someone once said that success is the ability to go from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm. welcome to my new venture. it is a formula I have explored before; a hair salon that doubles up as a space for artworks and the exchange of ideas. in 2002, I opened a small salon in Dunfermline, imaginatively titled, alan grieve. It quickly became a success as a hairdressers and played host to exhibitions of a selection of artists' work. The only difficulty was my inability to manage staff effectively, and led to my decision to jack it all in and head back to art school. fast forward to 2010. now in possession of academic qualifications and some new 'art friends', the time seemed right to set up a new venture, minus staff. based on the first floor of what can only be described as a tonsorial mall, my one man salon will be a continuation of recent efforts to combine art and trade. go to http://www.ninetrades.com/ and check out my stint as artist in residence at Nori Salon in Dundee. If you are interested in finding out more, pop by my salon and you can pick up a copy of 'Masters at Work', the magazine I produced as part of the project. My most recent effort as a hairdresser/artist was with the National Theatre of Scotland as part of their recent 99...100 Project, based in Fife. See below, part of Theatre boffin Joyce Macmillan's review of the storytelling extravaganza.
'If The Habit Of Art represents an outstanding example of how to focus a series of complex themes into a two-and-a-half-hour main-stage play, the National Theatre of Scotland's latest project is precisely the kind of diffuse event that defies focussed criticism and response. Developed over a period of seven months, with substantial co-sponsorship from Fife Council and Scottish Power, 99..100.. has been a huge community project, travelling across Fife in search of people's stories. It has involved a huge range of Fife-based artists, from Gregory Burke to the Fence Collective; and now, it comes to fruition in a massive show-cum-installation at Silverburn Park in Leven, featuring a theatre marquee, ten memorable installations in the dank and derelict Silverburn House, some spectacular landscape lighting, and a garden full of weird and wonderful artworks, ranging from hairdresser-turned-artist Alan Grieve's mobile hair salon – good for persuading people to open up about their lives – to a series of old-style telephone boxes playing recorded conversations with passing Fifers.' joyce macmillan, the scotsman.com 26/11/2010
please get in touch if you want to know more about this project, or any other hair/art questions you might have. you can leave a comment or email me at alan22grieve@hotmail.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment