Compass Live Art Festival – The Artists (LEEDS, UK)

Here it is ladies and gents, my stories from last-last weekend’s Compass Live Art Festival along with short interviews with some of the brilliant participating artists. I would like to thank them all once again for a meaningful weekend that offered something different.

Bake Me A Cake by Jenny Lawson

Jenny the lovely domestic goddess.

Everyone loves cake. It’s one of those things that you use to persuade people to go to events. And yet with shows like ‘Ace of Cakes’ and whatnot cropping up faster than you can chew, it’s difficult to come up with innovative ways of presenting them. So Jenny decided to do something special but very challenging – to bake deliciousness from people’s stories and memories. To do this, she set up a huge book at the front desk in which anyone can write. She also had a very specific list of questions next to it – things like ‘How does this memory/cake make you feel?’ or ‘Who or what occasion is this cake/memory dedicated to?’ And from these answers, she lets her imagination and superb baking skills take over. When I walked into her inconspicuous kitchen/workshop in The Light where the ex Benetton used to be, I was impressed by how efficient but cosy everything looked. I was soon offered a cuppa as Jenny invited me to sit down for a chat, and here’s what came out of it:

What do cakes mean to you?

They’re interesting because they’re both happy and sad. Happy because everyone loves cake, obviously, but they also bring back a certain sense of nostalgia and represent a loss of childhood.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Artistically, my biggest influence is performance artist Bobby Baker. She has used food in her work in both provocative and moving ways, and she has been a huge inspiration.

What was the best cake you’ve ever made based on your own memory?

It was about three years ago when my parents moved to France and had to sell the family home, so I made a cake called Farewell 228 [their house number]. It was a coffee cake, because I’ve always associated coffee cakes with home and my mum and things, and then I had a photo I took of the house iced onto it.

Free cake for all at the sharing party on Sunday afternoon!

Have you worked with food or cakes before?

Yes, I did an exhibition in 2009 called ‘If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake’, which was a similar concept except I baked the cakes beforehand so that I had more time to work on them. I feel torn between baking before or during the exhibition though, because I can do more with the extra time, but this is more challenging.

What do you think Art is about?

Wow, difficult one. I guess it’s about engaging with ideas and people, and to explore what it means to be part of the world.

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Inspiration Exchange by Third Angel’s Alexander Kelly

A story for a story - Alex and his storytellers.

Shamefully, I have never been inside the City Museum before. It’s my third year in Leeds and I kept hearing fabulous things about it, but it’s just one of those places that I haven’t been in, so this was a very exciting opportunity. Making my way upstairs and leaving winter outside, I finally reached a strange little room. It had old wooden floorboards, and white-washed walls with some things-of-the-past splashed across it, and a very ancient-looking stove squatting at the back. And then, like living anachronisms, I saw Alex sat on a wooden chair with a very amused smile as he listened to a man coming to the end of his story about a lecturer, or a moon, or something along those lines (I’m afraid I missed the beginning, and so everything I heard was taken out of context). There were five chairs arranged in a semi-circle around Alex, and so I took a seat. After the man was done Alex said hello and explained what he was doing – we were to take a piece of card from the table, each of which had a title written on it, and he would tell us the inspiring story behind it – in return for one of ours. I picked one called ‘300 Cameras a Day’. It was about the time Alex found out that 1) you don’t need a license to film the public and 2) on average you get filmed 300 times a day. It was, as he admitted, not so much as inspiring as thought provoking – but I enjoyed it. I ended up telling him about how inspirational some of the people I’ve met for this blog have been, and still continues to be.

I still didn’t get round to seeing the museum properly, in case you were wondering. But I will. One day. Promise. A little Q&A session I had with Alex will be coming soon so watch this space!

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Take Me To The Bridge by Katie Etheridge and Simon Persighetti

Give me a hand - Katie taking a photo of a participant's palm.

It was wet and rainy and horribly England last Saturday, and yet a flock of people in macs and brollies braved the elements on Leeds Bridge (yes, we do have a Leeds Bridge, apparently). What were they doing? Well they were queuing up to get fake tattoos stuck onto their palms. Katie and Simon had spent Friday taking photos of different parts of the bridge and have had them transferred onto circular body stickers that they gave to anyone wishing to participate on Saturday. The point is that they go and find where their photo was taken, and then have a photo taken of their palm against the original part of the structure. Essentially – they become a part of the city. I wish I took part in this, but the crowd was just too big and Katie and Simon were already moving around at supersonic speeds and inhuman efficiency, so I just observed the scene for a while. It was quite a sight to behold, with people walking round putting their hands against everything that remotely looked like anything. I wonder what it would look like to passers-by who had no idea what the hell was going on, but I suppose that’s an effective means of advertising in itself?

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The Speech Maker by Oliver Bray with Mark Flisher

Oliver all suited up for his 12-hour oration.

Although I’ve done a fair bit of public speaking, it still scares the living daylights out of me. So I can’t imagine how Oliver must’ve felt standing there at the podium with his bow-tied sidekick Mark, dwarfed by the grand Courtroom in the City Hall. On top of that, he was there for 12 hours straight. Throughout the day he read out speeches both by The Famous People Who Have Shaped History, as well as extraordinarily ordinary folks like us. Anyone was welcome to send him speeches by email or Twitter, which Mark would sift through before passing them onto him for reciting. Sitting on the wooden bench at the back of the room, I was in awe of the power of his speech. He read clearly, beautifully, and possessed the aura of a true orator.

Did you manage to complete the 12 hour run?

Yes! Well pretty much anyway. I took three toilet breaks and each of them lasted about a minute, so 11 hours and 57 minutes to be precise!

Grand room for grand speeches.

Have you ever done anything like this before?

Not for 12 hours straight, no.

Was the experience pretty much like what you expected or was it tougher than that?

I prepared myself for it quite well I think, so I was alright.

What was the most difficult part of reciting the speeches?

I was reading from two computer screens, so my eyes were really strained.

Will you do this again? For an even longer time perhaps?

Probably yes – but probably not for any longer!

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Carpe Minuta Prima by Brian Lobel

Brian's laptop and CDs all set up and ready for action.

Dorian Gray bartered his soul away to the devil for youth – would you sell a minute of your life to a man you don’t know for a quid? I did. It was probably the most awkward one minute I’ve ever had to live through (apart from that time when I was playing Emilia in the school production of ‘Othello’ and Iago forgot to kill me), mostly because my worst nightmare is being filmed. So when I was ushered into a little room and told by the friendly Willy Wonka -like Brian to press the button when I was ready to start the camera and ‘make my minute count’ – I was petrified. But still, it was a really meaningful exercise. In this busy world, how often do we take time to just reflect on a minute for what it is? Brian collected 60 minutes in total, and burnt each one onto a DVD to be sold, for a pound, the next day to the earliest bidder. My original intention was to buy my own minute back, thrust it in a drawer and never let it see daylight again. But alas – some poor soul had already bought my embarrassing minute. So I had to buy another one – by a girl named Polly something (her fancy signature defied readership), but it turned out to be the  best quid I’d ever spent. I swear I have not been that touched by a minute in my life before. She sang, with a beautiful voice, ‘Feed the World’ by Band Aid. It is a song that means a lot to me as I had sung it with my high school choir, and it brought back so many memories. Brilliant.

Here’s a quick chat I had with Brian:

Brian at his desk - all he needed was a top hat and it's showtime!

So what’s the big idea behind the project?

Well, a minute is a minute is a minute is a minute. And no matter what you do during that minute – like  some people tried to be really cheeky and do things like sleep or whatever – it’s all worth the same. Everyone’s minute is worth exactly a pound.

How did you come up with the idea of Carpe?

I created Carpe Minuta Prima in response to having been told for nine year since finishing cancer treatment that I’m lucky to have knowledge of what is truly valuable – the true value of time.

Any unexpected or particularly interesting minutes?

Some were really bad, so those were interesting.

What would you have done during that minute had you participated?

I HAVE NO IDEA.  This is the best thing about being the creator… I don’t actually have to do it.  But if I had to, I’d probably watch a youtube video.

Sum up what Art means to you in a nutshell.

Art interrupts the everyday and makes us see the world a bit more clearly, or crisply.

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Other Events

The Last Supper by Reckless Sleepers

Stories of the highs and lows of society were told over dinner to the 39 special guests.

Compass Late: Regional Artists’ Platform

Artists showcased their works and presented some new ideas.

And on the Thousandth Night by Forced Entertainment

Artists dressed up in crowns and cloaks to improvise stories on the spot for over six hours.

Local Radio Orchestra by Janke Schaefer

A symphony of the community was created with the aid of 12 classic radios as people tuned in and out of it.

Two Four One One by Grace Surman and Catherine Butterworth

The two artists re-enacted the meaning of hiding, in reference to the women and men supporters hiding to avoid taking part in the 1911 census to protest against women not being granted the right to vote.