On Saturday 16th August myself, Jane George, Jo Mills and Nick Duxbury took to the streets of Birmingham armed only with our art. Our mission: To hold several Flash Art Mobs.

I think it all went rather well. I think it was a bit scary for all of us as usually flash mobs consist of many people. All we had is four of the B-VAC members. Despite this we did get quite a bit of attention and even had a few people come up to inspect the artwork!

The size of the crowds varied wherever we went. For example, in the video below outside Centenary Square you see more people walking and looking whereas outside St Philps we had a lot more people inspecting the work.

I’m sure we’ll do many more of these in the future as it really is a unique way of getting your art in the public eye. Don’t forget to become a fan of our Page on Facebook

These ‘exhibitions’ will last for a very short period of time (ie. a matter of minutes) and if the public choose to view or ignore it they do so at their own discretion.  They will appear to be completely random and the members of B-VAC will not make themselves known to the audience until the point at which the exhibition begins.

So, here’s the vagueness that is our timetable but with the timings removed for your enjoyment and not in order - these exhibitions will commence at 1:00pm and run/move until 2:00pm:

Oozells Square - along the diagonal drain
outside Bullring - by the Bull
Centenary Square - by the fountain
somewhere in the St. Phillip’s grounds
Victoria Square - around the Andrew Gormley

We will then congregate at The Old Joint Stock pub where you are more than welcome to join us - we look forward to seeing you there.  Please tell all your friends.

Respec’
Nick

All has been quiet as we all recovered from the first exhibition.  People have been out exhibiting at New Gen (http://www.newgenerationarts.co.uk/), some have been exhibiting with Strange Ways Collective (http://www.strange-ways.org/home.html) and there have been exhibitions at Crowd6 (http://www.crowd6.org.uk/index.htm)and in Wolverhampton that have been keeping people entertained.  Some headed off to Glastonbury (http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/), some to EU summits and some probably even ventured as far as Broad Street…

Personally, I have been brewing up ideas and injuring myself whilst also celebrating my birthday and tidying my flat.  All systems go within B-VAC, obviously.

But now the serious stuff… we’re meeting on Saturday for the first time since the exhibition and hopefully we’ll work out where we all want to go with this coalition and ways in which we can try and shift some boundaries of contemporary art and what is possible for collective work and resources.  What this space…

Love to your mothers,

Nick

On a personal note I thought everyone’s pieces were diverse and intriguing - I also think we achieved my main goal for B-VAC which was to create not just an exhibition but an interesting exhibition.  Something for all tastes but with a common ideological starting point.  Which, I think is what will ultimately make us a vibrant and innovative coalition.

Until the next time…

Nick

In the absence of my artists statement during the show I thought i would explain here my take on the theme for this first exhibition for anyone who I didnt get to speak to, who may have been wondering. I took the hyphen from the name B-VAC, which is defined as ‘ a short connecting line joining 2 seperate parts’. To me that spoke of the connection i have to my babies, both born and unborn and it immediately threw up images of the umbilical cord that for one magical moment in time allows that connection to become physically tangible and to take on flesh.    

Great to see everybody elses translation of the same theme coming together in such a diverse show. Have added some of the pics I took of you all with your work and am now wondering why on earth I didnt get shots of everyone.

And finally a big thank-you to Nick for all your hard work. Bring on the next one i say!

The exhibition has now come and gone, but what a roller-coaster journey building up to it!  Having never exhibited work before, I had no idea as to what was involved in preparing work for exhibition, or how it felt to feature in one.  However, in my newly enlightened state, I now have the answers: A LOT… & REWARDING!

On a personal level, I’m so pleased with the response I had to my work.  It was great to have people hunting me down to tell me their thoughts and interpretations, and to ask about my motivations and inspirations.  

Stay locked on for more info about further projects, happenings, and all things ‘Mr. Mac’.

Peace

Mr. Mac

(life… camera… action!)

Although I spent the majority of the time serving drinks to the public I did really enjoy talking with people and seeing that our artwork was grabbing their interest! I’ve attached a few images from the event, though no doubt the other artists will supply some!

Check the Facebook group for more info.