Alertism - Lucy Furlong

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

Lucy Furlong has been a long time collaborator on CollectConnect projects. She contributed to the memorable eMotion installation at the Tate Modern, and more recently was a writer for the Urban Tree Festival's Sentinel Trees. Nature and walking both play an important role in her work. Lucy released a second edition of her Amniotic City map in 2022, learn more about it here. Our First Responder is Vicki Kaye. Lucy and Vicki have shared a stage before at various poetry events (Writers Kingston event #52 / European Poetry Festival / Óvinir: The Enemies Project) and feature in the anthology FRACTURED LIGHT (ISBN 978-1-915505-09-5).

First Responder: Vicki Kaye

Is kindness an act of revolution?
kindness
with 'gentle indifference'
that word -  gentle 

gentle

so soft yet powerful
in the hands of a warrior
so full of feeling that implies
minding caring
judgement is hard-wired
and hard to resist

there is a revolution to be fought

What is the value of inner peace?

-----------------------------------------------

The writing journey of Lucy Furlong has taken her from signing a record deal aged 19, as a singer and lyricist in a band, to a stint in corporate communications working on in-house publications in the 1990s and early 2000s. She attained a degree in creative writing and journalism at Kingston University, and then a MFA in creative writing, specialising in poetry, alongside a Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE). Lucy has published and performed poetry for over a decade, and her work is taught as part of the Open University MA in Creative Writing.

Vicki Kaye is an experimental artist/writer. Having a BA (Hons) in Drawing and Applied Art and an MA in Fine Art, she has had work shown in numerous exhibitions and her visual poetry has appeared recently in Periodicities Journal, and Beir Bua Journal. She is a member of the Space Place Practice artists’ research hub and Spike Island Associates.

Alertism - Martin Wakefield

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

We step into the audio-visual Alertism world of the brilliant avant-garde poet and filmmaker Martin Wakefield today. Martin is well known in poetry circles for his highly original performances, at events such as the European Poetry Festival and Poem Brut. A natural collaborator, a highlight of recent performances includes his double act with Patrick Cosgrove at a celebration of the Sampson Low press in 2021 (view it here). Martin's First Responder is singer, writer and artist Carole Bulewski, a fellow Sampson Low author. Read Carole's response below

You can also view the film on youtube at https://youtu.be/eEsIncUoohk

 First Responder: Carole Bulewski

First impression. From Victor Hugo's poem La Conscience (The Conscience): L'oeil était dans la tombe et regardait Cain (The eye was in the tomb and kept looking at Cain)

----------------------------------------------------------

Martin Wakefield is a poet from London. He has published books and pamphlets with Hesterglock Press (Jungle Gym / Poems You Can't Colour In), Steel Incisors (Handsfree with Bob Modem) and Sampson Low (Emptpy Poems).

Born and raised in the south of France, Carole Bulewski moved to the UK at the end of the second Millennium, eventually settling down in London after a few years in the South West of England, a place that has inspired her many a supernatural story since – writing first in her native French, but now almost exclusively in the English language. In her writing, she explores how the supernatural can creep into the most mundane of situations. Carole is a member of urban baroque group Firefay.

Alertism - Dean Reddick

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

Dean Reddick is one of the founding members of CollectConnect, a keen birdwatcher and sculptor of our feathered friends. His avian related public art exhibitions include ConnectConnect's 24 hour-a-day art trail sensation Hidebird. For the 2012 exhibition he built a bird hide on a suburban Walthamstow street, but with the birds inhabiting the inside of the hide, and us humans on the outside. Dean's First Responder is Jo Lansdown, see her response below. One of the themes of Jo's response has emerged in other submissions too. The idea that if we are constantly on full alert then a further escalation can result in a different outcome (than anticipated). 

First Responder: Jo Lansdown

Thing is I can’t respond. I’m on full alert already all of the time and have been for months. My head is saying have you (me) got any space to respond? and then it’s asking is this another ‘attack’? Will just the simple act (well it used to be simple) of reading something, allowing it to penetrate a little way into my being, and then feeling my way into my various responses add to the maelstrom that’s in my head (and body) right now? And can I allow that to happen? And the answer is that I can’t.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dean Reddick has also created a sculpture to go alongside his words. The First Responder, Jo Lansdown, didn't view this before she sent us her response, but we wanted to share this with you now.

Dean Reddick is an artist and an art therapist. He frequently works with casting process and loves drawing trees. https://deanreddick.blogspot.com/

Jo Lansdown has contributed to two CollectConnect exhibitions before. In 2016 her words were included on a Relationship Map that was exhibited at Middlesex University for Mental Health Awareness Week. In the same year, sent a postcard to her future self as part of the exhibition of the same name. She received her postcard in November 2021 (hopefully it didn't get lost in the post).

Alertism - Ann Kopka

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

Ann Kopka was the poster artist for the 2019 Art of Caring exhibition and her visual themes always provide a graphic twist to CollectConnect exhibitions. Her submission for Alertism is no different. Here Ann represents the visual signals of semaphore using the hand-held flags method, but it can also be employed using rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands. I would think semaphore with paddles would be useful in this emergency. Our First Responder today is Robin Hutchinson, director of the Community Brain, and Honorary Freeman of Royal Borough of Kingston.

Ann Kopka

First Responder: Robin Hutchinson

“Not waving, but drowning”

Alertism - Natalie Low

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

Natalie Low has many strings to her bow, embracing many of the strange and wonderful artistic formats that CollectConnect has thrown her way. A highlight of her street art career so far would be her delicate crocheted sculpture for the Small World Futures exhibition in 2018. Here are her words accompanied by a response from Ana Pascual Veraart. Thank you Ana.

Natalie Low

First Responder: Ana Pascual Veraart

The copy leans towards a positive, calming message. It does promote hopefulness and caution, but does not deliver substantial guidance, which during a state of alert is not only helpful to individuals, but necessary.
Specific instructions and guidance aid individuals in a sense of control and purpose. The alert stage is the optimum time to reinforce needed behavior in preparation for emergencies.
For example, “Stock up on things you think are important.” should be more specific and expanded with examples. Alerts may cause people to panic.  Having a quick list of examples helps prompt thinking.
Well done on addressing state of mind and delivering ways to calm, center, and focus.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natalie Low is a creative knitter, stitcher and quilter. She lives in London, UK with her charming family. She has published two chapbooks Dementia (2015) and recently School Run (2017).

Ana Pascual Veraart brings a fresh perspective to this exhibition from the other side of the Atlantic. The most recent Test Alert in the United States was just a few days ago on the 3rd October 2023. The test was organised by Federal Emergency Management Agency and  assessed two alert systems: the emergency alert system (EAS), which plays on TV and radio, and the wireless emergency alert (WEA).

Alertism - Kezia Reddick

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

Kezia Reddick is our artist of the day today. She has been exhibiting with us since 2010, taking part in many of our magnetic art shows, when CollectConnect first hit the streets. She is currently an art student with a very bright future. Our First Responder is Coral Chambers, read her response under Kezia's image.

Kezia Reddick

First Responder: Coral Chambers

My 1st reaction was.......aw bless him ( the little rat) he's trying to understand the images on the mobile - They changed rapidly when I saw the newspaper above him. I  thought someone is going to hit him with it !  This triggered thoughts of anger. Thoughts of  speciesium, the way people treat animals based on their species, how if he was a puppy the reaction would be different. Then I saw the images on the phone he is looking at.  This made me think how little we think about our actions  and how they affect the animals that are just trying to live their lives and survive. So the image sparked initially, joy, that quickly turned to deep sadness.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Keziah Reddick is an artist who works across a range of media. She has a particular interest in telling stories through her art. She has a passion for stories from ancient civilisations.

Alertism - SJ Fowler

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

Our second alert comes from poet and artist SJ Fowler.
With all the written pieces for this exhibition we asked writers to submit works no longer than 55 words (the same length as the government alert sent on the 23rd April). The written alerts were sent electronically/digitally to the First Responders. The response below SJ Fowler's work comes from Dutch writer Arlette Hovinga.

First Responder: Arlette Hovinga

We are all in this together but our safety is in our numbers 

Remember to always have hope - the thing with feathers

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SJ Fowler a poet, writer and performer working in the literary, modernist and avant-garde traditions. He has published ten collections of poetry, over twenty publications of limited edition poetry, art and collaborative works and been commissioned by Tate Modern, BBC Radio 3, The British Council, Tate Britain, Liverpool Biennial and Wellcome Collection amongst others for texts, performances and installations. www.stevenjfowler.com/

Arlette Hovinga is an award-winning publicist, marketing/media director, and a professional member of The Recording Academy. She organizes press tours for festivals around the world and designs marketing and press campaigns for artists and labels. She has worked with The Four Tops, The Temptations, Earth Beat Agency, Matt Bianco, Manu Delago, and many others and has written for JazzForum and Jazz in Europe. arlettehovinga.com/

Alertism - Susie Mendelsson

Welcome to the Alertism exhibition, featuring artistic and literary works that were inspired by the Emergency Alert test message that was sent to people with a mobile device on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.

We start the exhibition with the work of Susie Mendelsson, who creates artworks using wood paper wire and recycled materials to create her darkly humorous sculptures. Susie's First Responder is Ginny Reddick.

Susie Mendelsson 

First Responder: Ginny Reddick

It's OK in here 

you know.

Sunshine yellow

Inside and out.

And if I hold my head

Just so

I don't need to know

Too quiet dawns

Or swift goodbyes.

-----------------------------------------

Susan Mendelsson was born at Hackney, London and educated at the Manchester Metropolitan University, gaining a B.A. (hons.) in Graphic Design. She then took a Teaching Diploma in Art from at University of Haifa, Israel and an M.A. in Fine Art from Coventry University. A figurative artist who has been influenced by the German expressionists as well as medieval art and works mainly in paint and mixed media. In her Suffolk studio she creates the most amazing 3D figures and characters often made from found objects. https://susiemendelsson.co.uk/

Ginny Reddick is a writer and educator. She was one of the artists who exhibited at the first ever CollectConnect exhibition, Open Fridge, in March 2010. She has curated numerous CC projects including the Walthamstow street art favourite HideBird.

Alertism 2023

 

Alertism

At CollectConnect we asked a group of writers and artists to create work on the theme of Alert. 

On Sunday 23rd April at 3pm the UK government sent a nationwide Emergency Alert test message to all those people with a mobile device. Emergency Alerts is a new government service that warns you if there is a danger to life nearby (e.g. flooding, fire, and terrorist attacks). In an emergency, mobile phone masts broadcast an alert in the affected area, and give advice about how to stay safe.

How does being 'Alerted' affect the individual and the group?
What happens to our bodies when we are Alerted?
What happens to our minds when we are Alerted?
What are the political reasons for Alerting people?
Who chooses what dangers we should be Alerted to?
What dangers are we not Alerted to?
What Alert would you send? 

During October 2023 we sent these artistic and literary alerts to a group of First Responders, who recorded their responses. We will be posting both the original artworks or writing alongside their the responses here on www.collectconnect.blogspot.com and on our Facebook and Twitter pages. 

Artists
Susie Mendelsson
María Celina Val
Ann Kopka
Kezia Reddick
Stella Tripp
SJ Fowler
Bryan Benge
Stanimir Dimitrov
Martin Wakefield
Dean Reddick
Natalie Low
Lucy Furlong
Mark Carr
Paul March
Melanie Honebone
Alban Low
Julia Rose Lewis

First Responders
Ginny Reddick
Terence Collie
Robin Hutchinson
Coral Chambers
Jessie G Vaughan
Arlette Hovinga
Sophie Darling
Dan Clarke
Carole Bulewski
Jo Lansdown
Ana Pascual Veraart
Vicki Kaye
Francesca Albini
Ed Arantus
Dean Reddick
Katerina Koulouri
Natalie Low