installed in the Keep's garden by Rachael Champion.

The Art Takeaway!

A lively interactive production happened in June at Tsang's Kitchen in Oxford, presented by Artwash in association with Oxford Playhouse.  This was a Chinese takeaway with a difference, where a menu of art pieces created by a wide variety of artists was presented for audience selection.  Each participant elected to carry out a performance task in order to take home their chosen art work.  Artwash was created in 2003 by Kay Sentance, joined later by Barry Reeves and OHOS artist Ann Rapstoff. www.artwash.co.uk

Weather, Art and Music Festival

WAM! The first Weather, Art and Music Festival - brainchild of Festival Director Pierrette Thomet -  happened in Reading Town Hall over the Jubilee weekend.  Julia Rogers curated an exhibition of drawings, paintings, performance, photography and sculpture by nine artists, including other OHOS artists Roxana Tohaneanu-Shields, Anna Mitchell and Ingrid Jensen.  There was much discussion and cross fertilisation of ideas, with an integrated programme including talks by Prof. Paul Hardaker of the Met Office & Prof. Giles Harrison of the University of Reading, music recitals by Pierrette and guitarist Gerard Cousins, and the premiere of Rhian Samuel's Cosmos by soprano Alison Pearce, & pianist Mark Packwood.  Sir John Madejski was guest of honour.  Further collaborations are planned.  Julia's installation shown here was inspired by surface weather analysis

Ping!

Everything is a blur of activity at Ping! - the latest exhibition at the Keep.  Behind visitors at the opening event is Julia Rogers's latest work: Untitled created from tracing paper, ink, acrylic and silver leaf.  Ping! presented work by studio artists at OpenHand OpenSpace, and also showcased pieces by current OHOS  volunteer Exhibitions Intern Daniel Clements. Conducted tours of  studios on the upper floors were also a well-attended part of this West Berkshire and North Hampshire Open Studios event.

Definitions of Art

The discussion continued well beyond the end of Roxana Tohaneanu-Shields's lively and provocative talk on Definitions of Art on 2 May.  Roxi gathered together a plethora of ideas from the fields of  aesthetics, philosophy, fine art and art history.  She is currently workiing on a PhD in Aesthetics at University of Reading.  This was the last talk in the current Artspeak series at OHOS, but watch this space for details of the next series, which will appear soon.

Olympic Inspiration

Life Force: The Corn Exchange, Newbury.  1 May - 14 June 2012
This exhibition, curated by Jane Vaidya, presents work inspired by the 2012 Olympics.  It includes OHOS artist Ingrid Jensen's photographs of her sculpture Poker Dice.  This was originally made for arjeea21's Olympic Ideals exhibition in Battle Library Reading in 2009 in response to the Olympic and Paralympic Values: Excellence, Respect, Friendship, Equality, Determination, Courage and Inspiration.  The five plaster forms are derived from knuckle bones, and may rest in any one of six positions.  No matter how high our ideals, our future is still vulnerable to chance - a throw of the dice.
The exhibition is part of Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

artspeak - Art/Science collaboration

Ingrid Jensen gave an interesting talk and prompted an excellent discussion on Art and Science collaborations last Wednesday at the Keep. The event was very well attended making for diverse and insightful comments and discussion throughout.  Alongside the talk were examples of Ingrid's work and other examples and books related to the topic of the evening. This will be followed later in May with a workshop 'endosymbiosis' which closely relates to art/science collaborations. Please book to reserve a place.

Remarkable Place

Remarkable events at OpenHand OpenSpace!  Philip Lee performs in Triple Spin - a collaboration with Cally Trench and Ann Rapstoff, and definitely related to Ann's Office for Zebra Crossings.  Seventeen artists from Remarkable and Curious Conversations engaged visitors to the Keep in unexpected and intriguing conversations and contemporary art installations during a weekend event curated by Cally Trench.  A big thank you to all concerned.

Dens and Doodles

In a continuation of our Artspeak series,artist and studio member Kate Lockhart led a children's, parent and carers session at the keep on Saturday. Participant's built den installations, explored a variety of materials and techniques and had a chance to share creative ideas.  The event will hopefully become part of our future planning and attracts younger artistically minded members of our community. 

roves and roams and OpenHand OpenSpace invite you to

The Human Condition: Jessica F Hirst

on Tuesday 20th March at 19:00

Free Entry & Free Parking

You are invited to an evening with live artist Jessica F Hirst (Barcelona / USA), co-produced by roves and roams and OpenHand OpenSpace where she will perform Vocabulary and partake in an open Q&A with the audience.

Hirst, who has performed intentionally for the last decade, is interested in the intersections of personal and global struggles, in the spaces individuals create to consider our fragile human condition. How does a personal condition or experience, such as mental illness, interact with the stigmatizing commercial and social environment? How does the impetus to consume always more quantities of natural and manufactured resources square with the onslaught of information about climate change and other limits to nature?

Here is the egg in situ in St Martins courtyard, just off Mercer St nr Covent Garden in London.

If you can hunt down all 209 eggs then you could stand to win a £100,000 Jubilee Faberge egg.

Just think what you could do with that! Among the contributing artists you will find, the Chapman Bros, Andrew Logan, Zaha Hadid, Zandra Rhodes, Sir Peter Blake, Sir Ridley Scott to name but a few. Happy hunting

Another excellent artspeak talk by Jon Lockhart happened last week and went on til very late with an interesting discussion that kept us buzzing for days after. It was interesting to see the volume and breadth of Jons work and to see a common thread running through his projects.

Many thanks to Jon for his contribution and we look forward to the next talk by Ingrid Jensen next month.

A new ReOrsa project 15th - 31st March

including work from 3 OHOS members Sarah Brittan Jones, Ingrid Jensen and Julia Rogers.

2012 International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair

Parkinson Court, University of Leeds
Friday 9 March 11am-6pm
Saturday 10 March 10am - 5pm
www.leedsartbookfair.com

OHOS artist Ingrid Jensen will be showing a single fold artist's book entitled Diary 2011/12.  Squashed, desperate, but still alive!

artspeak workshop with Anna Mitchell

On Saturday we held our first workshop aimed at artists, enabling them to produce the best possible photographs with low tech equipment easily sourced in the home and studio.
Anna Mitchell was a fantastic tutor, guiding us through the various pitfalls and arming us with hints as to how to make clear, strong images ready for competitions, commissions and proposals as well as for website imagery and printed hardcopy.
This proved to be an informative and well recieved workshop.

Loan of Historic Presses from Two Rivers Press

Open Hand Open Space would like to thank Two Rivers Press for the loan of their printing presses which have been given a welcome new home.
There was a moment when we thought that it would be impossible for the largest of the presses to be moved due to it's enormous size and weight but Petre Nikoloski and Clemens Steigleder were strong enough to handle it and load it safely into our vehicle.
We are hoping to run some printing workshops so watch this space of forthcoming events.
We hope to get them up and running soon.

'Amnesia' a talk by Petre Nikoloski

The first of our series of talks and discussions started with Petre Nikoloski on Wed 8th Feb proving to be most informative and interesting accompanied with a slide show presentation of his project 'Amnesia' from 2004 - 2011. You will soon be able to see the video and hear the sound file of the evening on here. Watch this space!

A series of Talks/ Discussions and Workshops at OHOS

We are proud to present a series of Talks/ Discussions and Workshops at OHOS this Wed 8th February, 7pm
The first of the series will kick off with Petre Nikoloski with a talk and discussion about his recent show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje, Macedonia. Amnesia is part of a long term project diary which can be found at www.diary.petrenikoloski.com.

Entrance is £3 payable on the door, to reserve a place contact info@ohos.org.uk

All welcome. This will be a great time to meet others interested, involved and curious in the arts.
Ample parking and easy to find, the Keep is a magnificent land mark unmissable on the Oxford Rd

We look forward to meeting you.

World Record Egg Hunt

Artist Julia Rogers has just recently completed her large Egg that will become part of the largest record breaking Egg Hunt taking place through out London from Tues 21st Feb to 8th April 2012.

The Egg will be one of 200 to be hidden in shop windows, famous landmarks, cultural venues, outdoor spaces and train stations. Finally there will be an auction and an online auction raising funds for Action for Children and The Elephant Family. Visit www.thebigegghunt.co.uk for further details.

INSET Sessions at OHOS

Staff from St Martin's Primary School in Caversham spent a day at the studios. They got to grips with new techniques that will feed back into their teaching practice with help from artists Kate and Jon Lockhart.
As well as touring the studio and meeting artists at work, the teachers enjoyed hands on printmaking and feltmaking workshops, whilst discussing thematic approaches for the classroom such as 'Mantle of the Expert'. One member of staff commented that: "It was the best INSET that I have ever been on"