FTHo

The Incidental Unit presents this two-day event to mark the culmination of the Incidental Futures programme.

On Friday 13 September a study day will explore historical examples of Artist Placement Group to consider how these experiments anticipated key challenges presently facing art, artists, the worlds of art and beyond. 

On Saturday 14 September, a curated assembly will convene contemporary practices inspired Artist Placement Group. Activated by their artist practitioners, each instance will highlight the long-term impact of the Artist Placement Group on cultural production across the UK. 

Artists: Michele Allen, Johann Arens, Charles Danby and Rob Smith, Corinna Dean, KALEIDOWORKS, Nicola Ellis, Simon Farid, Rob Flint, Amanda Loomes and Laura Purseglove. 

This Incidental Futures meeting will be led by artist Jane Lawson. With an introduction into the history of the Artist Placement Group to its third, present day iteration, Incidental Unit, the meeting will convene to think through the legacy of the Artist Placement Group in Manchester.

This Incidental Futures meeting is led by artist Oliver Sutherland, Jessy Young of design duo Conway and Young, and Euella Jackson and Elinor Lower of Rising Arts Agency. Following an introduction to the history of the Artist Placement Group – from its inception to its present day iteration as the Incidental Unit – participants are invited to share their own thoughts and practice. The meeting aims to consider contemporary models, catalysts and disruptions for artistic production and the working conditions in which they take place.

2pm, Anatomy Lecture Theatre  -  FULLY BOOKED

Join Incidental Unit (IU) as artist Anthony Schrag hosts the first meeting of the Incidental Futures (IF) programme. First came APG, then O+I and now IU. Find out more about this lineage of radical artistic practice and feed into our current research into their impact on socially engaged, public facing practice today. Through the ‘incidental meeting’ format we will come together to attend to APG’s unfinished business.

The IU was developed with original members of the Artist Placement Group (APG, 1989 - 2009) and its successor, Organization + Imagination (O+I, 1989 - 2009). Since 2016, the IU seeks to reignite and enrich debates around the role of the artist in contemporary society and, more specifically, around current modes of socially engaged practice in the UK.

Incidental Futures is the first touring public programme organised by IU. Through ‘incidental meetings’, IU invites participants to join these public events and is calling upon all to share thoughts and practice to attend to the APG’s ‘unfinished business’. This programme aims to collect material, facilitate conversation and inspire action.