Abstract Cabinet Show

Venue: Eastside Projects 86 Heath Mill Lane, Birmingham, B9 4AR, UK
Times: Open Thursday 12-7pm, Friday to Sunday 12-5pm

– works – concepts – stand up comedy – films – music – processes – situations –
– galleries – puppet shows – curatorial structures – tijuana bibles – information –

Featuring: Laureana Toledo & John Taylor, Mithu Sen & friends, Support Structure, Grizedale Arts, Para/Site Art Space, Heather & Ivan Morison, Magnus Quaife & David Osbaldeston, Shedhalle Zurich, Michael Takeo Magruder, Bedwyr Williams, The Hut Project, Malgras & Naudet Contemporary Zurich, Stan’s Café, Freee, Daniel Salomon, Juneau Projects, Stone Canyon Nocturne, DJ Simpson, Clarke & McDevitt presents…

Eastside Projects is an artist-run space as public gallery and incubator of new ideas for the City of Birmingham and beyond.  Eastside Projects was conceived by artist-curator Gavin Wade and is organised by a founding collective comprising Simon & Tom Bloor, Celine Condorelli, Ruth Claxton, and James Langdon.

Abstract Cabinet Show is a public sphere of groups, collaborations, galleries within galleries and other phenomena joined together to execute functional constructions and to alter or refurbish existing structures as a means of surviving in a capitalist economy. For the Launch of The Event there will be two new major performance works. Birmingham based international theatre group Stan’s Café will provide live commentary of the launch night as a durational performance from the top of the large tunnel structure in the gallery and Birmingham artist duo Juneau Projects present a new multi-media performance in the form of a live gig with hand made instruments/sculptures, outfits, sound reactive visuals and audience percussion.

Set in Eastside Projects new temporary building extension – a luxurious private hire limousine –

Berlin and London based artists Clarke & McDevitt Present.. curate ‘Fuck Book’, a collection of new Tijuana Bibles (also known as Jo Jo Books or Fuck Books) produced by artists from around the World (under pseudonyms or anonymously). Tijuana Bibles were a form of American underground comics made popular in the depression era of the 1930s where the artists and publishers remained anonymous allowing for a freedom of expression and safety from prosecution. Fuck Books were most commonly eight pages in length, printed on the cheapest pulp paper and the stories were almost always pornographic. Whilst not overtly political they were by their nature anti-authoritarian. Fuck Book is partly a response to the shadow of recession in our current fiscal gloom.

The Event: Launch night: 8-12pm Friday 6 November (The Event 5-8 November 2009)

Eastside Projects is a not for profit company Limited by guarantee reg: 6402007, in partnership with Birmingham City University and Revenue Funded by Arts Council England West Midlands. Exhibition supported by The Event. Sunday openings supported by Ikon.

Image Credit: Heather & Ivan Morison. I Hate Her. I Hate Her. (The True Tale of a Man’s Life, His Decline, and a Fictional Happy Ending) 2009. Hand puppets, chairs, oyster and cockle midden, performance by Owen Davies and Suzy Kemp.