Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI)

Dysarticulate 2

For up-to-date news and events, please visit Dysarticulate at: http://dysarticulate.port.ac.uk

‘Dysarticulate’ 2010 challenged people to join in becoming the ‘artist for a day’ during the lead up to and over Open Weekend 2010. Events led by artist Jon Adams resulted in 5000 flags forming 'Lines on Lines' on the hill above Chatham on Sunday 24th July 2010. As part of the University of Portsmouth Creative Campus ‘Dysarticulate’ project, Flag fields were also created at Whitstable Biennial (where 6-700 people made flags), London Southbank, Portsmouth, Chichester and ending in Chatham.  Individual public participation in the project resulted in further flag installations as far apart as Romsey, London, Buckinghamshire and Brighton in England, Joigny in France and event a single flag planted and photographed on top of Mount Olympus.

This year’s audacious aim for 'Dysarticulate 2' is to 'engage' artists and audiences and ‘celebrate’ by  creating  and planting One million flags recycled from book pages.  These will be woven into a series of in sync public 'emplacement' events where the scale of their showing in the landscape continues the dialogue and conversations reflecting the real issues around disability, our fragility and the nature of Public art.

This project is bound up inseparably with my dyslexia, the love of 'hidden meaning' and the act of reading the landscape we live in, something we can do without 'needing'  the written word. It's also woven with 'personal story' and narratives including 'code breaking', the standing upon, marking and crossing our own boundaries both imposed on us by others and those we draw from within, the 'seen' and 'unseen'.

We wish to actively invite and inspire all communities, young and old, to engage and try something new and become a 'new creative audience' involved with culture and heritage. I would hope that this will initiate many conversations and debates around the nature and relevance of art, what is it? reading, permanence, what is public art? and the boundaries of disability.

Anyone can come, be the artist for a day - and play.

How can I be involved?^{[Back to top]}

There are many opportunities to get involved and we will be adding some of the bigger showings as they are arranged and announced.

Your own events: Spring and Summer 2011

You can celebrate at any time for any reason during the Spring and Summer of 2011 as an Individual, festival, school or organisation. Just document and save the flags made to show over Open weekend at the end of July.

Some examples:

• Celebrate the 500 days to go to either the Olympics or Paralympics or Both.
• Celebrate during a School sports day.
• Celebrate an Anniversary, personal or historic
• Celebrate a  local archaeological site: this could be a hill fort or Stone circle
• Join in and celebrate with a local Festival

22 - 24 July: 'Open Weekend'

Anywhere you wish!

With only 1 year to go until the Games, this Open Weekend is your way to join in and celebrate the years countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. If you are organising an Event lease register it on the Open Weekend website or you can also look for events registered near to you may join in with.

We challenge you to try something new and celebrate by creating the largest, smallest, figurative, or random intervention you can, using the book flags or bunting that you make. You can re-configure the ground in any pattern, form or design on the beach, a hillside, roundabout or village green, in your window box, urban garden or park.

Anyone can take part during the Spring or Summer of 2011, a ‘celebration’ of your choice culminating in exhibitions of 'flag' worldwide over Open Weekend 22-24th July which then celebrates the 12 month countdown to the Olympic Games. You can do this individually or join in as a group, school or workplace and make creating the 'Flags' as accessible as possible to all who wish to play. It's up to you to choose to articulate your story and create a 'flag field' anywhere you feel is appropriate, although you must make sure it's safe and you have asked permission to use the land if it's not your own. Make new connections in your area with arts and heritage or any organizations and see if they will let you create a flag field with them.

How does it work?^{[Back to top]}

All you need are Bamboo Skewers, an old worn out paperback book, fishing line and some PVA Glue.

• To make the flags: you remove the pages from the books, wrapping and gluing them to the bamboo. These you can then take out and plant in patterns, circles, clumps or straight lines. You will need to carefully remove the pages and not tear them, as the books are not being destroyed, just changed, metamorphosed into a 'synchronous' artwork.

• To make the bunting: as for the flags you remove the pages from the books, wrapping and gluing them to a length of fishing line folding the top over. You can buy fishing line in different strengths and colours – We would recommend a higher strength line for outside and a lighter strength for inside. Please take care to remove all the line after you have finished showing. Suitable knots can be found on the web.

For detailed instructions, please go to the Downloads section.

What can I do afterwards?^{[Back to top]}

Please tell us about your event and experiences: After collecting all your flags and keeping them safe ready for 2012, you can send us pictures of your 'flags' and the reasons you created your intervention - and the most unusual, creative, largest or most inspiring will be shown on the BBC Big Screens during 2012. We hope these interventions could be the starting points for further works inspiring a legacy of 'self' or 'collective' expression. Put your event photographs up on Google map or, as well, create a website or blog where the 'artists and audience' who engage can leave their thoughts and documentation of the day.

These could be in written word, story, poetry, rap, with music and song, photography, film, pencil, paint and through photographs and video of the individual Festivals of emplacement.

What are the risks involved with the event?^{[Back to top]}

For further information regarding the health and safety aspects of Dysarticulate 2, please feel free to download a copy of the event's Risk Assessment sheet via the following link:

Downloads^{[Back to top]}

Dysarticulate 2 has HIFE funding through the University of Portsmouth – Purple Door/CIBAS and its supporters include DAO, Dada South, The British Dyslexia Association and Pallant House gallery.