Groups of artists in six cities co-create work: each artist started a piece, then another artist worked on it, then a third artist finished it.
The first global show happened in London in June '16 for Camberwell ArtsFestival, and then the work travelled to Istanbul where it was hosted by Space Debris Art. Now The Mixup lands in the heat of a Cape Town summer.
When the local Mixups completed we had local shows - and now are embarking on a grand tour. Starting with an opening show at Lumberjack Coffee as part of Camberwell Arts Festival June 6-20 2016.
Tell me more
When did it start? When does it finish?
Mixups are starting October 2015 - and we are aiming to be done early 2016 - there will then be local shows before the first global show in June 2016.
Who is behind the project?
The catalyst for the project is London artist Richard Watkins - who has acquired a bit of a habit of starting elaborate collaborative projects - but the idea was built together with the city hosts who are all ongoing collaborators from The Airmail Project.
It's like a game I used to play where you draw a head and someone else draws a body!
Yep. It's sometimes called Consequences or Exquisite Corpse.
Are there any other rules?
Nope. It's a project that is all about respecting the creative agency of the artists. Whenever the paper is in their hands they can do anything they want with it. The only rule is that when they pass it on, they have to let it go.
Mixup Events
All over the world
Second Global Show - Istanbul
July 28 - August 13 / Space Debris Art
Opening: July 28 19:00
Interactive Workshop: August 06 3-5pm
First Global Show - London
June 6-20th / Lumberjack Coffee Camberwell
Evening View on Thursday 16th June 6pm
Workshop Sunday 19th 2pm
Camberwell Arts Festival
Medellín Mixup local show
5th April
Local Mixup from Colombia - in collaboration with the world film festival - featuring artists
David Londoño, Federico Fernández Gärtner
June Juno, Paula Patiño, Santiago Pérez, Sara Serna, Santiago Rojas, Ximena Escobar
26 Feb / The Brewers Co-Op 135 Albert Rd
Fun to be had Mixing up Cape Town- DJ AT8 on the decks- Variety of craft beers freshly brewed(we like them fresh) on tap + snacks. — with Rendani Nemakhavhani, Atang Tshikare, Alexis Aronson, Andile Dyalvane, Alena Marajh and Mlondolozi Hempe.
25 Feb / The Pigeon Hole Cafe Camberwell
London artists show their leg of #globalmixup // Private View on Thursday 7pm // FREE WORKSHOP Sunday 2pm // info thepigeonholecafe.com
Where it all started
A global art experiment: 16 artists in 16 countries collaborating by post.
In 2014, Richard Watkins and Lara Salmon started The Airmail Project, where 16 artists from 16 countries started a process that was the precursor of the Mixup. Each artist started a piece of work, sent it to an artist in a different country to work on, who sent it to a third artist to finish. The work travelled a total of 264,000 miles - and we had exhibitions in LA, Beirut, London and Istanbul. The project seemed to capture the imagination and so it made sense to expand on the idea.
