osa/Merzen Exhibition and CUBElab.

Recently while I have been volunteering at the CUBE Gallery on Portland Street, there has been a change in exhibition and I have been invigilating the osa/Merzen exhibition based on the work of Kurt Schwitters and the CUBElab residency which is about the story of the water of Manchester and it's origins.

osa/Merzen at the CUBE Gallery is a gallery based installation and off site project which is changing the interior of the gallery space. Based on a term called "Merz" which is a method of arranging collected objects, a technique which refers to Kurt Schwitters way of working. There is a collage by Schwitters in the gallery throughout this project. The exhibition is part of the Merzman Festival in Manchester, which is showing exhibitions and events around the city inspired by Kurt Schwitters and his work in modern architecture and contemporary art. osa (office for subversive architecture) is developing the installation in the CUBE Gallery. Just like city development in Manchester, the installation and gallery space will transform in an ongoing process. All materials used in this are from Manchester and blur the lines between gallery space and installation (or frame and content).

In the CUBElab downstairs, artists Jason Minsky and William Titley are working together on 'Something in the Pipeline.' This is an artist residency made up of a gallery exhibition and a live outdoor performance. The artists are preparing for a journey from Haweswater in Cumbria to Heaton Park in Manchester. Mardale Green was a village in Cumbria which got flooded to create Haweswater, this was to keep up with the increasing demand for water in Manchester as the city grew. The artists are completing their research program in CUBE. The evidence from their field-trips will be shown; maps, drawings, plans, and historical documents will together document the story of the pipeline. The artists will build the Haweswater Reservoir complex and the lost village of Mardale Green out of Kendal Mint Cake. Also a water sample from the reservoir will be brought back to Manchester. They will be following the pipeline as closely as possible between Haweswater reservoir and Manchester communities for the 100 mile journey. The residency will end in a performance of their Kendal Mint Cake model of the Cumbrian location being flooded.