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Hull City Of Culture 2017

MY CITY OF CULTURE – MY HULL – WEEK 23

by anetesoodaLeave a Comment on MY CITY OF CULTURE – MY HULL – WEEK 23

Week 23 of the challenge has flown by – again. Time just flies and last week especially I was living in a bubble – week blended in as one long day with a lot of amazing things, cool photo shoots [one very cool solid] and great people.

Last week obviously went down to Hull School of Art&Design – AS THEY CALL IT THE BRODRICK GALLERY NOW – for the degree show.

Hull School of Art&Design Degree Show 2017 Hull City of Culture
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First of all massive CONGRATS to Fine Art students for having the best social/promo/marketing presence I’ve seen in years. They are only bunch of students [are they?], but they have done such a brilliant job. Their exhibition BEHIND THE WHITE WALLS was the one I wanted to see the most, so their marketing has worked.

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Having been the student and gone through the degree, I know exactly how difficult and time consuming it is to do everything 100% – creating the final work, writing, researching and preparing the space, and have the perfect social platform to spread the word. Well done!
And off course – some really great stuff – some abstract, some hearty, some personal, some random and some follows issues in the current world.
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I must say that this year I have enjoyed Fine Art the most. Illustration is usually the one I have my eyes peeled, but this year the diversity grabbed my attention in Fine Art studios. Lovely to chat with the artists-students behind the work, plus some other deep conversations at Hull School of Art&Design.
The visit took me back one year ago, and I feel so thankful and lucky. For some, like me, the degree opens another world and offers a great platform to be a great artist, photographer or arhitect, illustrator or web designer. And there are few that really make it to the real world.

Also came to a conclusion that I don’t miss being a student. I milked the cow to the last drop with no regrets. It is an absolute pleasure to pop in now and then and see the people that helped me to shape my photography.

Erm, the photography exhibition was alright [mine/ours was miles better hahah]. There was a few problems – previously mentioned Fine Art BEHIND THE WHITE WALLS and photography exhibition – have no idea what the exhibition was called…that’s quite bad. Two students particularly had strong commitment to the Final Major project and photography in general.

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The photos below particularly interesting as the set was built from scratch on the Hull School of Art&Design grounds and off course – the amazing hand crafted frames.
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The week was literally flying by and on Saturday I had a moment of truth – I have only been to the Degree Show. THAT IS NOT ENOUGH OF CULTURE.

I went through the Hull City Of Culture 2017 website for some inspiration for the day, but was not feeling very social – sometimes I really fancy some quite photo journeys.
Just opposite the St Andrews Quay in West Hull there is the metal sculptures. I pass them at least once a week, wanting to stop, but never do….and I figured that it could be my finishing touch to the WEEK 23 of the challenge.

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“Peter’s Lost Trawlermen’s Memorial at St Andrew’s Quay is a poignant tribute to those who lost their lives at sea” – description on Hull City Of Culture 2017 website.

I was taking photographs of a group of people carved in metal kind of knowing about the possible connection with the fishing heritage in Hull and celebrations around it.
But little that I knew that this is part of a big celebration and part of the Hull 17 programme. Fishing Heritage Talks: An Evening with Alec and Peter is only one part of the 17-day festival of celebration in honour of Hull’s fishing heritage.

At least I can say that I appreciated the incredible sculpture to the fullest and explored in detail. As the sculptures are life size – Melanie could not help to be part of the art – and I can’t really blame her. We had fun and the people passing by wondered what the heck is going on there.

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That unplanned photo shoot might be a potential selling point, so people who did pass  might come for a closer look and spread the word.

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There has been some great shots with the sculpture on Instagram photo groups with star trails, amazing sunsets/sunrises in the background, but I think I’ve done a good job with the summer look.

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This week I am planning on few things:
Now Then 

HULL STREET FOOD NIGHT ON THURSDAY

ARTLINK HULL and the DOG BASKET BABOON by Oliver Macdonald

BUT BECAUSE I AM TRAINING/PREPARING FOR THE HULL 10K I will see how my plan works out.
There is also a must do on my list which is to visit key Hull areas and spend some time absorbing the landmarks, people and general “happyhullbeing”

Hull City Of Culture 2017

MY CITY OF CULTURE – MY HULL – WEEK 17

by anetesoodaLeave a Comment on MY CITY OF CULTURE – MY HULL – WEEK 17

There is a reason behind the word “challenge”. This week I was super busy with personal project Beardology, night of comedy and taking part in the Larkin Out festival at the Larkin’s Bar down Newland Avenue, plus many other life things, so I had to really push/challenge myself to get cultured regards Hull City Of Culture 2017 this week.

This week the focus was on Daffodil display and my own interpretation of it [just cos I missed it].
Ferens Art Gallery and Skin: Freud, Mueck and Tunick was another must see this week.

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When it was too late, I discovered that the Lego Daffodil display is gone. The daffodils were given away to people of Hull for small donation that week. I was very gutted, but I still went down to see it for myself.

But I was told that somewhere in Hull I can find two awesome kids who will show me the daffodils and I will be able to have my own photograph of these amazing Lego creations.

With bribery and good chat-up lines, they proudly showed off their daffodils and talked me through the day when they were queuing, waiting and ended up on TV. I was super jealous, but really happy for them.

Inspired by cheesy mainstream fashion magazine edits, I had an idea of how to have my own daffodil display – bit of patience and work, bit of Hull City Of Culture 2017 colours and yeah- I have my own LEGO DAFFODIL DISPLAY.

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Skin: Freud, Mueck and Tunick

LONG STORY SHORT – during the week I watched the film about Sea of Hull in making [incredible sense of unity and a lot of naked, blue people], I knew that the exhibition is out and I headed down there. I had a gut feeling that Mr. Tunik will be conscious about people taking credit of his hard work, so there will be no photos allowed. Which is really crap, cos my visuals are better than words.

And I was spot on – no photos are allowed in the Skin: Freud, Mueck and Tunick exhibition.
The staff has got more than three eyes, so I was constantly followed –  I think it is written on my face – I am a nosy photographer.

I am really sorry, but just as I was told off I took a miserable picture with my phone.

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I think it is ridiculous. This artwork would not be if not Hull. And the whole experience and photos is a fantastic reminder that Hull is amazing and people are absolutely crackers in the most incredible way.
Just have the recordings of the exhibition would mean a lot to me and potentially few other.

Just a quick feedback on the actual photographs and the quality of work.

There is no argument about the content, composition and overall idea. But MR. Tunik clearly used a camera that is not suitable for large scale prints. Very bad print quality and it kind of spoiled the viewing experience.

RON MUECK

I did study about Ron Muek and his fascinating life-like sculptures at Uni and I was hoping that I will have the opportunity to see his work in real life. Thanks to Hull City Of Culture 2017 it happened.

Ron Muek is Australian born, London based artist with incredible talent of shocking viewers with his sensitive and exposed sculptures of human beings.

“Mueck’s works command an uncanny ability to amaze with obsessive surface detail and intense psychic discharge. Engaging and wildly popular, they expose our need to validate our humanity, even as they thwart our attempts at full disclosure.”

Source and interesting interview with artist himself via link below:

The Progress Big Man A Conversation with Ron Mueck by Sarah Tanguy

I don’t know about my need to validate my humanity, but I was gazing at the sculptures for quite a while. It felt like I am a tiny ant looking at humans, analysing the danger they can cause.
It is magnificent execution of detail, skin and dimension.
The sculpture Wild Man without a doubt was the one that amazed me the most. The more time I spent looking at it, the more comfortable I felt.

It is definitely a must-see.

The exhibition is part of Artist Rooms Tour and will be there until 13th of August 2017.

Also I was told that there is a small gallery with samples and sketches of Mueck and I WAS ALLOWED TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS.

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+ a random photograph of a random art workshop.

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This Bank Holiday Weekend I was hanging out at Larkin’s Bar Hull and Larkin Out festival, so I spoke to a lot of people. In some conversations Hull City Of Culture was mentioned and it is not always sweet.

For example, there are people [from Hull obviously] who feel like this year isn’t really about Hull. We get fed with art that “they” think we should be looking at and relating ourselves with. The people I spoke with are definitely with decent IQ’s and have some sense of culture, so their opinion really matters. And what if they are right? What if we blindly follow what the Hull 17 board is giving us as Hull’s legacy, culture and history. Some of it is a bit out of context, random and too arts’y farts’y.  We have been given a choice of many different culture experiences, but how do we filter what really is important for old and new Hull?

My own experience has been wonderful, I have had the opportunities to be part of amazing things and I appreciate art for its being, for the change that it is bringing to Hull and the sense of coming together to get cultured as a city.

But I also see these points applying to the events.

There was another conversation about Hull 17 bringing photographers outside of Hull to record the celebration – that is a joke considering the talented few in Hull have to hunt for jobs. To make it worse  – one of the photographers have slagged of local photographers… I have no proof of this, but even having the rumour amongst those who live in Hull being a truth, puts the whole Hull 17 to shame.

This year is a distinctive year for local artists, businesses and people, everyone should have a piece of the Hull 17 cake – that was the whole point of this.

Something to think about and reflect on.

See you next week!!!!!!