We Have Your Art Gallery

The Story of Art Gym

Tate Liverpool invited us, the creative young person’s group Tate Collective Liverpool, to co-create something. Whatever the resulting thing was would take place during spring 2016

Both groups – Tate Collective and Tate Liverpool - agreed on bringing in art and design collective Assemble to consult on and support the process

To ensure Tate Collective were not overpowered by the institution, Assemble sought to separate Tate Liverpool and Tate Collective and staged a kidnapping of the art gallery at Metal, Liverpool

This was the start of a process known as We Have Your Art Gallery, with Tate Collective the captors, Tate Liverpool and all of the usual expectations of the gallery that come with it, the hostage

Through a scavenger hunt and meal, Tate Collective and Assemble discussed what they knew about Tate Liverpool so that we could better ‘know our enemy’

We researched and dissected

A list of demands soon resulted which challenged Tate Liverpool’s established ways

The demands were put to the galleries directors and curators

Tate responded to each demand with questions and, as with any negotiation, some compromises

Tate Collective followed up with further questions

The demands were combined, refined and redefined by conspirators

Anonymous online voting commenced

Negotiation went on within Tate Collective

Eventually, with everyone on the same page, demands were narrowed to two

On neutral ground at Bluecoat, Tate Liverpool and Tate Collective came face-to-face

And the final decision: an open art school, a place to create rather than merely contemplate.

From an art school sprung forth Art Gym- a dynamic reshaping of the art school idea

Invited artists – a mixture of local and internationally renowned - made proposals for stations, workshops or talks

Tate Collective developed the programme and took it to Assemble along with our ideas

We consulted and further conceptualised

Assemble assisted with the design of the space and galvanised our minds

We talked creative and practical matters

Assemble drew out our ideas

We kept gathering inspiration

Had a quick photo shoot

Chaos ensued

And finally, we have Art Gym: a space, an idea and a programme with collaboration and different creative activities at its heart, for free

Art Gym

By Tate Collective Liverpool, with the support of Assemble

For you