Art in Unusual Spaces is a recent scheme lead by Leeds City Council and partnering organisations to get more art showcased within the city centre, particularly taking advantage of disused/empty shop units that would otherwise be left dark and unnoticed.

Taking place in a number of locations across the city centre the first round of exhibitions included some ace photography and ‘curiosity’ shops pop up in the Merrion centre, photography from young people of Leeds in Lands Lane, The Woolgather Travelling Gallery in Leeds Shopping Plaza and the short shorts video projections in the 42 gallery on New Briggate.

I was lucky enough to have my video tree-window-window accepted as part of the short shorts exhibition that will run from dusk till dawn until the 27th of February 2010. If you would like to head down then take a look here for the location [google maps].

Following the success of the first wave of art in unusual space there is now an opportunity to submit proposals for work that can be shown in March 2010. Go here to find out more information [submissions must be in by 29th Jan 2010].

I am looking forward to providing FriiSpray as a creative tool for the people that come along to this event. In the past we have seen encouraging results – from club environments to school workshops and each time we take the setup to an event we gain useful feedback and feature requests. By sharing our project as open source and free to download we have seen people using the software in ways we had not considered – something that has fascinated me. It seems that being open and engaging with peers both in the online and real world has paid off for us, and many others before us.

Last night I attended the private view launch party of Samenhang – an international exhibition of contemporary art from artists that are alumni of the EEA – the European Exchange Academy – that has been running since 2003.

Once I found the gallery [it is a tad out of the way, tucked away on the outskirts of Leeds city centre] I entered into a crazy atmosphere of inflatable sculptures hanging from the ceiling and numerous video screens showing a host of different visual pieces.

Of particular interest to me was Marguerite Leudet’s sonic art piece, ‘Speakers‘ consisting of batteries + small piezo speakers. I liked the simplicity of the physical elements that contrasted with a mysteriously undulating rhythm of the sound produced.

Another notable piece was two photographs by Stefan Ruitenbeek – it took me a little while to adjust to these and stomach them, well worth seeing!

The evening proved to be a great success and kick started a very interesting exhibition. Samenhang will be running until Friday the 13th – I advise that you check it out before then. See http://www.novgorod.co.uk/ for more information.

MAP Gallery: Hope House, 65 Mabgate, Leeds LS9 7DR.