Lost and Founded Day 2

We had a little helper today redrawing the chalk arrows…. the rain had washed them away overnight so we had to redo them all. A few people commented that the arrows  helped them find the venue easier – so it was worth doing them.

We were a lot busier today than yesterday – I think being a weekend day meant some people could come who work Monday – Friday… and  the weather was better too, which might have helped. To accompany the screenings we talked a little about the process we’d gone through in the planning/filming/editing stages… and left space in case anyone wanted to ask any questions too.

Our youngest visitor today was little Juliette, who was just 17 months old. She danced to the music when the film was on, and enjoyed joining in with the popcorn eating too.

We chatted with and met a lot of new people today,.. and with some we shared links like  friends in common. It was a really interesting afternoon, and we ended up staying open an extra half hour til almost 3-30, as people were still arriving when we originally planned to finish.
I feel our ‘minima’ has gone well… It would have been good to have a few more visitors especially on the opening evening – and a couple of friends who weren’t able to make it said it would have worked well for them if we’d been open Saturday/Sunday rather than Friday/Saturday… but we’ve really enjoyed the experience, and hope that we will be invited to be a part of next years festival.

Lost and Founded

It’s finally here – the first day of the festival! We set up our mini cinema or ‘minima’ at the Source Creative office, complete with popcorn, home made cinema tickets, and a brilliant array of mismatched chairs provided by the guys at SC.  (My favourite are the retro rocking chairs on the front row).

Some of Cath Fords gorgeous photos from the conservatory at Corporation Park are also on display in the minima…. Cath asked us to display them for her, and we decided that they would look good all together on a table, so that people could pick them up and look at them… or even move them around and rearrange them. We added props from the film to the table of photos too… like string, chalk, and a balloon. I’m not sure if that’s how Cath would have chosen to display them…but I really liked having them displayed this way and felt it fitted with the theme of the rest of the minima.

We decorated the rest of the room with props from the film too, then tested the projector, and sat on each chair to check everyone would be able to see whichever seat they chose. The room has a blackout blind, which meant we were able to get it really dark too once people were seated.

The adorable Sophie who features in the film, and her mum Ailsa who wrote and performed the soundtrack came along with a friend, and I found it was a really special experience to watch the film with them in the audience knowing they were seeing it for the first time.

Catherine and Stephen from Source Creative have been fantastically supportive… and one of the great things about the festival is meeting new people like them – as we didn’t know each other before this project. Stephen made us fantastic great signs for the doors… and Dave decorated the pavement outside with chalk arrows to direct passersby to the location.

Still time to come and play tomorrow – there’s plenty of popcorn left, and it would be great to see lots of people for the final day. We will be there 12-3, and there are loads of other great things going on too – from performance art in a toy shop attic… to live music and creativity in the AND caravans. And it’s all free!

Attic ambience

It’s like a magic groto up there now. I’ve been amazed at the beauty in among the dirt. The dusty beams and sagging boards, creaking and wheezing as the roof heats up. I found an old fireplace behind some signs.       I must re-read that beckett about a man on a chair in an attic… what’s it called? Malone?     and where do I keep building gimbels and eyeball spots?

It’s all coming together

Blimey, what a day! A paperwork day at that! Nearly finished the Event Management Plan for Council officials (but it has made me think about a few last minute things), the detailed programme and letting folk know about the event by updating various websites etc!

All good fun though… Organising a town centre festival is great because there is so much on offer already in the town centre, and the festival is about providing local folk with an unexpected experience that they will hopefully remember for a long time. It is also about selling the town centre’s assets and reminding our friends, colleagues and networks that these small towns need some support to survive through increased footfall, spend and positive perceptions.

And what better way to do this than a cultural festival with local, regional and even international talent to showcase…

So come and support Found:ED and then hopefully we’ll get some funding to do it bigger and better next year!

CT

Mercers toyshop day 1

Today I’ve been cleaning dust and years of dirt (for your comfort and my health), searching the ruins and finding sounds, sculpting with found objects, rearranging toys and broken stuff and filtering childhood memories for use in the text and images. So many wonderful textures and traces to be read in the walls and floors.

Festival Guide

The Found:ED Festival guide is now available to download!!

Check it out, plan your visit and please pass it on.

Founded Festival Event Guide

Meeting Up

W e had a big group meeting at Sprout Cafe on Wednesday, with most of the contributing artists, Claire, Matt the technical guy, and Stephen and Catherine from the Source Creative team.

I’d only met a couple of the other people round the table before, and so it was a great chance to find out about each other as artists, and hear more about each persons plans for the festival and their approach to the themes.

Over a very tasty lunch, we discussed programming, technical details, timings, locations, publicity – finalising lots of details. I got the chance to chat with Stephen and Catherine from Source Creative, who are hosting a mini cinema screening our film at their office. As it’s quite near to the cafe, they took me for a tour around their lovely offices, and we worked out the logistics of how it was best to set up the room for a screening. It already has a blackout blind at the window, which will be really useful, and I’m really looking forward to working in the space.