Three Weeks in November

Call to Final Intervention Collaborators - Deadline Monday 28 July 2008

Following on from group members meeting up to look at ideas for smaller scale events that the Final Intervention collaborators can participate and exhibit in whilst promoting the Final Intervention network we have come up with a project for 2008 using two contrasting ideas of dilapidation, a decayed house that’s been disused for 30 years in Liverpool and a number of transitory in between sites in Wimbledon where the notion of dereliction is a very different one. We invite all Final Intervention collaborators to get involved with us. The project is unfunded and is a means of building a framework that promotes and provides unique spaces for artists.

Three Weeks in November

This is a project that encompasses a number of in between and derelict sites in Wimbledon and a dilapidated building in Liverpool City Centre; it will be launched on the 31st of October in Liverpool towards the end of the Liverpool Biennial. After the launch weekend the Liverpool side of the project will remain open for three weeks and during this time period there will be parallel events in Wimbledon.

The works in the two sites will be linked together by a Detective Narrative concerning the final events leading up to the abandonment of the Liverpool House. The theme is loosely based around uncanny fictional narratives conjured up by specific domestic spaces. As a starting point the narrative evokes the last resident of the house whose interaction with reality becomes overtly influenced by film narratives until he is unable to differentiate between fictional memories and real memories. A key to his demise are the regular references to a series of occurrences in Wimbledon that the audience are encouraged to believe mark the last actions of his estranged wife. The audience will be invited to access and view the building in a manner reminiscent of the rituals involved in entering public Heritage Homes, albeit in a more sinister and dramatic manner. The initial formality of the house folds in on itself as the audience move through the building encountering interventions, installations and trace works that respond to the specific buildings, the narrative and hint at clues to the mystery involving the occupant. An overall sensation when leaving the Liverpool House will be that something happened in Wimbledon involving the eccentric actions of the estranged wife; that is a key to the unravelling of the Mystery.

Artists whose work is in the Liverpool House will be invited, alongside a larger number of artists, to create trace works in Wimbledon that function as clues and/or red herrings that expand upon the mystery. A tour guide/amateur detective will lead performance tours of Wimbledon proposing an alternative viewpoint to the conclusions suggested by the Liverpool House. In such a manner the exhibition whilst self-contained in each location, will also present the notion that it is more than a sum of its parts, leaving the viewer to conjure up an image of a space elsewhere.

A key theme is spaces that are open to conjecture and the intertwining of two opposing sites, and plays upon this through the use of a domestic drama that becomes over-exaggerated making the streets part of its script.

Call for collaborators

Exhibiting

You can propose work for both sites (that are conceptually connected: e.g. in Liverpool an installation and in Wimbledon a trace related to that installation) or work for just one of the sites.

Initially we would like a paragraph from you about how you might like to respond and some images (jpegs) and information about past work you have made. We will then arrange site visits where we can discuss the narratives in more depth and whether your work will follow the narrative or present itself as a red herring.

At this stage we are open to ideas, techniques and approaches and whilst we have a narrative we would also consider adapting the narrative to artists/collaborators proposals and ideas.

The works in Liverpool will be indoors and can be trace works or large-scale installations. The theme is works that respond to real memories disturbed by fictional sources and can be inspired by film scenes.

The works in Wimbledon will be sited outdoors in a temporary manner and should be traces, signs, performances etc. The theme is exotic interruptions that disturb the normalcy of suburbia. There is also the opportunity for someone to work with us as the tour guide/amateur detective.

Organisation as artwork

Website – The website is a third venue and we would like to be an artwork in its own right. Following on from the narrative and film references it could be a storyboard for the whole project. If anyone would like to collaborate on this and take it on as their own artwork then please e-mail us.

Guided Tour – The works in Wimbledon will be brought together through a guided tour. We welcome collaborators who would like to lead the tour as a performance working with the narrative script or people who would like to develop an audio guide that can be used within the tour.

Viral Marketing & Film – This will include a promotional trailer for the project, pitching it in the manner of a film release. This was initially inspired by the dramatic title of ‘Final Intervention’ which we felt was reminiscent of a blockbuster. The trailer will be for ‘Three Weeks in November’ and we welcome filmmakers and camera people to either work with us or take it on as their own work.

PR, Co-ordination, Partnerships, Publicity, Fundraising – If you have any particular skills and would like to take a lead on an aspect of the organisation then please let us know. We’d be grateful for your help and input.

This project includes a number of partner organisations in Liverpool and Wimbledon and we are keen to expand on this.

At the moment the narrative is very open, however if you have any questions please e-mail:
John for Questions about Liverpool
Pippa for Questions about Wimbledon
(If you don't have their contact details, please email info@finalintervention.org.uk - we will redirect it to John/Pippa)

Deadline for initial proposals: Monday 28 July 2008
Site visits:
Wimbledon – 1st week of August
Liverpool – 2nd week of August

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