Mills & Koons, Love in the Snug, Curate Me Out
BCAF Commission
21 – 30 October 2011
Various locations, Birmingham
The collaborative group BAZ have prepared three elements for their project during The Event.
1. Mills & Koons1
Publication exposing the saucy secrets of the Birmingham Art World. Why did Nick Bourriaud conceive the term ‘relational’ after a trip to Birmingham? How have Vivid given new meaning to the term ‘Stud Wall’? Why is Grand Union known as Randy Union?
Available 21–30 October 2011
The White Swan, Bradford Street, Digbeth
2. Love in the Snug
Friday 21 October 4–9pm
Saturday 22 October 12–7pm
Sunday 23 October 12–5pm
The White Swan, Bradford Street, Digbeth
Love in the Snug will take place at The White Swan and which acts as an alternative festival hub for The Event where BAZ will offer post relational advice, a lover’s library and a ‘substantial number’ of tenuously connected art-love related
items. Pop in to grab your copy of Mills & Koons.
BAZ will be hosting Love in the Snug at the times above.
3. Curate Me Out
7pm Saturday 29 October 2011
The Lamp Tavern, Barford Street, Digbeth
Shamelessly pilfering the format’s of ITV’s Take Me Out and Blind Date, Curate Me Out will see BAZ setting up three curator-artist ‘dates’. This live performance event complete with a professional compere, bright lights and music jingles acts as a post-performance party for all who have attended The Event. As Bruce McLean could have said, ‘Let the Waiters see the Curator!’
BAZ are a semi-satirical ‘think-tank’ sporadically documenting the Birmingham Art World. Previous projects include The Event 2009, The New Art Gallery Walsall Books & Independent Publishing Fair 2010 and the Rude Britannia reading room at Tate Britain.
BAZ are composed of Chris Poolman, responsible for writing and web, and Matt Westbrook, products manager and editor.
Chris Poolman is currently researching stupidity in contemporary art through an AHRC funded art-practice based PhD at Birmingham Institute of Art & Design. Working individually and in several collaborations (chris+keir & BAZ), exhibitions / projects include The Rob Ring Foundation at The Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London 2009 (chris+keir solo show), North+South, Southampton City Art Gallery, Zoo Art Fair and Perform Or Else, Grand Union.
Matt Westbrook is an artist and lecturer based in Birmingham. He is a founding member and company secretary of Grand Union and has previously worked on several artist-run projects in Birmingham such as [insertspace], Self Service and Birmingham Contemporary Art Forum.
1 Jeff