- Venue
- Hanley City Centre
- Location
- West Midlands
With a bombardment of art exhibitions, public art interventions and music and video events across the city Axis and AirSpace have given Stoke on Trent a glimpse of how fun and inspiring art in the city can be.
In the Gallery:
Matt Robinson’t ‘Ultra Seimans, self appointed God Head’ may upon first sight appear to be a random collage of landscapes, limbs and religious icons, and upon reflection it is just that. A representation of a city where green land blends with cityscape, different cultures and people meet and mix: dance and rock music exist side by side as well as the old and new. Stoke on Trent is just this kind of city and it should be recognised and celebrated that we can all exist alongside each other; a growing city that looks forward to the future.
Matthew Hahn’s slightly more utopic work ‘Aims and Ways’ delivers us a maquette for the future, where a city is mapped out in MDF, trees are evergreen and everywhere and futuristic rail constructions preside comfortably on top.
Alex Pearl’s video explores an existing environment but from view points normally unavailable to us. A toy drags an airborne camera around a gallery space familiar to those that have visited AirSpace, but offering us a new perspective. The film also reveals secret spaces around the building that are yet to be open to the public. A sneaky glimpse of what is to come.
Alongside these snippets of the future we are offered a glance at the past, with Liz Wroe and Stuart Porter’s ‘Super Tramps1975-1986.’ A jacket is hung up and put to rest. We are further distanced from the memory by only being shown a photograph, as if this is a recollection of a story rather that an event. The jacket image is repeated on fly posters hidden within the shops in Hanley, taking the artwork out of the gallery. People can be seen to be excitedly pointing out gig tickets to bands they have heard of, others choose to peel the posters, either a protest or an attempt to gain a souvenir, and then there are those that simply walk by, not having noticed the work at all.
In the city:
There are other works hidden in the city; postcards that highlight the importance of everyday scenes and wrapped lamp posts that rekindle an appreciation for the practical aspects of city life. Rebecca Huxley encourages us to look high with her bright and bold geometric images scattered over windows in the city.
After dark David Bethell and Andrew Branscombe brought Infinities to life with ‘Tetris’; a bold projection commenting on the reconstruction of the city around them.
And Manchester based Spearfish, gave the city a demonstration in Graffiti art, I like to think as an invitation for Stoke based Graffiti artists to show them how it’s done.
There’s more:
The visual arts programme for the Axis Festival runs further with AirVideo at the Victoria Hall, Hanley. Here more spaces within the city were revealed with explorative videos, the hall itself was allowed to be appreciated as an empty space as acts were recorded that would be otherwise impossible when shows are on.
Another retail venue was overtaken by creativity when Dazed hosted a day of live music and performance art. While visitors to Fat Cats were treated to live music and video art.
The magnitude of this event is impossible to reduce to one review, but that these events are taking place in Stoke on Trent gives you a sense that the city is really growing. Art is becoming part of people’s lives here and we hope that this can continue and grow.
