Socially Engaged Curating: A collaboration between Videocity and Manchester School of Art

As part of a placement at Videocity, four students – Rowan Bell, Birce Cennetoglu, Jenna Eady and Nia Palmer – on the current MA in Curating cohort at Manchester School of Art were invited to curate two video works on a socially relevant subject in launching its second collaborative edition. The resulting four student-led exhibitions showcase a variety of situated approaches and curatorial positions that will be launched in June.

Opening: 13th June, 17.00-20.00 pm
Dates: 14th– 17th June 2023
 
The series of student-led projects part of our new international collaboration with Videocity can be seen at K-House and other locations in 70 Oxford Road building, as well as in the café at SEESAW.
 
Curators: Rowan Bell, Birce Cennetoglu, Jenna Eady, Nia Palmer
 
Artists: Charlie Black, Nick Delap, Molly Dickens, Habiba El-Sayed, Corrie Francis Parks, Sam Meech, Ian Rawlinson & Nick Crowe, James Stephen Wright
 
Locations:

K – House 
70 Oxford Road
Manchester M1 5NH
United Kingdom
 
SEESAW
86 Princess St,
Manchester M1 6NG
United Kingdom

Unnatural World by Rowan Bell
Artists: Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson and Nick Delap
 
How can we square expanding urbanism with our increasing dislocation from nature? The exhibition situates Manchester as a local microcosm for a wider issue to investigate, ie. is flourishing urbanism, although framed in a ‘green’ frame, the correct aim for our society. In this exhibition, Manchester-based artists Ian Rawlinson & Nick Crowe and Nick Delap explore the relationship between nature and contemporary life. In the nineteenth century, the famous John Ruskin lobbied for city workers in Manchester to have access to both nature and art, as he believed them to be vital aspects of life. Unnatural World aims to bring the ideas brought up by Ruskin into our time and our times renewed push for urbanism.
 
Ripple Effect by Birce Cennetoglu
Artists: Molly Dickens and James Stephen Wright
 
Everything in the universe is moving towards disorder. A single event or action can have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. It’s like dropping a stone into a still pond, creating ripples that spread out in all directions. In the context of AI, specifically generative AI, entropy can refer to the complexity of the neural network architecture and the degree to which it is able to learn and adapt to new information. The hidden layer in AI models is particularly important in this regard, as it is responsible for processing and transforming input data in complex ways. Ripple Effect explores themes of entropy, chaos and randomness relating to the Hidden Layer in generative AI models.
 
Ancient Cycles by Jenna Eady
Artists: Habiba El-Sayed and Corrie Francis Parks
 
To the human eye circles are abundant in nature and in our universe. We pick up on shapes, symmetry and dimensions and from a geometry perspective the circle is the parent of all shapes. Socially, we have family circles, form friendship and work circles with others whom we interact within our daily tasks. Circles are also deeply connected to the language of anxiety, we have all felt the spiral, the feeling of running around in circles going nowhere. In many ways the cycle of life can be represented by the circle. Ancient Cycles aims to represent the fragility and perseverance of the natural planet and what that means to the survival of us and our heritage.
 
Uncertain Futures by Nia Palmer
Artists: Charlie Black and Sam Meech
 
Uncertain Futures responds to the current social and political climate of the UK, in particular the gentrification of the North. Manchester has been the site of rapid development over recent years, causing the displacement of its current inhabitants in the process. Artists Sam Meech and Charlie Black refuse to shy away from these issues, protesting and spreading awareness through their practice. Their works are built on the knowledge and understanding of social issues from within, challenging cultural power structures.
 
More information about Videocity:
 
Videocity: www.videocity.org
Facebook: http://facebook.com/videocity.bs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videocity_bs/