F_._.__-
Stereolab: naive art
Flightpaths To Each Other is an exhibition of original artwork produced by resolutely independent musicians to grace their record sleeves. It arises out of A Big Day In,
the event The Pastels organised at the
Burrell Collection in June, where due to a lack of space and “poncey irames’ many of the contributions had to remain unexhibited.
This OIY ethos is at course, straight out of the punk manual, where a situation brought about through necessity became an opportunity. ‘I think it’s political in that it shows there are a lot of bands who don’t let go of any part of what they do, and that the sleeve is a very good medium to express something about the band,’ says Stephen Pastel. ‘A lot of records coming out of major labels have photographers and graphic designers hired, and you end up with something slick, very boring and that often says little about the group.’
From the late 70s pioneers like The Raincoats and Swell Maps, through to the likes of Postcard and Sonic Youth to young turks Teenage Fanclub, Stereolab, Pavement and lluggy Bear, the exhibition could almost be the history of a design sub-genre.
‘A lot of the stuff is quite raw, which is unusual - there aren’t many naive art exhibitions in Olasgow,’ says Stephen. (Damien Love)
Flightpaths To Each Other runs Wednesday 21 —30 September in the Assembly Hall Building, Glasgow School Of Art Students’ Association, 168 Renirew Street, Glasgow. Telephone 041 332 0691 for opening times. The show then moves to the Oemarco European Art Foundation, dates to be confirmed.
_ Ooingjustioe
Whether you‘re a hunt saboteur. anti- rnotorway protester. hill walker. camper or home-video watcher. there‘s something in the Criminal Justice Bill for you. And the chances are it‘s not going to enhance enjoyment of your chosen activity.
‘It takes time for people to realise how it will affect them.‘ says Gail Warden ofthe Bill of Rights pressure group Charter 88. ‘Rights disappear before they know they had them and then it‘s too late.‘
Single issue campaigners from the Ramblers‘ Association to the Advance Party (unofficial slogan: ‘fight for your right to party‘) have picked out clauses from the Bill which they believe will harm their interests. Overall. the Bill looks like a patchwork of curbed freedoms. Apart from the trespass and ‘ video classification clauses. there are many less publicised constraints. such as the withdrawl of prison officers‘ right to strike. which all add up to limits placed on personal freedoms.
‘SCCL dislikes [the Bill] as many of its clauses are offensive to civil j liberties.‘ the Scottish Council for Civil
Liberties stated bluntly in its recently-
published briefing on the Bill. ‘The
flexibility of Scottish common law makes much of this legislation l unnecessary . . . The difficulty with introducing specific powers is that the ' police may feel obliged to use them.‘ The Lords added a series of
amendments over the summer. including a clause which extends the ‘anti-rave‘ section to Scotland. with MPs due to debate the reworked Bill in October. The Ramblers‘ Association believes it‘s probably too late to change the clauses which could intimidate hill walkers and bring them into conflict with landowners. However. Scottish officer Dave Morris believes the backlash against the Bill could. in the longer term. lead to strong public support for legally defined rights of access, which do not currently exist in Scotland. ‘There could be greater impetus for new access legislation which would bring us closer to other European countries.‘ says Morris. SCCL is particularly concerned that
Desert Storm: Glasgow's free party organisers under threat
from the Criminal Justice Bill
the aggravated trespass clauses turn the law on its head by presuming guilt unless the arrested person can come up with a ‘reasonable excuse‘ for the trespass. ‘ln particular this will put people off protesting about matters which upset them -- a fundemental human right!‘ comments the report. (Eddie Gibb)
The Coalition Against the Criminal Justice Bill has organised a march on .S‘aturday l 0 September at I I pm front Waterloo Place. Ifdinburgh.flillowed by speakers. including Billy Powers of the Birmingham Sir. at the Meadows, from [2.30pm. The Coalition can be contacted on 07/ 923 0333. SC CL is on 04/ 332 5960 and its Bill briefing costs f 2.
:— ! Sweet SFA
5 They didn’t know whether to laugh or
! cry in the dressing room of BBC Radio
' Scotland’s new on-air football tanzine
( Off The Ball. On the first day of the
new season it seemed the show had
‘ scored a superb victory over the
'i opposing airwaves with their caustic
. criticism of the Scottish game. The
» show was deemed a success until Jim
Farry, Scottish Football Association chief secretary and the target of all
sorts of abuse, reached for his top
g pocket, threatening a writ unless an
7 apology was forthcoming.
It was, but in true fanzine style the
‘ boys from Oueen Margaret Drive are
i still on Farry’s case and Off The Ball
: producer Alan Oe Pellette was
unrepentant for the professional ioul. ‘To be honest apart from the usual people from Morningside being offended that the shinty reviews have been displaced by a ranting mass of abuse, we have only really had Mr
: Parry to deal with and we apologised l ior any implication of dishonesty,’ he
i says.
‘I feel no remorse, because I went to _ a game last week (Partick Thistle vs ; Kilmarnock) which cost £10 to get in g and it was crap. Fans are at the sharp ; end, they keep on going back and we are trying to reflect their feelings. They want to hear people like Jim . Farry being lambasted and we are only ' too happy to offend.’ (Philip Oorward) Off The Ball will be on Radio Scotland every Saturday during the season at ; 5.30pm, unless it is substituted by the manager before then.
_ Is it safe?
Since the recent drug-related death of a young raver in Ayr, street talk has been of the prospect of dance without
drugs. In the wake of the tragedy came
inevitable calls for restrictions on clubs.
but according to Jamie Armstrong of Glasgow‘s dance company Projekt 11.92. dance is part of the solution. not the problem.
desire to dance all night — he believes it‘s a positive energy that doesn‘t have to go hand in hand with drug-abuse. The idea of dance without drugs may seem like a dull option to hardened
4 The List 9—22 September I994
Armstrong is enthused by the youthful :
Get Up and Go Go: the positive message of street dance
ravers. but Armstrong is determined to
show young people that the ultimate
high can be found in a dance class. and you don‘t have to be off your face to
i feel it.
i ‘What you can‘t do without Ecstasy.‘
says Jamie ‘is sustain that high for
twelve hours and keep smiling. but for an hour in a class you can get people to that state and they walk out on abuzz.‘
Armstrong‘s ambition is to graduate to ‘safe raves‘. Already his ‘just say no‘ attitude and commitment to street culture have earned Projekt l|.92‘s work respect among young people. including the current Get Up and Go Go events in association with the Greater Glasgow Health Board.
‘Now is a great time to get to youth through dance because everybody‘s raving.‘ says Armstrong. (Ellie Carr) Details ofProje/rt ll. 92 is work throughout Glasgow (‘an be obtained
front Giant Productions on 04/ 357 5000.
I Voluntary Action The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations starts a major two-day conference Thursday 8 at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall to consider the impact on charities of the national lottery. the increasingly tough climate for fundraising and the reorganisation of local government in Scotland. The keynote address on Friday 9 September is by Donald Dewar. Labour‘s shadow secretary for social security, who will consider ‘the voluntary sector — its role in a modern welfare state‘. Details from SCVO on 03| 556 3882. I Design war Two award-winning Sarajevan designers are exhibiting
; work that uses internationally
recognisable icons — the Mona Lisa and
the Coca-Cola symbol are two — to make a statement about the way their homeland has become a media product. The graphics look computer-generated but. because Sarajevo has been without electricity for many months, are in fact hand-drawn. The exhibition by Design Trio Sarajevo is at Edinburgh‘s Architecture and Design Centre. Canongate. Details on ()3l 556 4410. I llovel library Airdrie‘s innovative Petersbum Library and Drop-in Centre could win an award for the youth- orientated facilities it offers to local people. On offer at Petersbum are everything from Judge Dredd comicbooks and music CDs to a modern recording studio and video-edit suite. The library has been shortlisted for the Holt Jackson Community Initiative award in recognition of its pioneering work with young people.