Final Fragments of Decay & Rebirth

Exhibition ends Sunday 27th September

Slackspace nominated for Upstart Award

Slackspace has been nominated for a New Statesman Upstart Award
Please make some noise in the comment boxes to show your support!

"The Upstarts Awards recognise excellence in all aspects of social enterprise. It began in 2001 to encourage and reward extraordinary vision, ethical business practice and social responsibility. The awards aim to showcase individuals, organisations, local authorities and developers who contribute to community empowerment and regeneration".

Photos by Vron

Some of a selection of photos taken in the past few months by Slacker artist and photographer Vron.

They illustrate the sheer variety of events that have taken place in the Slackspace gallery in Long Wynd Street, Colchester since it opened in June.

(See more here)

Colchester United duo Pat Baldwin and Kem Izzet are set to visit the Slackspace Gallery, which is currently hosting an art exhibition about the club's former stadium at Layer Road.

Kem and Pat are the longest serving players at the club and spent the most time at the old venue.

They will pop along to Slack Space Colchester on Friday afternoon (18th Sept) to visit the exhibition and sign autographs.

The exact time is due to be confirmed, but it is expected that it will be around 2pm.

Rebirth and Decay Exhibition - Preview Evening

Exhibition open from tomorrow

Flakes and seedlings from the 'Decay & Rebirth' Exhibition

Starts 16th Sept in the Main Gallery Space, Long Wyre St. Colchester

Layer Road Photo Project

Exhibition of photographs begins Thursday 17th September - Slackspace Gallery, Colchester

"Layer Road was the first football ground that I ever set foot in - just one of many reasons why the ground is special to me. In all the years I had been going there I hadn't taken many photos as the talk of a new stadium had been going for years so people became used to Layer Road being there year after year. When it did come to the last season of football for the famous venue, I wanted to document the closing of this proud stadium in pictures as much as I could.

Over the course of a year I must have covered every inch of the ground. The stadium had a lot of character and will always be unique. Seeing it go from a working football ground to the skyline changing forever with the floodlight removal and watching two stands being taken down was certainly heartbreaking.

I will miss the Main Stand rooftop commentary box most of all as it was where I'd spent sixteen years as a commentator. Layer Road was magical and did its best over the course of its 101 years as a football ground, even managing to stage two seasons of Championship football in its final two years which was remarkable for the old ground".

Layer Road football ground. R.I.P.

''Because eventually things move on''

By

Dave Buckingham / aka (Voice of Layer Road)

Forthcoming exhibition and mini-festival

Exhibition: Rebirth through decay - starting Thursday 17th September '09

(Normal gallery opening times - free entry)

- A gift for Colchester from Slack Space

Rebirth through decay was partly inspired by local people submitting photographs of various loved areas of Colchester that had fallen into disrepair along with artwork depicting decay in humanity and all things organic as part of the cycle of life. As autumn draws nearer the fragility and beauty of decay becomes more evident.

Artists have been drawn to old and shabby buildings for centuries, to ruins that offer a sense of romance, melancholy and a longing for the past. In this exhibition Dave Buckingham reminisces Layer Road Football Ground, Lisa Temple Cox premiers her film of a decaying head and Tracey Johnson displays new work on the theme of decay.

Slack Space Colchester – the Third Performance Arts Mini Festival

Thursday 17th September - Saturday 19th September

Thursday 17th September

Thursday 17th September evening is guest list only. Please email to book your place(see sidebar)

1pm – 6pm Free watercolour painting workshops with Sudbury artist and tutor Michele Webber

1-3 pm try out watercolour (beginners workshop)

4-6 pm watercolour tips and techniques (advanced workshop)

These workshops will use Colchester based images

Please email to book your place (see sidebar)

7.00pm Doors

7.30pm Music from Jazmine Ava

Jazmine Ava has been described as a ‘truly talented performer’ (Juice FM radio) and ‘tipped for stardom’ (Argus newspaper.) Her music is a unique fusion of what she terms as ‘enchanted’ blues / rock / soul / folk with a ‘pop edge.’

Listen to her music here

8.30pm Poetry from Ted Luff

Could have been Colchester's answer to Pam Ayres but not with those legs! Don't laugh, you'll only encourage him.

8.45pm ‘Peyote’ Film by Keziah Osborne

A short aesthetic and moving art film of peyote ceremony with a shaman from Mexico

9.00pm ‘I make things …..’ Films by Sean Pointing

'I make things’....is a selection of some of the different things Sean has made over the past couple of years, from stop motion animation to 16mm art films and from fantastical creatures to BMX professionals. Sean says ‘I love to make films that’s all there is to it!' The films will be followed by a short Q&A session to give you the chance to pick the brains of this prominent local filmmaker!

You can see Sean’s show reel here

9.30pm Hand drumming session with Harlequin

We have no drums available for this activity so bring hand drums if you have them!!! Harlequin will lead a hand drumming session for 30 minutes while the main band of the evening set up

10pm Music from Meanderthal

The word basically describes a weirdfunky sort of 'non-linear' and integral approach in day-to-day routine; much gets accomplished overall, though in what would appear to the outside (non-meanderthal) observer as a randomly chaotic, somewhat disjointed fashion. This evening’s headliners will blow you away and you will wake up in a French Café – honest!

Friday 18^th September

Friday 18^th September evening is guest list only. Please email to book your place (see sidebar)

7.30pm Doors

8.00pm 'Made in Colchester' Ray Hollingsworth

A 65 chapter, 138 minute documentary that reflects the history of Layer Road - the home of Colchester United, and previously Colchester Town. The film has a soundtrack by local indie band Absent Kid and a poetic backdrop. During filming the ground was shot from a plane at 1600 feet, the tops of office blocks and from the roofs of stands. Some of the historic newsreel footage was created in association with ITN Source, East Anglian Film Archive and private collections. The film includes footage from 1948 that had been in an attic in West Mersea for over 50 years!

View the trailer for this film here.

There will be a 15 minute intermission featuring music from Rosso Merda

Rosso Merda is a multi-disciplined collective of anonymous individuals with members throughout Europe and the USA. The principle areas of interest to the group are the contradictory relationships between music & noise, work, creation and decay, ownership, public performance and private actions. The 10 minute piece will feature sounds sourced from recordings made of the electromagnetic properties present in an old electric cash register salvaged from a shop which had closed down. The recordings are not new, but have not been released or used in any way before.

Listen to the music here

Saturday 19^th September

Saturday 19^th September evening is guest list only.

Please email to book your place (see sidebar)

7.00pm Doors

7.30pm Music from Sugar Tree

Acoustic original trio; Richard Moss on Guitar, Andy Franklin on Djembe and Rachel O'Mahony on vocals

8.45pm Music from Stand Still Kid

Previous house band on Radio One's s’ Switch’ and twice winners of the last two Colchester sixth form battle of the bands, Stand Still Kid play poppy-disco-rock with a pop-punky edge!

10pm Music from the Bad Terrorists

Noisy, punk, political and opinionated but very, very danceable! Come and hear some of the songs from ‘Terror the Musical’ premiered in Wivenhoe earlier this year!

Colchester Slack Space

Fostered by Firstsite

Michele Webber

“My work continues to explore the themes I have always been drawn to: pattern, nature, and colour. Watercolour never ceases to fascinate me, its technical challenges and beauty. Currently I am exploring the area between still-life and landscape; the middle distance; Gardens, Woodlands and Beach scenes. I do not usually depict figures, aiming not to personalise the view too much, allowing the spectator to enjoy any associations and memories of their own.”

Michele is based in Sudbury, Suffolk. She is a member of the Gainsborough’s House Print Workshop. Michele is also a promoter for the Society of All Artists (SAA) and has recently joined the Colchester Art Society. Her work has appeared in solo and mixed exhibitions in Suffolk and Essex.

Teaching regularly, Michele runs a weekly painting and drawing class near Sudbury on Saturday mornings. Private students are also taught. She has participated in community projects and demonstrations and worked with children, the elderly and disabled.

Michele Webber's work is currently on display in the window of our site on Short Wyre Street, Colchester.

(Link)

A stitch or two from the current fabric and embroidery exhibition at Slackspace Colchester:

Perform in a shop!??

Earlier this year Slack Space Colchester was one of the first projects to take over one of the many empty shops in the town and turn it into an art gallery and performance space.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colchesterslackers/

http://www.slackspacecolchester.co.uk/slackspace.html

Once a month Slack Space holds a three day mini festival of film, performance art, poetry, electronica and music. We usually see around 500 through the shop during a mini festival period. All of them experiencing art and performance, some for the first time, some outside of their comfort zones …..

If you are interested in performing in the space then please e mail colchesterslackers@googlemail.com with ‘Performance’ in the subject line. We’d love to hear from you …..