The Centre of Attention on the Isle of Bute?

STILL FROM DARLING | Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

I know we have an agreement about shameless self-publicity but I just can’t resist…

Little did I know that when I visited Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute - while having a break with family in Argyll this year - I’d end up "starring" in the Centre of Attention’s shot-for-shot remake of the 1965 film Darling, which shot a young Julie Christie to stardom.

Entitled Action Diana this guerilla film project is the inaugural art exhibition at the newly opened Art & Design Academy at Liverpool John Moores University designed by Rick Mather Architects, and is being presented as part of Abandon Normal Devices.

It’s amazing where art finds you, and it’s shocking how easily I’m persuaded to get involved in some hammy "acting". Watch-out for me on the big screen if you’re in the North West during September. I'm pretty sure I won't be repeating Christie's success at the 1966 Oscars!

MOUNT STUART | Photograph: Rex Features

If you get chance to visit Bute before summer ends, there is a Katjya Stuntz exhibition in the gallery and gardens until the end of September. 

North x North West and being lost in the Lakes

IMAGE BY TREVOR BROWN | I'm pretty sure I'm in the photo. I'm the guy stood on one leg trying to get the GPS signal?

I was invited over to Ulverston - in the far reaches of the North West - today for a meeting with Lindsay Taylor from the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, and Hayley Skipper, Arts Development Officer for the Forestry Commission based at Grizedale.

Lindsay and Hayley are sharing responsibility for the development of the "North x North West" Turning Point group, which will draw together representatives from right across the north of the North West region. This is a large rural area, with a constellation of small organisations (in terms of their capacity), working at anything but close proximity. Whilst this presents a number of challenges for developing a Turning Point group, the opportunities here are the high levels of motivation and ambition, and a sense of a shared culture despite the distance between.

A few initial meetings have been held to-date, and a ‘visioning day’ is in the planning to help draw focus from the thinking that has emerged. In addition I have been invited to meet the group so I can share what is happening across the network, and to reassure the group that others are at a similar stage of development.

I left with the feeling that something really dynamic is going to develop in that part of the world, especially with Linsday and Hayley doing the navigating.

On navigation, I left Ulverston and headed for Penrith for a weekend away with friends. Sadly I forgot to turn my ‘Sat Nav’ of walking mode, so instead of a 45-minute trot up the M6 I spent 3 hours lost in the wilds of the Lake District. It was amazing! My encounter with a family of goats reminded me of Dutton and Swindells’ description of their encounters with animals during their residency in Seoul. This paper by them was recently published in the Journal of Writing in Creative Practice. If you can find a copy of the journal it is well worth a read.