Sunday, 12 January 2014

Showing Results for Self Medicated


The First of #mondayfreeart is a new song.

This song is what happens when you restart your “artwork” 14 times, consistently trying to make a polished and perfect product to try and explain how you are feeling while simultaneously expressing how talented you are. Eventually I gave up realising that I may not be that talented and this is definitely a polished product. This is a muffled headache brought on by self-medicating, staying up late and trying to prove to myself that I can still make something. This is the first #mondayfreeart I hope it doesn’t put you off coming back for more.

 

Mondays are for making.


Mondays are for making things.

I set up this blog a long time ago when I broke my foot and thought about all the great theatre stuff I’d be missing in the outside world. Two or three years on I’m back to physiotherapy with my foot but glad of the excuse not to have to go outside.

I often find myself past midnight on a Sunday / Monday passing time waiting for the sun to come up so I will now be spending this time making. Mondays are for making things and those things are free and thrown out for the Internet to find.

I have a twitter I don’t use @skeletonp so I thought I may as well use it. I spend far too much time self-editing until the point where I don’t put anything out so from now on anything I make on a Monday goes straight onto the internet for free. #mondayfreeart  If you use the # I will put it on my blog & all 2 subscribers will get to see it!

 

 

Google says: No results found for #mondayfreeart

Happy New Year! / (Is it always this sh|t?)

There are only so many times before you type the first sentence of a word document and delete it before you give up, get a beer and play video games. For the past three months I have probably planned more blogs, scripts and videos than my entire artistic career.

I’ve taken an unintended break from making music, videos and art.  (We can rebuild him.)

I had come to the realisation that if no one is reading the blogs then there is no point posting them up. I may as rotate them through my internal monologue. (We have the technology.)

There’s a self-deprecating cycle that as a freelance artist with a part time job, you can technically make more money by just going to work. (We can make him better than he was.)

If I quit my job I could make more art and make more money. (Better)

If I quit my art I could make more money. If I spend more time worrying about my time management then I will have less time to work. Sometimes it’s easier to spend the day writing out a to do list and then think, that’s all planned now, I can go get a beer.

If I quit complaining I could drink more beer. (Stronger)

Before I knew it I had not created anything in almost three months and when someone asked me how “All that acting stuff is going” the words, I Have Quit almost came out of my mouth. (Faster)
 

Actually my last blog post was in 2012. That can’t be right can it? So I thought it was time to put pen to paper, technically fingers to keys, and see what came out. Once again I found myself deleting the text faster than I was producing it. So I decided to sit and write. And make. And draw. And produce. And just lay it out on the internet for you to find.

I can’t quit my job. I’m a professional procrastinator.

It’s time to shit or get off the pot.

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Space for performance.


 
Before I begin writing this I already am not 100% sure that I know what I am writing. I am actually hoping that writing this blog will help me decide upon a few things about performance that I have been thinking about.

I am a Leeds based artist. I keep being told to think more regionally, which I should, I also keep being told to think more nationally, which of course I should but when it comes right down to it I am a Leeds based artists. I live here. I work here (day job). I study here. I am an associate artist at Stage @ Leeds. Most of my work has been made in Leeds and almost all the support I get is from the venues, programmers, spaces and people who live in Leeds. But I’m still not completely happy with what’s available in Leeds. (Maybe I never will be.)

Leeds is an amazing place for creative to work in. There are two supportive Universities, various networks and resources and overall it is a city bursting with creative energy. Every August around 75 thousand music fans descend onto the city for a huge festival which follows a music fringe festival running across the city. In November twelve venues will host the 26th Leeds International Film Festival which runs for eighteen days alongside an eight day comic book festival. Leeds has dozens of performance venues including massive venues such Leeds Town Hall’s Victorian Hall which is a hireable 1200 seat venue and great venues as small as Melbourne Street Studios. This is not a welcome to Leeds guide. This is a reminder of the city we are working in, studying in and performing in or living in. This is a taste of a very small fraction of the stuff that I usually forget is happening in the city I live in.  

Leeds is a city full of performance venues, with numerous performance festivals and a range of great events making up a diverse and interesting cultural program of work. I am interested in the connectivity of the performance landscape of Leeds.

There’s this thing we run called NEWK. It’s a showcase for new and unfinished performances. It’s pretty great (I think) it connects artists with emerging artists and connects them all to an audience on a regular basis. I hope it’s a place where people can go and see what type of work is being made in the city. We also have programmed at a few artist led venues and hosted a few events in empty spaces. When I started NEWK it was because there wasn’t a regular scratch night in Leeds for people to test work and I thought if I want that then other people probably want that too. They did. It runs three to four times a year now. There is now however more opportunities to get work out in the city. I couldn’t be happier about this. It means that I can either run NEWK alongside these events, working with others to provide more or I can stop running NEWK and decide what else I think is missing and do that for a bit.

I don’t know which of those two things I am going to do yet.

The type of work I am interested in currently interested in is devised performances, with a text narrative, that is autobiographical to a certain degree and is hopefully funny, thought-provoking and / or moving. Hopefully, at times, all three of those things. This is the work I am making, or at least, this is what I aim to make whenever I sit and type script or devise work in a studio. This isn’t to say this is the only type of work I am interested in watching. Far from it. This is also not the only type of work I’m interested in programming.

There’s is currently much talk about an artist led space in Leeds and the lack of a studio space in Leeds. I am not sure if these two things should be the same thing. There are few spaces in Leeds that are 50-100 seats but as far as I am aware there are none that are dedicated to programming just in a studio theatre. I’d really like that to change. It has been suggested to me that I do this and frankly thinking of the space as an extension of NEWK (bit of a leap from a scratch night but go with me on this for at least a paragraph) I’d like a place to see new performance, to connects audiences with emerging talent and for a place for a new generation of theatre and performance makers to be inspired and to learn from the established performance makers working in the city or wanting to bring exciting work to this city. In a nut shell that is what I’d like to make and it has the same ethos as NEWK.

I feel like I almost got to the point of what I wanted to say with this blog, an announcement of intent almost and to say I am going to run a studio theatre, however I have a screaming voice in the back of my head saying,

“DON’T DO IT!”


I’m sure I’m not the only person in the region to have put on a night or put a huge amount of time and effort into curating an event or running an evening of theatre only to have 5 to 10 people come who come out of a sense of duty because they are at the same (or a bit further) career stage as you. The audience for new performance work in Leeds cannot be the people who are making it – not alone anyway.

So I start to think of the alternatives to doing what I want to do while trying to completely change how people engage with it. I’ve thought about it, and talked about it and been asked about it and been told what I should think about it and essentially it goes back to what I said in the third paragraph.

“Leeds has dozens of performance venues.”

This is not all theatres. These are mainly bars, cafes, cinemas, gallery’s, streets and yes of course theatres. All places that are programming some kind of performance, not necessarily theatre.

So my real point I guess is just to tell you where I’m up to. I’m almost at a decision on what I want one of the major projects of the next few years to be.

I would love Leeds to have a new studio theatre and I would love to have at least some involvement in running that and getting shows put on in that space.

I would also love to see more people engaging in contemporary performance, live art, new writing and emerging talent and programming work across a range of spaces, using the city and all its spaces as a venue without the overall commitment to one venue and trying to make that venue sustainable and without being limited to just what one space has to offer and while doing this signposting to the work that is happening inside theatres.

I probably need a few days weeks to think about this more and maybe make some decisions next time before I start typing.  


But in that time I would like people’s thoughts and feelings on this whole subject.  


Get in contact via @skeletonp or at info@skeletonproject.co.uk

 

That’s about where I’m up to. Thank you for ignoring my many spelling and grammatical errors.

Thoughts?

Matt Allen

 

PS: The next NEWK is tomorrow (Thursday 11th of October) at 6pm at Stage @ Leeds) Tickets are £2 to see four new or unfinished performances. Supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England.

 

Friday, 23 March 2012

A call out

The Skeleton Project is hosting an event, a gathering really... a party I guess. The sole purpose is to have a day where a lot of people get together and show each other what they are working on and have a chat and a drink.

The call out below is intended to be fairly open so that any one that wants to present work from any discipline has the opportunity to do so. If you have any questions please e-mail me. Send all ideas and questions to info@skeletonproject.co.uk.

If anyone is interested in helping running it or getting more people involved let me know.

Call out for contributions:

pARTy is a showcase, exhibition and party of art, performance, film and music hosted by The Skeleton Project at Enjoy Art Space (Unit 22, Mabgate Leeds, LS9 7DZ) on April 21st. (3pm – 10pm)

This is a call out for performances, artworks, videos, music and writing. There is a deliberately short time between this call out and the event, this is to encourage preexisting work, interventions and smaller pieces. All artworks will be hung and taken down by the artists. This is a chance to showcase your work or the style of work you make to other artists, filmmakers, performers etc working in Yorkshire and to see what other work is being made locally.

Performances:

Call for performances of new work, live art and contemporary theatre of any duration.

Performances need to operate without any tech and can run alongside other work in the same space.

Durational work, interventions, short performances and readings are encouraged as there will be no seated audience and other things may be happening in the same space.

Film:

Silent films or films set to music are sought from artists and film makers working in Yorkshire and the surrounding areas. DVDs are to be sent to 182 Swinnow Road ls13 4pg and links to vimeo (with the download option set as on) to info@skeletonproject.co.uk

Artworks:

Call for art works in any medium that are made in Yorkshire or address any of the following themes:

city’ - ‘party’ - ‘collaboration’ Images of the work or previous work to be sent to info@skeletonproject.co.uk. Work will be displayed on the day of the event only.

Music:

This is a call for live music that can be performed in an art space while performances and films are taking place or recorded music including sound art. Any form will be considered.

Writing / drawing:

For an online and printed publication (deadline for print April 14th)

Texts, papers, poems and drawings that address the themes city’ - ‘party’ - ‘collaboration’ – ‘enjoy’ in any style are sought. A printed zine will be available at the event and online after along with documentation of the event at enjoy.

Zines / Comics

If you have any Zines or comics you’d like to sell or give away for free just get in contact.

 For more information or to submit ideas please e-mail info@skeletonproject.co.uk

Friday, 9 December 2011

How (not) to run a theatre company

Step 1: Pick a name. It has to be a really cool name. Something that not only explains who you are but also what you do.
Although this bit seems like the most fun it can actually be pretty tough. It’s difficult to know what your work is going to be before you make it, so picking a name before you start anything else is often a mistake. Do not follow our advice and pick a name like The Skeleton Project. Its three words and people will shorten it to one.
“How is Skeletons going?”
“What are skelproj up to?
“Did you see that awful show by The Projects?”
There is no real rush to set up a company, if you are working in collaboration with someone just work in collaboration with them, this may lead to a permanent thing or it may lead to other work. It may just be a learning experience.
A name is still a tricky one. We recently did some forms & got design students to look at our name and logo. Most of them thought we were a punk band or a medical research company. Which is fine, we wish we were both of those things at once.

Step 2: Do everything you can possibly do. Never say no. Make yourself free and available.
This is a bit of a tricky one, particularly for emerging artists. You definitely what to see what’s out there. Join some mailing lists and apply to everything you think sounds interesting and that may lead to fun, profit or knowledge. These three things are key and as long as you are getting one of them then you have a good start.  Do not make our mistake and commit to make three shows with different people, be on the board for everything you can be, go to every networking event that has ever existed and offer your work for free to anyone who will listen. While I am a firm believer that working for free often leads to other great things constantly giving your work away for free can be quite problematic when you then want to charge.
Do not do so much your nose or ears bleed. In fact that’s a good marker that you should slow down. Trust me. You can live on less than four hours of sleep a night for months. I would not recommend it.
Step 3: Make a new show every week.
Don’t. Make a good show. If that takes a day, a week, a month, seven years then that is okay. Make your best work. If you can make a new show every week that is great, do not advertise that that is what you are doing because one week you won’t have a new show. You will have a nose bleed.  
Step 4: Have a flashy website.
Have a flashy website.
Step 5: Have two twitter accounts, two facebook accounts, a linked-in, a myspace for no reason, write blogs and make sure you’re phone beeps every time you get an e-mail, you do not want to miss an opportunity.
Actually, we have gotten quite a bit of work through social networking and it does pay to reply to e-mails promptly and professionally. Do not do it all the time. (Don’t be me.) If you get an e-mail at 1am it can and will wait until the morning. Your ears will bleed.
Step 6: Apply for things with a show you have not make yet, that saves you the time making it if it doesn’t get accepted to the platform, event or festival.
No. Stop it now. It is fine and a great idea to apply to show new work, unfinished work or to apply to commission to make work. It’s also okay to enter into conversations with people about the type of work you have made and could make for the thing you are applying for. Be honest with people. It is a very bad idea to do some press shots for a load of shows you are thinking about making and then make them once a venue has booked it. Don’t panic if you don’t have suitable work for a certain call out, there will always be others.

There you have it, follow these simple 6 steps and you will have a cool sounding company, with a flashy website shooting out shows faster than anyone else, making shows for events on the bus to the event and getting accepted for festivals with shows you have not even made yet. You are the future.
It’s okay to make mistakes.
Oh, Step 7: pass on advice once you have made mistakes. That’s a useful one.



- best
808

Sunday, 13 November 2011

ELEVEN

On 11.11.11 at 11pm The Skeleton Project began a new project called ELEVEN.
Over the next 11 weeks we will be setting ourselves a weekly task. In 11 weeks everything we have created will be showcased at an exhibition in Leeds.
We thought this would be a great opportunity to connect with other artists in the region, to get people to work in fields they may not usually work in or to showcase work in a field they already work in so we have opened up the tasks to a public call out for contributions. You do not need to complete all 11 tasks; you can do any ones you wish.
Every Friday we will be putting up our next task on the ELEVEN facebook group, which anyone can join. If you don’t have a facebook account you can e-mail me on a Friday to get your weekly task.
You can then submit what you have made over the week. All entries will be showcased online & selected entries will be in our exhibition.
Tasks will include painting, photography, music/sound, film, performance, writing and design and other things, four other things to be precise.

The first task running from 11.11.11 until 11.18.11 is photography.
The brief is simple –
Take photos, pick 11 that work well together, or on a theme of your choosing, upload them online & send me a link.
If you need help finding somewhere to upload them email me.
The next task will begin on 11.18.11 at 11pm.  

The facebook group is:
My email is:

Best,
Matthew Allen
The Skeleton Project