Apartment presents...
Alice Bradshaw creates a sense of curiosity through the manipulation of everyday mass produced objects which are often rendered dysfunctional caricatures of themselves. Her intention is to blur distinctions between the absurd and the mundane by creating or accentuating subtleties, whilst addressing concepts of purpose and futility. 
Liz Murphy invites the spectator to create narratives drawn from suggestions laid within her work involving the audience in the creative process, giving the viewer ownership of the finished piece; thus bridging the gap between the alienation of the artist and their practice within society. ‘84 Steps’ as shown above was installed in the stairwell of
Edward Payne is a sculptor whose architectural model aesthetic (shown above) hints at a possible narrative without giving away a story. He aims to work in a disinterested way while at the same time acknowledging the impossibility of a truly disinterested practice. This allows the work to have its own life without the artist acting as illustrator. In this way a dialogue is created between artist, work and viewer, ‘surface block’ is a work that is positioned at the functioning table in the living room. 
Jon Turner takes mundane domestic objects as subject matter, and questions their hierarchical standing in a social context. He manipulates the appearance of these items by using disassociated methods; he aims to create a sense of potential sentimentality towards the modified items; by provoking a sense of uncertainty in terms of the reading and acceptance of the re-modified object. By using facets of domestic interior design in the manipulation, he questions the traits of domesticity and the placement of craft and craftsmanship in a time of mass-production. For this show Jon augmented Apartment’s existing mop bucket. The untitled work above was then placed in the kitchen.
Martha Webster presents ‘There is NOTHING on this wall’. Martha is preoccupied with words and their meanings. Her work explores the complexity of learnt language and the changing experience of vocabulary. For this show Martha has explored the word ‘NOTHING’ and its meaning. By placing the word ‘NOTHING’ on the left hand living room wall in very small white vinyl, Martha highlights the interplay between the meaning of a word and its physical existence.
(Vinyl lettering supplied and installed by Cherry Tenneson)
Paul Harfleet and Hilary Jack have just returned from New York where they both participated in the Conflux Festival a contemporary exploration of psychogeography this fascinating collection of "International artists, Technologists, urban adventurers and the public" worked across New York. Paul took The Pansy Project and Hilary 'Make do and Mend'; each of them made site specific works based in Williamsburg where the festival was based. Alot of artist-led activity is going on in the area, a favourite gallery was Pierogi; the current show being an interesting take on 911. To find out more about the festival click here and visit Glowlab to find out more on psychogeography. Back in Manchester, Apartment is getting ready for the next show; Contents May Vary previews next week, more information below. 
Preview – Thursday 13th July 6pm-8pm
The preview of OT (shown above) was very well attended, thanks to all who came and helped make it a lovely evening. Do contact us if you'd like to see the show
.14th July - 31st August / view by appointment:
apartmentmanchester@hotmail.co.uk
Paul Harfleet = 07870 244 153
Hilary Jack = 07957 398 451
"The work made for this show was inspired by the disappearance of two letters from the block’s main entrance sign which has resulted in the building gaining a new name. The remaining signs throughout the tower block have now been corrected to display its new name."
Cherry Tenneson
The above picture shows Megan; one of the participants looking through the selected polaroids from the tour which were shown at Apartment at the end of the day. (Photograph Adam Murray).
Despite there currently being no show on at Apartment It's been a very busy time. We recently attended the NAN-NANA event in Nottingham; each artist-led organisation gave a presentation; Apartment presented 'Tea and Sympathy', we served tea and biscuits to each participant (Left,Paul Harfleet serving tea to Candice Jacobs from Stand Assembly). The main objective of the weekend was to create 'new adventures in networking', for more information on this event follow this link. In other news; Apartment is men
tioned briefly in this months 'Museums Journal' (right) the article called 'Home Truths' explores the concept of living in a museum, exploring in this case Adam Nankervis and his museumMAN project. We're also featured in 'The Critical Friend' (full article below) a lovely 'fanzine' written and edited by Alex Michon and Olly Beck for more information follow this link The Critical Friend
"So here we are in Manchester in the early evening dusk in the 60's tower block home of the artist Paul Harfleet which doubles as the Apartment gallery. We are looking at the work of the Hungarian artist Beata Veszely. Simple pen drawings of horse archery superimposed onto found art and fashion magazine pages. Horse-archery was the national sport of pre-communist era Hungary. Of Course I am nosily looking around the (very tidy) flat thinking about the chaos of my own back home which doubles as my studio. 'How do you manage it?' I ask Paul. 'well I'm used to it now' he says, 'and anyway it's an appointment basis so I can plan when I show people around. As we sit in the flat/gallery in the ever growing darkness, up in the skies surrounded by a vista of cranes of Manchester's great 'march forward' of neo-yuppie flat building, we watch the twinkling lights from the cars zooming by in the road below, the scene unfolds into an interesting whole with each part adding to the mix. There is a melancholic wistfulness, in these simple lovingly drawn horses and archers, floating like ghosts from another century onto these self important magazine pages. There is the whiff of lost socialist utopias, the sheer romanticism of Eastern European history all mixed up in a Judy Garland Mickey Rooneyesq 'lets put the show on right here in our barn' idealism. Liked it."
Surface Gallery recently invited Paul Harfleet and HIlary Jack to curate a show that would explore the position of Surface Gallery in the context of the British Art Show 06 and it's arrival in Nottingham. Everyone on the gallery's mailing list was invited to submit one work that would be no taller than 100cm. The show is on til May 11th. 64 artists took part in the show, a huge variety of work painted a complex picture of Surface gallery's position in Nottingham. One of the most exciting works was Tomas Chaffe's 'Get over it' pictured below. For more information visit Surface Gallery and Compartment.
Beáta Veszely and David Wilkinsonview by appointment until 2nd April
Apartment is delighted to present HÁ; an exhibition of work of Hungarian based artists Beáta Veszely and David Wilkinson. Their trip to the U.K has been facilitated by Apartment in conjunction with Castlefield Gallery as part of their Project Space Mentoring Scheme. Their practice is especially relevant to our activities at Apartment as both artists have a history of curatorial projects based in their own homes and the homes of other artists, starting with “Wish You Were Here” in 1994 in Leeds (supported by the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust with Erlend Williamson) and “Wish You Were Here Too” in 1996 in Glasgow, with Charles Esche.
Beáta Veszely and David Wilkinson have collaborated since 1995 as curators, teachers and artists; they have exhibited extensively in the U.K and abroad, while in
Hungarian born Beáta Veszely works across media consistently exploring the symbiotic relationship between horse and human through new media, performance, drawing and painting. Her new work focuses on the Hungarian sport of horsearchery. For HÁ Veszely exhibits a series of ink drawings of horse portraits on found art magazines, fashion magazines, and daily newspapers. The simple pen drawings encourage a new reading to the existing printed media, whilst simultaneously experimenting with the interpretation of horsearchery in a contemporary cultural context.
David Wilkinson was born in the U.K and is now based in 
'Artuad Waving' above (operated by Paul Harfleet) and right. David Wilkinson constructed a life size mannequin resembling the influencial surrealist figure Antonin Artuad. This was then hung in the bedroom and was visible through a specially drilled hole in the bedroom door. A pully system activated from the living room; animated the 'puppet' creating a disturbing presence of ' other' in the bedroom of Apartment. David also showed 'Playing it for Laughs' a video made in Hungary that referenced the experience of 'other' as a foriegn resident abroad. 
LoneLady has been selected to perform at the world famous ‘South by Southwest’ festival in Thursday March 2nd 7pm-9pm @ Apartment
“Spewing forth from her Manchester Council flat… LoneLady conjures up sleazy, guttural mantras backed by her blazing Telecaster”
City Life Magazine
Visitor Assistance premiered during Apartment's contribution to SOCIAL WORK: FOUR LIVE PROJECTS at the Cornerhouse (14th January - 16th April): The project during the show has developed into an informal network of artists that are willing to assist cultural visitors from Dublin, London, Glasgow, The Hague and beyond, e-mail Apartment for more information.Have you ever said to a friend; I know someone in the city you’re traveling to, here’s their number give them a call?
Visitor Assistance takes this occasional gesture between friends and transforms it into a global network of artists that operate as cultural city guides. So called Visitor Assistants are specially selected for their social adeptness and intimate knowledge of their native city. A visitor simply calls the number on specially distributed Visitor Assistance cards. The caller will be connected to an amiable artist who will help in any way they can.
The launch of Visitor Assistance is part of the exhibition Social Work: Four Live Projects (14 January – 16 April 2006) for Cornerhouse Projects. Business cards will be placed on the public telephone in the lobby at Cornerhouse and will be regularly replenished in order to maintain Visitor Assistance’s presence over the three month period. Badges will be worn by allocated visitor assistants; identifying the wearer as a friendly face and representative of Visitor Assistance.
“I arrived in
The number on the card; 07799 204455 is the number of a mobile telephone that will be passed from assistant to assistant depending on the artists availability; a recorded message will be in place when no one is available, although every effort will be made to be available as frequently as possible during the running of The British Art Show 2006.
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