How To Choose?

Written and performed Davey Anderson and Gary McNair

Try to visualise each of the steps which have brought you to this moment. The squirms of regret at making the wrong turn. The waves of smugness at getting it right. All of the life choices, and the imperceptible instinctive decisions, that brought you here, to this web page.

This is the story of a man who takes logical thinking too far by investing in a machine that can make his choices for him. This September as the nation is faced with a momentous decision as part of the Scottish Independence Referendum, we dig a little deeper into the question of how we choose. Can we ever know what the right decision is?

—
Tour Dates:

MacRobert Arts Centre
9 September 7.30pm
University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA
01786 466666

Druimfin Lodge
11 September 8pm
Tobermory, Isle of Mull PA75 6QB
01688 302211

Platform
14 September 4pm
The Bridge, Easterhouse Glasgow G34 9JW
0141 276 9696

The Gaiety
15 September 7.30pm
Carrick St, Ayr KA7 1NU
01292 288235

Traverse Theatre
16 September 2.30pm
10 Cambridge St, Edinburgh EH1 2ED
0131 228 1404

The Arches
17 September 9pm
253 Argyle St, Glasgow G2 8DL
0141 565 1000

–

Produced by Trigger in partnership with University of the West of Scotland
In association with University of Glasgow

Supported by Creative Scotland

CauseWay: the story of the Alloway Suffragettes

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway, Ayr

Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June

2pm, 3.15pm and 4.30pm

Part play and part guided tour, Causeway tells the story of two suffragettes 
who cycled from Glasgow to Alloway in 1914 intent on blowing up Burns 
Cottage. Weaving the words of Robert Burns with performance, 
storytelling and live music, the performance questions the links 
between the work of Burns and the suffragettes' cause.

This is a piece of walked theatre; performances will take place in 
and outdoors and will move between the museum and the cottage.

Written by Victoria Bianchi and directed by David Overend

Tickets £5

Rhythmic Routes: Developing a nomadic performance practice for the daily commute

The Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland warmly invites you to the first event in our new series of free lunchtime talks and displays:

On THURSDAY 22nd MAY at 1pm
Dr Laura Bissell (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) &
Dr David Overend (University of the West of Scotland)
will share their research into
COMMUTING AS A PERFORMATIVE PRACTICE.
A short talk, in an informal setting, with coffee and cake. FREE. All welcome.

Documentation and library materials relating to the talk will soon be on display in the Whittaker Library.

Rhythmic Routes: Developing a nomadic performance practice for the daily commute

How can the contemporary theatre practitioner maintain a deterritorialised, nomadic existence within the regulated systems of twenty-first century mobile life? Elliott and Urry (2010) argue that ‘life “on the move” appears to unfold faster and faster in the early days of the twenty-first century, as people become more reliant upon interdependent, digitised systems’. In contrast, the nomad is an aspirational figure, ‘cut free of roots, bonds and fixed identities’ (Pearson, 2010). Responding to the increasingly globalised context of mobilities and Braidottis (2011) notion of ‘becoming-nomad’, this paper asks whether nomadism can offer a credible alternative to the systemisation and repetition of everyday journeys.

The paper introduces and reflects on an ongoing collaborative research project by David Overend and Laura Bissell. Focussing on the everyday rhythms of commuting, this practice-based enquiry explores time and space together through ‘rhythmanalysis’ (Lefebvre 1992) to understand the commute as a space of creative resistance and possibility. Rejecting conventional narratives of the ‘weary and dystopian commuter’ (Edensor 2011), Overend and Bissell aim to develop a series of performative interventions that reimagine commuting as a creative and productive ‘mobile practice’ with the potential for ‘nomadic disruptions’ to the routines and rhythms of our everyday journeys.

Interstices: Performance/Art/Film

A symposium in the UWS space on Friday 28th February at CCA Glasgow with contributions from PhD students, Professor Katarzyna Kosmala and Tony Grace. Keynote presentations from Josep Zanki, Associate Professor at the University of Zadar, Croatia.

Lecture session 1030-130

Mirila: remembrance and oblivion. Mythical tradition, performance art and documenting

Over last 17 years I recorded and researched burial phenomena of Mirila in mountain Velebit (West Balkans) and its surroundings, comparing my findings with rare scientific texts and folk tradition. Together with artist Bojan Gagić l created site specific interactive installations of Mirila, recreating and deconstructing an old tradition in contemporary art in a gallery context and other spaces. The session will be focused on explanation of Mirila phenomena, audience and artist experience in performance installation and documenting.

Seminar 2.30 – 4.30

Ritual practice in Balkan contemporary art

The attitude of artists towards their own physical body has been changing over time, conditioned by various cultural frameworks. The seminar will be focused on examination of examples of contemporary art in the Balkans, which is based on the redefinition of the artist’s body or of the observer of a work of art. I will also point out the connection between ritual actions and performance and interactive installations in the works of Maja Rožman, Vladimir Dodig Trokut, Marina Abramović and Martina Mezak as well as my own practice.

17 Letters to my Brother

Wednesday 26th March, 6.30pm, UWS Ayr Campus

Senior Lecturer in Performance/Screenwriting Stuart Hepburn presents an evening of discussion and exploration as he charts the current progress of his practice-based research PhD in "17 Letters to my Brother: a Scottish Soldier writes home". 

For the last three years Stuart has been working under the supervision of Professor Willy Maley and Dr Andrew Radford of the School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow. 

"I've been exploring the creative process of found editions, epistolary narratives and feature film screenwriting. The story I've chosen to tell spans 8 years from 1938 - 46, and tells the tale of a fictitious private soldier of the 51st Highland Division. I'll be presenting my work along with my collaborators, calligrapher Meryl Lagan and artist Keith McIntyre. There will be nibbles, music, drinks and a bit of craic and you are welcome to come and share the evening."

RSVP: lesley-anne.niven@uws.ac.uk

Media, Technology and Creative Spaces of Education

MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY AND CREATIVE SPACES OF EDUCATION

THURSDAY 13^TH MARCH  3.00-5.00 PM

a joint symposium between doctoral researchers in the Schools of Education and Creative and Cultural Industries, UWS

CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS (CCA)., 350 SAUCHIEHALL STREET, GLASGOW.

Club Room

Morally high: Is Twitter being used as an online space to challenge dominant socio-political discourse around drug use? 

Kieran Hamilton and Jennifer Jones

“Staging the Museum” - Community Engagement and Strategies of Performance in Cultural Heritage Sites

Pamela Barnes

The role of learning in the subjective experience of living with chronic illness

Gemma Stevens

Praxis in Virtual Learning Communities: 3D Virtual World Collaboration in Formal Tertiary Education

Jim Scullion

Cinema Room

‘But WE saw birds at Birkenau’ – initial findings from a socio-material study of learning at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

Susan Henderson

Widening Access and Academic writing:  Learning or Alienation?

Alison McEntee

DOING YOUR TIME:  Disaffection, schooling and the problem of suitable education

Tara Jones

  

“Works In Progress”: Creative Dialogues on Research and Practice

“Works In Progress”: Creative Dialogues on Research and Practice

Ayr Campus: 27th February 2014,  Room GT 27, 1pm – 3pm 

You are invited to participate in the first of an ongoing programme of informal talks and discussions relating to the research output of research students in the School of Creative and Cultural Industries. Each month will feature talks / presentations by research students in the school, focusing on elements of their research output and / or creative practice, with a view towards engaging in productive dialogue about research and practice in an informal and nurturing environment. It is our aim to help establish a stronger sense of research community within the School of Creative and Cultural Industries, to the mutual benefit of all PhD students, and believe that familiarity and engagement with each others' work is an important step in establishing this. 

This initial session will feature presentations by Iain Taylor and Alison Bell: 

Iain Taylor is a research student and Associate Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Commercial Music programme. His research is investigating the ways that we attach value to music in an increasingly digital and intangible environment of production and consumption. 

Alison Bell is a research student and Associate Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Digital Art programme. Her research is investigating the subjective experience of ageing as embodied through creative practice.

Sessions will be held on the last Thursday of every month on the Ayr Campus. Tea and coffee will be provided. If you are interested in presenting at a forthcoming session, please contact Iain Taylor or Alison Bell to register your interest: 

We hope to see you there, and look forward to hearing about your work!