2017 January 12 – April 28: ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! Movement II. A rolling programme with evolving membership exploring movement, mapmaking and memory via collaborative practice-led research by staff members of Leeds College of Art. ARTISTS: Erkembode (aka David Kelly-Mancaux), Granville Lythe. Curator: Dr Kai Syng Tan. EXHIBITION: 12 January – 28 April Leeds College of Art Blenheim Walk Leeds LS2 9AQ. #roamroamroam #runrunrunleeds Photographs of private view by Ian Hincliffe. Flyer by Kai. Click here for curatorial framework/welcome speech. For PDF about the artists’ background please click here. See TV coverage on Made in Leeds here (soon).

[ppmaccordion][ppmtoggle title=”What’s #roamroamroam? What’s #runrunrunleeds?“] #roamroamroam is one of a range of dynamic Leeds-centred activities (scroll down for gallery) produced by the RUN! RUN! RUN! International Body for Research, which is curated by Leeds College of Art research fellow Dr Kai Syng Tan. This invigorating agenda of practice-related research activities explores the correlation between running and art, and more generally, movement / exercise / mobility and creativity. Situated within and beyond the artistic and academic worlds, these are exercises for the mind and body. Public- and world-facing, the programme is serious, vigorous and rigorous as it is light-footed, light-hearted and bonking fun. Apart from the regular runs curated by the participants, there are special interventions and innovations coinciding with major local, national and international sporting and cultural events such as Tour de Yorkshire 2015 (see tab below). These energising activities explore running in experimental formats such as performance, heritage tours and workshops, and discourses and debates some run while participants are engaged in physical activity. Click on tabs below for its evolution and background. Come come come. RUN! RUN! RUN! Curate a run, or a swim, cycle, climb, roam, fence, etc. Exercise with a twist (of art). Join this not run-of-the-(tread)mill running club. Free of charge. All bodies and minds welcome. Let’s animate the city. Let’s create a new movement.[/ppmtoggle] [ppmtoggle title=”2016 February: ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! Movement I (blurb)“]

Above: Tweet about 5-hour marathon session David+Granville+Kai: co-creating a collage/map from the ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! Leeds

Walk along the River Aire. Share experiences of the floods. Make a collage with found materials. Meet 1700hrs at the Reception, Leeds College of Art, Blenheim Walk, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS2 9AQ. Another innovative fine art practice-related research event organized by the RUN! RUN! RUN! International Body for Research and Leeds College of Art investigating running, walking, cycling, fencing and other movements as methodology and metaphor. Part of the first National Museums and Wellbeing Week 29 February – 6 March 2016

FLOODS! PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY! COMMUNITY! ART! POLITICS! NATURE! The Boxing Day floods brought the River Aire to the forefront of our attention. What did the bursting banks want to tell us? How do we feel in its wake? What next, for Leeds’ residents/visitors? … Let’s follow the River Aire upstream from Victoria Bridge, where it joins it’s manmade neighbour the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Share experiences, hearsay and (hi)stories of the river and its floods as we walk and talk. To document this walk and as a response to what we encounter/experience, we’ll collect found materials along the way and create sketches, stone rubbing etc, and collectively produce a collaged map at our destination, the recently flooded Kirkstall Bridge Inn. Come ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! Leeds with us. Tweet walk/maps #runrunrunart, #ukfloods #leeds Wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Distance: 3.5miles. Duration: 1.5 hours. ROAM! ROAM! ROAM! Leeds is curated by multidisciplinary artist David Kelly Mancaux (aka Erkembode) of Leeds College of Art. LINKS: David Kelly Mancaux // Route // Destination[/ppmtoggle] [ppmtoggle title=”2016 July: CYCLE! CYCLE! CYCLE! The Sequel (blurb)“] A 14-mile Leeds-Saltaire bike ride followed by art appreciation of a private collection and scrumptious lunch in a private property in Saltaire. Free of charge, BYOB (bring your own bike) (and helmet, etc). Register now. Drawing on the success of the last CYCLE! CYCLE! CYCLE! (April 2015, pictured), Leeds College of Art’s Librarian Chris Graham is curating another bike ride-cum-art appreciation tour-cum lunch on July2, Saturday. We will cycle 14-miles (approximately 1.5 hours) along the canal from Leeds to Saltaire, and visit Chris’ beautiful Saltaire home. There, Chris will tell us about his collection of artworks by College staff and students (with new additions since the last event). The artworks offer a unique lens into College culture, away from the white cube of an art gallery (and after an energising bike ride).

Curator: Chris Graham  For Whom: Any body welcome. Bring your friends and family. When: From 10:00hrs, Saturday 2 July Meeting point: Area opposite Wetherspoons (and taxi stand) Leeds station.  Why: 

1) Celebrating 170: We will be admiring Chris’ private art collection consisting of works by staff and students, which provide a unique lens into the life and history of Leeds College of Art. Artworks include those by John Arnison, Richard Baker, Charlie Bound, Sharon Harvey, Andrew Lister, Becky Lowe and Pam Rex.

2) Celebrating Chris as a wonderful colleague: This will be a lovely opportunity to spend time with Chris before he leaves College, and to appreciate his exquisite culinary skills.

3) Celebrating summer: Make hay and ride a bike while the sun shines.

4) Celebrating the body and mind in motion:

‘When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.’ — Arthur Conan Doyle, Scientific American, 1896.

It is not just the Sherlock Holmes author who grasps the creative possibilities of applying our body to physical exercise and, in particular, riding a bicycle. For Kraftwerk, the ‘Fathers of Electronic Music’ (Le Funk 2010), cycling is the perfect expression of the philosophy of man and machine working in union to negotiate time and space (Brown 2009). Turner Prize winner artist Grayson Perry also regularly goes for long-distance rides in the countryside during weekends (Tan 2012).

Open your minds, use your body. Give it a go.

Enquires, and to reserve your place: Dr Kai Syng Tan at: <kaisyng.tan@leeds-art.ac.uk>  0113 202 8121

For more information:  About the last / first CYCLE! CYCLE! CYCLE! and the RUN! RUN! RUN! Leeds practice-based research framework that this event is a part of, visit www.kaisyngtan.com/portfolio/leeds

[/ppmtoggle][ppmtoggle title=”2015 March-June: LEEDS ART GALLERY PARTNERSHIP“] In March-June 2015, RUN! RUN! RUN!  was run in partnership with Leeds Art Gallery (Curator Sarah Brown). Participants met every second Thursday of the month, 17:15hrs, at the steps of Leeds Art Gallery. Each route (5-10km) was ‘curated’ by someone. Each ‘curator’ then nominated someone else. Download PDF for more information.

MEET: Every second Thursday of the month, 17:15hrs at the steps of Leeds Art Gallery, The Headrow LS1 3AA Leeds UK (Or 17:00 at the entrance of Leeds College of Art LS2 9AQ). WHAT: Exercise with a twist (of art). Not your run-of-the-(tread)mill monthly running club. Each route is ‘curated’ by someone. Each ‘curator’ then nominates someone else. This ‘someone’ could be you*. *YOU:  As participant. Or as ‘curator’ of route and theme of run. From all walks of life. With any experience in running / art. CONTACT KAI NOW TO BE CURATOR OF THE NEXT RUN. 

ROUTE: 

• Where, what about are completely up to the curator of the month.
• The warming-up and cooling-down sessions will be led by curators. These are also the moments where the curator could say a few / a lot of / no words, to frame the run.
• Examples: ‘This is my favourite Sunday run route’; ‘Let’s check out the area where the new Westfield will be built and chat about what this means to the local community’; ‘Pick a partner and debate about the pros and cons of neo-liberalism during the run’; ‘In this run, no talking is allowed, and every third step please clap’, etc.
• The run can be as long/short, as hard/gentle as each curator prefers.
• It can be 5-10km, and last up to 60 minutes. Participants are free to join or take off midway.

INAUGURAL RUN March 12: This is an energetic 5k curated by running-sculptor Willow Stacey. Like the cult novelist Haruki Murakami for whom running is an integral part of his discipline of being a writer, our dynamic final-year Fine Art student climbs, runs, kayaks and puts in the hours in the studio making her Louise Bourgeois-influenced pieces. Enjoy.[/ppmtoggle] [ppmtoggle title=”2015 APRIL 18: TOUR DE YORKSHIRE INTERVENTION“]A SPECIAL INTERVENTION / INNOVATION TO CELEBRATE TOUR DE YORKSHIRE: CYCLE! CYCLE! CYCLE! Curated by Leeds College of Art Head Librarian Chris Graham. This took place on 2015 April 18 Saturday.

‘When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.’ — Arthur Conan Doyle, Scientific American, 1896.

It is not just the Sherlock Holmes author who grasps the power and beauty of applying our body to physical exercise and, in particular, riding a bicycle. For Kraftwerk, the ‘Fathers of Electronic Music’ (Le Funk 2010), cycling is the perfect expression of the philosophy of man and machine working in union to negotiate time and space (Brown 2009). Turner Prize winner artist Grayson Perry also regularly goes for long-distance rides in the countryside during weekends (Tan 2012).

Cycle! Cycle! Cycle! was a unique cycling activity with a twist (of art, and gastronomy). Chris Graham, the well-loved and well-respected Head Librarian of Leeds College of Art as well as art collector and chef led us on this special event to celebrate the Tour De Yorkshire. We cycled along the Leeds-Liverpool canal from Leeds to Saltaire (approximately 14miles), followed by tour of Chris’s private art collection in Chris’s listed house, over food that he has prepared. It will be a scrumptious treat for the eyes, body and mind. Feedback  was positive, including: ‘It was a brilliant day and the food!!!!!!!’ and:

‘Hopefully we can do something again […]  We did great by getting good sunny day and I agree with you ,the company was really nice. Funny ,we do not really get a chance to speak in college although spend lots of time there and see faces, but know so little of people.Things that you run can change it a little and I think that this is a very good and nice thing to do. And to meet new nice people was lovely and interesting too.’

[/ppmtoggle] [ppmtoggle title=”September 2014-February 2015 #runrunrunleeds“]#runrunrunleeds asks: ‘Through the investigation with Leeds Art Gallery on the correlation between art and running, movement and creativity, and what are the ways LCA can connect with and generate impact in the local, national and international communities?’ The programme is an invigorating programme of Leeds-centred practice-related research activities exploring the correlation between running and art, and more generally, movement / exercise / mobility and creativity. Situated within and beyond the artistic and academic worlds, these are exercises for the mind and body. Public- and world-facing, the programme is serious and rigorous as it is light-footed and light-hearted. Apart from the monthly curated runs, there were special interventions and innovations coinciding with major sporting and cultural events in the city, nation and worldwide. These energising activities explore running in experimental formats such as performance, heritage tours and workshops, and discourses and debates – some run while participants are engaged in physical activity such as running, or cycling, or fencing et al. One of the aims of #runrunrunleeds was to demonstrate that research can be inclusive, fun and not intimidating, and not just ‘thinky thinky’  (words used by a colleague). Given running’s broad appeal, we engaged both academic and non-academic staff members, students, friends and foes. In addition, through this framework, we hope to begin lively discourses with colleagues who are already researching movement in their work. At the same time, we reached out to those have been keen in running or physical activities as such, but are curious about how we can appropriate or activate running within an art context.

#runrunrunleeds was born in September 2014 when Kai became a Research Fellow at Leeds College of Art. From September 2014 – February 2015, #runrunrunleeds ran as a monthly run and research lunch programme, held every last Wednesday of the month. With running as a starting point/catalyst, we traversed the territories of:

• swimming (and how it structures life and art, with artist Mick Welbourn, who is also Print Workshop Manager at Leeds College of Art)
• • dancing (and gender dynamics, with artist David Collins, who is also Visual Communications Senior Lecturer);
  • loitering (and the female gaze, with artist Helen Clarke, Photography Lecturer);
  • mindfulness (versus people-centred therapy, with Ann Trusson, Student Welfare Officer. With the presence of Leeds artists Invisible Flock, the talk provoked several other strands of discussions, including that of mindfulness in our technology-saturated age).
• Click on any image below to open archival gallery.[/ppmtoggle][ppmtoggle title=”WHY RUNNING MATTERS“] ... (especially) to denizens of the art world:

• The same way artists and art writers have long been inspired by walking, RUN! RUN! RUN! aims to introduce running as material,  process, subject method and approach to the art world.
• Running has critical mass. More than 2 million people in England run regularly (BBC 2014).
• One of the aims of RUN! RUN! RUN! LEEDS is to open up how artists can respond to discussions about wellbeing, health, body, etc (artists and designers already ‘use’ their bodies in different ways; this is an encouragement of another way of engagement with body/mind that may add value to their practice and approach)
• To show that apart from making great art, and achieving excellence in teaching and research, that LCA is engaged in physical activities that may in turn energise and inspire our work in the art studio or office in direct and indirect ways;
• Such a ‘campaign’ is consistent with national policy and what leading institutions are focusing on (eg UCL high-profile ‘Grand Challenges’ on Wellbeing; QMUL Emotional Wellbeing research project; Government’s Cycle to Work scheme et al)
• Recent developments re-affirm the relevance and importance of this area of research.
  • A report was launched in April 2014 by a cross-party group of politicians, which sets out clear recommendations to tackle the growing physical inactivity epidemic in the UK. The All-Party Commission on Physical Activity report offers recommendations and solutions to help get us back on track.
  • Many HE and art institutions have a wellbeing agenda. Dr Helen Chatterjee et al at University College London has developed a ‘museum wellbeing toolkit’. 
  • Nike, Sustrans and the Design Council are on board too, with a campaign named Active by Design, which aims to embed activity into people’s everyday lives.
  • In November 2014, a large-scale conference was held in London. Sports In Society was attended by public health workers and policy makers. This can be understood as an example of how wellbeing and health are in the spotlight.[/ppmtoggle] [ppmtoggle title=”PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR DR KAI SYNG TAN FRSA“]  

Dr Kai Syng Tan (FRSA AFHEA) is an artist, curator, educator, researcher and advisor with a 20-year international portfolio. Kai currently works as a Research Fellow at Leeds College of Art. [/ppmtoggle] [ppmtoggle title=”2015 CO-INVESTIGATOR DR DAN ROBINSON“]Dan is an artist and lecturer working with images, texts, objects and events – often collaborating with specific sites and organisations. His projects include Mud Office  (2005-present, with Charlie Jeffery) and Thinking Space for the North (2005-2008, with Bryan Davies and Grizedale Arts). He makes and presents work with/in a variety of cultural spaces: locally, internationally and online. Recent projects have involved working in nature reserves in Nottinghamshire and France; a gallery and observatory in Nice; the Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds and with UK-European art school exchange workshops. Dan’s practice-based PhD entitled The Noise of Fiction: site, score, document (University of Leeds / AHRC scholarship, 2009) was on site-specific art practice as dialogue. Dan was a Senior Lecturer at Leeds College of Art, where he led the BA (Hons) Fine Art – Media strand and the Crossing Borders research cluster.

Example projects: include: 1) Mud Office (2005 – ongoing) is a collaboration between Dan Robinson (Leeds) and Charlie Jeffery (Paris). The way they work and the things they produce, result from the specific contexts they are invited to work in and the resources that can be found there. Their previous work has involved establishing a temporary cafeteria, manufacturing furniture, making architectural interventions, forming a band and turning a hunt cabin into a broadcast studio. 2) Thinking Space for the North (2005 – 2008) was a project with Bryan Davies and Grizedale Arts to intervene in the renovation, imagination and re-use of Low Parkamoor, a remote and previously derelict farmhouse in the Lake District. The farm was handed back to Grizedale Arts in August 2008 as a multi-functional residency and project space. The interior ‘Thinking Space’ parlour and project website now function as resources to explore ideas about the site’s identity and narrative.[/ppmtoggle][ppmtoggle title=”THE FINE PRINT“]

When you take part in any #runrunrunleeds activity,

• You agree to be responsible for your own health (and that of your dependents whom you bring along). You agree to hold neither the artists nor the organisers responsible should you get injured during or after the run. Please exercise caution when exercising. Please stop running immediately if you are feeling unwell. There is no health expert accompanying the #runrunrunleeds events.
• You allow us to document the event and to use the material for publicity related to #runrunrunleeds and other RUN! RUN! RUN! events. Forms of documentation include but are not limited to photography, video, tweeting and blogging.
• You may wish to bring along water to rehydrate yourself, and a jumper to keep yourself warm.
• Can children take part? #runrunrunleeds follows in the footsteps of the well-run parkrun in advising participants about children participation: ‘Yes, we love to see happy children taking part and they are welcome to join us at our inclusive parkrun events. Please note that all under 11s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the run’, and ‘We should make clear that the governing body (UK Athletics) say children aged under 13 should not take part in any road race of distance greater than 4km. However, provided younger children are not put under any undue pressure to perform by teachers, coaches, parents or guardians they may take part for fun.’
• In the event of bad weather, we may cancel the event or perform an anti-rain (or snow, or sleet) dance.[/ppmtoggle][/ppmaccordion]