Madlove Take Over

For Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 November, the vacuum cleaner & Heart of Glass will take over BANGS salon on Hoe Street, sharing the work and process of artists involved in the Madlove Take Over Festival happening during November in St Helens, Merseyside. 

On Saturday, artists commissioned for the St Helens festival, Hana Madness, Hwa Young Jung and Yara and Davina will share their projects created with local communities in St Helens - whilst Bangs staff will offer free cuts, styling and nails to local residents on a low income. 

There will be time and space for chats, relaxation and music provided by DJ Doggo Slaves (Emily and James, the curators of the festival). 

On Sunday the salon will transform into a podcast recording studio. Touretteshero will host local, national and international guests as part of their Knowledge Exchange project.

The Madlove Take Over is part of Art Assembly and Liberty.

Featured Artists include: 

On Saturday :
Yara El-Sherbini and Davina Drummond are pioneering social practice artists, whom for over 2 decades have been creating art with a focus on engagement and participation. Unfailingly inventive, they use formats from within popular culture to make works which touch on the human condition, in different ways, be it geo-political or love, to knowledge or mental health. From jokes, to mini golf, choirs to tattoo parlours, they root their works in the everyday, using a lightness of touch and humour to make works that are both poetic and political.

Hwa Young Jung based in Liverpool will be taking to the streets of Walthamstow on Friday and Saturday to find the best formal and informal places for care; for example which chip shop has friendly staff that like to have a chat? Which charity shop will let you browse for hours and try whatever you like? – combining this with the more formal services she will create a care map of Walthamstow. 

Hana Madness from Jakarta, Indonesia will be bringing and making bi-polar monsters.  These will be exhibited in the shop, maybe even painted on the windows. She will be there to talk to people as they come in to admire the monsters, tell them about her process in St Helens, and help people make more of their own.  She will also be part of Sunday’s podcast interviews. 

On Sunday: 
Touretteshero is created by Jess Thom and Matthew Pountney to celebrate the humour and creativity of Tourettes.  For Liberty they will present an exhibition and sharing of illustrations, celebrating disabled artists from their Knowledge Exchange project.  The project includes critical conversations with a diverse group of people about the power and meanings of disability art and culture and the intersections of arts and academia. The Knowledge Exchange is part of Tourettehero’s Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowship.