The Great CCTV Caberet

Subvert: Surveillance – The CCTV Cabaret

Tuesday April 14th 7pm at The Britons Protection (show starts 7.30)

A night of ace music, short films, comedy ranting and miscellaneous shenanigans about public space, civil liberties, the database state and more.

Prepare to laugh, cry, sigh and get angry...

The superb Quiet Loner will be playing a special themed set, and other musical delights will be provided by The Shrieking Violets (gorgeous lofi pop thrills) and You and Boo (yummy wonky folky loveliness)

PLUS

O a fine selection of short films from around the world for your entertainment

O visuals from urban explorers - Manchester's hidden secrets they dare to uncover

O info from No Borders, No2ID, MAA, the LRM and more (bring stuff to share if you have it) about what is going on in Manchester

O biometric data raffle, free DIY camouflage kits, nice cake and other surprises

Entry Free / donations – all proceeds to Manchester No Borders

from our squatterly lovely social centre comrades

the batle centre is back!!!!

the building we squatted last year for theautonomous days of action and april 12 demo is now open as a social centre....a year on the council still havent done anything with it!!!!

gig 6th april, vegan food, free shop.

PARADOX - Germany
MAFAFI -Scotland
UNCLE MEAT AND THE HIGHWAY CHILDREN - Manchester

vegan food from 6pm, bands from 830....batley centre, chichester rd, m15 5pa..near loretto college, hulme...85/86 bus from town.

messages received

A message from MCC (no, not the council, but I'm not sure they have decided what the acronym does stand for)

Tomorrow at the Britons Protection 7.30 there's a meeting for everyone
interested in a FutureSonic Mapping Event for May, basically this meeting is to
look at a creative mapping event and the interactive cultural map part of the
MCC portal website. Everyone is more than welcome.

Also big thanks to Sara for the derive report / exhibition review - I wanted to snaffle these words for the blog because they uncannily echo my own thoughts (dyswid?!)

The only thing I would add is that its worth going early to try and get a ticket to Gregor Shneider's Kinderzimmer. I was sceptical but found it truly disorientating, surprisingly disturbing and ultimately very inspiring.

Also a sub theme for me at the moment is daft signs being bossy, faux intimidating or just stating the bleeding obvious. I spied a prime example today whilst trapped in the MRI labyrinth. Danger of second rate public art be heeded indeed!

Subversive Spaces @ Whitworth Gallery

Seán and I visited the exhibition on 10 March - we had a very rare child-free day. It was excellent, thought-provoking and absolutely fascinating.

I wasn't so sure about all the stuff relating to explorations of hysteria - but I could definitely understand the work of the artists relating to enclosed private spaces. These are supposed to be our comfort zones, the protected spaces where we feel safe. For anyone who has experienced abuse or violence within the home or felt besieged by hooligans chucking eggs and insults at your windows, those spaces are not the haven we feel they ought to be.

I also found the explorations of "unheimlichkeit" fascinating. It's the feeling of the uncanny, of suddenly encountering something odd, out of place and unexpected in a familiar and comforting setting, capturing the shiver-down-the-spine moment or the feeling of deja vu, the "glitch in the matrix" that there's something not right here.

Another thing that caught my eye was the work relating to the "renovation" of Paris, and the destruction of the old Les Halles marketplace to make way for the Georges Pompidou Centre. The situationists, surrealists and flaneurs of the time felt keenly that this was part of the city's repression of working class spaces under the guise of beautification. The parallels between this and the "gentrification" of our own most beloved Northern Quarter hit me instantly. Again, it's the repression, the squeezing out of the underclass by the bourgeois.

I also love, love, love the short films of Francis Alÿs. He views walking, strolling aimlessly, as a resistance to the "speed culture" of our modern world. His film of himself walking along drumming on railings, streetlights and parked cars (running off when he set off an alarm) filled me with a childlike glee. I wanna do that. Seriously - I want to do a percussive derive around Manchester. I want to know what a streetlight sounds like, I want to beat out a rhythm on a litter bin and the bars in front of shop windows. I wanted to go out and do the same right then!

Yesterday's Dérive was very much inspired by Francis Alÿs' films. We often concentrate on the visual aspects of our surroundings and how this makes us feel, while neglecting the aural landscape. This walk gave us a chance to explore the soundscapes of the area around the Whitworth Gallery while adding to the noises ourselves. We had a fabulous time drumming on bins, rattling along railings and barrier fences. We discovered the most delightful sounds by rattling a stick along the tubluar steel rods of the spiral staircases of buildings in the Science Park. We also discovered a very odd sound emanating from the car park barriers near the Ducie. The visual treats we discovered on the walk can be found on the LRM Flickr site - we saw amusing signs and pretty flowers as well as fascinating graffiti.

Love and sparkles
Sara

please post this far and wide....

The LRMs Springtime Treasury

Dear friends, dreamers, mischief makers and fellow loiterers

I hope this finds you in the finest of fettles.

There has been much to celebrate this week as Spring has finally sprung and several of the LRMs favourite feast days needed commemorating – Beltane, All Fools Day, my Nan’s birthday, the anniversary of the Diggers on Saint Georges Hill…. I walked through the graveyard on my way to work this morning and there were bluebells and daffodils scattered amongst the headstones; a truly beautiful sight and a sign we’ve made it through another winter.

It feels important to focus on the positive, the sacred and the kindred at the moment because I’ll confess I’ve been tempted to dwell on grim thoughts; it’s hard not to sometimes and we can’t simply ignore those who seek to repress our rights, to keep us moving along a narrow path, shopping and consuming and believing lies and brooding on our superficial differences.

Walking and playing should not be subversive and shame on those who wish to make it so. An open mind, a questioning spirit and a desire to explore our city are wonderful things; these are amongst the values shared by all those who join with The LRM, although we are a diverse bunch and disagree on many things from the Beetham tower to Girls Aloud our hearts are true and debate is what makes the post derive pint so much fun.

We’ll be gathering this Sunday, 5th April outside the Whitworth Gallery at 2pm for a wander encompassing all this and more. It seems to me the world makes more sense when walking and listening to the stories of the city, multiple and marvellous and contradictory as they are. Let’s make every step a journey towards the Manchester of our dreams.

I’d also like to invite you to join the LRM for some very special events that take us beyond First Sunday so come one, come all and experience a cornucopia of pleasures

Subvurt: Surveillance – The CCTV Cabaret

Tuesday April 14th 7pm at The Britons Protection (show starts 7.30)

A night of ace music, short films, comedy ranting and miscellaneous shenanigans about public space, civil liberties, the database state and more. Prepare to laugh, cry, sigh and get angry...

The superb Quiet Loner will be playing a special themed set, and other musical delights will be provided by The Shrieking Violets (gorgeous lofi pop thrills) and You and Boo (yummy wonky folky loveliness)

PLUS
O a fine selection of short films from around the world for your entertainment
O visuals from urban explorers - hidden secrets they dare to uncover
O info from No Borders, No2ID, MAA, the LRM and more (bring stuff to share if you have it) about what is going on in Manchester
O biometric data raffle, free DIY camouflage kits, nice cake and other surprises

Entry Free / donations – all proceeds to Manchester No Borders

The LRM are also planning Three Games for May, a mini festival turning the city into a giant playground and reclaiming Bank Holidays from shopping and chores so please don’t leave town for a minibreak.

O Saturday May 2nd – The Great Urban Fox Hunt. Note: no foxes are involved.
O Sunday May 3rd – First Sunday Derive (any suggestions welcome)
O Monday May 4th – a not very secret actually secret gig by one of my favourite ever musicians Chris Mills

More details will follow soon on http://www.nowhere-fest.blogspot.com/ where I have also posted news of many events our friends are organising so please do have a look. Sorry for my tardiness in not updating it more regularly, it is a horrible modern cliché to say I’m busy but the truth is loiterers belong on the streets, in the sunshine and not behind screens.

On that note I shall take my own advice and go for a mooch to see what else I can discover. If you’re feeling lost and need more info on the above please email loiter@hepzombie.co.uk, call 07974929589 or join the dreaded facebook group

I hope our paths collide soon, on Sunday or at Subvurt:Surveillance or somewhere random over the rainbow

Glittery love

Morag

PS I unreservedly apologise to anyone who feels I have been inciting criminal behaviour by encouraging people to look at (gasp) CCTV cameras. Have you seen those terrible, scaremongering and factually unverifiable billboards? I am it appears a terrorist for daring to even notice them. actually I withdraw that apology. I’m unrepentant and refuse to stop thinking. Please, don’t be scared. Come out and play instead.

Chorlton Green fair and a tribute

Manchester vegan society will have a stall full of - oh the joy - vegan cupcakes at Chorlton Green Festival tomorrow. Its one of many delights more details here http://greenchorlton.org.uk/

I also wanted to add a tribute to a lost loiterer and friend. As many of you know Sarah Richards died earlier this year. She was someone who did stuff and was very kind to me on many occasions. A lovely peice about her appeared in the gaurdian yesterday in a rare case of a newspaper getting every word right http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/apr/02/obituary-sarah-richards