Ars Longa Vita Brevis | Bruce Davies w/ Ruby Jean Waterhouse

Beware of Artists, they mix with all classes of society’

A popular meme from the internet of today allegedly has its origins in a warning from King Leopold of Belgium to Queen Victoria, when in 1845 he wrote

‘dealings with artists, for instance, require great prudence; they are acquainted with all classes of society, and for that reason are dangerous; they are hardly ever satisfied, and when you have too much to do with them, you are sure to have des ennuis’

Neuland, Familiar Longing: Griet Beyeart & Silvia Liebig’s ‘Junction’

Place was perhaps the key theme underpinning Griet Beyeart and Silvia Liebig’s 2023 exhibition, ‘Junction’. Consisting of an installation and video art, with an aural landscape created by Beyeart, the exhibition was part of Liebig’s ongoing ‘Neuland’ project.

Jacob's Ladder: an impact report of sorts

Whilst I always understood that Jacob’s Ladder would be a labour of love for both myself, as BasementArtsProject: the commissioning organisation, and for sculptor Keith Ackerman, I knew that it would definitely take longer than the one-hundred days of the Yorkshire Sculpture International 2019. But we never imagined the three year odyssey that it would become thanks to the C***d pandemic lockdowns.

Looking To The Future: Emily

For the last few months I have been in discussion with artist Paul Digby about his latest sculpture project ‘Looking To The Future: Emily’, and talking about BasementArtsProject’s position as co-creator on it.

Decompressed Time Frames and the Interconnectedness of Things

‘Decompressed Time Frames’ (the exhibition formerly known as ‘Compressed Time Frames’) opens with the extension of a work begun as part of the 2017 Leeds Light Night, in which Bradley mobilised his audience, attached by an unsafe rock climbers rope, and traversed the city from art venue to art venue.

Art From The Ground Up: Not Letting Culture Lose!

So, 2023 is still a thing; by which I mean Leeds2023. Despite the fact that Brexit put paid to any opportunity for UK cities to present their wares on a European stage, Leeds has committed itself to ensuring that 2023 remains an important year for the city in terms of culture; despite the funding and exposure being cut off by political dispute.

Back To Life, Back To Reality

When we lose a sense of purpose we lose our sense of the future, and that is where hopelessness slips into the void and feeds our deepest fears. That is the point at which the sun sets never to rise again.

A New Weird Albion

It is hardly surprising, that since reopening BasementArtsProject in August, the nature of the exhibitions have been somewhat political. Pushing through a time of great turmoil and upheaval as we are doing right now, things that have been bubbling under for a long time have quite predictably and reasonably come to the surface.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Yol]

During the Lockdown I received an update from the studio of Yol, and just before I left another video update arrived in which he appeared to be trapped inside the Coronaverse. I shall leave you with his emergency transmission.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Travelogue 05]

At the studio in which I have spent the last four days, I pack up my things for the final time and prepare to head for the Torhaus. Today is the opening of the exhibition ‘Meine Welt Auf Corona’ and as soon as it is done I have to head back to the station so that I can catch my train home.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Travelogue 04]

Today is essentially a free day. With the exhibition now fully installed and all of the tech stuff working properly, I can spend the day taking in some art elsewhere. I have arranged to meet Sylvia and Christiane at the Dusseldorf U building.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Lou Hazelwood]

Moving out of lockdown, the world is opening up, a chasm to be filled by STEM courses at Universities where the arts are systematically destroyed in an attempt to keep the economy going.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Travelogue 03]

Thursday 22nd October

Today I am meeting Viennese artists Christiana Spatt and Maria Hanl at the Torhaus. Maria’s work is a film piece and has already been installed, Christiane is a painter and photographer and her work is the final piece in the Corona jigsaw.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Adekola]

Yesterday in a special edition of the Lockdown Journal, we updated you on the status of the ‘Compressed Time Frames’ exhibition by ArtCouple, and today I bring you some material by Abdullah Adekola, poet and founder of the Black led and Leeds based poetry collective ‘Say It. With Your Chest’. We hope to be working with Adekola in the very near future, watch this space.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Travelogue 02]

The city streets do not seem to be very busy with cars. There is a hire system for electric scooters, they are everywhere and people just leave them parked at the edge of the pavement. Bikes are also popular. Dortmund feels like a city with an environmental conscience.

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [ArtCouple]

Man is not rational; only what encompasses him is intelligent

Lockdown Journal: Dortmund Edition [Travelogue 01]

Today, I depart for the Industrial Rhineland of Westphalia, specifically the city of Dortmund for an exhibition entitled ‘Meine Welt Auf Corona’ (My World After Corona).

Once More Unto The Breach (Repeat Ad Infinitum)

The work of Lou Hazelwood and Chris Graham, when working as a duo, seeks to make sense of the slippage from one political and philosophical state to another.

The Entropic Effect In A Zero Sum Universe

The ‘Emergence’ exhibition looks at the energy that transforms material and gives new form to that which already exists. It is about the hand of the artist in the transformation process, the mind of the artist in the conception of the work and it is about the nature of the material being transformed.

A New World In The Morning

As we emerge into a post-pandemic world, rubbing our eyes and blinking in the sunlight, the importance of the root system becomes apparent. The things that we thought may not survive did in fact just die back for an exceptionally long winter.

For invitations to our Exhibitions and Events

BasementArtsProject
28 Back Burton Terrace
Beeston, Leeds, LS11 5JH

Securing The Future of Community Through The Arts