Text Update

Another week packed with Text Festival organisation: Printing late submissions from Michael Basinski in Buffalo, Fatima Queiroz in Rio and new tradestamp designs for Wang Jun (CHI) and Satu Kaikkonen (FIN) for the Museum Tradestamps show,

which I also spent time talking through with Museum Curator Sue Lord who has done the massive job of researching and pulling together the history and objects for the show – the nearly final installation layout decisions were made on Friday morning; followed immediately afterwards by the installation walk-through at the Transport Museum – for which the Nozomi video piece from Peter Jaeger and Kaz was confirmed yesterday. Phil Davenport was having such good ideas for this show that I invited him to take over its curation. Then quickly across the road to the Fusilier Museum with incomparable Curator Kat McClung-Oakes and Technician Chris Holland to look at the siting and technical issues of Steve Giasson’s 246.
Finally found Brazilian sound artist Bruno Bresani and agreed the work I want for one of the gigs.

Meanwhile Christian Bök continues to build the model of Protein 13; lots of to-ing and fro-ing with 3 different BBC departments attempting to set up interviews with Christian Bök – toward the end of the day it looked like the Science correspondent for Radio 4’s Today programme had bagged the story, but then it got lost somewhere in the BBC.

Also generated by Catharine Braithwaite were various media pick ups of Phil Minton especially his Feral Choir project running from 26 April. All this generated requests for more publicity copy, especially the gig on 15 April which the press obvious need soonest. The bit I like least: sorting out the technical details for the gigs at the Green Room, the Met Arts Centre and the Parish Church. The first two not so bad as both have technical staff who know what they are doing.

Helmut Lemke arrived for a tour of possible sites for his durational performance with Hans Specht on 30 April. Soon after Ian Hunter of Littoral turned up a week early to discuss the arrangements for the Schwitters events on Sunday 1 May.

Then back to the Gallery ring balcony to layout the selection of Japanese visual poetry that I think will go there. The works maybe a little delicate for such a large space but they fit its connective curatorial logic between Sentences and Wonder Rooms.

And each day more work arrives…

This week (interrupted a couple of times for planning the re-launch of the Irwell Sculpture Trail in September): Helen White will install her work in museum on Monday; an interview with the Manchester Evening News; curating the Wonder Rooms show; curating the Fusilier Museum show; writing various interpretation texts; and ending the week with Phil Minton, Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl, Maggie O’Sullivan, Minton and Ben Gwilliam & Phil Davenport on Friday. Get your tickets!