Simon Yuill - Resident artist at Abertay University

The University of Abertay in collaboration with The Scottish Arts Council supports an annual New Media Artist in Residence at Abertay University. The nine-month long residency enables the selected artist to concentrate on a specific project or research using the facilities and liaising with other researchers across disciplines. The 2005/06 artist in residence was Simon Yuill.

spring_alpha:diggers

spring_alpha:diggers is a new exhibition at the Hannah Maclure Centre in Dundee, running from 15th September 2006 until 28th February 2007. During his residency Simon worked on his project spring_alpha. It is an exploration of alternative social practices using the computer-game format.  A publication, in the form of a free newspaper, will be published during the exhibition and distributed around Dundee. Films and discussion

A selection of films will be screening during December and January on allotment cultures and guerilla gardening chosen by Simon Yuill as part of the spring_alpha:diggers exhibition.  This includes a rare chance to see "On Allotments", a pioneering work of experimental documentary film from the 1970s. In addition to this, Benjamin Franks and Jamie Heckert present a discussion exploring the wider issues behind the 'spring_alpha:diggers' exhibition: ideas of mutual aid, self-organisation, and how we can build and sustain our own societies.  Introduced and chaired by Simon Yuill.

Previous screening: Wednesday 13 December, starting at 1pm. Duration 40mins. Free.

It includes "On Allotments", Four Corners Film Coop, 1976 (40 mins) in addition to: "St Mary's Backyard", "Two Hinges and a January King", and "On Allotments" have been made available by the Four Corners Film Workshop, London.

Previous discussion: Saturday 9 December, at 2pm, free.
 
Benjamin Franks is a Lecturer in Social and Political Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, where his lecture themes include "Imagined Futures" exploring the relation between science fiction and utopian thought.  He is also the author of Rebel Alliances: The Means and Ends of Contemporary British Anarchisms. 
 
Jamie Heckert is a political activist and author of various works on anarchism and sexuality.  He is involved in a number of projects including the Knowledgelabs, a series of research events based around "open source" principles.

The next film screening is on Wednesday, 31 January 2007, starting at 1pm, free.

Lot in common: an indie documentary by Rick Bacigalupi on gardening, greening and peace. Originally made available for broadcast on public television stations nationally in 2004 through the National Educational Television Association (NETA), the film follows the construction of a community garden built on a previously vacant lot above a subway tunnel entrance in Berkeley, California. It is an intimate glimpse into the lives of a handful of extraordinary neighbours, who face conflicts head-on in ways that have relevance to communities globally.

In 2003 Simon won 'best work' in category Digital Aesthetics Research and Development for os_anm at the READ_ME Festival, and in 2004 was the artist-programmer on Mandy McIntosh's Weightless Animals project which won the BAFTA (Scotland) Best Interactive Media Award.

In March 2007 Simon was awarded a 2007 Creative Scotland Award for his 'social artwork created through a network of personal exchanges between local communities in the Highlands'.

Credits

The spring_alpha project was created by Simon Yuill with contributions from other artists and participants, these  include: Chad McCail, Ricardo Creemers, Stefan Gartner, Eleonora Oreggia, and Mark Vernon for sound design. The Portable Garden is an artwork by Beth Hamer.  The sculpted character and housing models were created  by the model maker Richard Dawson. The development of spring_apha been supported by the Alt-W Fund, the British Council, Centre for Contemporary Art in Glasgow, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Duncan of Jordanstone  College of Art and Design, the Media Centre (Huddersfield), the Netherlands Institute for Media Arts, New Media Scotland, the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund, and the  University of Abertay.

Exhibition, film and discussion location is the Hannah Maclure Centre in Dundee.

Gallery and Coffee Shop opening hours: 9:30am to 4:45pm Monday to Friday.
 
The Hannah Maclure Centre
3rd Floor
Student Union Centre
University of Abertay Dundee
40 Bell Street Dundee
DD1 1HG
 
For more details please email the University of Abertay or telephone: 01382 308324.

Funded by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council.