Project 42

Did you know that the original mac buildings were formed through a series of UN International Work Camp projects?

Project 18, in July 1963, built the Boundary Water Feature, which was later removed;

Project 16 (June 1964) constructed mac’s Arena Theatre which is still there;

and Project 10 (June 1965) helped build the famous Hexagon block.

THIS, is Project 42, the one that never happened....

Project 42, is a Talking Birds and mac take on the series of building and organisational projects which helped to create the original mac buildings. Over a number of years from ’63 onwards, Birmingham eccentric and mac creator John English (http://vimeo.com/10973877 ) and Co. initiated a series of International Work Camp projects where young people from all over Europe came to work on-site in Cannon Hill Park and live in sheds.

The work camps were seriously organised affairs, with students broken down in to work groups: Housekeeping, Labour, Amenities and Documentation. Each day featured meetings to decide and distribute lists of chores, work could be hard and the days could be long! Mid morning treats were still the form of bread and jam and entertainment came in the form of record players, debates about Vietnam, swimming in the park lake, sneaky visits to see the Beatles and Am Dram performances; all meticulously documented in diaries which have been shared with us by the mac.

Last year Talking Birds contacted some of the original work camp participants and you can see some of the interview transcripts and original images on this site.

We’re capturing some of that original spirit and emulating those work camps through Project 42, the one that never happened...and we're inviting you to join in!

 

You can keep up to date with what's happening via our scrapbook blog .

About Project 42

In brief, it’s 4 artists in 4 sheds for a week-long residency from August 2nd-6th, two of which are featuring as performance and singing work camps which can been booked onto and attended each with a working theme emulating the original camps:

Steve Byrne is Head of Housekeeping and is running a week-long performance camp which captures the spirit of those historical documents, in a shed (Book here: http://www.macarts.co.uk/page/3746/Project+42+Talking+Birds/369 )

Chris Rowbury (www.chrisrowbury.com ) is Head of Labour and is running a week-long singing camp; learning and performing songs from across some of the original participating countries and creating new songs too, in a shed (Book here: http://www.macarts.co.uk/page/3746/Project+42+Talking+Birds )

Derek Nisbet (www.dereknisbet.info ) is Head of Amenities and will be working with the Midland Radio Orchestra, collecting visitors sounds and thoughts to compose and feed brand new work, in a shed

And Laura Elliott is Head of Documentation and will be working with passers-by and the professional production team to create a Project 42 Fanzine documenting the project in, yep, a shed.

The Head’s, their Lieutenants and project participants will work collaboratively during this week and Project 42 will culminate in a final tour of the sheds and live performances at 2pm on Friday 6th August.

The countdown is starting (and with that comes rules and organisation).....

The Project 42 team of shed-artists and interns met together on site at the mac yesterday to discuss collaboration and how we operate as we undertake our 4 bespoke shed residencies in a few weeks (2nd August here we come!). We met with the Clockwork Magpie team Katy, Leah and Dom who are going to be Shed Lieutenants across the week to talk all things Project 42.

We’ve started to create some rules which emulate the original work camp spirit:

1)      We’re staying low-fi: The original participants wouldn’t have had Skype, or emails to stay in touch with family or friends...and neither will we. They wouldn’t have had tons of technology to make their lives easier and neither will we!
2)      We are sticking to a similar timetable, not a regime but something that brings us together several times each day. This might be
 
a.       10am. Meet to list chores for the day
b.      12:30pm. Gather for bread and jam
c.       2:45pm. Meet to prioritise remaining chores
d.      4:00pm. Stop for tea and social activities

 

Enter the Talking Birds 'What's In Your Shed?' Competition

www.facebook.com/TalkingBirds - send us your shed photos, and tell us what's inside - there are *big* prizes to be won!