All Probability Resolves Into Form (GI)

When the Glasgow International comes around, I always think of The Common Guild. I like it because it is a bit like going round to someone's house, only they have got a load of art scattered about the place. It feels very Glaswegian: the casual familiarity with high concept visual art, and using spaces that are a bit of a change from the clean white space of the traditional gallery. 

Their GI entry is from Gabriel Kuri: it is called All probability resolves into form. Press release begins...

4 April - 7 June 2014

21 Woodlands Terrace, Glasgow, G3 6DF

An exhibition of new work by the internationally acclaimed Mexican artist Gabriel Kuri and the first presentation of his work in Scotland. Kuri is known for works that use ordinary objects and materials to address the very nature of sculpture and explore the relationship between use and value.

Kuri regularly combines commonplace objects with his own sculptural components to create installations that, as Kate Bush writes, “refuse any hierarchy between the stuff of every day and the stuff of art”. His exhibition at The Common Guild will involve the juxtaposition of a series of sculptural forms with found and donated materials. Items of basic necessity - such as blankets, sleeping bags and toiletries - will be arranged within a group of formal elements made by the artist, highlighting the use, value and ownership of objects as they wait to be put to use.

Please Donate!
As part of Gabriel Kuri's exhibition, The Common Guild is seeking donations of materials of basic necessity. All donations will be passed on to the GLAD Action Network and the Unity Centre, Glasgow, and other organisations dealing with homelessness and disaster.

We are looking for:
• sleeping bags

• clean blankets and linen (sheets, pillow-cases, towels)
• toiletries: soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes (unused)

Unfortunately we cannot accept any items other than those listed above.

Please bring donations to:

The Common Guild
21 Woodlands Terrace
Glasgow, G3 6DF

From: 17 - 28 March
Between: 10am - 6pm Monday – Friday
or call 0141 428 3022 to arrange collection.

Three Festivals Coming Soon

Back when I was a cheeky young pup - as opposed to being a balding cynic - I would stamp my feet at the thought of Edinburgh as 'The Festival City.' Sure, they've got The Fringe, manipulate, the EIF but Glasgow can do it too. Celtic Connections is occupying most of the city this month; last weekend was Sound Thought and there are three festivals between now and June: Buzzcut, Mayfesto and Behaviour

. If they don't cover the gamut of theatrical experience, I'll stop making a fuss about the wonder of the West Coast.

One of my favourite books is Social Sculpture, a survey of the Glasgow Visual Art Scene under the influence of Joseph Beuys. It starts off talking about Beuys's visits (okay, to the East Coast), before examining his idea that art can perform a community function, building an atmosphere that allows creativity to thrive. The music scene is a big part of this and the traditions it mentions - the DIY aesthetic, the overlap between band members and conceptual artists - continue to inspire. Cry Parrot, the Glasgow International, Buzzcut: the connection between these events are not ones of content but aspiration. The desire, both to promote Glasgow as a place where 'art happens' and to bring international art into the city, lends these groups a rare, shared vitality.

Part of this identity keys into my ideas about curation as artistic creation - there are figures behind these names who act as curators - but the vastness of the project means that they take on lives of their own. It's possible to plot routes through Buzzcut and GI that reflect vastly different themes. The question becomes whether these events could happen anywhere else in the world.

That cheeky young pup might have learnt not to make generalisations, but the idea of a Glasgow School, sharing enthusiasms and style, is attractive. Disregarding the branding of the council (which tends to be outward facing, attracting visitors), Glasgow has a distinctive quality, a mixture of political radicalism, post-modern verve and urban hustle. Of course, it has the opposites too, but I am ignoring them. They don't support my optimism about finding an answer...