Author Archives: SummerhallTV

Tadeusz Kantor : Inbetween Structures

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Dr Marc Glöde introduces a new perspective on Polish theatre director Tadeusz Kantor’s work, celebrating what would’ve been his 100th birthday. Brought to Summerhall by the Polish Cultural Institute in London and Polnisches Institut Berlin, the exhibition focuses on the early phase of Kantor’s career, highlighting the multi-layered nature of Kantor’s work specifically in the period of 1954-1965. The feature of this exhibition is the rarely shown and long lost film Attention!… Painting, which won the prize for experimental film at the 1958 Venice Film Festival.

The exhibition is co-produced by the Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Polnisches Institut Berlin in partnership with Cricoteka, National Museum in Krakow, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and Krakow Festival Office and supported by the Culture.pl.

Tadeusz Kantor : Inbetween Structures is on in the Lower Church Galleries, Summerhall, until the 4th September 2015. Afterwards, it will travel to Germany to the Polnisches Institut Berlin for Berlin Art Week. Find out more at http://festival15.summerhall.co.uk/exhibition/tadeusz-kantor-inbetween-structures/.

Confirmation

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‘If you pinned me against a wall, I’d probably admit to being a liberal. Of course, pinning me against a wall is exactly what I’d expect from someone like you.’

Confirmation is a show about the gulfs we cannot talk across, and about the way we choose to see only the evidence that proves we are right. Working with research into the phenomenon of confirmation bias, Confirmation attempts to have an honourable dialogue, real and imagined, with political extremism.

From multiple award-winning Chris Thorpe (Unlimited, Royal Exchange, Hannah Jane Walker) and Rachel Chavkin” (The Team). Presented by Warwick Arts Centre and China Plate. Commissioned by Northern Stage and Battersea Arts Centre. Fringe First winner 2014. British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2015.

O’Bheal : Weekly Poetry Night in Cork

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Welcome to Ó Bhéal – Fáilte go dtí Ó Bhéal

Welcome to Ó Bhéal, Cork’s weekly poetry event. Featuring guest poets, a poetry challenge and later open-mic, Ó Bhéal has become a prominent, thriving feature in the cultural landscape of the Cork arts community.

Ó Bhéal (Irish for ‘by word of mouth’) creates an original platform for established and non-established poets alike, allowing the public consistent access to contemporary poetry. Many as a result have engaged with the art form for the first time, and a number of these have remained actively writing and seeing their works accepted into print.

The event is held on Mondays at 9.30 pm, upstairs in The Hayloft bar, above The Long Valley, one of Cork’s favourite and most iconic poetry venues. It is inclusive of all poetry styles and adult demographics. Do come along and experience some contemporary poetry in a friendly setting.

Summerhall : Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015

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Explore with us what Edinburgh Fringe is like at here at Summerhall. With performances, exhibitions and events on from the early morning until late, Summerhall is one of the most vibrant venues at the Fringe. Thank you to all of the visitors, participants and performers who made this year’s Fringe so special!

Glucksman Gallery : BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS

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BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS: Contemporary Art and Mathematical Data

Boolean Expressions explores the ways in which artists use mathematical concepts and systems in their work. The exhibition commemorates the legacy of George Boole, the first Professor of Mathematics at Queen’s College Cork and a pivotal figure who can be described as the ‘father of the information age’. Inviting audiences to investigate ideas of Boolean algebra, the impact of ‘big data’ on contemporary life, and how systems and codes support creative production, the exhibition captures the ways in which artists have used logic and technology in their artistic practices.

Artists: Darren Almond, Aram Bartholl, Mel Bochner, Hanne Darboven, John Gerrard, Sol LeWitt, Tatsuo Mijajima, Aisling O’Beirn, Matthew Ritchie and Lynne Woods Turner. Curated by Fiona Kearney.

25 July – 8 November 2015, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork, Ireland.

Emma Finn : Double Mountain

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Emma Finn’s darkly humorous videos transport us to uncomfortable liminal places that sit somewhere between reality and invention, spaces where real people have drawn-on faces, and babies are sent in the post. All of Finn’s work is driven by ‘the Marks’. More than just drawings, for Finn the lines which form in her sketchbooks are independent forces, emerging on the page with stories they want to tell. Behind many of Finn’s works is a lengthy process of research, to identify the stories, places and ideas that ‘the Marks’ are seeking to share.

The resulting films describe a world where multiple planes operate independently of each other, reflecting and mirroring the artist’s interest in how shifts in modes of social interaction (from the fire, the original focal point for storytelling, to television to individual screen) have increasingly allowed us to create our own parallel private worlds as we sit beside one another.

Finn’s newest work is situated in the mountains, places which by their very nature create boundaries and divide up space. The ‘Marks’ are currently up in the mountain, dwelling on how to get out of broken cable cars, find their lost tickets and making endless paper airplanes. The air is thin and they move slowly and quietly; the mountain itself is making all the noise.

Double Mountain is showing in Unit 100, St.James Centre, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. Find out more at www.edinburghartfestival.com.

Confirmation

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‘If you pinned me against a wall, I’d probably admit to being a liberal. Of course, pinning me against a wall is exactly what I’d expect from someone like you.’

Confirmation is a show about the gulfs we cannot talk across, and about the way we choose to see only the evidence that proves we are right. Working with research into the phenomenon of confirmation bias, Confirmation attempts to have an honourable dialogue, real and imagined, with political extremism.

From multiple award-winning Chris Thorpe (Unlimited, Royal Exchange, Hannah Jane Walker) and Rachel Chavkin” (The Team). Presented by Warwick Arts Centre and China Plate. Commissioned by Northern Stage and Battersea Arts Centre. Fringe First winner 2014. British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2015.

Confirmation is on at 11.50am, Dissection Room, Summerhall, until the 29th August 2015. Click here for more information.

Islands

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An obscene, ink-black comedy about tax havens, greed and the few who have it all. Olivier nominee Caroline Horton (Chrissy, Mess, Penelope Retold) and her foul ensemble plunge us into a monstrous world where no-one has to pay… for anything.

Islands spits in the face of polite, political debate. Incandescent with rage, it hurls out images of the putrid end times of ultimate freedom and the rotten, violent underbelly of offshore finance.

Created in consultation with Tax Justice Network. Commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre and Harlow Playhouse. British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2015

Islands is on at 2.05pm, Dissection Room, Summerhall until the 29th August 2015. Click here for more information.

Poker Night Blues

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In Poker Night Blues, Tennesse Williams’ masterpiece, a Streetcar Named Desire, is undone, dismantled and distilled to its essential elements. Heightened physicality, dance, humour and an original text blend together to create this intense, touching and steamy fusion between East and West.

Poker Night Blues combines the energies and talents of the US-based theatre company, Theatre Movement Bazaar and Chinese-based Beijing TinHouse Productions. This highly stylised production merges two theatrical traditions to create a new form for contemporary audiences.

Poker Night Blues is on at 5.05pm, Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, until the 30th August. Find out more at http://festival15.summerhall.co.uk/event/poker-night-blues/.

The Assembly of Animals

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Combining puppetry, magic and scientific-demonstration, The Assembly of Animals gives a glimpse into the inner workings of a laboratory looking for life in everyday objects. As a performed sculpture, a series of delicately composed experiments reveal a proliferating system of surprises and animals within animals.

Tim is an artistic inventor, and uses basic physics and a surrealist imagination to create this carefully constructed and delicate world, leaving children entertained throughout.

Produced by Artsadmin for Bamboo supported by the EU Culture Programme. Co-production TJP-CDN d’Alsace-Strasbourg. Funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2015.

The Assembly of Animals is on at 2.30, 4.00, 5.30, Small Animal Hospital, Summerhall, until the 29th August. Click here for more information.

Emma Finn : Double Mountain

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Emma Finn’s darkly humorous videos transport us to uncomfortable liminal places that sit somewhere between reality and invention, spaces where real people have drawn-on faces, and babies are sent in the post. All of Finn’s work is driven by ‘the Marks’. More than just drawings, for Finn the lines which form in her sketchbooks are independent forces, emerging on the page with stories they want to tell. Behind many of Finn’s works is a lengthy process of research, to identify the stories, places and ideas that ‘the Marks’ are seeking to share.

The resulting films describe a world where multiple planes operate independently of each other, reflecting and mirroring the artist’s interest in how shifts in modes of social interaction (from the fire, the original focal point for storytelling, to television to individual screen) have increasingly allowed us to create our own parallel private worlds as we sit beside one another.

Finn’s newest work is situated in the mountains, places which by their very nature create boundaries and divide up space. The ‘Marks’ are currently up in the mountain, dwelling on how to get out of broken cable cars, find their lost tickets and making endless paper airplanes. The air is thin and they move slowly and quietly; the mountain itself is making all the noise.

Double Mountain is showing in Unit 100, St.James Centre, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. Find out more at www.edinburghartfestival.com.

On Track

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An old-fashioned exhibition room with fitted carpet, various things on panels and in display cases. At the back sits an attendant, whilst in the middle of the room Kristien De Proost attracts all the attention.

She runs and keeps on running, as if her life depended on it. Meanwhile, she describes her inside and outside. From her smallest toe to her biggest fantasies. From freshly-washed armpits to heavy sweat, while trying to summarise her present state.

On Track is on at 8.30pm, in the Main Hall, Summerhall, until the 30th August. Click here for more information.

Paul Nesbitt : John Chamberlain

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Inverleith House presents the first UK showing of American artist John Chamberlain (1927-2011), as part of this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival. Featuring work from early to mid career, the exhibition demonstrates Chamberlain’s use of unusual and hard-wearing materials; transforming discarded car parts into dynamic sculptures, foam into sculpted works and foil into large, outdoor pieces.

John Angus Chamberlain was born in 1927 in Rochester, Indiana and died in 2011 in New York. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago (1951–52) where “It’s all in the fit” became his mantra. His first sculptures, in welded steel, were exhibited in 1954 and he attended Black Mountain College (1955–56), moving to New York in 1956. His first retrospective was at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in 1971, where his most recent retrospective, Choices, was also held (2012).

John Chamberlain’s work is displayed at Inverleith House, as part of the Edinburgh Art festival, until the 4th October 2015.

The Great Downhill Journey of Little Tommy

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Tommy leaves his safe town up on the hill to see the sea. On his way he meets everyone who for some reason isn’t allowed or doesn’t belong in the city. A journey through music history that gives the floor to the outsiders of society.

Recipient of the Theater aan Zee 2015 Award, The Great Downhill Journey of Little Tommy is a coming of age performance told in songs and live drawings. See it. Hear it.

The Great Downhill Journey of Little Tommy is on at 10.30pm, Main Hall, Summerhall, until the 30th August 2015. Click here for more information.

We This Way

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Choose your own path through an imagined world… or perhaps your neighbour will choose it for you. Without leaving your seat, you – or most of you, anyway – will be able to go wherever you want. If not, don’t worry, life is full of second chances. Explore a new interactive performance from the creator of The Unbuilt Room.

Commissioned by and developed at Battersea Arts Centre.

We This Way is on at 12.25, Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall until the 30th August (excl Tuesdays). Click here for more information.

Denis Connolly : Meta-Perceptual Helmets

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Have you ever wondered how the world looks from the point of view of a hammerhead shark, with its hyper-stereo vision? How about a horse, which has exceptional peripheral vision? Or a chameleon, which can look backwards and forwards at the same time?

Now, thanks to artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, you can find out. Cleary Connolly have developed a series of wearable sculptures called ‘Meta-Perceptual Helmets’ – helmets that enable you to see what an animal sees. Drop into Rothe House every day during the Festival, where you can try on a range of helmets – for creatures both real and imaginary – and wander around the gardens, transforming yourself into a living, moving sculpture to see and be seen.

At once playful and serious, Meta-Perceptual Helmets is an innovative and interactive exhibition that meets art’s greatest challenge – to make us see the world afresh.

 

The Overcoat

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Jenny is a mischievous little girl who loves playing with her Dad. But he has to put on his business suit, pick up his briefcase and go to work. When Jenny grabs hold of his overcoat to stop him leaving, a thread unravels and becomes the start of a magical world of adventure and discovery.

Join Jenny on her ingenious journey to find out what’s waiting for her at the end of the thread…

The Overcoat is on at 9.45am, Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, until the 30th August 2015. Click here for more information.

Portraits in Motion

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While walking over 3500km through Germany, Gerling took photographs of people he met during his wanderings, creating portraits in the form of photographic flipbooks. On stage, Gerling recounts the stories of those who let themselves be photographed.

Gerling describes great, small, serious and quirky accidental encounters and, for a moment, brings his protagonists to life on the screen. These magical studies inspire gentle, profound reflection upon the transitory nature of the moment and the significance of interpersonal encounters.

Portraits in Motion is on at 12.05, Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, until the 30th August (excl 24th). Click here for more information.

Rachael Thomas : Etel Adnan

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Senior curator Rachael Thomas, introduces the work of artist Etel Adnan, which is currently on show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Adnan works across many outputs of creativity including writing, art, poetry and tapestry and all aspects of this is reflected in the exhibition.

Poet, artist and writer Etel Adnan was born in 1925 in Beirut and now lives in California and Paris. Her mother was a Greek from Smyrna, her father, a high ranking Ottoman officer born in Damascus. In Lebanon, she was educated in French schools.

She studied literature at the Sorbonne, Paris, Harvard University and Berkeley University. In 1984, she worked with Robert Wilson on his opera CIVILwarS and has exhibited internationally. Based on her feelings of connection to, and solidarity with the Algerian war of independence, she began to resist the political implications of writing in French and shifted the focus of her creative expression to visual art; becoming a painter. But it was with her participation in the poets’ movement against the war in Vietnam that she began to write poems and became, in her words, “an American poet”.

Her recent publications include Master of the Eclipse (2009), Seasons (2008), In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country (2005), and In/somnia (2002) and most recent solo exhibitions include Callicoon Fine Arts, New York (2014), the Whitney Biennial (2014)and DOCUMENTA 13 (2012).

Etel Adnan’s work is on show at IMMA, Dublin, until the 13th September 2015.

Paradise Lost : Fringe Interpretation of Milton’s Classic Poem

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London’s boldest dance theatre brings hit shows to the Fringe.

Inspired by Milton’s epic poem with less words, more dance and never before seen levels of divine incompetence. The Lost Dog’s restaging of the creation of everything. A show for anyone who has ever created anything (a child, a garden, a paper aeroplane) and then had to watch that wonderful thing spiral out of control. As God himself once said ‘in the beginning it all seemed like such a good idea.’

Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) is on at 14.40, Main Hall, Summerhall, 19-23, 25-30. For more information go to festival15.summerhall.co.uk/event/paradise-lost-lies-unopened-beside-me/

Smash It Up

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Originally inspired by the demolition of The Chartists Mural in Newport, South Wales, Smash It Up explores the destruction of art, culture and public space. Beginning as a performance lecture, and using performance art and physical theatre, it explores the historical acts of cultural destruction by fanatics, institutions and by artists themselves.

Smash it Up is an engaging and poignant theatre show that has been developed on the streets and around the building sites of a city in transition, a city like any other in the UK. Smash It Up asks what else is being destroyed and what will you do about it?

Smash It Up is on at 4.35, Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall until the 29th August. Click here for more information.

Fraser Taylor : Bodies of Work

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House for an Art Lover presents ‘Bodies of Work’, a new exhibition by artist Fraser Taylor. Featuring a series of large scale canvas pieces, monochromatic and colourful works, prints and video work, the exhibition explores the evolution of Taylor’s work over the last 25 years. Taylor has drawn inspiration from everyday life and his surroundings, developing his ideas and themes through a series of residencies around Scotland over the last couple of years.

Bodies of Work is on in the Studio Pavilion at House for an Art Lover, Glasgow, Wednesday – Sunday 11am – 4pm, until 30 August 2015. Find out more at HERE

The Tap Dancing Mermaid

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Gather round, gather round for the moon’s magical, mystical story about a tippetty-top tap dancer called Marina Skippett, whom he has been watching at night. With stunning puppetry, original live music to sing along to and tap-dancing that will make you want to stick 50p pieces to your shoes and join in, this is ‘just everything a theatre experience for children should be’ (Childplays.wordpress.com).

Brought to you by the ‘truly amazing one-woman power house’ Tessa Bide, who ‘understands children in a way that can’t be taught’ (ChildrensTheatreReviews.com). Perfect for all members of the family.

The Tap Dancing Mermaid is on at 11.05, Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, until 30th August (excl Tuesdays). Click here for more information.

Five Feet in Front (The Ballad of Little Johnnie Wylo)

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A clock, a town, a sunrise on an empty open coffin and the wind. The wind, who’s dead set on sticking someone in it by sunset. Down in the dust bowl the air’s so thick folk just can’t see what’s coming their way anymore, all ‘cept Johnnie, little Johnnie Wylo.

Struggle, survival, sex and live music brewed up into a foot stomping, bath blasting, bone shaking hoedown. A wild and darkly funny tale about hope and daring to have it in the land of the downtrodden.

Five Feet in Front (The Ballad of Little Johnnie Wylo) is on at 21.25, Northern Stage, Summerhall, until the 30th August (excl Wednesdays). Click here for more information.

Cisco Jimenez : You Will Have a Long and Happy Life

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Curator of Lust and the Apple Paul Robertson, introduces the work of Mexican artist Cisco Jimenez, as part of the gallery’s summer exhibitions programme. You Will Have a Long and Happy Life is Jimenez’s first UK exhibition, and shows a mixture of vintage and newer work, banners, pots and paintings in a colourful mix that verges on installation.

You Will Have a Long and Happy Life is on at Lust and the Apple, Temple, Midlothian, until the 18th October 2015.

Jonny & the Baptists : The End Is Nigh

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Last year, Jonny accidentally told his four-year-old niece that climate change would end the world. To stop her crying, he and Paddy promised to fix it. They really tried very hard… A new show about family, friendship and environmental disaster – from the multi-award-nominated musical comedy stars of Radio 4’s The Now Show.

Jonny & the Baptists: The End Is Nigh is on at 19.50, Roundabout, Summerhall, until the 30th August (excl Tuesdays). Click here for more information.

To Space

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To Space is your telescope into a future and capsule that will preserve the past. Scientist and performer Dr Niamh Shaw has dreamed of space travel from the age of eight. After a year of interviewing astronauts, astrophysicists, space industries and potential future colonists of Mars, she’s discovered that what was once her childhood dream may soon become a reality.

In a multimedia immersive performance that buzzes with new technologies, she explores the beauty, darkness and humanity of Space. What is our attraction to Space? What are we chasing, or escaping from?

To Space is on at 17.00, Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, until the 30th August (excl Tuesdays). Click here for more information.

Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me)

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London’s boldest dance theatre brings hit shows to the Fringe.

Lost Dog’s restaging of the creation of everything. Inspired by Milton’s epic poem with less words, more dance and never before seen levels of divine incompetence. A show for anyone who has ever created anything (a child, a garden, a paper aeroplane) and then had to watch that wonderful thing spiral out of control. As God himself once said ‘in the beginning it all seemed like such a good idea.’

Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) is on at 14.40, Main Hall, Summerhall, 19-23, 25-30. Click here for more information.