Atom Town: art site people and technology

It’s a Sign! & Beltane for sale

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is novelty-house.jpg

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is photographer-2.jpg

3 images from 'It's a sign! book by Gair Dunlop- now on sale

Two new publications from Gair Dunlop: above: “It’s a Sign”- a 28 page festival of found, improved, debased, repurposed and insane signage from across the realm. Made over a long photographic career, these images build a story of chaos and the irrational bursting into daily life.

“Beltane” is a 28 page book of photos of the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh- from the days before safety barriers and eventbrite ticketing. A truly wild celebration of sensuality and the seasons.

Each book costs £7 plus £1.50 postage and packing.

NEW publications

Each book costs £7 plus £1.50 postage and packing.

Launch imminent: a political party for the future

The revived Party for Moderate Progress Within the Bounds of the Law will announce its initial call for membership in Spring 2025, under the visionary leadership of its president, secretary treasurer and membership (myself).
Founded by author, vagabond and anarchist Jaroslav Hasek in the dog days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the party will proceed to transform the world of the 21st century through performance deliberations and a reformed system of dog licencing.

For now, here are a couple of images from the revived Party’s first action: an exploration of greed and self-delusion in the world of ‘academic research’ presented at the REVELATOR Glasgow as part of the ‘wild research’ forum.

The party’s deliberative method described and approved.

Image of Party deliberation with image of the inimitable and much missed Leigh French.

Christmas film, Denmark

December 2022

Festive Address to the Nations and Peoples.
Featuring thoughts on education, art, and things we might do.

Judith Williamson, one of the most thoughtful and clearsighted cultural theorists of our times, was famously still an undergraduate student when she published ‘Decoding Advertisements’ in 1978.

Now you are probably expecting me to follow this sentence with another which decries the lack of intellectual fibre and initiative of students today. I am here to disappoint you. The intelligence and clarity of thinking of our best students is as high as ever. The very best students can teach their teachers a thing or two. I’m thinking here of recent DJCAD graduate Eilidh Guthrie, whose Honours dissertation has recently been published as “Art & Science Collaborations: Communicating Climate Change.” At a time when pessimism is easy, this very focussed exploration of how arts and sciences can communicate through ‘boundary objects’ gives some powerful food for thought, and I’ll be reading it alongside some Bruno Latour over the New Year.

You’ll probably be expecting me to decry something, though. I’m Scottish, after all.
Ok: once upon a time, modules were just assessment tools. Then they became key to resourcing courses. Then anything not in a module was not resourced. Modules separate everyone, then those separations become baked in.
New Year resolution is to work towards co-operation and new alliances.

Art I have made will be shown in the DJCAD Research Expo, Jan/Feb 2023
Art made a very long time ago with the esteemed Dan Norton (ABLAB) will be on display in
‘The Elastic Mind’ at the South Campus Gallery, Broward University, Florida, from February till August 2023. What will Florida make of “The Tomorrows Project” ?

Coming up; the long gestation of a film work on oil to renewable transitions is entering its third trimester.

Have a good time at Christmas and New Year… very best from Gair Dunlop

New Year, new tasks.

Lots to think about as we turn the planetary corner: see you soon, I hope.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/24/pandemic-earth-lockdowns-climate-crisis-environment

Teamwork

Community tree clearance after Storm Arven. Great to spend the morning working together.

He moves among us

Sculpture corridor, DJCAD. Where the sacred meets the profane and scratches its head.

Covenant: group exhibition

Delighted to participate in this group exhibition, alongside art students, artists, members and retired members of Moray’s armed forces. Awaiting documentation! The idea may be extended to an Army base near you.

Care and Recovery

Dear photography world: if you are interested in work happening Now, written from a Scottish and International context, please subscribe to ‘Notes: Letters to Photography’
There is incisive writing and the images are sensitively presented and printed.
The current issue on ‘Care’ is one of the best yet- work from Nina Bacos, @francismckee @picturemaking and more.