Month: June 2013

“Blood, blood, blood”

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, needs around 200,000 new registered blood donors every year to keep donor levels stable and research shows that a lack of knowledge about the process could be holding people back from donating.

During National Blood Week (10-16 June 2013), the NHS are hoping to get 10,000 new and returning donors to register to donate and they’ve enlisted Aladdin Sane to help reach that target. Here’s the blurb…

Blood Donors Can Be Heroes, For More Than One Day

Bowie-inspired poster appeals for donors to ‘come back’ during National Blood Week (10-16 June 2013)

 

To help halt a decline in regular blood donors NHS Blood and Transplant is appealing for people to ‘come back’ and register to donate during this year’s National Blood Week, with a

new celebrity poster campaign inspired by this year’s come-back king David Bowie.

Actresses Claire Sweeney, Dawn Steele, Wendi Peters and Pooja Shah have all re-created Bowie’s iconic Aladdin Sane album shot to encourage people to ‘come back’ and register.

Read the full press release here. 

“Put you all inside my show”

Opera Gallery London has announced The Many Faces of David Bowie exhibition which will run from June 21st to August 31st, 2013. Here’s a bit from the press release:

Parallel to the major exhibition “David Bowie is” at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Opera Gallery London will unveil a collection of David Bowie-inspired art for their summer exhibition. The highly anticipated group show will offer a contemporary vision of ‘Bowie Mania’ with one-off masterpieces including tributes from some of today’s leading contemporary and street artists, including; Mr. Brainwash, Joe Black, Eduardo Guelfenbein, Nick Gentry, Marco Lodola and The London Police.

Jean-David Malat, Director of Opera Gallery London, had this to say about Bowie:

“David Bowie is an incredible ‘icon’; a term to be understood as an idol but also in the ancient Greek notion of eikōn meaning “image” or even religious work of art. It is clear to see that he has influenced many lives, and every artist involved was proud to create a piece in his honour”

Check out the Many Faces of David Bowie exhibition page here, where you can view some of the images and download the full exhibition catalogue.

Pictured here is Juan Barletta’s I am a World Champion, 2013.

“Then I got the small black box, and I did know what to do…”

Anybody who has a keen interest in the collaborations of Bowie/Eno, will be well aware of the pair’s fondness for the Eno/Schmidt-conceived Oblique Strategies (subtitled Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas).

Indeed, Bowie’s original set of cards is pictured here, looking like they have been consulted on more than one occasion. 

Anyway, on Thursday June 13th at 11:30am, BBC Radio 4 sets out to tell the story of the Oblique Strategies cards with the help of British poet Simon Armitage.

Here’s the Radio 4 blurb:

‘Infinitesimal gradations’, ‘Repetition is a form of change’, ‘Bridges-build-burn’ – just three of the gnomic aphorisms contained in the Oblique Strategies cards devised in the early 1970s by artists Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno. The cards were aimed at providing a creative jolt to artists who were either stuck or searching for new directions for their work. Most famously, Eno and David Bowie used the cards during the making of the now infamous set of albums known as the Berlin trilogy.

Simon Armitage first came across them as a student, but has never actually owned or used a pack himself. Now he sets out to tell the story of the cards, talk to some of those who’ve used them (across the fields of music, writing, cooking, business and more) and also find out whether the cards will take his own writing in a new direction. Among those he’ll speak with are Carlos Alomar (the guitarist on those Bowie albums), user Paul Morley, chef Ian Knauer and creativity guru Professor Tudor Rickards. He’ll also use the cards to try and help him track down the elusive Brian Eno himself.

Oblique Strategies is well represented online, not least of all via this site where you can peruse the cards and this one which covers the history of the set.

Thanks to Karen Banwell for the pointer to the Radio 4 broadcast.

UPDATE: Along with the run in Toronto outlined below, it has been announced that the Sao Paulo Museum of Image and Sound in Brazil will be the third hosts of the exhibition from 28 January to 21 April, 2014.

DAVID BOWIE IS coming to the AGO this fall

Straight from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, North America’s debut of hit exhibition includes culture icon’s original stage costumes, instruments, album art and music videos

TORONTO—This fall the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) offers North America its first chance to take an exciting odyssey through the world of pioneering artist David Bowie—musician, performer and style icon—in the acclaimed exhibition David Bowie is, direct from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London, England. Spanning five decades and featuring more than 300 objects from Bowie’s personal archive, the multi-media show exposes the groundbreaking artist’s collaborations in the fields of fashion, sound, theatre, art and film.David Bowie isopens on Sept. 25, 2013 and runs to Nov. 27,2013, giving Toronto two full months to live the experience. The AGO is the exhibition’s first stop on its world tour.

Acclaimed by the New York Times as “united in sound and vision in a way rarely seen in a museum,” David Bowie is marks the first international exhibition devoted to the British-born musician and performer (born David Robert Jones in 1947), who has sold more than 140 million albums to date throughout his genre-defying career. Organized thematically, the show immerses visitors in a spectacular and interactive trip through Bowie’s numerous personae and legendary performances, with particular attention paid to his artistic influences. His experiments with Surrealism, German Expressionism, Music Hall, mime and Japanese Kabuki performance are all explored in an explosion of colour, light and sound.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate a living artist whose radical artfulness of identity has had an enormous influence on art, design and contemporary culture as we know it,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, director and CEO of the AGO. “We are thrilled to work with the world-class V&A in bringing the provocative genius and vision of David Bowie to Toronto.”

Maintained by the artist himself, the David Bowie Archive is home to more than 75,000 objects. Working with Sandy Hirskowitz, the collection’s archivist, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh (curators of theatre and performance at the V&A) were granted unprecedented access to explore and hand-pick the costumes, footage and objects for the exhibition. This marked the first time a museum has been allowed to display items from the collection.

David Bowie iswill be on view on the fourth and fifth floors of the AGO’s contemporary tower. In addition to Bowie’s own handwritten set lists, lyrics, diary entries, instruments and sketches, the show highlights the many artists who have collaborated with the culture chameleon over the years. The collection includes:

·        more than 50 stage costumes including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Burretti;

·        music videos by David Mallet includingBoys Keep Swinging (1979) and Let’s Dance (1983);

·        set designs created for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974);

·        Kansai Yamamoto’s flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973);

·        photographs by Helmut Newton, Brian Duffy and John Rowlands;

·        album sleeve artwork by Guy Peellaert and Edward Bell; and

·        excerpts from films and live performances including Top of the Pops (1972),The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and Saturday Night Live (1979).

David Bowie iswas organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Costumes, materials and objects courtesy of the David Bowie Archive, with thanks to Archivist Sandy Hirshkowitz.

Sound experience by Sennheiser.

ABOUT THE V&A
The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A’s collections, which span over 2000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform. www.vam.ac.uk

AboutSennheiser

To ensure the best audio experience for visitors, the AGO is working in partnership with audio specialist Sennheiser. “We are extremely pleased to work with the renowned Art Gallery of Ontario on this outstanding exhibition,” said Paul Whiting, President of Global Sales at Sennheiser. “We will not only bring equipment to this exhibition but also our audio expertise offering visitors an immersive 3DAudio experience.” The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, employs more than 2,100 people worldwide, and has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. Sennheiser is represented by subsidiaries and partners worldwide. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones and monitor loudspeakers), and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).

ABOUT THE AGO

With a collection of more than 80,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. From the vast body of Group of Seven and signature Canadian works to the African art gallery, from the cutting-edge contemporary art to Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, the AGO offers an incredible art experience with each visit. In 2002 Kenneth Thomson’s generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry that in 2008 resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed architectural achievements in North America. Highlights include Galleria Italia, a gleaming showcase of wood and glass running the length of an entire city block, and the often-photographed spiral staircase, beckoning visitors to explore. The AGO has an active membership program offering great value, and the AGO’s Weston Family

Learning Centre offers engaging art and creative programs for children, families, youth and adults. Visit ago.netto find out more about upcoming special exhibitions, to learn about eating and shopping at the AGO, to register for programs and to buy tickets or memberships.

Mar. 16 – June 16, 2013:Revealing the Early Renaissance: Stories and Secrets in Florentine Art

Aug. 17, 2013 – Oct. 27, 2013: Ai Weiwei: According to What?

Nov. 30, 2013 – Mar. 2, 2014: The Great Upheaval: Modern Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection

Contemporary programming at the AGO is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts and generous contributions from AGO members, donors and private-sector partners. 

“Here are we, one magical moment, such is the stuff, From where dreams are woven”

You no doubt saw television previews and news reports from Jeremy Deller’s acclaimed exhibition at the 55th Venice Biennale last week. The exhibition opened to the public on June 1st and runs through to November 24th 2013.

Jeremy has taken over the British Pavilion for his English Magic project, wherein images from David Bowie’s 1973 UK tour are displayed alongside images of civil unrest in 1970s Britain.

The British Pavilion has two large banners either side of the entrance displaying the lyrics: “I searched for form and land” and “For years and years I roamed”.

The launch party included instrumental music from the Melodians Steel Orchestra including a version of the Bowie song those lyrics originally appeared in, The Man Who Sold The World.

In celebration of the exhibition, The Vinyl Factory has announced a collaboration with Deller on the musical soundtrack to a new film work to be exhibited in the British Pavilion.

The soundtrack is a composition of three classic British pieces of music; Symphony in D Minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald and The Man Who Sold The World by David Bowie – all covered by the Melodians Steel Orchestra, an English/Trinidadian steel band, based in South London.

Released and produced by The Vinyl Factory, the English Magic EP will be released on vinyl and digital tomorrow, June 10th.

There will also be a limited triple vinyl edition of 300 copies, hand signed and numbered by Deller with record sleeve artwork created by the artist, including a 10×10” photographic print hand tipped on the front cover. Order here. 

The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road, in keeping with the British theme. The Melodians Steel Orchestra played live at both the Pavilion’s official inauguration on May 29th and later that evening at The Vinyl Factory & British Council party on the Isla Vignole, Venice.

    English Magic EP Details

 * English Magic EP consisting of 3 cover versions produced by Jeremy Deller in collaboration with The Vinyl Factory and performed by Melodians Steel Orchestra

 * Vaughan Williams ‘Symphony in D minor’, David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ and A Guy Called Gerald’s ‘Voodoo Ray’

 * Recorded at Studio 2, Abbey Road, London

 * Direct to metal mastering at Abbey Road

 * Pressed on 180-gram black vinyl

 * Full colour sleeve with artwork by Jeremy Deller

 Go here to order the EP and to listen to all three tracks. While you’re there, check out the three minute promo film: The Vinyl Factory Presents Jeremy Deller English Magic EP.

“This is ourselves, under pressure”

You’ve no doubt already noticed online items regarding this in recent days, even though it was originally posted on YouTube almost two years ago in July 2011.

We’re talking about the isolated vocal track from Under Pressure sung by David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, which has now been picked up by various online sites after it was rediscovered by openculture.com.

You can listen to the unaccompanied, incredible vocal gymnastics of the pair here. 

“TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”

David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album is 41 today, though it is in fact timeless.

And in the unlikely event that you’re not already familiar, listen here on Spotify. 

“And I’m gone, through the crack in the past”

If you’re wondering what to watch on the box this evening, you still have just about enough time left to catch Francis Whately’s superb David Bowie – Five Years: The Making Of An Icon, before it’s taken down. 

While you’re there you should check out these clips that didn’t make the final film if you haven’t already.

This interview with Francis is also well worth a read.