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!

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. 

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.

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.

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!

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.)

Our last First Friday of 2012 is… Nigel Kneale’s The Year of The Sex Olympics

The BBC first broadcast The year of the Sex Olympics in 1968. Nigel Kneale (author of the Quatermass series) wrote it, it starred Leonard Rossiter and an almost unimaginably young Brian Cox, and it predicted reality-TV nearly 30 years before Big Brother arrived. In the play’s dystopian future the underclass are kept pacified by lowest-common-denominator TV – porn, cookery shows, and a reality show where strangers are stranded on a remote island.

And we’ve decided it’s the perfect way to round off this Olympic year. Join us for a rare screening on 7 December. Lights down and curtain up at 6.30pm.

GEEK 2013: Hide&Seek to curate launch event; order your limited-edition ticket vouchers

Picture credit: Mike Massaro

We’ve signed up a guest curator for opening night…

We’re beavering away like, well, beavers to make GEEK2013 bigger and better than GEEK2012. So we’re delighted that Alex Fleetwood of game design studio Hide&Seek has agreed to guest-curate the opening event.

Hide&Seek believe that play – as a theme, a way of being, and design tool – is integral to understanding how culture will develop in the 21st century. And they’ve done some fascinating things, like their 99 Tiny Games for the 2012 Olympics, and their Drunk Dungeon game for New York University’s Game Center. We don’t know what to expect, but we know you’ll want to join in.

…and you can buy Xmas GEEK vouchers now

We’re releasing bespoke ticket vouchers to 50 lucky gift givers – and just in time for Xmas. Just call +44 (0)1843 282 219, tell us what you need, pay for it, and we’ll send you a voucher with your gift-ee’s name on it.

Our coworking space will help seaside-loving Amy Lamé develop her ‘turns’

Our coworking space is home to independent workers who want a flexible way to have as little, or as much, work space as they want. And it’s a place to get a dash of inspiration, a seaborne whiff of what-could-be.

Which is why Amy Lamé has chosen Marine Studios for a creative retreat. The Huffington Post described her recent one-woman show Unhappy Birthday as ‘a fantastically entertaining, retro throwback of a knees up’.

But while Amy’s a writer/producer/presenter/performer and a nightclub promoter, she’s never done a ‘turn’. So she and her seaside-loving producer, Scottee, have booked in to develop a few ‘turns’ (music-hall lingo for a short performance) to follow up on their success with Unhappy Birthday.

You can catch Amy at the Tom Thumb Theatre on 17 February at a charity performance of the Vagina Monologues to raise money for the Oasis Women’s’ Refuge.

3 years in Margate!! Come to our birthday party. Fantastic live entertainment from Abigail Cardwell and Sleeping In City Lights

Three years ago we packed our boxes and moved to the seaside. Join us to mark the move, celebrate local creative talent with live entertainment from Abigail Cardwell and Sleeping In City Lights

We are also marking the launch of our coworking space.
Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation of coworking.

Find out more at our new website.

Come see for yourself on 2 November.

First Friday - 6pm-9pm @ Marine Studios

We’ve already signed up our first co-workers come along and find out more.

Help us celebrate three years in Margate – and maybe find your new workspace.

Its a busy 1st Friday 5th October

The Wonderful Pushing Print is back! Dont miss it! 6th-27th of October.

In addition to the main festival there are a number of fringe events. We are one. We welcome back Sophie Herxheimer now joined by Susan Mackervoy. Their show, Unruly: Print into Poetry opens with a 1st Friday at 7.30.

Catch up with Sophie and Susan earlier in the evening, they will be at the Pie Factory at 6.15 for a bit of Unruly live poetry.

Marine Studios 1st Friday 5th Oct. All are welcome. We'll be reading a few poems at 8 pm - and we're hoping that people will bring along a poem or a piece of work to share, too (maybe work inspired by Margate?).

For more details of the Festival, take a look at the Pushing Print website here.

GEEK2013 Public Meeting save the date

We are busy playing, dreaming and scheming but now its time to call on people to come and help us to build GEEK into a great festival of Play and Games.

We are working with friends here in Margate to sort out a venue then we will be inviting people to come along to find out more about what is being planned and how people can get involved.

Save the date 11th of Oct - email us to make sure you get an invite.

Visit GEEK2013.co.uk or  GEEK2013 facebook for more information.

Marine Studio Coworking launch

The count-down has begun. Marine Studios is launching a new coworking space. Come and work with views of the sea.

Look out for our new website - then bring your laptop along and join us for a few days to see if coworking by the sea is for you.

Benefits of being part of our community:

• Flexible membership options -  affordable working space
• Free wifi
• Events, Meeting Room, Library and Games
• Free tea and coffee
• A say in how we run the space

For more information visit our website marinestudios.co.uk or email info@marinestudios.co.uk.

Another wonderful Hide and Seek Weekender

(Picture credit Mike Massaro)

A little review. Our friends at Hide & Seek have just held their fifth weekender event at the Southbank in London.

Games from all over the globe were present, with a special emphasis on games that are both fun to watch and play. Knowledge, skill, dexterity and guile were all on display as was a little cheating - a fantastic custardy, dazzling event. We very much hope that we can work with these guys in Margate soon.

Talks included:

• Joshua DeBonis of indie game studio Sortasoft told us about the bizarrely named Pigeon Piñata Pummel. We want to Play! Please please bring it to Margate. See more about the game here.

• Punch the custard! This brilliant game was devised by George Buckenham. Two players are put head to head to find out who can punch their custard quickest. See a video of the game here.

Does Public Play have a role to play in Regeneration . We think so and said so.  Find out more here Wired.co.uk article here.

Visit the Hide & Seek website for more information on the Weekender here.

Leaving the Beach, off to play in the City

Annual Picnic - with games

We are off to play on the South Bank in London this weekend at the The Hide&Seek Weekender.

Look at all this fun  http://weekender.hideandseek.net

There is also a conference on the Monday - which looks amazing - its a great honour to be part of it. http://weekender.hideandseek.net/conference/

Sales pitch ...There will be showcases from artists, producers and technology companies, networking sessions, its going to be a great day come along.

We are looking forward to learning lots and meeting some interesting people and discovering new works and Artists. .... and if you are thinking about being part of GEEK next year come and say Hi!

Glimpse of the magic of the Squall; five artists showing as part of Thanet Open Studios

Five Thanet artists are showing at Marine Studios as part of Summer Squall. The studio will be open 11-4 on the 18th, 19th, 25th, 26th and 27th. Look forward to seeing you – here’s a snapshot of the five artists: 

• Lesley Gray grew up in Zambia, Central Africa. She’s been drawn to the sea ever since she studied art at Michael's School of Art, University of Cape Town. She’s now settled in Ramsgate to capture Thanet skies and sea.

• Col Longmore will show his series of paintings titled  ‘Horns’. He sees horns as symbols of bestial power and courage that have had an abiding attraction for artists since the time of cave art.

• Samantha Scott lives in Ramsgate and draws inspiration from the local population. Her oil-on-canvas paintings often place figures on bright-coloured backgrounds that focus viewers on the captured moment.

• Denis Smith is an artist and photographer who worked for major ad agencies in London and across Europe but is now a full-time artist. His exhibition and commissioned work is gaining a reputation in the south east of England.

• Joan Ward has been making felt for about 20 years. First she makes the felt and nuno felt – where loose fibres are bonded to a sheer fabric. Then she makes it into wearable hats, slippers, bags and coats.

Want to know more? A full programme of all events including the other open studios can be found here or email them oninfo@ramsgatearts.org

Listen up. Get an audible sense of place at September’s First Friday, ‘Adventures in audio’

What was that? Did you hear it? Well, no, you probably weren’t listening. Most of us are so caught up in the visual that we often miss the sound of a place or significant event.

Not so for Sam Thomas and others who record the sound of special places and events. At our September First Friday (7 September) Sam will show us how the sound of a place can be as evocative – or even more evocative – than a photograph.

As ever, we’re keen to involve others. So if you have any audio recordings of special significance get in touch via info@marinestudios.co.uk

Want to know more? We’ll update you nearer the time. Meanwhile if you want to hear the sound of an iceberg, listen to this New Scientist itemon the songs that icebergs sing.

Our Thanet souvenir-mugs are leaping off Turner Contemporary’s shelves

When we noticed that visitors to Thanet couldn’t buy decent-quality souvenirs we decided to create some. We worked with East Kent College and developed a range of souvenir mugs.

But while we’d solved the production side we were stymied by the lack of retail outlets. Enter the Turner Contemporary’s souvenir shop and their enlightened buying policy.

We’re delighted to report that the first batch of 60 souvenir mugs have sold out and the Turner have re-ordered. At the moment the mugs are produced in Stoke-on-Trent but we hope to move production to Thanet kilns before the end of the year.

Want to know more? You can buy our range of Thanet souvenirs from our online shop, or from the Turner Contemporary’s shop in Margate (they don’t have an online shop).