Jayne Lawless: 2013

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Maybe? Maybe not...

The L5 Mural Project

Maybe not then...?

So, when I started this project in April 2012 and said to myself, ‘I know, a mural! It fits.’ Never in a million and one years did I think painting something on a wall could possibly be so insanely complicated. The historical use of murals for storytelling and activism seemed a perfect way of making a statement for a house in an area desperate for some attention and under threat of demolition.

This entire project has been the most multi-layered, loaded, obstacle FILLED piece of work that I could ever imagined. Tears have figured often.

Unfortunately this is one of those times.

Feeling incredibly frustrated, actually multiply that by a million and it still wont come close.

In some ways it is almost perfect, perfectly frustrating. Echoing the Housing Market Renewal scheme that started this entire project off in the first place. Being an autobiographical artist with an instinctive alertness towards politics who’s family got tangled up in a demolition zone, it’s not rocket science that the work I’ve made over the past 5 years has become so wrapped up, or completely bound up in all the ‘goings on’ locally for so long.

A brief project timeline...

Spring 2012

· idea for the mural
· contact made with local Everton councillor, all is well
· contacts made within another community based project, 2up 2down, now Homebaked (or to us, the bakery) lots of encouragement and support on all levels, feels good to be involved. Doors are opening up everywhere
· the two projects entwine and cross over and both sides gain stuff from the other – it’s a learning curve and sometimes hard to navigate but it’s good, two projects more layered than an onion in their ‘reason for being’
· funding applications - grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Summer 2012

· property sorted on Lothair Rd (no easy task I can tell you – courtesy of LFC)
· Young people to collaborate with pretty much sorted
· On site team sorted
· Queries, quandaries, worries, concerns sorted (well, you know, within reason!)
· Material sourced, insurance sorted, we’re good to go
· Arts Council didn’t fund it
· Gutted

Autumn/Winter 2012

· Other stuff takes over
· The mural is put on the shelf – at that point I have no intentions of ever taking it off again
· Some time out on another project in Slovakia repairs frayed and dented confidence and nerves
· Time to reflect
· A realisation over what’s been achieved by trying to make the mural happen. The people I’ve met particularly. From all walks of life, from all types of backgrounds, people have now heard about the mural and why I wanted to do it.

Time’s a funny thing. I wouldn’t have touched that project with a barge pole whilst out in Slovakia – but home is home and the desire to do something strong and good soon creeps back in.

Spring/early summer 2013

· Mural take two – The L5 Mural Project
· Application to arts council submitted – this time accompanied by a visit to their office in Manchester, to speak one to one with a visual arts officer, I felt like the passion for the project was impossible to get across on paper, it need facial expression and arm waving.
· A new property search, the original now ‘plastic wrapped’ I’ll let you all imagine what that means. I had to ask, new lingo.
· The bakery was suggested (Homebaked/Mitchell’s) as a possible location for the mural
· On so many levels this felt right, but there was a nag
· As time went on, I felt like the mural could almost be like a gift to the bakery but it was trying to keep the two projects separate that was a concern, as much as the projects crossed and bonded I still wanted the work to stand on its own right
· I cast aside doubts and began to feel good that this could be a piece that not only highlighted issues in the area and City generally but that it could maybe have a positive effect on the ‘saving of the bakery’??
· Decision made and it’s positive – I’ll run with the idea of using the bakery, see where it leads...
· Receive Arts Council Funding, happy days
· Now to recruit!
· Who knew that recruiting a group of young people during the summer holidays would be so hard? Lesson learned.
· Thank fully, the grapevine supplied a school and a phone call from an enthusiastic, passionate head of art, Kelly from Arch Bishop Beck
· We agree to move the project to September and make it part of their curriculum, we’ll arrange workshops when they have their timetables at the start of term
· I know, lets add another project into the mix – a film project – a documentary! Get two great filmmakers on board. Brilliant.
· The backdrop to the story now starts changing dramatically – ‘still and tin’ is replaced with ‘dust and demolition’, it’s everywhere, buildings disappearing fast, including our house and our street, it’s surreal
· In the meantime, the students from Arch Bishop Beck visit my studio. Their teacher tells me afterwards how inspiring they thought it was. I was made up. We arrange workshops for the following week (again, no easy task)
· My friend and fellow artist Nicky agrees to come up to Liverpool from Cardiff for the workshops on short notice, she’s my ‘scaling up’ expert
· The threat of demolition creeps and crawls around the bakery. We’d always managed to put it to the back of our minds but now whispers and talk create worries and concerns that start rising to the surface
· Workshop two at the school, amazed by how much they’ve listened and taken in from the visit to the studio, their ideas are clever, funny and sad
· The political and activist association with murals was suddenly becoming an issue in the current climate of the life of the bakery - could they still work together?

After an intense meeting it was with great regret decided not, there's just too much riding on the buildings survival at the moment and the work could harm the projects chances in the future on lots of levels and the work could also be swallowed up into the bakery fight. It was always concerned with the bakery but fundamentally the mural was to represent the area, the City and the people of many communities that had lost their homes. I can only say this now – a week after the meeting. I was so devastated at the time as the project was so far along, start date 30^th September, and I also knew I had to go into the school and try to describe something indescribable, that things out of all of our control had suddenly shifted. The workshops were brilliant and we will work together if the school is still willing. The location of the mural maybe under question but it will be resolved. This project isn’t coming this far to stop now.

A group project such as this and the bakery are by nature problematic because they’re born from something complicated already. However, they’re also inspiring because of this. They inspire because of the momentum they gain, the friends made along the way, the sense of achievement when someone ‘gets it’ and wants in or offers to help, when someone wants to be part of 'your crew' it's one hell of a feeling, just hard to swallow when you have to let them all down.

The L5 Mural Project is on hold...

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Back to business...L5 Business!

It's been ages.

In fact, it's crazy how long ago I last wrote a blog.

I think I was about 5! OK, exaggeration but JANUARY! That's madness, where did the last 8 months go? There's only one way to tackle this. Those who've followed in the past can smell the bullet points coming, those new to this may feel a sense of relief that bullet points are coming!

Friendly fire bullet points.

Jan - came home from Slovakia
Feb - thought about Slovakia, tried to re-adjust back to life in Liverpool
Re-united with the Homebaked crew and do stuff with them
March - continued plans to start my own CIC (Community Interest Company)
A wake up call - told to 'suck it up' for a few years and build some foundations (ooeh)
April - focus on the CIC and the words 'long' and 'term'
Enter mild shock at the idea of focussing on 'long' and 'term'
Move my sculpture, L5 6QW from South Wales to Bootle, Liverpool
Made the 2013 GIT Awards
Funding for the newly named L5 Mural secured May 2013
Relieved then terrified about securing the L5 Mural money
June/July - Mural stuff, forms and stuff, bakery stuff (Homebaked), funding stuff, forms, more forms, trip to Lyon as Homebaked ambassadors to speak about the project, move into The Royal Standard studios, the birth of L5 CIC
150 Granton Road, Everton, Liverpool 5 6QW gone. Forever.
August - move L5 Mural Project to September

150 Granton Road, Everton, Liverpool 5 6QW

The L5 Mural Project

When? September 2013

Where? Homebaked (old Mitchell's Bakery - side wall) - Donaldson Street, L5.

"I want to paint something beautiful on something others deemed not."

So the idea was simple, paint something big, bold, striking, vibrant, edible almost on a building that had been included in the Housing Market Renewal initiative in Everton and Anfield, the area I grew up in and currently living. The HMR scheme resulted in hundreds of families and communities being up rooted and moved. I've written about this on many occasions and if you would like to read more about work I made initially in direct response you can find if here: http://l5-6qw.tumblr.com/

An article written by local writer Amy Jones is a great overview http://www.thedoublenegative.co.uk/2013/06/the-silent-protester-jayne-lawless/

A long with a group of teenagers, a couple of filmmakers, some fellow artists I hope to create something positive in an area that has had more than it's fare share of negatives and quite frankly has had enough. It's time to move forward.

This is just a brief intro to bring you up to speed.

My aim is to use this blog to document the project from a personal point of view.

I hope to set up a facebook and twitter account that all of us working in the project can access - to upload as we go.

Breathing deeply. It's a big piece and I hope everyone gets behind it. My main aims are to give teenagers the opportunity to work with professionals, produce a good piece of public art and shine a positive light on our patch.

L5 Mural wall - Homebaked (formerly Mitchell's Bakery) corner of Oakfield Rd and Donaldson St

Monday, January 7, 2013

Is it really nearly over?

Ok, I need a word invented that means happy and sad at the same time, yeah, yeah I know I could say bitter sweet but that's not right as there's been no bitter. Happy/Sad in equal measures and I mean really high up on each scale, like 100% happy and 100% sad when thinking about the fact that this is my final week here and reflecting on the last three months...

So, what's happend?

Well, I should start with the exhibition. On the 22nd December on a cold Saturday evening I'd say around 20 or so hardcore BG guardians took to the bridge, lighting fireworks from our hands courtesy of my film-maker and future superstar Victor Krc, remember the name, this kid's remarkable. So anyway, the idea was to meet on the bridge with lanterns to release out over the Danube before walking back to the BG house and officially opening the exhibition (or expedition as one of my neighbours kept calling it). Viktor brought these fireworks that we lit and held pointing at the sky and praying there wasn't some kind of malfunction and they exploded in the opposite direction, health and safety boffs would've had a heart attack in the UK! We all survived and it was really good and marched back into the warm.

I'd arranged to have a large steel drum (Cyprus style - those who know, know) placed outside in the garden to have a roaring fire to greet visitors, keep the smokers warm and because it just looks damn good. So, the fire blazed in the background whilst everyone started mingling and looking at the work. It'd been such a mad build up the show and I did what I always do which is to give myself too much work, sleep became a fond memory. The reaction from everyone made it worth it though. I have no idea how many people came but there was A LOT, the house was packed and thanks to Zoli we had enough drinks, the becherovka (drunk in egg cups due to lack of shot glasses) lasted about half an hour I think! I had to give a speech and listen to Gyuri and Karol talking about my time here, I still have no idea what they said, one in Hungarian and the other Slovakian so I'll have to wait for the video then have it translated. People were laughing though, which is a good sign...I think. My favourite part of the night was hearing people read out 'their' bits on the wall...you'll know what I mean in a second when you see the photo's.

Jovilagvan, a local band that plays all over Europe had agreed to play in my living room, that was pretty sound of them and it brought in even more people. Thank you, köszönöm, ďakujem.

http://jovilagvan.blog.hu/ Check them out...

So I this was my stuff...

photographs by Ivett Puskas

Thanks to Ivett for taking some great photographs, she's also made a panoramic view that I'll print and leave behind at the BG place as the work itself will be removed and painted over this week. I wouldn't expect any other future BG to have to work around such a big piece, it just wouldn't be fair. Sorry to all those who wanted it to stay...

Lusta = Lazy

Tatarak at Sil's (I ate raw beef, still can't believe it)

I don't speak proper English according to Joseph and Zoli

Matyi supports the wrong team

Viktor rules

somewhere in there is the door way to the bedroom

OK...so then there was a small matter of CHRISTMAS and Janet and Dave's arrival which is a full blog in it's own right but for the purpose of staying concise I'll sum up by saying it was great to have friends from home here over the holidays, we ate, drank and were very merry. They were introduced to the mighty Green and shown some real local hospitality from the Pinterova family. We even had snow!

and then...New Years Eve, let's just say that was an adventure!

So here we are, I moved out of the BG place on the 3rd, I got quite emotional but it was made easier by the fact that I was just moving up the road to another apartment until I fly home on the 15th. This is the highest compliment I can pay to the people here, that I am very sad at the thought of leaving. But I'm not focusing on that now...I still have Viktor's video from the BG Night to come and other loose ends to tie up so I'll leave the farewells until later...

In the meantime, look...