Multitude

Launch: Friday 7 November - 6-9pm-ish
Continues: Saturday 8 November - Sunday 23 November

Daytime opening: Thursday - Sunday, 12-6pm

Main Venue: East Street Arts, Patrick Studios, St. Mary’s Lane, Leeds, LS9 7EH

Contact: 0113 248 0040, info@esaweb.org.uk

Admission: FREE ADMISSION

East Street Arts (ESA) present their third Social Club: Multitude, a series of contemporary art events inviting artists, writers and audiences to explore our relationship to objects and the emotions that connect us to our future heritage.

Multitude continues ESA’s Social Club events programme and will investigate 21st Century Britain’s consumerist society. With the rise of Capitalism and the West’s ‘disposable income’ culture, we purchase, consume, cast aside, hoard and collect things searching for the ideal, the latest gadget, status symbol, investment and entertainment buzz. It seems individuals and society are defined by what they own, their identities inextricably intertwined with ideas of possession.

Within this abundance of objects, the phenomenon of hoarding, collecting, cataloguing, archiving and re-cycling creates a conveyor belt of clutter. Why do we feel the need to hold on to things, hoard and search out additions to a growing collection? From scientific and anthropological collections in museums to investment collections of contemporary art to sentimental hoarding of objects to keeping things because you can, collecting is often regarded as a malady, a madness that makes humans, human.

These ideas of consumerism, collecting and hoarding will be explored over the course of Multitude through a variety of socially engaged art events, exhibitions, artist commissions and residencies.

PROGRAMME:

Salon

A non-hierarchical open submission selling show for ESA members, that will take over Patrick Studio's Project Space for the duration of Multitude.

Jess Wilkin You’re Never Alone When You Collect

Artist Jess Wilkin will show the culmination of her two month research residency at Patrick Studios, exploring archives, collections and the motivation behind their owners.
During Multitude

Transpennine Memorabilia Collection and Café

Enjoy a cup of tea and cake whilst viewing artist Kwong Lee’s Transpennine Memorabilia Collection which showcases discarded tourist souvenirs of the Transpennine region's villages, towns and cities.

Socialist Jukebox will present a mystery collection of 7" vinil singles get a one time 'airing' before being whisked away by their new owners to add to their collection.

Studios Programme : 7/8/9 November

A selection of ESA studio holders will exhibit artwork in their studios created directly in response to their concerns of collecting and hoarding.

Digital Lounge: 13 November 6-9pm

Digital Lounge will feature a new commission by artist and film maker Katy Woods, Dear Phyllis.

In Dear Phyllis, items become surplus, no longer needed, liked or wanted and are discarded. Some are picked out as desirable, sought after and valuable. Dear Phyllis considers the objects that make it to the antiques centre, objects with a past and a history that are the remnants of a life.

Other films showing include: Martin Hampton’s The Collector, BBC documentary The Life of Grime and AGRIFASHIONISTA's The Librarians.

Round Table Discussion: Artists' Collections: Friday 14 November 5-7pm

Contemporary artists discuss the role that collecting and collections play in their art practice. An open public discussion to follow their presentations.

In collaboration with and held at The Stanley&Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds

The 'You're Never Alone When You Collect' tour : Saturday 15 November, 3-5pm.

Meet at ESA, Patrick Studios.
BOOKING ESSENTIAL - Please email sarah.barrett@esaweb.org.uk.

Visitors will have the opportunity to explore collectors' homes.

A temporary open access reference library of artists' collections of ephemera and artistic influences. (Taking place at the Merrion Superstore - for more info see www.kunstfreund.wordpress.com)

The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of LeedsQuestions of Collecting (Tuesdays in November)

4 November 6-8pm Collecting the Contemporary-Stephanie Post, Contemporary Art Society, Head of Membership and Collector Development.

11 November 6-8pm Building the Lodeveans Collection-Stuart and John Evans, London based collectors and developers of the Lodeveans Collection.

18 November 6-8pm Decision Time for Authenticity: Europe 1870-1900- Prof. Stefan Muthesius, School of World Art Studies, University of East Anglia.

25 November 6-8pm 'All the Finest': Furnishing the Frick. 1914-15-Helen Rees Leahy, Director of Centre of Museology at Manchester.

(For more info see www.leeds.ac.uk/gallery/events.htm)

Have your say or join in - online 24/7

Why do people collect?

Is it about collecting or is it just hoarding?

How many items makes a collection?

multitudeblog.org.uk

Join the Multitude blog and share your collective thoughts, images and comments.

flickr.com/groups/multitude

Create a flickr account and show off your favorite pictures, or just browse other peoples!

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Multitude, East Street Arts' (ESA) series of contemporary art events exploring collecting, the Eclection exhibition at artist-run space theartmarket and talk series Questions of Collecting at The University of Leeds' Burton Gallery, Axis' new selling show Future50 at PSL [Project Space Leeds] and the Negotiated Meaning exhibition at Artemis make Leeds the place to be for buying contemporary art and learning about collecting this November. For more information on individual events, please see the organisations' websites:
www.esaweb.org.uk
www.kunstfreund.wordpress.com
www.leeds.ac.uk/gallery/events.htm
www.axisweb.org/future50
The Negotiated Meaning exhibition needs booking as limited places-email: artemis@educationleeds.co.uk / kate@kategenever.com