Next Friday night Renew Newcastle will continue its series of twilight events in the City – First Friday. On the First Friday of the month in November (Friday 6th) the Renew Newcastle art and creative projects will host a collection of special events in the early evening 5 – 8pm. Come along and cruise the Mall!
Gnobly Gnome by Marnie Vaughan @ Arthive "Magic Mushroom..."
This month on Friday 06 November there will be 11 free simultaneous events taking place, including gallery exhibition openings from 6pm: "SynCity" - a history of sampling and remix culture since the early 1980’s - screenings at Loop Space sound and digital media gallery; a comic photographic exhibition “Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places” at Gallery Raw – Newcastle House of Photography; a dreamy preview of ARThive’s site specific installation “Magic Mushroom Mould Mountain Made Mysteriously Of Milked Moose”; and a playful "Art Party" (including pass the parcel) at Emerald Arts.
Lives!tes have commissioned some frightful escorts to make sure you fully embrace the twilight experience - keep your back to the wall lest the Grim Reaper want to make friends ...
All of the Renew Newcastle shopfronts will be open for trading at the same time for special late night shopping. Up on the terrace in Market Square Art Brasil’s artisan jeweller will show more sculpture and works made using sterling silver, Mad Hatter Millinery ladies will take you through their Melbourne Cup fashion on the field highlights, Shannon Hartigan landscape photographic prints show off amazing Newcastle and Kerrie’s all lycra and sequins at the Run Amok Dance Clothing studio.
You could wander up and explore Susy Pow’s Bird in the Hand Zine shop, come for a spot of early Christmas shopping at Ciao Meow - jam packed with local handmade fashion, jewellery & homewares. And then if you need a little sit down, the Tea Party at Totoro’s Teahouse offers vegan treats and specialty teas, while you ponder their gallery walls.
This month Renew Newcastle says goodbye to some wonderful enterprises which have livened up the Hunter St Mall area – as the commercial tenants are moving back in. Some of these projects will open up new shops: lookout for Alex from Surfhouse Photography, Floyd from Biami Mara, the makespace ladies, and Mark and the gang from Gallery Raw in new spaces over the coming months. And we’ll keep you updated on what Nick from Upcycling and Penny from Silk House Art Projects get up to in new incarnations in the new year.
So far Renew Newcastle has placed 41 projects into 26 empty shops and offices across the CBD. Come along to see how Newcastle’s creative community is making city revitalization their business, and enjoy the city in a new way at twilight on the First Friday of the month.
Do you know anyone who actually owns empty properties in the Newcastle CBD? Do you know anyone who works in real estate in Newcastle? Do you know anyone who can help Renew Newcastle expand and give life to even more of the city?
After bringing some much needed new life to the Hunter Street Mall, Renew Newcastle is now setting its sights on fixing up other parts of the CBD. This week Renew Newcastle has written a letter and sent this brochure to 600 CBD property owners seeking new properties, new partners and new parts of the city to revitalise.
But we're not sure they read their mail, so we need every person in the city who believes in Renew Newcastle to put in a good word for us!
Since Renew Newcastle's first projects opened in a half empty Hunter Street Mall in February we've created nearly 40 local galleries, studios, design stores, craft outlets, creative enterprises and a tea house in nearly 30 empty spaces.
They've brought unprecedented publicity, attraction, foot traffic and interest back to Newcastle. As we've always hoped, that is now translating into new commercial demand for the retail spaces around the mall which is limiting access to new spaces, closing down some others and relocating some of our existing projects.
Yet there are still more than a hundred vacant buildings in Newcastle!
That's why this week we've written to 600 other property owners, offering to clean out, fix up and put caretakers into their empty buildings. We want to draw their attention to our success to date and to the fact we've come up with some legally simple and tax friendly strategies that allow us to utilise spaces while they are empty.
Renew Newcastle is a win-win for property owners. We clean up their properties and make them active and presentable. They save on maintenance, on insurance, and our projects pick up all the outgoings. As the transformation of the mall demonstrates, commercial tenants are attracted to that. Of course the benefits go beyond the bottom line. It's also fantastic to be involved in nurturing creative enterprises and new and interesting activities in the city.
If you know anyone at all who might be able to help us with property can you put in a good word for us? Even better send them to this web site or get them to email us at property@renewnewcastle.org
The recent Hunter Valley Research Foundation Lecture given by Renew Newcastle founder Marcus Westbury has unexpectedly garnered a lot of media attention around the world for its analysis and response to the problem of dysfunctional commercial property markets.
Renew Newcastle featured on last night's edition of Stateline, NSW. It's a great story on a project that according to host Quentin Dempster has "recycled, reinvigorated, revived, revitalised, recreated and reimagnied the city."
If you are interested to know more about Renew Newcastle and how it works, we’ll be talking about the nitty gritty, the successes, and the opportunities to get involved - at the following This Is Not Art events, this weekend, held at the Renew HQ, 3 Morgan St:
Saturday 03 October
2.00 - 3.30pm Mall rats unite: Renew Newcastle walking tour
The Hunter St Mall ain’t what it used to be … come see Newcastle’s creative community making city revitalization their business. Join us for a tour of the 24 spaces which are changing the feel of the city, all local and all unique: galleries, retail, offices and studios – there’s even a Tea House.
Last TINA this was just a crazy idea. Twelve months down the track there are 37 creative projects in 25 otherwise vacant properties. But it is more than just a bunch of artists & empty shops, it's a series of strategies, legalities & activities that has made once unavailable space available cheap. Find out how it works, the thinking behind it and how similar ideas might work in other areas.
With: Marcus Westbury, Marni Jackson, Roderick Smith
This Is Not Art in Renew spaces
Plus... Renew Newcastle spaces are playing host to This Is Not Art events and presentations across the weekend. So, you get to see more of the festival program while simultaneously checking out how the Renew Newcastle initiative works:
A roundtable for all of us who make book-shaped objects to discuss the best way to get them into the hands of people; even new, exciting ones we haven’t met! Share your experiences or ask questions of representatives from Australian small press publishers, online distributors, zine shops.
Wranglers, hoarders, dropouts, show-offs, very talented circle of friends! Wanna figure out how to get all gallery on that shit? CURATORIAL is part of NYWF’s new series of informal, abnormal, but very, very practical roundtable how-tos.
Featuring: Ianto Ware, Anthony WP O’Sullivan, Lev Diatschenko, Nimble Fox Trappings, Emily McCulloch Childs, Maddy Phelan, and Natalie Aylward.
6.00 – 7.00pm The One Hundred and Fortieth Birthday of the Postcard
Participate in the collective penning and posting of 140 postcards plus eating cake and other regular birthday party activities. The event will double as a book launch for ‘from sometimes love beth’ a
postcard compendium by Beth Sometimes.
Presented by Beth Sometimes: misssometimes@gmail.com
Monday 05 October
Come rest your weary head as we serve up some hot brews and cool tunes. Let’s just take it easy today.
At ArtHive
Location: Level 1 / 111 Hunter St Mall Newcastle (Access via Morgan St)
Sunday 04 October
3.00 – 5.30pm New Weird Australia/Sound Summit
In borrowing terminology, New Weird Australia shrinks the notion of distance between genre, taste, Australia’s own vastness and the world. Neither popular nor alternative, one genre nor another, NWA represents a new breed that find refuge in the space between us, played out in realtime around a renewed Newcastle.
Artists: Lucia Draft, Brutal Hate Mosh, Go Genre Everything, Polyfox And The Union Of The Most Ghosts
About: New Weird Australia is a radio show on FBI and a free compilation series of new, eclectic and experimental Australian music. Compilations will be made available to download on a bimonthly basis. Australia has a long and vital history of experimental music, however until the birth of the internet age, this rich seam of avant-garde audio remained largely confined to its geographic borders. Over the last ten years, emerging Australian artists have found new avenues and new audiences thanks to international digital distribution, and New Weird Australia seeks to continue and extend that paradigm with a regular release schedule and accessible format.
6pm ** Exhibition Opening: THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS
The exhibition runs through to the 24th of October and will be open from the Friday night, Saturday, Sunday & Monday (12 - 5 pm) during the TINA festival.
Saturday 03 October
2.00 – 3.00pm CURATOR'S TALK
THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS
curated by Neil Jenkins, exhibited by d/Lux MediaArts as part of the Electrofringe festival.
Artists: Laurie Anderson (USA) with Hsin-Chien Huang (Taiwan), Andy Deck (USA), Anita Fontaine (Australia) and Mike Pelletier (Canada), Jaron Lanier (USA), Michael Nyman (UK), Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie (UK), Tale of Tales (Belgium)
An exhibition of historic and contemporary artists' computer games. Jorge Luis Borges' 1941 short story "The Garden of Forking Paths" predates the Internet but its notions of non-linearity, the storyline surrounding an infinite, labyrinthine book that realises multiple paths and futures are echoed in the information age with hypertext, the World Wide Web and the form and structure of computer games. Just as Borges and his contemporaries pushed the envelope of the narrative form, so too artists have been creating and modifying computer games, experimenting with the notions of what a game is and exploring alternate approaches to interaction and play methodologies. This exhibition draws together notable historic and contemporary examples of games created by artists that push the bounds of the genre and break the orthodox set of rules.
Also featured at Loop Space Project Gallery is K-COUNTRY - A Sci Fi Comic turned single channel video installation, adapting comic narrative with sound and music in a post Brechtian fusion. Written by Mark Hobby, Illustrated by Stephen Colloff, Music by Solange Kershaw.
For full details see Loop website and the d/Lux MediaArts website
At Renew Newcastle Church
Location: 3 Morgan St
Friday 02 October
1pm – 3pm Mouth Camp
Think OTHER people read crappily? Well, wait until they get a load of you. Bring some work down to our intensive readings coaching/boot camp, where our panel of experts runs your reading right through the gauntlet. It's like Idol, except these people really want to help you. Like Scientologists!
Featuring: Sally Breen, Josephine Rowe, Thomas Benjamin Guerney, ... and everyone else (including you!)
6pm – 7:30pm Quiet Appreciation
In the serene surrounds of the Renew Newcastle church TINY VIPERS (Sub Pop, US) and GUY BLACKMAN will deliver reimaginings of folk through captivating performance. This will be both free and incredible.
FEATURING: Tiny Vipers, Guy Blackman
9:30PM – 11PM BLESS ME READER, FOR I HAVE SINNED
Keep your flaws and fears shrinkwrapped in a room behind an iron door? Writers of confessional work don’t. They write them down, read them out - share them in a shine of honesty. Tonight let’s cringe, and bask in their insightful and embarrassing splendour! Or grab a mic and CONFESS my child.
Facilitator: Stop Drop and Roll’s Sean Wilson. Featuring: Patrick Pittman, Simon Cox, Amber Fresh, Matthew Lowe, Tom Cho
Saturday 03 October
2.00 - 3.30pm Mall rats unite: Renew Newcastle walking tour
The Hunter St Mall ain’t what it used to be … come see Newcastle’s creative community making city revitalization their business. Join us for a tour of the 24 spaces which are changing the feel of the city, all local and all unique: galleries, retail, offices and studios – there’s even a Tea House.
With: Marcus Westbury, Marni Jackson
3PM – 4PM SUBURBAN GIANTS
Suburban Giants is a large-scale projection that turns buildings into blank canvases. In this talk its creators will discuss the work and research involved in its development.
Featuring: Lachlan Tetlow-Stuart, Jo Kerlogue
6pm – 7:30pm Quiet Appreciation Mark 2
Settle in for the calm before the storm, as Christian Haines pays homage to Alvin Lucier, David Tudor and Steve Reich via mobile phone interface, and Pimmon presents lush electronics in a rare intimate setting. Free admission – this one’s on us.
Featuring: Christian Haines, Pimmon
Sunday 04 October
11am – 12 noon CALL ME YOUR EXPERIMENT - CONCLUSION
Dancer Alison Currie talks about her experiment in public performance to unsuspecting audiences, where dancers perform a choreographed solo to a specially-composed ringtone.
Featuring: Alison Currie
12:30pm – 2pm So I married a struggling artist
Going out with another creative person would be totally ideal, right? They forgive you when you wake them up at 4.30am after working late on yet another of your all-consuming projects. And they never get jealous or feel neglected, ever, EVER. ... Wait. Let's all double-check this. On a stage.
Featuring: Marieke Hardy, Dion Kagan, Christopher Downes, Dion Kagan, Ira McGuire, Matthew Lowe
2.00 – 3.00 pm MOBILE PHONE ART: RESTRICTION AS POSSIBILITY
A discussion of the philosophy driving various works developed using mobile phones, their aesthetic goals and issues associated with developing the mobile phone platform. Particular emphasis is placed on sound works and the idea of developing participatory spaces, collective contribution to artistic process and the ubiquitous technology of the mobile phone.
Last TINA this was just a crazy idea. Twelve months down the track there are 37 creative projects in 25 otherwise vacant properties. But it is more than just a bunch of artists & empty shops, it's a series of strategies, legalities & activities that has made once unavailable space available cheap. Find out how it works, the thinking behind it and how similar ideas might work in other areas.
With: Marcus Westbury, Marni Jackson, Roderick Smith
5.30 – 7.30pm New Weird Australia
In borrowing terminology, NWA shrinks the notion of distance between genre, taste, Australia’s own vastness and the world. Neither popular nor alternative, one genre nor another, NWA represents a new breed that find refuge in the space between us, played out in realtime around a renewed Newcastle.
Featuring: Go Genre Everything, Polyfox And The Union Of The Most Ghosts, Brutal Hate Mosh, Lucia Draft, Alps, kyü, Moonmilk, Castings, Blastcorp, smRts, Gugg, Holy Balm
Monday 05 October
11am – 12:30pm Moving Units
Pushers of good writing everywhere! Forget SHOULD we sell - ask only HOW. Take some marketing tips and tales from people who have the smarts and the souls. By the time they're through with you, you'll be able to sell the whole thing right back to 'em.
Featuring: Angela Meyer, Geoff Lemon, Krissy Kneen, Ryan Paine
12:30pm – 2pm Writing The BIG One
So you've dabbled in mini-masterpieces and now everyone’s wanting you to beef up, go BIG. How do you begin piecing together research? How does a novel happen? Writers discuss how they bridged the gap between ‘Uh-oh’ and ‘Opus’.
Featuring: Caro Cooper, Michaela McGuire, Christopher Currie, Patrick Cullen, Thomas Benjamin Guerney, Christelle Davis
This Is Not Art is supercharged convergence of writers, performers, thinkers, independent and industry musicians, creative researchers, electronic artists, dilettantes, and DIY culture makers in a showcase featuring over 400 local, national and international artists. Happening in Newcastle 01 - 05 October 2009.
Description: The Vinyl Arcade is a participatory play-set, playing off vinyl fetishism, video arcade mystique and the machismo of motor sports. An immersive sound instrument putting you in the drivers seat of a tiny remote control car with styli attached as it navigates its way through a landscape of disused vinyl records. Please bring any non essential vinyl with you to throw in the pit!
The Vinyl Arcade
Co presented by Electrofringe www.electrofringe.net and Renew Newcastle for this years This Is Not Art festival. www.thisisnotart.org
Time: Open Daily 3-6pm
Location: Shop 45, 164-170 Hunter St Mall
Dates: 1 - 21 October
Exhibition: Decks
Artist/s: Kris Keogh and David Collins Curator: Nick Nelson
Description: Kris and David have been friends for years. They both skated in the day, and have taken their beloved Posca pens to abandoned skateboards for their work in this show.
Laurie Anderson in The Garden of Forking Paths exhibition at Loop Space
Artist/s: Laurie Anderson (USA) with Hsin-Chien Huang (Taiwan), Tale of Tales (Belgium), Jaron Lanier (USA), Michael Nyman (UK), Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie (UK), Anita Fontaine (Australia) and Mike Pelletier (Canada), Andy Deck (USA) Curator: Neil Jenkins
Description: An exhibition of historic and contemporary artists' computer games.
Dates: From 2 October
Exhibition: First Works in Silver
Artist: Lula
Description: The artist’s first exhibition of works using sterling silver. Handmade jewellery using fine filigree techniques. Demonstrations and workshops available during normal opening hours.
Exhibition: Wonder Chamber: a collection of the curious, wondrous, and whimsical
Artists: 7U?, Textaqueen, Emily Hasselhoof, Leigh Rigozzi, Helen Nehill, Neil Tomkins, Ace Wagstaff, Chris Tamm, Kake Geck, and Licky the Cream… (until Nov 6th)
Exhibition: The Twilight Girls present ‘Wet Walls’
Artist/s: The Twilight Girls Curator: Penny Thwaite
Description: A site-specific installation situated on the glass windows of the Silk House shopfront. The Twlight Girls bring a mix of the tactile, the architectural and classic 70s design to the windows of Silk House. Come down and see this unusual installation……is it water? Is it glass? How did they do it??
Wet Walls at Silk House ARt Projects
Special Wet Walls Movie Night: Friday 02 October, 6pm
Artist/s: Kalindy Williams, Nicholas French, Kell Derrig-Hall, Erech Overaker, Marnie Vaughn, Elizabeth Nagy, Demi Iacoptta, Stephanie Cola, Morgan Cabot, Luke Johnston, Grant Hunter, Daniel Hogan, Eli Partridge, Matt Niccoli, Mike Foxall, Andrea Lam, Sam Witek, Jen Tait Curator: Grant Hunter
Description: The current exhibition of natural history at the ARThive Gallery is titled TYRANNOSAURUS REX. Amateur paleontologist Grant Hunter has unearthed a large collection of new specimens on his latest dig, and has kindly decided to share them.
This weekend Renew Newcastle will launch its series of twilight events in the City – First Friday. On the First Friday of the month in October, November and December the Renew Newcastle art and creative projects will host a collection of special events in the early evening 5 – 8pm.
Laurie Anderson in The Garden of Forking Paths exhibition at Loop Space
This month on Friday 02 October there will be 10 free simultaneous events taking place, including gallery exhibition openings from 6pm: international gaming art at Loop Space sound and digital media gallery; a photographic documentary in conjunction with Men’s Health Week at Gallery Raw – Newcastle House of Photography; a new show of works using posca paints on skateboard decks at Upcycling Gallery.
Decks at Upcycling
Silk House Art Projects are having a night of jaffas and cinema at their Wet Walls exhibition (until 6 Oct); ARThive are offering a live experimental and collaborative music presentation to accompany the TYRANNOSAURUS REX exhibition (until 5 Oct); and Totoro’s Teahouse are offering tea, cakes and a unique forum on “The Philosophy of Disco”, hosted by Triple j’s Craig Schuftan. Emerald Arts is having an Art Party with party games, including pin the badge on the Widget and Pass the Parcel along with drawing competitions and delicious snacks.
Wet Walls at Silk House ARt Projects
For the first time ever all of the Renew Newcastle shopfronts will be open for trading at the same time for special late night shopping – Surfhouse Photography is offering a 10% off sale, Art Brasil’s artisan jeweller is showing his first works made using sterling silver.
Art Brasil works in silver
Mad Hatter Millinery are hosting their official shop opening party. Makespace have declared "This Is Not Tart" and are showing off their baking as well as their art and crafting. Makespace Invitation
A guided tour of all of the spaces in the mall will take place 5-6pm beginning at the Renew Newcastle HQ, 3 Morgan St. The tour introduces a new short-term installation presented in conjunction with Electrofringe for This Is Not Art festival – Lucas Abela’s Vinyl Arcade– An immersive sound instrument putting you in the drivers seat of a tiny remote control car with styli attached as it navigates its way through a landscape of disused vinyl records.
DJ Smallcock's Vinyl Arcade
This brings the total number of projects that Renew Newcastle has placed to 37, cleaning up and occupying 25 empty shops and offices to date across the CBD. Come along to see how Newcastle’s creative community is making city revitalization their business, and enjoy the city in a new way at twilight on the First Friday of the month.
The workshop will teach two book binding methods: an A5 long stitch journal with a card cover and an artists' sketch book, chain stitched with an upcycled hard cover.
All materials will be supplied but participants are encouraged to bring along interesting paper, packaging and recyclable supplies to create their own unique covers and details.
Cost is 25 bucks - which includes all materials and a bite to eat
To book your space, or sign up for future workshops contact Nick on 0414 560 011
About: Upcycling Gallery is a place to showcase art and design made with recycled material in imaginative ways.
Normal Gallery Opening Hours: Wed – Sat 11am – 3pm or by appointment 0414 560 011.
Renew Newcastle Gallery projects present their September shows:
Dates: 05 - 25 September
Exhibition: Off With Our Heads
Artists: Kane Ewin, Maree van-Tent, Bianca Hayden, Nicholas French, Michelle Maartensz, Jarrod Skene. Curator: Jarrod Skene (and chance, neccessity, etc.)
Description: A small group show involving a core of artists linked directly to the emergence of this space. Drawing, painting, photography, sculpture.
Opening Night: Saturday 05 September
Time: 7pm
Project: Vox Cyclops
Location: 515 Hunter St (near Union St, next to the Rock Shop)
About: Vox Cyclops is an independent record store and gallery specializing in underground music and emerging and experimental art.
Gallery Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday 11am to 5pm
Contact: Vox Cyclops on facebook, voxcyclops@gmail.com
Dates: 12 September – 09 October
Exhibition: The Twilight Girls present ‘Wet Walls’
Artist/s: The Twilight Girls Curator: Penny Thwaite
Description: A site-specific installation situated on the glass windows of the Silk House shopfront. The Twlight Girls bring a mix of the tactile, the architectural and classic 70s design to the windows of Silk House. Come down and see this unusual installation……is it water? Is it glass? How did they do it??
Opening Night: Saturday 12 September
Time: 6pm
Project: SilkHouseARtProjects
Location: Shop 1, 200 Hunter St Mall
About: SilkHouseARtProjects is a series of installations and experimental art projects. The works will vary in material and process. You may find the artist is working in the space during setup and throughout the exhibition.
Gallery Opening Hours: Works viewable 24hrs & open to visit 10-5 each Saturday.
Contact SHARP by email info@silkhouseartprojects.com www.silkhouseartprojects.com
Dates: 12 September – 5 October
Exhibition: Tyrannosaurus Rex
Artist/s: GRANT HUNTER, MARNIE VAUGHN, NICHOLAS FRENCH, ELI PARTRIDGE, ELIZABETH NAGY, ANDREA MARIA LAM, KELL DERRIG-HALL, ERECH OVERAKER, MIKE FOXALL, MATT NICCOLI, JEN TAIT, DEMI IACOPETTA, MORGAN CABOT, SAM WITEK, STEPHANIE COLA, KALINDY SPARKLE, LUKE JOHNSTON, DANIEL HOGAN Curator: Grant Hunter
Description: New art concerning dinosaurs.
Opening: Saturday 12th September Opening Night Music Performances by SIMO SOO & COCK SAFARI Time: 6pm – 9pm
Project: ARThive ARI
Location: Upstairs, 111 Hunter St (entry off Morgan St)
About: ARThive – a gallery and studio complex maintained by a zany collective of Newcastle Artists.
Gallery Opening Hours: Weds – Sat 12pm – 5pm.
Contact ARThive on Facebook or 0410 115 736
SPECIAL EVENTS
Date: Sunday 13 September
Time: 6pm – 9:30pm
Project: ARThive & The Hive Studios
Location: Upstairs, 111 Hunter St (entry off Morgan St)
Event: The Penis Tower Anti-Slam
Description: This is YOUR SPACE – for one night only!
Bring along your free verse, rap, spoken word, ballads, haiku, brutal rhymez, shopping lists, tarot readings, diary entries about your ex, fairy tales, dad jokes, stand-up routines, soapbox rants, instruments, whatever voice you’ve got & sign up for the PENIS TOWER ANTI-SLAM - you could win A PRIZE, you could win THE UNCONDITIONAL ADORATION OF YOUR PEERS, you could win PUPPIES, or WHATEVER’S BEHIND THIS DOOR – what’re you waiting for!
About: ARThive – a gallery and studio complex maintained by a zany collective of Newcastle Artists. Gallery Opening Hours: Weds – Sat 12pm – 5pm. Contact ARThive on Facebook or 0410 115 736
