Unseen Unravelled All This Week... Day 1

So, I am back! And what a week it has been. I can't quite describe just how much has been experienced, produced and is going to happen, but I think the best way to start is from the unravelling of the Unseen Photo Fair, day by day all this week. So to get us in the mood, on this Monday evening/ morning for others, lets start with the Foam Magazine Talent Launch where my first publication, "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" gets reviewed by the wonderful Sebastian Hue from Le Bal in Paris.

Here is a little excerpt from the Book Review section, " This handmade artist's book refers, in content and title, to a volume originally published in 2004 by Charlotte Cotton that presents an overview of a new generation of photographers who entered the art market in the nineties......Her book presents the text pages without the photographs along with her own puzzling and colorful exploration of space and dimension, with figures that seem to either embrace or fight. Think John Stezaker reworking Egyptian movie posters......Melinda Gibson's work feels as precise and exploratory as her elegant book, and her investigation of the holes and creation of new ones provide ample food for thought." 

See more from Foam Magazine here: http://www.foam.org/magazine

London - Amsterdam - Utrecht - Amsterdam - Unseen!

So we are nearly here and tomorrow I am Amsterdam bound, ready to make, prepare and install!!! I am very excited about all Unseen has to offer and there is certainly something for everyone. From incredible galleries, performances, books in the book market, films, screenings and talks to the Dummy Award which will be judged and announced on Friday 27th September, the second edition is going to be quite special, so see you there!

More to see here: http://www.unseenamsterdam.com/

Live Performance at Unseen Living Room on Saturday 28th September at 19:30 - 20:00

Very, very excited to announce that I will be doing 2 Live Performances at Unseen Photo Fair. The performances, titled "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" will be a live book-making of my new publication of the same name. I will demonstrate the assembly of the book, from its folding, layering and binding to the splicing open of pages. 

The Scheduled Times for the Performances are as followed:

Thursday 26th September - MC Theatre - 15:00 - 17:00

Saturday 28th September - Unseen Living Room - 19:30 - 20:00

Both venues are part of Unseen Photo Fair, situated at the Westergasfabriek. See here for more details about the event and fair:  http://www.unseenamsterdam.com/events/230

New Exhibition - "Unnatural Selection" at Unseen Photo Fair Opening 26th September 3-5 PM.

Very, very proud to announce that my new exhibition, "Unnatural Selection" opens at Unseen Photo Fair at the MC Theatre on the 26th September, 3-5 p.m.. It's a fantastic show curated by the wonderful Brad Feuerhelm, where nine female artists rework his collection. With artist like Cristina de Middel, Tereza Zelenkova, Alis Pelleschi, Eva Stenram, Magda Hueckel, Isabelle Wenzel, Steffi Klenz, Memymom and myself it's going to be quite an exhibition!

Here is an excerpt from the Press Release:

“... collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby.  Those who do it must do it. Those who do not do it think of it as a cousin of stamp collecting, a sister of the trophy cabinet, bastard of a sound bank account and a weak mind.” Jeanette Winterson 

"This exhibition sees nine contemporary female artists delve into photography collector, dealer and writer Brad Feuerhelm’s personal collection of peculiar documents. Either by directly re-using, appropriating or re-engaging images; or by selecting their own previously made work that shares an oblique stylistic relationship with the collection, all the images displayed here attest to the seemingly endless and potent lure of the vernacular and its relationship to contemporary photographic practice."  David Campbell Blight

See more here: http://bradfeuerhelm.org/

Production in Full Swing...

I am very excited to say that my new, collaborative publication, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" is due to go to print this week! It is all go at the moment, with every detail being designed, checked, triple checked and more, the resulting design is utterly amazing. This publication, like my first has many contributing elements, each one, aiding the conception and questioning the themes around book-making as well as the notion of 'destruction in order to see'.

I am also delighted to announce that the foreword to the publication has been written by the man himself, whose collection I have culled, Brad Feuerhelm. Here is a sneak preview of the wonderful introductory text, "To give “reason” before reception of loose associations of image data refers the viewer to that liminal space between text, meaning, and the pulchritude of their normative consequences of meaning. In doing so, her practice evokes more questions than the “realities” or relational understanding we are used to with photographic practice. Cleverly placing the images inside bound pages also creates a permeable, yet physical question of the viewer. That which is to destroy the pages in order to “see”, which at its base is what photography has come to be about: That of the forced spectacle." 

 

More about what to expect at Unseen Photo Fair in regards to the publication is coming very soon, with scheduled performances over two days, dates and places to be released later this week!

b.frank books

I am very, very proud to announce that my new publication, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" is to be published with b.frank books!!!! It is a complete pleasure to be working with such an exciting young publisher who publishes some wonderful titles, such as the award winning, Will Steacy's "Down These Mean Streets."

See more about my publisher here: http://bfrankbooks.org/

More to come soon on the final design and a sneak preview before the launch at Unseen Photo Fair on Thursday the 26th at the MC Theatre, until then....

First Dummy Arrives for "Miss Titus" Book!

Very, very exciting start to this week, everyday brings another piece of news. A lovely little delivery from Utrecht, as my designers send over the first dummy of my new publication, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac." 

As with all my publications, the process is very important to me, so this book is no different from my first, in that I will be making each and everyone by hand, making each book unique and an additional twist will be added into the performance launch at Unseen, really provoking how we see and what we do with the book format!

More news to follow shortly.....

New Exhibition - Narrative Structures Opens 30th August at Stryx Gallery Birmingham

I am very pleased to say that my first publication, "The Photograph As Contemporary Art" is part of a new exhibition at the Stryx Gallery in Birmingham to coincide with the opening of the new Birmingham Library. Curated by Claire Recce, the show explores "ways contemporary photographers have reconstructed the book form, be that appropriation, manipulation or construction of a photographic narrative."

Artists work include WassinkLundgren, Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, Stephen Gill, Ruth van Beek, Mishka Henner, Andreas Schmidt, Oliver Shamlou, Peter Watkins, Tereza Zelenkova plus many more amazing artists. 

You can see more here: http://clairereece.wix.com/narrativestructures

Something from South Korea

A lovely little surprise from the post man late last week, the Dong Gang International Photography Festival Catalogue along with a lovely set of invites and canvas bag! The catalogue is a really lovely printed and compiled exhibition book that documents all the shows on throughout the festival and of course includes the exciting, "The Constructed View: UK Photography Now" of which my series "The Photograph As Contemporary Art" was part of and a very proud moment for me, being included in such an incredible museum show, representing the UK and being under 30!

Now as this series continues its journey, I am steadily and busily preparing for the release of my new series, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" debuting at the Unseen Photo Fair on Thursday 26th September 2013 in a performance at the MC Theatre. More to come shortly, but the work will be part of a great exhibition, intermixed with bespoke installation pieces made by my fair hands.

Keep watching for more updates soon....

Only A Few Special Editions Left...

As I continue, busily on my new publication and get ready for what is going to be quite an extraordinary event/ performance at Unseen Photo Fair in September, my first publication, "The Photograph As Contemporary Art" will be available to purchase. 

So with this in mind, I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know that the Special Editions are almost sold out! With only a few copies left, make sure you don't miss out and head over to Louis Vuitton to see them in store, contact us directly if you require any assistance at all.

http://melindagibson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/louis-vuitton-new-bond-street-maison.html

Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac

I am very pleased to announce that I will be releasing my new project, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" at the Unseen Photo Fair in September! Working on a collaborative project with Kummer & Herrman and using source material from the wonderful archive of Brad Feuerhelm a new publication is to be made, and more news to follow shortly.

Here is a little excerpt about what the project is about;

"Faced with the enormity of an archive full of imagery, dissecting and assembling into curated narratives brings forth a wealth of possibilities. This body of work brings together a curated account around representations of women within 19^th & 20^th century photography through the unusual viewpoint of the backs of the images.

In the era of, the abundance of imagery, what really constitutes ‘seeing’ and ‘looking.’ Do we really see with our eyes or with the preconditioned ideals and stereotypes that make up contemporary society, our culture? When presented with the back of an image that one cannot view (in the traditional sense), that one is not used to looking at, we must then find and decipher the new codes available to us. The imperfect marks, the traces left behind by another, the notes, numbers and language lingering. Is it possible to read an image only from the information supplied on first glance or do we automatically go back to our ingrained knowledge bound with our perception to ‘understand’?"

It's going to be quite a project, so keep watching for more updates and information about the launch.

Blow Magazine - Issue Eight

New editorial out now, issue 8 of Dublin's Blow Magazine! It is a really beautifully printed A3 magazine, a real tactile publication. Here is a little excerpt of this theme for the current issue, 

"History doesn’t repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes and with this in mind we introduce the theme of ‘new pictorialism’. New implies old, and any photography student will affirm that pictorialism holds a hallowed position at the very beginning of photographic history. consider that the visual art world during the late 19th century was questioning photography as a legitimate art form, a time when artistic intervention of the photographic process was relatively limited. the response was pictorialism. it extended the artistic process by referencing paintings in its subject matter and composition. practically, this meant creative manipulation of the image using the tools available; lenses, colours and dyes. the idea was to make rather than take photographs."

Read MORE HERE: http://www.blowphotomagazine.com/issues/issue-eight/