A series of evening organised by Metal centred on the importance of popular music to the formation of people’s identities and sense of place.

The series is developed and presented by author Daryl Easlea and academic Andrew Branch.

Taking place in Chalkwell Hall, Southend on Sea, Listen To This will place a specific focus on the local in relation to national and international popular culture. Special guests will be in attendance at each event to discuss their work and, in some cases, perform.

Listen To This will reflect on past era-defining moments in popular music and culture with a local South-East Essex perspective. The evenings will culminate in a concert at Village Green 2012.

This Must Be The Place: Music, Social Spaces And Ways Forward For Southend’s Music Scenes.
Friday 24 February 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
Dr Feelgood: The Esplanade, January 1973
Junk Club formed at Royal Hotel 2002

Boys Will Be Boys And Girls Will Be Girls: Popular Music And Gender.
Friday 16 March 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
David Bowie at Eastwoodbury Lane, August 1970
Blur, Cliffs Pavilion, June 2009

Tribalism And Difference: Subcultures And Scenes.
Friday 20 April 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
The Who at Kingsway, Hadleigh, Jan 1967
Depeche Mode: Crocs June 1981

Everybody Dance: Music, Meaning And The Body.
Thursday 17 May 2012
7.30pm – 10pm
Jackie Wilson at Zero 6, 1972
Chris Hill first plays at The Goldmine 1973

Listen To This in concert at Village Green
Saturday 30 June 2012
Timings and venue at Village Green to be confirmed.

Tickets cost £5.00 and can be booked online HERE, by telephone on 01702 470700 or by calling in at Chalkwell Hall.

The launch will take place on Thursday 24 November at 7pm at Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park, Southend-on-Sea.

RSVP: chalkwell@metalculture.com or 01702 470700

Future Park is a new programme of activity at Metal for artists from across the South East Essex region for discussion, sharing ideas and projects, catching up with news and meeting old and new friends.

The evenings are designed to be an informal and friendly way of staying informed and inspired, as well as to develop ideas and practice within a regional, national and international context supported by Metal’s experience and connections.

Artists, working in all disciplines who think they may benefit from engaging with a dynamic, ambitious, artist-led environment are welcome to drop by.

Each evening will consist of one, more or all of the following activities:

OPEN MIC – 3 MINUTE WONDERS – The first 10 artists to turn up with a prepared 3 min showcase of their work gets the floor / GUEST SPEAKERS – National and international artists, curators and thinkers invited / PRACTICAL SESSIONS OR ONE-TO-ONE SURGERIES / CONVERSATION – A short Q&A session with presenting artists, followed by general conviviality / FOOD – Home cooked by fellow artists / DRINKS – Some provided but do feel free to bring your own as well.

Photos from the last Future Park in September:

FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER FROM 8.30PM-10.30PM
TICKETS £10 FROM BOOK INN, LEIGH ON SEA

Chalkwell Hall is a building literally dripping with ghostly history. The team that, by day, brings you the warm welcoming Chalkwell Pop Up café will, by night, tap into the spooky underbelly of Southend, Westcliff, Chalkwell and Leigh on Sea.

The evening will include readings from local writers Rachel Lichtenstein and Syd Moore who will uncover the truth behind some of the scarier local legends. Alongside these fireside tales will be the trade mark excellent cuisine from Chalkwell Pop Up in the form of a light supper. Attendees are able to provide their own drinks and bring some of their own paranormal experiences for discussion too.

Tales From Beyond the Grave starts at 8.30pm and is for adults only.

Tickets
Tickets are £10 and can be purchased from The Book Inn, 49 Broadway, West Leigh On Sea or from METAL at Chalkwell Hall

For further details please contact:
Fiona Magill
Mobile: 07545 101 153
Email: chalkwellpopup@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @chalkwellpopup
Facebook: chalkwellpop

A new programme of activity for artists from across the South East Essex region

OPEN MIC: 3 MINUTE WONDERS / GUEST SPEAKER PRACTICAL SESSIONS / ONE TO ONE SURGERIES PRESENTING ARTISTS / Q&A SESSION / DRINKS / HOME COOKED FOOD BY FELLOW ARTISTS

FUTURE DATES:

Thurs 29 Sept 2011: 8pm – 10.30pm

Thurs 27 Oct 2011: 8pm – 10.30pm

Thurs 24 Nov 2011: 8pm – 10.30pm

Thurs 29 Mar 2012: 8pm – 10.30pm

Future Park is a new programme of activity at Metal for artists from across the South East Essex region.

In partnership with four Southend artists, Metal are hosting a regular monthly evening at Chalkwell Hall in Southend on Sea for discussion, sharing ideas and projects, catching up with news and meeting old and new friends.

The evenings are designed to be an informal and friendly way of staying informed and inspired, as well as to develop ideas and practice within a regional, national and international context supported by Metal’s experience and connections.

Artists, working in all disciplines who think they may benefit from engaging with a dynamic, ambitious, artist-led environment are welcome to drop by.

Each evening will consist of one, more or all of the following activities:

OPEN MIC – 3 MINUTE WONDERS
The first 10 artists to turn up with a prepared 3 min showcase of their work gets the floor.
N.B. These showcase moments can be in any format – a reading; acoustic music; spoken word; powerpoint presentation; etc.

GUEST SPEAKERS
National and international artists, curators and thinkers invited.

PRACTICAL SESSIONS OR ONE-TO-ONE SURGERIES

CONVERSATION
A short Q&A session with presenting artists, followed by general conviviality.

FOOD
Home cooked by fellow artists.

DRINKS
Some provided but do feel free to bring your own as well.

Metal at Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend on Sea. SS0 8NB
chalkwell@metalculture.com / T +44 [0] 1702 470 700

For more information, click here.

It is an opportunity to meet like-minded people as well as to get some delicious local produce.

Ian Hurt, the initiator of the event (who will be offering his blackberry super juice) explains:

For more information, see Metal’s website.

Additionally, a Pop-up Cafe will be open on 7th and 28th of August, serving hot and cold drinks and some yummy home-made cakes!

Workshop 1 – Make a T-shirt on the theme of water using stencils and printing.

11-16 age group, 5 places. Please supply your own T-shirt. Cost £5

Workshop 2 – Imagine a big river and paint it.

5-10 age group, 15 places. Cost £3

Workshop 3 – Adult contemporary mixed media and collage-based workshop exploring themes of the sea.

Adults, 10 places. Cost £5

Dates of the workshops:

Sunday 7th August 10am – 12pm & 2pm – 4pm

Sunday 14th August 10am – 12pm & 2pm – 4pm

Sunday 21st August 10am – 12pm & 2pm – 4pm

Sunday 28th August 10am – 12pm & 2pm – 4pm

To book tickets click here.

Water is all around us, yet increasingly we need to take steps to conserve our supplies of it and become aware that we cannot just leave the tap running.

In our every day lives we take water for granted as a supply from the tap, a place for leisure and as a basic human right. Over the next forty years, predictions intimate that water will be as contended as oil now is in the post-industrial and developing countries. The artworks broadly touch on our relationship to one of our most important commodities.

You can see videos with the Still artists on Metal’s website, click on the image below:

Metal / Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Avenue, Southend on Sea, SS0 8NB

Exhibition Opening Times: 15 July – 3 September 2011, Thurs / Fri / Sat / Sun 11am – 5pm or by appointment, please call 01702 470700 or email chalkwell@metalculture.com

Thursday 21st July 7pm – 11pm
Hoipolloi presents Hugh Hughes in… 360
Edinburgh Fringe favourite. A story of friendship and sharing just about everything. Hugh climbs Snowdon with his best friend Gareth, but the journey to the summit leads to big questions about fantasy, first love and bottling things up.
Tickets: £10 in advance / £12.50 door / £6.50 (student & unwaged concessions).

Friday 22nd July 6pm – 11pm
Adam Sky (Adamski)
Supported by London Snorkelling Team
Adam Sky (Adamski) presents ‘neo waltz’ with live mc’s and special guests; London Snorkelling Team bring their off-kilter comedy set on an imaginary small
island that reflects a love of unusual instruments, wonky cartoon music and 1950s exotica.
Tickets: £10 in advance / £12.50 door / £6.50 (student & unwaged concessions). To book tickets click here.

Saturday 23rd July 11am – 6pm.
End of Term.
A packed day of FREE family entertainment, arts workshops, performance, participation, sport and all kinds of fun. Action takes place both inside Solomon Monks Pump House and across other areas of Chalkwell Park.
For more information and a full programme of activiites, please click HERE
FREE EVENT. Bring a picnic

Saturday 23rd July 6pm – 11pm.
Al Pitcher and Tom Wrigglesworth.
Two of the UK’s best comics on the circuit bring their shows to Southend before taking the Edinburgh Festival by storm.
Tickets: £10 in advance £12.50 door / £6.50 (student & unwaged concessions)

To book tickets to any of these events, click HERE.

The next edition of Metal’s Pecha Kucha takes place in their pop-up venue Solomon Monk’s Pump House.

As usual, invited speakers present using the ‘pecha kucha’ method of 20 slides / 20 seconds.

FREE EVENT: Booking essential – book here or please rsvp to:rsvp@metalculture.com”>rsvp@metalculture.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / 01702 470 700.

Presenters:

Adrian Green – poet, critic, editor and Southend resident. His latest collection is Chorus and Code from Littoral Press

Syd Moore – writer, editor and co-creator of Super Strumps, she will talk about the evolution of her work as champion of the Essex Girl.

Simon Callery – painter, shown widely in the UK and internationally. He recently worked in collaboration with archeologists on the Thames Gateway Project.

Ben Eastop – one-time revolutionary, river dweller, producer, curator and commissioner of art projects, balancing in the edge-zone.

Michaela Freeman – curator and writer based in Southend. Editor of State art magazine and coordinator of IDEA13.org

David Murphy – London-based visual artist. He recentlypresented his fisrt solo exhibition of works, Almost Island, at CoExist Gallery.

Dr. John Eascott – jazz trumpeter and algorithmic composer. His recent sonification work Flood Tide generates a live musical performance from the flow of tidal water. He lectures at University of Westminster.

Simon Moore  – creative director of Cake Media, an ideas company. He is also an erstwhile fine artsist.

Julian Woollat – a small journey though photography

Steven Walker – Fine artist and co-founder of Gallery 33 in Leigh on Sea.

Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park, Southend on Sea, SSO 8NB

For more information, visit Metal’s WEBSITE.