Future Bound Book and Exhibition

Future Bound -
Lucy Carasco (left) and
Elli Abernethy (right)

After months of hard work by the students at UCA Epsom's Diploma in Art & Design- Foundation Studies and the Pre-U Level Diploma not only is their Final Exhibition on the horizon but this fantastic book. The Future Bound book has now arrived in the Sampson Low Ltd offices and we are very excited about releasing it into the world.

Just like the students who will be graduating to bigger and better things in the months to come, we hope the Future Bound book will do the same in art circles. Heralding the arrival of a new crop of artistic talent on the creative scene.

If you would like to buy a copy then we have 30 first editions available on Amazon, just follow this link - BUY FUTURE BOUND

In due course the publisher will also carry them on their site.
www.sampsonlow.com

If you would like to see who appears in the book itself then visit the Future Bound website -
www.thefuturebound.blogspot.co.uk

Laura Matthews (front)
Alice Firman, Rosie Howe and Elisabeth Lewis (Back)

The students worked together with the 4 artists from CollectConnect - Stuart Simler, Bryan Benge, Alban Low and Dean Reddick. The project was devised to give the students an early experience of working and submitting their work in a professional capacity.

The ISBN for the book is 978-0-9534712-2-5 and this allowed us to attach several students names to the code but not unfortunately all. Laura Matthews provided the excellent front cover image and we chose her and two others, Charlotte Harris and Natasha Skliar-Ward (randomly) to be the book's authors. The back cover artists, Alice Firman, Rosie Howe and Elisabeth Lewis were accredited with illustrator credits. We had to select 3 of the 4 CollectConnect to be editors too, but all have played their part and we are grateful to the work they had done behind the scenes.

Future Bound magnet exhibition

The Final Exhibition of all the students' work with be on Tuesday 4th June, 5-8pm at UCA Epsom.
As well as some of the books to flick through, we'll have the 65 copies for the artists to pick up/take home and an exhibition of all their work. Not your normal exhibit, these will be in the form of 70 magnets on a fridge door. Come and say hello on the day and experience this insightful and original book.

AL.

CollectConnect back to their roots

Its time to get back out there!
We're all busy at the moment in our individual professional practices. but true to form we want to still go that extra mile. So we're going back to college, quite literally, to launch a project with the 300+ students on UCA Epsom's Diploma in Art & Design Foundation Studies and Pre-U Level 3 Diploma.
The project will initially be a book that asks all the students to look into their future and hopefully result in a 'live' art experience somewhere in the public domain.

The project is being co-ordinated by Bryan Benge. Who is also currently exhibiting at the London Group's Centenary Exhibition at the PM Gallery, Ealing until the 9th March.
http://www.thelondongroup.com/

Check out our progress at www.thefuturebound.blogspot.com

FreedBook launched in London

One small step for artists, one giant leap for FreedBook!
Yesterday (24/11/2012) an intrepid band of artists reached all 4 corners of  London's transport compass. Over 80 miles was traversed on foot, buses, trains and a tram, where we delivered 7 freedbooks into the Books For London libraries.
The 6 hours zipped-by in a frantic and fun journey with plenty of chatting and swappping ideas.
We started at Acton Central where myself, Natalie, Effie and Jess met Robert Good, Peter S Smith, Dean Reddick, Chris Gilson and the local Bookswap rep Sara Nathan.
We picked up Ella Penn at Ealing Broadway and Books For London founder Chris Gilson gave us an inspirational Henry V style speech on the bridge at West Ealing before retreating to his HQ.
Heading towards Enfield Chase we picked up Melanie Ezra and Dan Leek at Kings Cross. After finding a suitable phonebox to release FreedBook No.3 our number swelled with the arrival of Sonia Jarema.
A few peeled off in Central London as we headed east to Charlton (pic above), but we we're bolstered by Stephanie Wilkinson and Stuart Simler and several hundred fans on the their way to the Charlton vs Hudddersfield match.
Next to the boundary of our Travelcard's reach at Coulsdon South where we found that the Bookswap shelf had disappeared. The station manager helped us and we found a suitable coffee table in the waiting area to launch book No.5.
On the last lap we reached Wimbledon station by tram and rendezvoused with Chris Gilson once again and then a short hop to Raynes Park where we delivered our final FreedBook of the day.
After 6 hours of travelling we gratefully returned home to wine and tea, with a special space in our hearts for London's Transport system and its employees who never let us down! Every train on time!

Keep an eye out for our next exhibition by Brian Benge.

To buy a copy of the freedbook then visit http://www.freedbook.blogspot.co.uk

To view who was featured in the book visit the Artists page on the right.

Alban

CollectConnect release FreedBook

We're proud to present our first publication as a group. The FreedBook.
68 One-page stories from 50+ artists.

We'll be releasing our books into the Books For London libraries on the 24th November. So come and pick one up for FREE. More information on our launch on the Freedbook Website page.

If you would like to buy a copy then click on this link BUY  or visit the Sampson Low website.

To see which artists are featured in the FreedBook then visit our Artists page and find links to their websites.

The next CollectConnect exhibition will be organised by Bryan Benge in early 2013.

Thank you to all the artists involved.
Alban

Freed Book submssions CLOSED

Thanks to the 52 artists/authors who have either reserved a page or already sent in their artwork to the Freed Book project.
Sorry if you didnt get there in time.
Drop me a line with your email address if you're not on our contacts list or have a good idea for a 'one-page' story and want to be top of the list if we do this again.
collectconnect4@gmail.com

As work comes in I'll start adding it to a catalogue/slideshow in the next few weeks.

More to follow,
Alban

Freed Book open for submissions!

We're off to a good start with the Freed Book project, submissions are steadily coming in. If you'd like to get involved then send in a 'one-page' story to collectconnect4@gmail.com

Make sure your image (or text or a mix) is -
A5 in size,
300dpi in resolution
either a jpeg or pdf,
Black & White (inc. Grey/half tones)

If you have a brilliant idea for a story/narrative but are worried that we'll close submissions before you've had the chance to finish.....then...drop me an email and I'll reserve you a page.

On the 24th November we'll be releasing copies of the Freed Book into the Books For London network. Its a great network of bookswapping libraries and always on the look out for volunteers, so why not get in touch with them. Follow the link (right). Their support of this project has been a tremendous boon.

"FreedBook is exactly in line with why I started the Books for London campaign, bringing people all across London new things to read and giving budding authors and artists a chance to showcase their wares".

Chris Gilson (Books For London)

Get in touch and be involved,
Alban

Artist's Birds on E17 Streets

Thanks to everyone who came out and posted magnets around Walthamstow on Saturday (8th Sept). We had a great day visiting the venues along the E17 Art Trail, having an impromptu picnic and of course releasing 100 magnetic birds into the wilds.

If you've just picked up a magnet and want to find out more about the artist, then visit the artist page and it'll will link you their website.

There's a slideshow of some of the magnet placement to the right. More to follow from Stuart and Dean too.

A big thank you to Dean Reddick for his seamless organisation and to all the 50 Artists who produced a memorable and varied exhibition.

We'll be posting details of our next show in about a fortnights time.

Alban.

Hidebird Magnets Fly the coop

Here they all are. 100 'birds' on the side of E17's Hidebird in Barrett Road, Walthamstow.
But they'll be flying the coop this Saturday, 8th September at 11am.

Dean has printed them on small magnets (5x7cm) and we'll be placing them on metallic surfaces in the centre of Walthamstow.
There's a slight change of plan. We'll be meeting at the Big Screen, which is between Walthamstow Central Station and the Library at 11am.

Dean and many other artists will be placing 'Art on trees' for hungry collectors at 10am. So join in with this too if you fancy.
Eventually we'll be making our way back to the Hidebird at 28 Barrett Road for a cup of tea.

If you need to get in touch with me - 07792 027716
See you there,
Alban

100 'Birds' released in Walthamstow

Welcome to the HideBird Magnet Exhibition.

We'll be releasing 100 magnetic 'bird' artworks into the wilds of Walthamstow on Saturday 8th September. Why not come and join us, or search for the birds themselves, pick them up and take them home. Its all Free.

There's a full list of all 50 artists who contributed on the artist's page and you can follow links to their website there.
There is a full catalogue on the slideshow (right) click on it to see the full range.

If you're interested in getting involved meet us at 11am by the HideBird in the front garden of 28 Barrett Road, Walthamstow on 8th September.

HideBird is an exhibition of sculptures - more info here
http://hidebird.blogspot.co.uk/
And part of the E17 Arts Trail
http://www.e17arttrail.co.uk/

See you there,
Alban