Crunch (art and music festival)
Encyclopedia
Crunch is an annual Art and Music festival that takes place in November in Hay-on-Wye
, Wales
. It is held by the Institute of Art and Ideas
, a non-profit organization which hosts a number of cultural events throughout the year. Crunch brings together the world’s leading artists, curators and critics to debate the questions that lie at the core of contemporary art. The 3-day festival features talk sessions and debates, live music, performance acts, creative workshops, art exhibitions and late night parties.
, artist Susan Hiller
and postmodern painter and psychoanalyst Bracha Ettinger debating how art and creativity make us alive; Serpentine Director Hans Ulrich-Obrist on the rise of the curators and outspoken artist Jake Chapman in conversation with Paradise Row founder Nick Hackworth.
With exhibitions from galleries such as The View
, the UK's contemporary art scene combines with a debate series featuring significant cultural figures such as former Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company Adrian Noble
, novelist Mark Haddon
and art historian Griselda Pollock
.
Other highlights include a trio of Cabaret acts, comedy from the BBC's
John-Luke Roberts
and music performances from British Sea Power
, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
and Mara Carlyle
.
Amongst those that took part in debates were Bianca Jagger
, co-director of the Serpentine Gallery
Julia Peyton-Jones, art critic Matthew Collings
, The Evening Standard
's art correspondant Godfrey Barker
, The BBC's
Arts Editor Will Gompertz
and musician Brian Eno
.
The newly installed globe field hosted the Great British Art Debate, the Crunch Art Fair and the ‘Globe On Fire’ installation. Inside the globe, The Museum of Everything brought its Exhibition #2 to Hay.
, sculptor Richard Wentworth, graffiti artist Felix Braun, and curators from The Saatchi Gallery, The ICA
and Hayward Gallery
.
Visual art performers The Paper Cinema demonstrated a blend of illustration and film with The Lost World and The Night Flyer, and musician Richard ‘Kid’ Strange
performed classics from his thirty-year career.
.
It was the first official UK forum to address the effects of the global economic recession upon artists and the art market. Ben Lewis'
keynote speech provided a preview of the content of his subsequent documentary on Channel 4
.
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is held by the Institute of Art and Ideas
Institute of Art and Ideas
The Institute of Art and Ideas ' is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to overturn the current intellectually conservative environment where ideas and philosophy are undervalued...
, a non-profit organization which hosts a number of cultural events throughout the year. Crunch brings together the world’s leading artists, curators and critics to debate the questions that lie at the core of contemporary art. The 3-day festival features talk sessions and debates, live music, performance acts, creative workshops, art exhibitions and late night parties.
Crunch 2011 ‘Awake in the Universe’
The festival has doubled in size and features controversial art historian Julian StallabrassJulian Stallabrass
Julian Stallabrass is a British art historian, photographer and curator. A Marxist, he has written extensively on contemporary art , photography and the history of twentieth century British art.-High Art Lite:...
, artist Susan Hiller
Susan Hiller
Susan Hiller is an American-born artist who lives in London, UK. Her art practice encompasses installation, video, photography, performance and writing.-Early Life and Education:...
and postmodern painter and psychoanalyst Bracha Ettinger debating how art and creativity make us alive; Serpentine Director Hans Ulrich-Obrist on the rise of the curators and outspoken artist Jake Chapman in conversation with Paradise Row founder Nick Hackworth.
With exhibitions from galleries such as The View
The View (contemporary art exhibition space in Winchester, UK.)
The View is a contemporary exhibition space in the historic City of Winchester, southern England.The view is managed and funded by Winchester City Council's Arts Development Service with the help of artist Alastair Eales, and is for the display of new work created by people who are either studying...
, the UK's contemporary art scene combines with a debate series featuring significant cultural figures such as former Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company Adrian Noble
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
, novelist Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon is an English novelist and poet, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.- Life and work :...
and art historian Griselda Pollock
Griselda Pollock
Griselda Pollock is a prominent art historian and cultural analyst, and a world-renowned scholar of international, post-colonial feminist studies in the visual arts. She is best known for her theoretical and methodological innovation, combined with deeply engaged readings of historical and...
.
Other highlights include a trio of Cabaret acts, comedy from the BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
John-Luke Roberts
John-Luke Roberts
Luke Roberts , better known as John-Luke Roberts is a British comedy writer and performer, most noted for his BBC 7 sketch series Spats....
and music performances from British Sea Power
British Sea Power
British Sea Power are an indie rock band based in Brighton, England, although three of the band members originally come from Kendal in Cumbria. Critics have likened their sound to a variety of groups, from The Cure and Joy Division to the Pixies and Arcade Fire. The band are famed for their live...
, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
Emily Barker
Emily Barker is a guitarist and singer-songwriter born in Bridgetown, Western Australia. With chamber-folk trio The Red Clay Halo, she has recorded three albums: Photos.Fires.Fables. , Despite The Snow and Almanac...
and Mara Carlyle
Mara Carlyle
Mara Carlyle is an English singer-songwriter and arranger who also plays the musical saw and the ukulele. She was raised in Shropshire, England and now lives in London.-Career:...
.
Crunch 2010 ‘What’s the point of art?’
The 2010 festival highlighted that the art world is in a state of flux and that an emerging generation of artists and curators are pushing for a new arts agenda. It was described by Harper's Bazaar as “The art and soul of the party.”Amongst those that took part in debates were Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger is a Nicaraguan-born social and human rights advocate and a former actress and model...
, co-director of the Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
Julia Peyton-Jones, art critic Matthew Collings
Matthew Collings
-Life and career:In one of his books on art, Collings states that, in his early teenage years, he ran away to Canada. This act was preceded by a period of hanging around in a house in Oakley Street, Chelsea, whose residents included members of various rock bands including Mighty Baby and Family...
, The Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
's art correspondant Godfrey Barker
Godfrey Barker
Godfrey Barker is a British journalist and author.He is the arts correspondent for The Evening Standard and a contributing editor of ES Magazine....
, The BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Arts Editor Will Gompertz
Will Gompertz
Will Gompertz is the BBC's Arts Editor, the first person appointed to this new role, created in 2009. He is a second cousin to Simon Gompertz, the personal finance correspondent to BBC News.-Arts career:...
and musician Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
.
The newly installed globe field hosted the Great British Art Debate, the Crunch Art Fair and the ‘Globe On Fire’ installation. Inside the globe, The Museum of Everything brought its Exhibition #2 to Hay.
Crunch 2009 ‘Art in an Ephemeral Age’
Crunch 2009 explored the issues at the heart of contemporary art, with topics such as performance, environmental art and installation taking centre stage. Guest speakers included former head of The Ruskin School Michael Archer, Radio 4 presenter Godfrey BarkerGodfrey Barker
Godfrey Barker is a British journalist and author.He is the arts correspondent for The Evening Standard and a contributing editor of ES Magazine....
, sculptor Richard Wentworth, graffiti artist Felix Braun, and curators from The Saatchi Gallery, The ICA
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
and Hayward Gallery
Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
.
Visual art performers The Paper Cinema demonstrated a blend of illustration and film with The Lost World and The Night Flyer, and musician Richard ‘Kid’ Strange
Richard Strange
For the Jesuit, see Richard Strange Richard "Kid" Strange is an English writer, actor, musician, curator, teacher, adventurer, and the founder and front man of seminal mid-seventies protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.-Music:Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975,...
performed classics from his thirty-year career.
Crunch 2008 ‘Art in a New Era’
The first annual art festival hosted by the IAI focused on the implications of the credit crunch upon the art market and the wider art community. The festival brought together some of the foremost artists and art professionals working in the UK including Gavin Turk, Anthony Hayden Guest and Ben LewisBen Lewis (writer)
Ben Lewis is a writer for theatre, radio and television, theatre director and performer, who trained at LAMDA.He co-created and directed My Name Is Sue and The Village Social with Dafydd James...
.
It was the first official UK forum to address the effects of the global economic recession upon artists and the art market. Ben Lewis'
Ben Lewis (writer)
Ben Lewis is a writer for theatre, radio and television, theatre director and performer, who trained at LAMDA.He co-created and directed My Name Is Sue and The Village Social with Dafydd James...
keynote speech provided a preview of the content of his subsequent documentary on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.