Lunchtime Talks & Screen Printing Workshop

UNCLE presents: THE ART OF FLYING

An immersive event exploring the maverick and remarkable world of fly-posting.

TAOF is free and open to the public from 31st October – 4th November.

Book tickets for the Lunchtime Talks and Screen Printing Workshop here.

Full Programme:

31st October | 11:00 - 19:00: Free public access

1st November | 11:00 - 17:00: Free public access and Screen Printing Workshop hosted by Jealous Gallery

2nd November | 10:30 - 17:00: Lunchtime Talks and free Screen Printing Workshop hosted by Jealous Gallery - see full schedule below. Get your free tickets on this page.

3rd November | 11:00 - 19:00: Free public access

4th November | 11:00 - 19:00: Free public access

Lunchtime Talks and Screen Printing Workshop Programme

2nd November I 10:30 – 17:00

Schedule:

10:30 – Doors

11:00 - Welcome and introduction

11:00 - Adrian Burnham in conversation with Susan Hansen - The Roots of

TAOF

11:25 - Talk 1 - Catherine Flood - Beauty is in the Street: Posters, Public Space and

Urban Imagination

The poster’s presence in the cityscape has long been a source of both fascination and contention. From advertisers to artists, and from urban planners to activists, this talk explores how posters have featured in struggles over the content and control of public space in Britain since the late 19th century.

12:00 – Break

12:15 - Talk 2 - Kennardphillipps - Protest is Public: Parliament in the Streets

Our hearts are in the streets, though we spend most of our time in the studio. In this talk, Kennardphillipps describe why they choose the public as their audience.

12:45 - Talk 3 - Mark Titchner - Why it is we are what we are and not what we are not

For more than three decades, Mark Titchner has produced text-based artworks for public spaces and urban infrastructure. Found in locations ranging from libraries to psychiatric hospitals, this talk will provide an overview of what he considers his most significant projects, along with insight into how they came about.

13:15 - Break and Free Screen Printing Workshop hosted by Jealous Gallery

Taking place in the courtyard (entry via The Sandbox). Visitors can roll up their sleeves and try their hand at creating a screen print of Martin Rowson’s reworking of an Atelier Populaire poster, with the opportunity fly-post the print at The Platform.

15: 00 - Closing roundtable / panel discussion - Thoughts as to the State and Continued Relevance of Fly-posting.

Panelists: Susan Hansen, Tim Horrox, Adrian Burnham, Catherine Flood, Martin Gray, Peter

Kennard, Cat Phillipps, Mark Titchner

15:45 - Event closes

About THE ART OF FLYING

An immersive event exploring the maverick and remarkable world of fly-posting.

THE ART OF FLYING isn’t simply an exhibition. Born from an oral history project collecting untold stories of commercial fly-posters active across the UK circa 1973-93, TAOF dives headfirst into the renegade spirit of an urban subculture that lived – and still lives – just outside the lines.

We’ve collected twelve vivid first-hand accounts, an initial six of which have been turned into booklets for this ongoing venture. The stories reveal how individuals stepped into the role and their experiences of many years ‘on the brush’: a life and livelihood about which very little is widely known.

Thematic introductions to the fly-posters’ testimonies further survey the many lenses through which we might know a city: protest, music, mobility, law and the practicalities of doing a job that’s remained gloriously low-tech and defiantly persistent for over 150 years.

Taking over three spaces at 1 Quaker Street in Shoreditch: The Sandbox, The CarWash and The Platform, TAOF blurs the line between gallery and the street.

The Sandbox

Visitors enter beneath a billboard featuring Terry ‘The Pill’ Slater, a fly-posting legend. An ambient film further sets the scene, while the corridor traces the vibrant, checkered history of postering. On display in the courtyard are striking photographs of street fly from the 1960s through to the 2000’s. Thanks to Jealous Gallery, visitors can roll up their sleeves for free public screen printing sessions across the weekend of 1st and 2nd November.

The CarWash

Histories come alive through vernacular interview texts and glimpses of audio. There’s ‘Three Tales From Manchester’ plus documentary interviews and a cinematic montage of fly-posting that’s appeared in film and TV. A look at street postering as it's portrayed in lens-based media, literature and visual art presents some surprising findings. A postcard from Barcelona reminds visitors that fly-posting is a global phenomenon. Displays outside The CarWash showcase contemporary artists who’ve used street posters in their practice. A programme of Lunchtime Talks by activists, artists and academics will take place here on Sunday 2nd November.

The Platform

This display site offers visitors the chance to fly-post prints of Martin Rowson’s reworking of an Atelier Populaire poster.