Magpie Thunder Bureau

it's time I find a new place to keep my feathers

2012-02-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

grow your own polaroid

2012-01-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

featured on The Impossible Project.

animal apron

2012-01-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

m o n o p o l y ~ m o n i e s

2012-01-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

make yer own.

The Postal Project, 7 Garden Street, P A N D E M I C !, Sheffield, 11th - 12th November, 2011

2011-11-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

more photos here.

p.s. here's to letter writing!

2011-11-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

You may have seen the Letter Writing Project (p.s. here's to letter writing!) at the MACC/LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition, the Home from Home exhibition (both in Leeds), and at nearly all of the Postal Project tour stops. Better still you sat down and wrote a letter! Thank you to everyone who did, lots of lovely letters, some soppy ones, some sad ones, some funny ones and some just bizarre. I have now sewn all the letters together into a hand-bound book, which will probably make an appearance somewhere...sometime...potentially in a location near you...until then feast your eyes on this. Also, look out for p.s. here's to letter writing vol.2!

p.(p.?)s. those of you who left an address I will try and send you something good in the post asap.

for the passenger

2011-11-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

I was asked, along with some others, by artist Su Hurrell to create a map describing my journey to MMU in Manchester. The only constraint was that it had to be approximately postcard-sized. The text is from The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, 1937 (175). This  used to describe how I felt about the train journey as I would get  travel sick every time I tried to do anything on the train to pass the  time, now I've managed to get over this travel sickness and spend each  journey reading which seems like such a better use of time that  otherwise felt almost entirely wasted.

Further information from Su: 'I asked people for maps to demonstrate that people understand a map to contain certain elements, i.e. starting/ending destination, orientation, descriptive symbolism. My research question for the Contexts is about the absurdity of mapping complexity and I wanted to see what preconceptions participants brought to the exercise - what conventions they understood. Your contribution was the most 'left field' of them (in a good way) and yet contained starting/end destination, and a linear journey of sorts with the line of poetry, left/right conventions of writing to journey.'

i ❤ letterpress

2011-10-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

read

think

write

talk

make

Camera Obscura

2011-10-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

I can see Sunderland Street..

The Postal Project, John Rylands Library, Free For Arts Festival, Manchester, 30th September - 10th October 2011

2011-10-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

The Postal Project

many thanks to

John Rylands Library

and

Free For Arts Festival 

and Bonnie

2011-09-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

melskine

2011-07-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

/ˈbo͝okˌmärk/

2011-07-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

save your bacon, use a bookmark

(new and unused)

(old and worn)

stab binding

2011-07-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

a room with a view

2011-07-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

balls of wool by TJ Dolan ~ K R E K ©

finch of gold

2011-07-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

the ever-ready question.

2011-07-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

(sew botched club)

AA2A Exhibition, MMU Manchester, 17th - 30th June, 2011

2011-07-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

Glittermouse

Ima Picó

tapered at the tail end

2011-07-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

the people's pianos

shackleford's pianos

Sunderland Street Open Studios, Barnaby Festival 2011, Macclesfield

2011-06-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Pat Cody

. . . .

TJ Dolan

Trisha Trodden

The Postal Project

Trevor Bailey

Ralph McGaul

Wild Thing, Paradise Mill, Barnaby Festival 2011, Macclefield

2011-06-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

"Generally speaking,
a howling wilderness does not howl:
it is the imagination of the
traveller that does the howling."
Henry David Thoreau

The boundary between the wild and the civilised is a long recognised one, both
determining and representing a divide between chaos and order, the unknown and
the familiar. Fuelled by myth and folklore, people have either feared what lies in
dense woodland and unexplored moorland beyond the safety of town boundaries or
have been fuelled by a desire to conquer it.

Literature is riddled with fictions of forests as terrifying places, nurturing fears of wild
animals and other mythical beasts. The fear of being cast out into the forest to exist
as part of the unchartered and the otherworldly abound, along with the terrors of
town dwellers of what these castaways may become.

The edges of towns have come to function as hinterlands, becoming liminal spaces
existing somewhere between myth and reality. In these non-spaces where the edges
of the known and unknown meet, boundaries are blurred and the definitions of man,
animal, order, chaos, the wild, the civilised, and fact and fiction are broken down.

Wild Thing presents the work of seven artists who consider the complex relationships
that exist between man, animal and wilderness. Diverse in media, each work reveals
a unique perspective that exists somewhere between the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Melanie J. Alexandrou
Hilary Jack
Fiona Mckillop
Jane Osmond
Dallas Seitz
Mit Senoj
Beata Veszely

-Text by Karen Gaskill (curator)

Beaty Veszely

Jane Osmond

Mit Senoj

Hilary Jack

Dallas Seitz

Fiona McKillop

p i a n o

2011-05-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

painting will soon commence.

The Postal Project, Handmade's Digital | DIY | Craft Fair, FutureEverything Festival, Victoria Baths, Manchester -14th May 2011

2011-05-21T03:52:00.000-07:00

.

Thanks to everyone who visited our stall at the FutureEverything Handmade Fair in Manchester, we got lots of addresses! 

We hope you enjoyed yourselves. 

Also many thanks to our postal representatives!

postalproject.tumblr.com

FutureEverything

The Postal Project, Bar Lane Studios, York - 23rd April 2011

2011-05-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

>secretarial disputes< 

more photos here

.

articulation of the inarticulate

2011-05-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

one two three four five six seven

2011-05-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

2011-04-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

ribbons and buttons and peguin tails

2011-04-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

woodbine binding

2011-04-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

MACC/LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition - take down

2011-04-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

 FIN.

.

MACC/LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition - Private View 31st March/Party 1st April

2011-04-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

MACC/LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition - exhibition photographs

2011-04-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Melanie J. Alexandrou

Patrick Cody

Trevor Bailey

Gavin Barber

TJ Dolan

Tom Whittaker

Simon Mawdsley

Trisha Trodden

Trevor Bailey

Ralph McGaul

Robert Sharples

MACC/LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition - set up

2011-04-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Home from Home - Opening 11th March 2011

2011-04-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

more photographs here.

horsepig

2011-04-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

this be bread.

Home from Home - exhibition photographs

2011-04-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

Home from Home

the egg king

2011-03-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

book box match

2011-03-10T04:17:00.000-08:00

typewriter tiptiptip

2011-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

MACC/LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition

2011-02-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

poster by Ralph McGaul and Trevor Bailey

facebook event page

The MACC / LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition 

aims to test and celebrate the collective 

co-operation and creative dexterity of selected 

artists  originating/operating from Macclesfield, Cheshire.

The North is a  small place.  Though we celebrate
an ability to be mobile and  communicate easily
trans-Pennine, exhibiting work collectively
elsewhere  may be rare.  

Macclesfield is also a small place.  
...A  bizarre, somewhat miserable, 
amusing, grey, humble & modest place. 
  But, from one reason to another, 
highly conducive to creative people.       

The purpose of the Art Expedition is not 
necessarily a  showcase, more to explore 
the strength of coincidental artistic 
talent  across generations from Macclesfield.      

Each artist follows a  different strand and 
narrative to what they produce and the 
processes  they pursue.  With this Art Expedition 
we wish to state a strong  coherence and identity 
in bringing the fantastic works of established, 
credible artists / friends from the North together.

ARTISTS: 

Melanie Alexandrou
Trevor Bailey
Gavin Barber
Patrick Cody
TJ Dolan
Simon Mawdsley
Ralph McGaul
Robert Sharples
Trisha Trodden
Tom Whittaker


31/03 PRIVATE VIEW 6-9pm
01/04 OPEN TO ALL 7pm - late


The  MACC / LEEDS Trans-Pennine Art Expedition 

will be hosted at the  exciting project and 

Grade I listed building TempleWorksLeeds.  

Expect fantastic work displayed and curated within 

an interesting former industrial space, 

this is a rare opportunity.    

ALSO, LURGY LOU & THE MEGAGERMS WILL BE PLAYING. 

GET DOWN & BYOB (booze also on sale). 

Hope to see you there. 

http://www.templeworksleeds.com/
Marshall Street, Holbeck, Leeds, LS11 9YJ

For further details contact:
robert.a.sharples@hotmail.co.uk

text by Robert Sharples 

the not-so-secret garden:operation sunflower [ii]

2011-02-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

see here. 

paint

2011-02-17T04:36:00.000-08:00

XMAS HAPPY

2011-02-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Letterpress and linocut xmas cards

piggy i, ii, and iii

2011-02-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

[MJA,SJH,SP]

2010

PIGGY!

letterpress and linocuts

2011-02-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

exile

2011-01-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

nearly all photographs have now been banished to the 

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ • Photographic

section.

(sorry Diana)

wagtail on my windowsill

2011-01-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

duck prints

2010-12-30T09:16:00.000-08:00

letterpress via diana

2010-12-29T15:34:00.000-08:00

Sunderland Street Open Studios II

2010-12-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

Sunderland Street Open Studios II

2010-11-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sunderland Street Studios will once again be opening its doors to everyone for one weekend in December.

After the very successful Open Studios that took place in June as part  of the Barnaby Festival, Ralph McGaul, Melanie Alexandrou and Patrick  Cody invite you into their studios, where you can meet the artists and  learn about the  ideas and processes behind the work. New work will be  on display and for sale, including paintings, prints, t-shirts and much  more. This is a FREE event and there will also be tea and homemade  cakes!

Directions: Go in the black door between Brushstrokes and Thong in  Cheek, down a few steps, then up the stairs, turn right, at the end of  the corridor.
Follow the signs, and don't worry.

chat!

2010-11-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

AA2A

2010-11-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

Artists Access to Art Colleges invites practising artists and designer  makers to undertake research using art college facilities. AA2A schemes aim to benefit students and Colleges through their interaction with  practising artists. 

"The AA2A project provides placements for visual artists and designer  makers in Higher and Further Education institutions across England.        In 2010/2011, AA2A schemes will run in 31 institutions, providing  124 placements nationally.  In the last 11 years, over 1,100  participants have had the opportunity       to undertake a period of research or realise a project, using  workshops and supporting facilities in participating fine art and design  departments."

http://aa2a.org 

http://aa2a.biz/pg/profile/melanie 

letterpress

2010-11-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

gourds

2010-09-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

fig

2010-09-11T05:48:00.000-07:00

heyday

2010-09-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

the not-so-secret garden:operation sunflower [..poppies]

2010-07-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

Barnaby - CMV Art Market

2010-06-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Barnaby - Sunderland Street Open Studios

2010-06-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

a bureauphile's dream

2010-06-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

procession

2010-06-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

taste

2010-06-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

fox piaaano

2010-05-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

stick

2010-05-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sunderland Street Open Studios

2010-05-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

dear moose

2010-05-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

extraordinaire

2010-05-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

one word. bureauphile.

2010-04-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

ode to the zebrafinch

2010-04-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

2008

2009

2010

fabrication

2010-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

family portraits

2010-04-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

birdbookbook

2010-04-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

flashface

2010-03-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

YSJ PastPresent, The ArtSpace, York, opening night Friday 5th March 2010...

 >with Diana...
Oh, pleease stay with me, Diana...

i'm a bird me

2010-03-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

photograph by S.P. f-stop and roll

one day...

2010-03-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

book BOOK

2010-03-11T05:21:00.000-08:00

postal project

2010-03-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

We would like to set up a  project that enables people to
 ‘generate’ a random address for them to  write to.
You won’t know this person but they may 
have something interesting to say, 
they may not.

We think it will be fun, who knows what will  happen?

Aim?

We would like to create a website that anyone  can join. 
When you join our website, this will enable you to generate 
a  random address, this will be the address you will write to. 
When you  join you can also create a profile 
on which you can upload/scan in your  received letters.

From this archive of peoples' post, we would like  to create a publication, which could be in the form of a magazine or a  book. If the project grows to be very popular, we would like to publish  yearly annuals.

FIRST AND FOREMOST!

We thought it would be a grand idea to have an  event of address swapping, to start the ball rolling, and to begin our  archiving of addresses.

WE NEED YOU TO SEND US YOUR ADDRESSES!

START DATE; MARCH 2010
END DATE; DEC 2010

If you’d like to be involved, then send us a  postcard with your address on!
Postcards can be of any size and contain any  artwork/text/visuals 
but must have your postal address on  them.

Your address will be exhibited at an event in  York, England (date TBC). 
People who attend the event will choose an  address from the 
exhibition-style event, and they will send you a  letter!

We will document everything we have received, 
 and the event via our tumblr page;

http://postalproject.tumblr.com


This project has 3 inventors, so 3 addresses for you lot to  choose from!

J  BlOOD
Flat 4a Low Ousegate
York
YO1 9QU
UK
L GORTON
47 Elm Road
Burscough
Ormskirk
Lancashire
L40 7RJ
UK
M ALEXANDROU
Unit 8
59-61 Sunderland Street
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 6HN
UK

this is getting absurd

2010-03-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

folks. I have invented a flying machine

2010-03-10T04:47:00.000-08:00

YSJ Past&Present - exhibition photographs

2010-03-07T16:40:00.000-08:00