Art Sheffield 2016

Installation View. Michel Auder at S1 Artspace.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

SheffieldArt & Culture

Art Sheffield 2016

Sheffield shows its steel, as expansive festival celebrates audio and video art across unexpected venues...

Established in 1999, Art Sheffield is a cultural festival going from strength to strength; like fellow northern powerhouse Manchester International Festival, the creative coming together relies on unexpected venues and challenging curation to deliver an unconventional programme that sticks two scruffy fingers up to similar outings in the south.

Art Sheffield 2016: Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange and Charm Scratch Video at 156 Arundel Street

Installation View. Scratch Video at 156 Arundel Street.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

I might be biased, but there’s a freedom of expression and an underdog spirit that gives events like this an extra something north of Watford. The rapid decline of industry in the 1980s; the potent music scenes; the abundance of art spaces and disused buildings free from London’s whirlwind gentrification; the free-rolling chest-out ambition to prove the capital wrong; the absence of the gallery ligger set. Whatever it is, creativity always seems to crackle more in this part of the country. And crackle it does at Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange and Charm; this year’s edition of Art Sheffield.

Calling on that underdog spirit, and Sheffield’s heritage of socialism and resistance, the short-lived ‘scratch video’ scene emerged from the rise of video editing equipment arriving in art schools in the 1980s. Splicing together news footage and experimenting with new effects and techniques, the videos were informed by Thatcherism, the threat of nuclear war, and the rise of global capitalism; and often found their way into club nights, or as videos for musicians. Presented by LUX and the BFI National Archive as part of a major touring film project, THIS IS NOW: FILM AND VIDEO AFTER PUNK, Art Sheffield sees a number of these rare works — eerily relevant amid the Tories current jokeocracy.

Park Hill estate

Park Hill estate

Elsewhere, sound and moving image are celebrated across a host of urban and art spaces: Brutalist icon, the Park Hill estate; renowned music venue The Leadmill; Modernist landmark Moore Street Substation (open to the public for the very first time); former steel works; and many of the city’s leading galleries.

Running until 8 May, the full list of artists runs like this: Marie Angeletti, Michel Auder, Charles Atlas, Anna Barham, Steven Claydon, Mark Fell, Beatrice Gibson, Pat Hearn and Shelley Lake, Florian Hecker, Hannah Sawtell, Richard Sides and Paul Sietsema. Scratch video works: George Barber, Nick Cope, Jeffrey Hinton, Duvet Brothers, John Scarlett Davis, Gorilla Tapes, John Maybury, Kim Flitcroft and Sandra Goldbacher.

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Marie Angeletti

Installation View. Marie Angeletti at Arundel Gate Court.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

George Barber, Absence of Satan

Still from George Barber, Absence of Satan, 1985
Courtesy the artist and LUX

George Barber & George Snow

Still from George Barber & George Snow, Art of Noise: Legs, 1985
Courtesy the artists and LUX

156 Arundel Street
Bloc Projects
The Link Pub
S1 Studios
121 Eyre Street
Mark Fell

Installation View. Mark Fell at The Link Pub.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

BLAH

Installation View. Mark Fell at The Link Pub.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Richard Sides

Installation View. Richard Sides at 121 Eyre Street.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Duvet Brothers, Virgin

Still from Duvet Brothers, Virgin, 1985
Courtesy the artists and LUX

Duvet Brothers, Blue Monday

Still from Duvet Brothers, Blue Monday, 1984
Courtesy the artists and LUX

Richard Sides

Installation View. Richard Sides at 121 Eyre Street.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Anna Barham

Installation View. Anna Barham at BL_NK SPACE at Roco.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Scratch Video

Installation View. Scratch Video at 156 Arundel Street.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Charles Atlas

Installation View. Charles Atlas at Sheffield Institute of Arts Gallery.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Richard Sides

Installation View. Richard Sides at 121 Eyre Street.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Florian Hecker

Installation View. Florian Hecker at Portland Works.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Pat Hearn & Shelley Lake

Installation View. Pat Hearn & Shelley Lake at DINA.
Courtesy Art Sheffield. Photo Jules Lister

Bethel Walk, off Cambridge Street
Moore Street Substation