“Stoke-on-Trent has a unique artistic heritage and is still a very creative city, which is now undergoing rapid change. We wanted to inspire both local people and visitors to view the city in a different light and put into practice the idea that art can play an integral part in changing people’s perceptions.”
The month-long festival will take place across a variety of venues from The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery to unconventional locations such as the Bethesda Chapel, an empty retail shopping unit and a public car park.
Artists featured in the diverse programme include Gayle Chong Kwan, Alex Frost and Ronnie Heeps, whilst running alongside the exhibitions will be artist talks, a panel discussion, guided tours and business advice for up and coming artists.
With so much happening, 24 Hour Museum has chosen its five recommended exhibitons and events during Conjunction 08:
1) Jan Dunning
Airspace Gallery, November 8 – December 13, Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 5pm.
Dunning has skilfully constructed a version of reality in microcosm through landscape photography, operating somewhere between cinematic special effects and romantic painting.
2) Littlewhitehead
Staffordshire University – Film Theatre Concourse, November 8 – December 13, Monday – Saturday 9am – 5pm.
Inspired by old movie scenes and subconscious musings, Littlewhitehead’s installation investigates the relationship between reality and unreality, between the fictionalisation of the real and the realisation of a fiction.
3) Visual Tourettes Collective
Near Area 23, Saturday November 8, 9am – 4pm.
Visual Tourettes provides an exciting live painting performance using a combination of acrylics; spray paint, stencils, collage and markers to create two collaborative pieces accompanied by a live DJ.
4) Ronnie Heeps
BT Building, November 6 – November 8, 7pm – 10pm
This ambitious large-scale public projection of contemporary images of the city through a kaleidoscope filter will be shown on the exterior of the BT Building.
5) Gayle Chong Kwan
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, November 8 – January 25 2009, Monday – Saturday 10am – 4pm, Sunday 1pm – 4pm.
Gayle Chong Kwan presents 'Cockaigne', a series of twelve large-format photographs based on 14th-century ideas of a glutton's paradise. Each image depicts a mythical landscape constructed from a single foodstuff.
For full details of all the exhibitions and events see the Conjunction 08 website.
