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loughborough
university
arts
annual review
2011/12
Jacqueline Donachie © Julian Hughes
loughborough
university
arts
annual review
2011/12
2011/12 has been another very busy year for Loughborough University Arts.
The Olympics presented us with a range of opportunities to develop new projects
that have been realised across the year.
We have seen artists working directly with academics within Sports and Exercise Sciences to develop artistic
outputs that both respond to and highlight the work that is undertaken on improving human performance.
We also organised an ambitious series of commissions to Japanese artists, called AfterGold, each of whom
were given a brief to respond to the notion of value. The programme included a successful day festival
celebrating Japanese culture that took place in Queens Park. This was part of a week of Cultural Olympiad
events that culminated in Games Time, a spectacular choreographed performance and pyrotechnic show, which
we worked on in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council and Charnwood Arts. The Olympics was also the
impetus for the University choir to organise a competition for a new sporting anthem. This saw an award for a
professional composer as well as one for a student and resulted in two fantastic new works that celebrated
both sport and Loughborough.
This year has not been entirely Olympics related. In March we had a very successful two days of object theatre.
Working with Dan Watt in English and Drama we commissioned four internationally recognised artists to develop
new performances that explored the concept of object theatre, traditionally understood to refer to puppetry but it
can in fact encompass any performance in which the object is animated.
We have also introduced a new strand to the programme with the inclusion of spoken word events. This began
with ‘Speech Bubble’ which was an event designed to be a platform for students wishing to perform their own
work alongside professionals. It proved to be a great success and in 2012/3 we will also introduce spoken
word into the events programme.
We have retained a strong commitment to music, with a high level of take up for the subsidised tuition, a
successful range of concerts and a particularly busy year for the University Choir.
In April we moved from the soon to be demolished Music Centre to our new home in the Cope Auditorium.
This has not only brought all aspects of the programme together in one facility but has also provided us with
additional space in the form of an artist in residence space, a project space and a film space. Looking forward,
this will allow us not only to be far more visible but also to programme a more dynamic range of activity within
our new spaces.
Takahiro Iwasaki
© Julian Hughes
Clare Stephenson © Julian Hughes
2011/12
Key Highlights
●
Successfully relocated to new premises
●
Selected to be part of London 2012, the main Cultural Olympiad programme
●
We successfully delivered a new module in partnership with the School of the Arts in which
students worked directly on a live programme
●
We received funding from Daiwa Foundation, Japan Foundation and Sasakawa Foundation
●
Developed a successful new spoken word strand
Jacquelin Donachie © Phil Wilson
Programme Review
Radar
Human Conditioning
Two artists with a background of working with science/medicine were asked to identify areas
of work within Sports and Exercise Science that they would like to engage with and respond
to. Jacqueline Donachie was interested in the work of Jonathan Folland and Philip Watson who
specialise in physiology and muscle strength. Jacqueline became fascinated not only in the
aesthetic of the equipment but also in the rigorous process of physiological tests. She decided
to put herself through a series of tests including ones for maximum isometric strength, explosive
strength and jump height and peak power. The outcome was an installation that she called ‘Temple
of Jackie’ which offered the viewer photographic recordings of these tests as well as a specially
printed newspaper which contained both drawings and written recordings of the process. The
second artist was Revital Cohen, who comes from a design background, and who conceives objects
that purport to have some scientific role. She photographs the objects in staged situations to give
them a sense of reality when they are in fact purely fictional rather than functional. Revital worked
with sports psychologist David Fletcher and through this research she developed an object that
could develop and increase mental toughness. She photographed a gymnast in the gymnastic
centre wearing the object and the photographs were then displayed in the new Design Centre.
Revital Cohen © Revital Cohen
Heather & Ivan Morison © Julian Hughes
Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan © Julian Hughes
loughborough
university
arts
Object Theatre
Four artists were asked to develop new work in response to Dan Watt’s research into object
theatre. Dan had recently received AHRC funding to create an object theatre network, with a key
role in defining what object theatre is or can be. The commissioned work offered a number of
interpretations, from what is most commonly associated with object theatre, puppetry, to a variety
of objects, or sculptures, which were then animated in different ways. A highlight was Ivan and
Heather Morison’s puppet show performed upon an umpire’s chair in the centre of the badminton
court. In addition, Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan brought a large sculptural work to life
through audio and speakers, Aura Satz used sound controlled fire and Clare Stephenson used a
series of sculptural stage props. The day of performances was preceded by a symposium which
enabled a more in depth discussion around the subject.
Shiro Takatani © Phil Wilson
Yoshinari Nishio © Julian Hughes
AfterGold
AfterGold was designed to coincide with and celebrate the presence of the British and
Japanese Olympic teams at Loughborough University. We invited a number of internationally
regarded Japanese artists to develop a series of new and innovative projects which
reflected notions of value. Work included Victory Stand, a temporarily sited seating/stand
by Tokyo architects Atelier Bow Wow, installed to coincide with the Olympic torch’s journey
through Loughborough and Shiro Takatani’ s Chrono/Silence, two new media works sited
in Loughborough’s Carillon Shopping Centre. The programme also included three Japanese
artists living in Loughborough for a month, as part of longer term residencies. Yoshinari Nishio,
Yukihiro Taguchi and Takahiro Iwasaki all developed new work while in Loughborough. Yoshanari
explored ideas of identity through a series of wearable flags, which he asked people to wear
and documented this within a newspaper in which images and text further explored the
issues. Yukihiro Taguchi developed a stop motion film that creatively documented his time in
Loughborough and Takahiro Iwasaki, who was interested in the permanence of buildings in
the UK in comparison to the temporary nature of those in Japan, built models of Calke Abbey
within the Abbey, constructed from small bricks of potato that decomposed following their
creation. Thousands of people also came to Queens Park to enjoy a day of drumming, street
performance and food and craft stalls as part of a Japanese matsuri.
Matsuri © Julian Hughes
Yoshinari Nishio © Julian Hughes
Sinfonia ViVA © Marco Borggreve
University Choir © Phl Wilson
Concerts
The concert programme again brought some of the most acclaimed classical musicians to
Loughborough. Highlights included concerts by Tasmin Little & Piers Lane and Maxim Rysanov & Ashley
Wass. The programme was not exclusively classical with a packed auditorium enjoying the energetic
performance from the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers. The University Choir’s gala concert in May saw the
two winners of the competition to compose new sporting anthems performed for the first time. The choir
went on to perform these again as part of the torch relay and at the University.
Tuition
Music tuition continues to prove popular, with students receiving 20 subsidised lessons in a variety of
music, from singing to violin. The quality of some of the students was again highlighted by the winning
entries to the annual Music Scholarship, when the three winning students performed to an appreciative,
and in the case of the parents and relatives, proud, audience. Painting and pottery, which are also open
to staff and local community also filled all the available places. Pottery classes have been held for many
years in the relatively unknown and very quirky space known as the ‘pottery cottage’. To the sadness of
its users this was the last year pottery will be held here as part of the move to retaining all arts activity
around the new hub in Cope Auditorium.
Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers © Peter Searle & Lin Smith
Spoken Word
We were successful in receiving funding to allow us to employ an intern to work on a new strand of
spoken word activity. Lauren Westwood proved to be an invaluable addition to the team, developing
a termly spoken word event. Speech Bubble proved to be very popular with the students, presenting
student work alongside professionals. It was extremely pleasing, and somewhat surprising, to see how
many Loughborough students, from across disciplines, were indeed budding poets and who wanted to
also perform for an audience.
Student Engagement
As mentioned above Speech Bubble was particularly successful in engaging with the students.
There was a real sense of ownership, with students designing the posters and the backdrop,
undertaking the filming and photography and, although Loughborough University Arts was the
organiser, the student’s sense of autonomy increased their level of engagement.
We have been far more proactive this year in general in communicating and involving students.
At the start of the year we had an all-day fair in the students union which involved performances
and presentations and stalls showcasing all aspects of arts activity taking place on the campus
from the Radar contemporary art events to the arts based university societies.
We have involved the students far more in supporting the programme which has helped break down
some of the barriers that might prevent engagement.
We are also supporting learning and teaching. This was the first year we were involved in a credited
module where we organised a series of speakers and students had to work on the practicalities and
selection of an exhibition linked to the sports/science theme. We then put on an exhibition of one of
the groups work.
We will continue to develop our relationship with students, working closely with the Students’ Union
and the Student Experience committee to ensure that the arts are part of the experience for as many
interested students as possible.
Speech Bubble © Unknown
loughborough
university
arts
Tasmin Little © Melanie Winning
Marketing/Media and Awareness
The last year has been a very busy year with a number of high profile events and activities
to publicise along with continuing improvements to the general marketing operations for the
Loughborough University Arts programmes. Highlights include the Matsuri one day festival in
June at Queen’s Park in Loughborough, which attracted around 2,000 visitors, the AfterGold
art commissions which were part of the wider Cultural Olympiad and London Festival, and the
Choir’s Choral Composing Competition in celebration of 2012.
Raising our visibility with the student body has been a key goal this year which saw us working
with the Students’ Union to present an Arts Social, a showcase of our programmes and other arts
activity on campus, and presenting a spoken word slot at the Union’s Free Fest event.
Other marketing developments over the year include the move to a more efficient emailing system
for mass mailings, plus the redesign of the website which is to include space for cultural events
happening across campus. As part of the web development we have begun to commission video
content to provide a more lively visitor experience.
Social networking has also been a key activity with the Loughborough University Arts Facebook
and Twitter accounts now connecting into the University’s activity in this area.
Along with the ongoing support we have from the Loughborough Echo our activities have also
featured in the Classical Music magazine, Leicester Mercury, and the Arts Council’s East Midlands
newsletter, and with preview features in a number of journals and websites including From Dawn
to Dusk, Art Review, Remote Goat, Charnwood Arts news and the announcements made in the
London Festival 2012 and Igniting Ambition publicity.
Aura Satz © Julian Hughes
Audience Figures
Radar programmes
Human Conditioning
Jacqueline Donachie
Revital Cohen
Rob La Frenais Talk Artist Talk
Film – Ben
450 est
2,100 est
60
16
70
Object Theatre
Symposium
Object Theatre
33
100
AfterGold
Matsuri
Yoshinari Nishio
Yukihiro Taguchi
Shiro Takatani
Takahiro Iwasaki
Atelier Bow Wow
2,000 est
850 est
3,150 est
505
3,000 est
1,500 est
Folk Variations cont…
Library screenings
36
Speech Bubble
45
Concerts
Navarra Quartet
London Handel Quartet
Maxim Rysanov & Ashley Wass
Choir Christmas Concert
Sinfonia ViVA
Taiko Drummers
Choir Gala Concert
Scholarship Recital
Tasmin Little
loughborough
university
arts
86
93
89
210
101
137
150
55
131
Misc
Book Talk
Arts Social
Art Classes & Pottery
Music Tuition
61
100
52
52
Total
15,353
Yukihiro Taguchi © Julian Hughes
www.arts.lboro.ac.uk