1st Friday News Update

August - it was wonderful to see Ron Hagells work here as part of the Thanet Open Studios. Ron has returned to the US but hopefully will contribute to future experiments/ projects at Marine Studios. September 6th - No 1st Friday at Marine Studios                         We are off to ASHA at Limbo an installation by Korinna McRobert at 6.30.            Other 1st Friday events - TweetMeet @ GB Pizza and Folk & Roots with The Hut People at Tom Thumb Theatre. October 4th - 10 Prints                                                              Pushing Print is back!                                                                  At Marine Studios we are showing 10.                                             10 Prints by Artists created to raise funds to support RCA students. The project was organised by Professor Chris Orr.                     The exhibition includes work by : Norman Akroyd, Michael Craig-Martin, Tracey Emin and Paula Rego.                                         1st Friday October 4th 6.00-9.00                                                   Also open Sat and Sun 12.00-4.00 November 1st  - MicroWorld by Genetic Moo.                               Come and meet Genetic Moo.                                                           Hear about their amazing Microworld.                                                 Be part of their digital Eco system.                                                 1st Friday November 1st 6.00-9.00                                                     Also open Sat and Sun 12.00-4.00

HKD in Margate

There is always something new going on in the studio. Visiting designers and Artists join us for projects or residencies bringing new ideas and skills. With visitors from Korea, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Holland and Margate imagine a reunion picnic, what a feast! We’ll let you know if it ever happens. Our current visitors are Rosa and Alfonso. An Architect and Artist they came here from Spain for three months and now as that draws to a close we are all busy setting up new projects to try to keep them here. On the food theme they made us an amazing lunch which included this soup – Salmorejo - recommended!

EPIK is doing what it says on the tin ….. Encouraging Programming In Kent

Photo – EPIK Coding Hub Awards Turner Contemporary Feb 2013

The amazing people at EPIK are taking a group from Kent to the MozFest in the O2 arena. This will be amazing! Free to join in. Sign up here meetup.com/EPIK-UK

This is for 14-18yr olds ( under 14 welcome with a parent)

More information here http://mozillafestival.org Oct 26 and 27

To make this happen they need mentors – adults to go with the group on the bus and during the festival – contact them to find out more.

Join the Human Tide

100 years ago Marcel Duchamp spent the summer at Herne Bay, It is believed that in this time marked the turning point in his work. So this August there is a festival in Herne Bay to celebrate Duchamp's time here. The festival is called "I am not dead" after a postcard he wrote to his friend that read "I am not dead. I am in Herne Bay". More information about the festival can be found here: http://www.iamnotdead.co.uk/

One of the events, "Human Tide" will take place as part of the festival as a mass participation digital happening on the beach.

At sunset on Friday 9th August, hundreds of people will walk precisely 1000 meters along the beach carrying sonar-guided light sticks, attempting to create a massive wall of light where the water meets the sand. The whole thing will be captured on special cameras, allowing them to ‘draw’ in light on film.
The essence of the project is to combine long exposed photography with stunning cin-ematic time- lapse films as well as 3D sound records and GPS data via a collaborative experience. 
It’s never been done before, and it's one surely not to be missed.

http://blog.humantide.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/events/183215355188552/

MiniGEEK is off to Singapore

We are packing up our boxes and some of our favourite highlights from GEEK and taking them off to Singapore to be part of the Singapore Science Festival. Originally booked for August the festival has been rescheduled for November because of the air pollution affecting the region. Mini GEEK highlights will include Punch the Custard, the Video Game Carnival including the wonderful Fruitcade and Replay Event's Classroom of the 80s. As well as a pile of GEEK boxes the team of six are heading off with a supply of Raspberry Pis, Arduino and Makey Makey kits so visitors to the festival can Meet, Make and Play. For more about GEEK visit www.geek2013.co.uk - more news about 2014 coming soon.

Come and join us for a dance. Not a 1st Friday but a 4th Friday.

Sofia Pintzou & Ron Hagell - Berlin 2012  Photo: Monika Oechsler Open Studio Special 23rd & 24th August*                                                    World Premier of Tissu de Femme, a new work by Ron Hagell. Ron Hagell is a Storyteller. He uses photography, choreography, film and installation to explore the relationship between the telling and receiving of stories. His new work Tissu de Femme will be premiered at Marine Studios 23rd August. It will be shown alongside a selection of his recent works including Living the Dream (2013) and Alone in the City (2012). Ron was raised in South Carolina, he spent his military service in Vietnam. He worked in film and television going on to becoe a respected teacher. He has held posts at Rhode Island School of Design, Royal Holloway-University of London, the Goethe-Universität (Frankfurt/M, Germany) and Columbia University (New York, NY). His films, installations and photographic works have been exhibited widely in both the USA and Europe. Friday 23rd 6.30 – 9.00p.m Friday 23rd An informal evening of conversation with Ron Hagell. Free. All welcome. Donations bar. Saturday 24th The gallery will be open 12.00 – 4.00. * This event is a Thanet Open Studios event. Part of the Summer Squall festival organised by Ramsgate Arts.

Turning Japanese

In 2011 Marine Studios worked with Artist Sophie Herxheimer to collect Margate food stories. The Pie Days & Holidays project became a book, picnic, exhibtion and episode of the Radio 4 Food Programme. The project has now been featured in The Big Issue in Japan. The catalyst for this global migration was a shared residency for Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, where Sophie met Tomoko Take. Tomoko is a Japanese Artist who lives in Amsterdam, who also likes food as a theme. To read the story click here. Have Google Translate at the ready. Some of the Pie Days & Holidays food stories can still be seen on the seafront hoardings in Margate.

Come and play in Margate

RIBA sandcastle competition, Margate July 2013

So much going on. New places to eat, drink, play and watch. The recent addition of revetment seafront steps have transformed access to the beach giving people a place to eat and meet. Well done to everyone who was involved in that project - we love it!

Don't miss Curiosity at the Turner Contemporary - it gets our vote as the best show yet.

BTW - not wanting to be the scruffy kid on the block, Marine Studios is undergoing a face lift. It's business as usual behind the netting. Sorry for any inconvenience caused, it will all be worth it when the restored repainted building is revealed.

Further afield.                                                                             

Look! A Duchamp Festival in Herne Bay – more information here. 

To Infinity and Beyond: HKD visits Hong Kong.

Wish we could say that we are heading off to play (with a giant inflatable rubber duck!) but the team is delivering the Design Stage of the Hong Kong Space Museum.

We have been hard at work designing inter-galactic surf boards and dark matter tunnels, now its time to go through the 150+ exhibits with the client team in detail.

No Summer Games for GEEK

We were planning on having some new GEEK fun and games on the beach, but sadly we have failed to find the funding, so its stick to buckets and spades for this year.

It's not all bad news, this means we can concentrate even more on GEEK 2014 and maybe we can have a GEEK on the Beach 1st Friday event in the summer.

Its been a busy time since GEEK. We have developed Mini GEEK which includes the wonderful Fruitcade and Punch the Custard. We hope we have a booking in Singapore.... watch this space.

Some Indie Developers who came to GEEK2013 have been working hard;

Utopian World of Sandwiches showcased their game 'Chompy Chomp Chomp' which was available on Xbox arcade, but you can now download it to your PC.

Also Fist of Awesome, another game showcased is hopefully due for release within the next couple of months.

Invitation to Root Experience's 'The Game Project'

You may of heard or even met Root Experience at GEEK 2013, well now they starting a Kickstarter campaign for their new project - ' The Game Project'

This is an invitation to the special preview evening on the 10th May. Join in on the fun for free at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar 9-12 Middle St Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1AL after 6pm. 

More about the event:

"You are invited to a special preview evening in celebration of The Game Project – an exciting project that will bring together digital gaming and interactive theatre to create a unique adventure to which everyone is invited to ‘play’.

This Kickstarter campaign launch will give you the chance to see the premiere screening of our video, have a spot of bubbly with us to toast the live launch of the campaign online and generally mingle and find out a little more about the upcoming opportunities to play 'The Game' as we continue developing it....there may also be a little light entertainment/live music.

We have been developing the piece through workshops at Lighthouse Arts while working towards our forthcoming residency with Blast Theory. A prototype of the final show will be shown at Brighton Digital Festival in September with the aim of touring it across the UK in 2014.

The Game Project will be tailored to each city that the show visits and audiences will see once familiar sites transformed in front of their eyes, as the city becomes a playing space for an important mission with clues and plots popping up via actors, mobile technology and other audience members.

The project so far has been funded by Arts Council England and we've been fortunate enough to have some hugely encouraging support from organisations such as Lighthouse to make the work possible, but all this will be complimented with our Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and your support is invaluable...we'd love to share this very special evening with you.

Hope to see you there!

RSVP – Root Experience"

Find out who Petra De Braal is at our next First Friday

Petra De Braal is coming to Marine Studios for a residency. Petra has been working with kasus.nu on projects which develop experimental models looking at community cohesion and regeneration.

Head down to Marine Studios for 6:30pm 3rd May and meet Petra and hear about some of her work in Zeeland.

“ We need new models and new ways of working together to solve very real social problems. I am very much looking forward to coming to Thanet."

Petra will be finding out about some of the amazing people and projects here in Margate and sharing her experience.

What are the similarities and the differences between Thanet and Zeeland? What can we learn from each other? 

This is an experiment - come along and be part of it.

Title has been announced for Adventures in Comics 4!

To coincide with AIC's appearance at Comica Comiket independent comics fair last Saturday, 20th April, we announced the title for next years 2-page comic Challenge. Which is

(Drum Roll………………..)

The Orb!

The Orb can be refered to such a diverse range that it will make next years comics even more interesting to see. Here's a couple suggestions from wikipedia:

• Orb (astrology), the difference between the exactness of an astrological aspect
• Orb (optics), an unexpected, often circular photographic artifact
• Celestial orb, a central concept in ancient and early-modern astronomy
• Globus cruciger, a hand-sized sphere over which the Christian cross is set
• Sovereign's Orb, one of the best known Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom
• Orb web, a type of spider web

Good luck!

We welcome a new designer at HKD. Scarlett has come Full Circle

“It was one of the oddest surprises for me joining HKD in Margate. I have lived and worked most my life in London but am now back in the home town of my family.

My grandfather used to own sweet shops a stones throw away from Marine Studios.It is really odd to picture him making rock candy in the 1970’s . My mums stories of growing up in Margate include tales of dolphin aquariums near the Nayland Rock Hotel (can this be true?) and being the first child to live in Arlington house. My own childhood memories include avoiding the Scenic Railway I much preferred the tea cups!”

Scarlett is now based in Margate, she is busy designing space exhibits for Hong Kong. Strange how things work out!

GEEK Phew! - First Friday Invitation

GEEK Phew! is a chance to catch up, meet up and say Hi.
6.30pm - 9pm 5th April 2013, all ages welcome. Donations Bar or BYO.

If you helped at GEEK…Phew! you need a bit of R&R – come along meet friends and toast your hard work. If you missed it...want to know what you missed? Be part of next year? Got some great ideas of how to make it better? Or want to find out more? Come along.

GEEK Phew! has a unique soundtrack thanks to our guest curator Robert Urquhart!

“Aside from writing, music and sound have always been an interest, from my first job making whale noises for Channel 4 learning to produce an album for Adaadat Records and DJ'ing for independent record label SEED records under the moniker of the (tongue in-cheek but some would say apt) title of DJ Required, I've always enjoyed the impact that computer use has made on the way we create.

At the GEEK 2013 after party I'll be playing a soundtrack that doesn't just include the blips and beeps of music made by using computers but also music and lyrics that have been influenced by us using computers in our everyday lives – from portents of Orwellian doom to celebrations of social media, as well as movie soundtracks and archive recordings.

I look forward to clicking through and scrolling down to GEEK 2014 and helping out in whatever way I can” - Robert Urquhart

HKD

Building on our successful appointment as designers of the Hong Kong Space Museum the team is in Singapore for start-up meetings for a new gallery about Alfred Russel Wallace for the Singapore Science Centre.

“There is a picture of Alfred Russel Wallace on the cover of the anthology of his works that I have lugged halfway around the world. It was taken in Singapore in 1862 and shows a man with full beard, hat, black frock coat, waistcoat and high collar. Stepping out into 32 degree heat with thunder clouds building overhead I am not thinking about the Theory of Evolution (that he proposed at the same time as Darwin), I can only wonder whether he took his coat off to collect beetles in the jungle? Someone will know, and I am off to meet them later today.”- Richard Houghton, Creative Director HKD

Dates for your Diary

Tiny Games in the Glamper Van at GEEK2013

22nd March, Tiny Games Kickstarter
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this exciting new development by Hide&Seek. Counting our pocket money we want the Tee shirt and the Surprise and the Year of Games! Join us and make this happen!

23rd March 7.00 - 10.00, Pot Luck #7
A buffet of delectable tit-bits, including performance, dance and live art. Two venues Limbo and Marine Studios featured artists include Marcia Farquhar, Peter Morton and Amy Godfrey.

Don't miss out on the £5 special offer at GB Pizza! (more details here)

19th - 21st April, Salinity by Rachel Johnston 
Gudrun Haraldsdottir worked with two wonderful assistants on the monumental transformation of the Winter Gardens for GEEK. Both students want to make their mark in the world of Art and Installation.

Rachel is showing her work at Marine Studios as a pre graduation show, she is looking for feedback and comments – come and meet Rachel and see her work.

Don’t miss the custard-punching launch of GEEK2013 on Thursday 21 February

We’ve toiled a whole long-but-short year on GEEK2013, swept along on a tide of tea and cooperative effort and now it’s nearly here, Forgive us if we’re a bit tired and emotional but we can’t quite believe how much energy and talent has poured into the project. So make sure you write it into your diary for 21-24 February – in big red letters and/or relevant emoticons. And take particular care that you don’t miss the opening event from 6.00pm to 9.00pm on Thursday 21 Feb. Hide&Seek are curating the event and we’re really pleased about this for two reasons: Firstly, their imaginative gameplay will make Margate old town a place of wit and wonder – the perfect start to GEEK2013. You’ll see how the gameplay sprite can climb out of the console and put an intelligent sparkle into public spaces. Secondly, one of the games on offer is Punch The Custard, designed by George Buckenham. Players have to punch a bowl of custard against the clock; punch it just right and the (perfectly ordinary) custard bounces your hand back as though it’s a hard surface. We think it’s a great analogy for everything GEEK – a cultural contribution that’s fun, social, interesting, and sprinkled with learning (it combines electronics, programming, and practical experiments on the viscosity of edible fluids). And did we mention it’s got custard in it? (Photo above by Mike Massaro.)

Adventures In Comics entrants to be unveiled at our 1 February First Friday

We have just confirmed that Mike Garley, editor in chief of VS Comics will be our guest speaker for First Friday this year, and, he has offered to publish the best three comics submissions in his digital comics edition. In light of this exciting news we are extending the deadline for submissions to the 30th January and postponing publication of our paper until the 21st February to coincide with GEEK2013. All entries will be on display at our 1 February First Friday and this exhibition will move to the Pie Factory for 16th to 24th February 2013 where we’ll invite people to identify the stories they think should win. These peoples’-choice picks will share the winners’ podium with the judge’s choice – as chosen by Paul Gravett, author of ‘1001 comics you must read before you die’

Tree with A View preview, and a history-telling game for the Ramsgate Tunnels

One lofty experiment and one that’s deep underground Prosper Together is a project that’s running several ‘experiments’ – unusual ideas and unlikely connections in untested partnerships – that aim to build cultural capacity in east Kent. We’re delighted to be involved in two of these experiments. Firstly, we’re hosting a private view of Tree with A View, a project by artist Alma Tischlerwood and eco-designer Jonathan Deacon on Friday 15th February from 6.30pm - 8.30pm. The project will create a walkable sculpture that offers a unique vantage point for observation and reflection on a site in St Margaret’s Bay. Secondly, we’re working with the Ramsgate Tunnels Heritage Group to prototype a game for a Ramsgate Tunnels. A fun game that respects the tunnels’ history We believe that games will draw younger people into a cultural heritage experience and we plan to link the gameplay to the tunnels’ structure. We’ve already used the freeware Unity 3D software to create a working model that shows how the game will work and we’re running a workshop at GEEK2013 that will invite people to develop their own ideas around the story of the tunnels. The game has to be fun to play but has to respect the tunnels’ history as a WWII air-raid shelter for over 300 families. Please get in touch with RTHG if you have any family stories about the Ramsgate Tunnels and if you want to take part in the games development workshop contact Rick at r.houghton@hkd.uk.com.