Sunday, 22 March 2009

Scarcroft Road / Bishopthorpe Road Junction, York:
Public art commission £7300


Artist Brief:
City of York Council is seeking to commission an artist to design and deliver permanent site specific art work/s to improve the visual appearance and public use of the grassed area at the junction of Scarcroft Rd / Bishopthorpe Rd, York.
The works will form a new landmark, reflecting the area and engendering a sense of place and pride locally.
The artist will work with local communities, engaging people in the design process to ensure the work is accessible and appropriate.

1st April 12.00pm: Deadline for expressions of interest
3rd April: shortlisting artists
20th April 3.30 – 5.30: On site consultation including shortlisted artists
18th May: Confirmation of contract
Oct 2009: Completion of work

If you would like to be considered for this commission please submit:
• Up to two A3 sheets showing examples of your previous work as relevant to this project.
A disc with up to 5 images of your previous work + 100 words briefly describing your work and how you would approach this commission. (The above information from short-listed artists will be shown to community groups for comments.)
• Two references or testimonials from previous work
• Your CV and artist’s statement.
To Emily Harvey, Arts and Culture, City of York Council, Mill House, North St, York YO1 6JD.
Email: Emily.Harvey@york.gov.uk or Kristina.Davey@york.gov.uk

Background information
Micklegate Ward Committee wishes to improve the appearance of the grassed area of land at the junction of Scarcroft Road and Bishopthorpe Road, adjacent to the perimeter of Bishopthorpe Road Car Park.
This is a prominent public space, with a high footfall, where people gather and meet. The final scheme will include consideration of seating, safety and maintenance and will be effective all year round both in daylight and after dark.
Local community groups will be involved in the initial selection of an artist to deliver these improvements.
A steering group including local councillors, CYC officers and community representatives will oversee the project.

The role of the artist
The artist will be committed to engaging local groups such as schools and residents associations through workshops and/or demonstrations, and be able to reflect this involvement within the production of their own work. A timetable of community contact time will be negotiated between the artist and the steering group.
The artist will be expected to work up designs and models for comment by the steering group and relevant CYC officers. The artist will work with the steering group to seek the relevant approvals and ensure the scheme is appropriate and deliverable. Evidence of current CRB clearance, public liability insurance and self-employed status will be required.
The artist will have access to their own work base, tools and equipment.

The fixed fee of £7300 includes
• Research and design of the scheme.
• All materials
• Attendance at agreed planning meetings, and liaison with project partners.
• Co-ordination and delivery of community activities relating to the design process.
• Fabrication and installation of work.
The artist will be contracted with the City of York Council through Arts Action York.

Plan of site:
Photographs of the site:




Additional information and constraints:
• The site is at the junction of Scarcroft Road and Bishopthorpe Road, adjacent to two busy roads.
• The site is just outside a conservation area.
• The space to used includes the two main green areas and seating indicated on the plan.
• Trees are valuable, particularly a mature lime tree, the root system of which is likely to spread over most of the open space there. Consultation with specific CYC departments will need to be undertaken before any ground works are planned.
• A pyracantha hedge will be planted along the wall running from the hairdressers round to the car park.
• There is electricity to the site.
• Water, mains cables, gas, signal cables run underneath the footpaths, which must remain in place.
• There are no height restrictions for the site, although the trees may well restrict the height of any installations. Final proposals must be agreed with CYC officers.
• The view of the road junction should not be impeded in any way.

Saturday, 21 March 2009

Google Street View

Worth mentioning that you can use Google street view to explore our Outside the White Cube map. Street View lets you view the selected street from an almost 360 degree vertical and horizontal axis using panoramic photography from a series of positions along certain streets. To do this you drag and drop the yellow man icon which is above the zoom slider onto a street highlighted in blue.

Friday, 20 March 2009



hey,


I am becoming increasingly interested in the idea of intervening into routine and the mundane things we do everyday. I want to do this in some quiet way that people might notice or might not.


Im thinking this would work best with public transport...and that i want to leave [something] on buses and trains for people to come across and perhaps respond to.

Im struggling to find many artists relating to this concept but there must be looooaaads.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thursday, 19 March 2009

Joyce Kozloff
Boys Art # 2 Nagasaki 2003

American artist, Joyce Kozloff 's highly decorative work reminds me of ancient maps, which combined practical geographical information with decoration, and images of mythical Gods and beasts. Yet Kozloffs work is both down to earth and politically charged, dealing with with the subjugation of peoples under the domination of Empire. Drawing inspiration from older civilizations, who's intricate patterns embody profound mythological and spiritual meanings.


Joyce Kozloff
Jodhpur Blue 1996.
Section 29 x 42.7 cm
39 foot piece. Cast paper & plaster, wood and enamel, paint, indian ink , collage on paper, watercolour on silk. Kozloff maps interweave images, recipes and extracts from books to form a rich patchwork mapping the human and cultural elements of a geographical site.
Consisting of 8 panels, depicting street maps, photographs, recipes and food.
From her exhibition, 'Crossed Purpose'.

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Hi all

I've restructured the next two Tuesday sessions of the project, mainly to convene smaller crit groups to critique and advise on individual development of work. It is important you check your yorksj.ac.uk accounts where you'll find details.

Thanks 

Roddy

Dekochari




I have been looking at the flow of traffic (or lack of) within york but also outside of york, and thinking about the methods we use to get from A to B. It seems to me the best and almost definitely fastest way to do this in york which essentially has one road through it is on a bike, avoiding the constant traffic  jam that is york city centre. I then discovered the craze of dekochari within japan (deko - decoration, chari- bike), which is a very literal link between the bike and art. It comes from dekotora which are Japans celebrated art trucks, and dekochari is basically for dekotora enthusiasts who are too young to drive. They instead set about making there bicycle look as much like a truck as possible, these people are almost definitely crazy but I admire them for it.
Whitby Town View Webcam


York Minster Webcam



Scarborough Beach View Webcam




Although requesting CCTV footage from the council was possible but not appropriate, They did provide me with these links to several live webcams in York, Whitby, Scarborough and various other places which i may use within my work. The Webcams aren't streaming over the net however, the images are refreshed every 5 minutes.