Commissions
'Video Jam stands alone as a work of art in itself: the series is now a considerable artistic oeuvre.’ - Andrew Anderson, musician and journalist
Video Jam commissions film and sound artists to make new audio/visual works that are premiered and presented with the support of cultural partners across the UK and beyond.
Since 2013, we have regularly provided opportunities to develop this expanding area of practice, supporting some of the most exciting regional artists based in the UK and beyond. To date we have commissioned over 25 artist film and video works for numerous unique live events, ranging from ambitious multi-screen installations and expanded cinema, to shorter film and video pieces, each with live musical accompaniment.
Video Jam commissions are designed to allow artists working in these respective mediums to gain from exposure to one another's creative approach and working methods. Whilst each project follows its own unique course, what they all have in common is an emphasis on the dynamic between moving image and sound. All artists we work with benefit from extended time and curatorial support to fully realise their creative ideas, in conjunction with a diverse range of partner venues, often resulting in fruitful, long term collaborations.
“Being commissioned by Video Jam made it possible to try out, write and refine an album-length musical work in a positive, supportive, and collaborative environment. It provided the time and space to reflect, with the constructive feedback of many others - collaborators and audiences alike - on the most and least successful aspects of the relationship between sound & image, and suggested new avenues for taking this further. ”
The majority of these commissions actively engage with the particular nature of the individual locations in which they are made or presented, and often help to illuminate their larger social, cultural and art-historical contexts. Past works have responded to Manchester's social and industrial heritage including the Museum of Science and Industry's Textiles collections, where they were staged amongst Victorian cotton spinning machinary. Artists have been given acces to remix footage from the North West Film Archives collection, which were displayed at the re-opening of the Whitworth Art Gallery in 2015 to a sell out audience. We have also been invited to commisison work in response to visual art exhibitions including Basquiat: Boom for Real, the first major UK retrospective of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Barbican Art Centre, Jeremy Deller's All that is Solid Melts Into Air at Manchester Art Gallery, Ryan Gander's Make Every Show like it's Your Last at Manchester Art Gallery, and Unfold by Ryoichi Kurokawa at FACT (Liverpool); a vertical 3 screen installation.
An archive page featuring a full list of all works commissioned to date is coming soon. Below are the funders and partners who have made these opportunities possible.
