Project news

Spring 2008
The Gulbenkian Galapagos Artists' Residencies programme is now fully under way. With major funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation over a three-year period, the programme will enable up to 12 leading artists to spend time in the Galapagos archipelago to reflect on its unique nature, its historic value and current importance, and the human and conservation challenges it faces. Artist Dorothy Cross visited in May 2007, accompanied by actress Fiona Shaw. Dorothy's forthcoming exhibition 'Stage', organised by the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery, will open on 11 June, drawing on material gathered during her trip. Jyll Bradley and Marcus Coates will travel later this year, and other artists working across creative disciplines will be announced in the near future.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust has just announced news of major funding from Berkeley Homes to construct the winning design of Jeremy Deller's Bat House Project . Coming soon after last autumn's Competition announcement, this news should make possible the realisation of the project within the next year.

From this May, Greg Hilty will take up the full-time position of Curatorial Director, Head of Exhibitions & Artist Liaison at Lisson Gallery , London. Lisson Gallery has been at the forefront of developments in contemporary art since 1967 and has a unique record of selecting and supporting the most exciting artists emerging internationally.

Plus Equals will continue to operate as a company mobilising partners to pursue selected projects, in keeping with its original mission. Founding partners the University of the Arts London and Greg Hilty will retain their interest in the company.

Autumn 2007
In recent months Plus Equals has extended its work in two directions. First, we have provided mentoring advice for individual artists aiming to broaden their practices, including Kaffe Matthews , Paul Granjon (both NESTA Fellows) and Alexa Wright (recipient of a Wellcome Sci-Art award). Second, we have worked with Tate, coordinating a strategic review of key aspects of their national role.

We are forging new relationships with artists who engage thoughtfully with biological sciences and medical practice: John Wynne and Tim Wainwright's Transplant project in collaboration with the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital; William Latham's long-term engagement with genetic art; and the multi-dimensional practice of Mathias Gmachi and Rachel Wingfield of Loop.PH .

Greg Hilty is curating an exciting new initiative in collaboration with the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Artist Dorothy Cross and actress Fiona Shaw visited the Galapagos archipelago last May. Further information will be available early next year.

Meanwhile our existing partnerships are moving ahead. The Bat House Project announced the winners of its design competition in the pages of the Architects Journal on 18 October, followed by an exhibition at the RIBA London and CUBE Gallery in Manchester in November. Cape Farewell go from strength to strength, see news of their remarkable recent voyage to Greenland. Plus Equals authored an evaluation of their work 2005-07 to help determine their future strategy in the rapidly developing field of action on climate change.

December 2006
This autumn we've focused on intensive development of a few projects that have potential to translate from visionary artistic initiatives into sustainable enterprises, with deep roots out into the wider world.

This month Jeremy Deller and his partners launched the website for the Bat House Project . It contains a resource bank to which viewers, whether professional or amateur ecologists, architects or artists, students or schoolchildren, can contribute information and images. Monthly design challenges will also engage viewers and build up to the launch next year of a national competition to design a home for bats in London. If you feel like a change of species (and who doesn't now and then?), give it a try.

Sheron Wray has assembled a strong network of advisers and collaborators around her interactive performance initiative Texterritory . Advised by Plus Equals and business partners, Sheron has formed a company to devise and deliver dynamic presentation formats suitable for public lectures, training and teaching.

Lead designer Lucy Kimbell and producer Greg Hilty of Plus Equals have led a team of creative collaborators to develop a public digital space for Rich Mix , the major new cultural venture in East London. The Rich Mix News Room combines the principles of guest-editing and user feedback to create a powerful creative loop, tailored to the local and international audiences targeted by Rich Mix.

Cape Farewell have had a remarkable year, presenting new work by leading artists in well-attended exhibitions in London and Liverpool and in the publication Burning Ice, to help spread awareness and understanding of the human impact of climate change. More exhibitions and further collaborative ventures are planned for 2007.

As well as acting as a creative developer on projects like these, Plus Equals continues to offer strategic advice and to broker dynamic connections across cultural disciplines and industries, with new initiatives confirmed for launch early in 2007.

June 2006
We launched this website just over a year ago. Plus Equals aims to be a new kind of creative agency helping to align the ambitions of clients over a wide range of cultural practices and industries. Here are some recent project highlights:

Cape Farewell opened its major exhibition The Ship: the Art of Climate Change at the Natural History Museum where it runs, with free admission, from 1 June to 3 September before travelling to the Liverpool Biennial from 16 September to 26 November. The exhibition is accompanied by a 176pp publication, Burning Ice .

Jeremy Deller and Plus Equals are working with a distinguished range of environmental and cultural partners to launch a national competition for the design of a large-scale home for bats, to be built at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes. This initiative will highlight the complementary roles the general public, architectural profession and building industry can play to sustain biodiversity in the built environment. Sign up for further details as they are confirmed on the Bat House Project website.

Rich Mix is a major new cultural centre sited at the top of Brick Lane between the City of London and the East End. It recently opened its three cinemas, foyer and restaurant to be followed over the coming months by exhibition, performance, participatory and studio spaces. Plus Equals is working with artist and information architect Lucy Kimbell, Fellow in Design Leadership at the Said Business School in Oxford, to develop a new platform for cultural dialogue to help connect the wide-ranging programme of Rich Mix with its diverse audiences.

Abigail Lane and Showroom Dummies presented their highly innovative merchandise as part of Selfridges FuturePunk season in March and at the annual Art Car Boot Fair at the Old Truman Brewery on 4 June.

Earlier this year, choreographer Sheron Wray commissioned Performing Arts Labs to run an intensive six-day lab to explore new formats for interaction between performers and their audiences. The Lab received support from Arts Council England , NESTA , University of the Arts London , and the Djanogly City Academy in Nottingham. Participants included leading figures from the worlds of media, the arts, technology, marketing and education including Gary Carter , Paul Gladstone-Reid , Ivan Izikowitz , Ze Frank , Katie Salen and Prof. Merlin Stone .

Greg Hilty presented a paper on new forms of cross-industry collaboration at the Artquest conference Intersection , held in February at the London College of Fashion. For his presentation Greg commissioned a pilot collaboration between artist Jacqui Poncelet and web designer Rachel Collinson .

December 2005
Cape Farewell and Produced with OOMF! presented 'The Ice Garden' from 15-18 December in the Clarendon Quad, Bodleian Library, Oxford including sound, light, text and sculptural installations by Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Peter Clegg, Max Eastley and Ian McEwan. A new David Hinton film about Cape Farewell's expeditions to the Arctic will be broadcast on BBC4, 12 January 2006. And in June 2006 Cape Farewell in partnership with the Natural History Museum will launch 'The Ship - the Art of Climate Change', a unique national project designed to deepen public understanding of climate change issues. Key backers include Arts Council England, NESTA and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

'Playing John Cage' continues at Arnolfini Bristol until 15 January featuring new commissions and installations by Alvin Curran, Ryoji Ikeda, Rolf Julius, Tagaki Masakatsu, Kaffe Matthews, Carsten Nicolai, Akio Suzuki and Michael Prime, along with works by Gavin Bryars, Michael Parsons, Mieko Shiomi and Christian Wolff as well as by Cage himself. The exhibition is then available for tour in the UK and internationally - contact Greg Hilty for further information.

Abigail Lane and Showroom Dummies presented 'Bone Idle - The Shop' at London's new Charing X Gallery from October to December, featuring clothes, blankets, wallpaper, furniture, prints, skulls and more by Abigail Lane and friends.

New Plus Equals initiatives include :

• Advising Keith Khan, Chief Executive of Rich Mix on creative programmes and relationships for this major new cultural centre opening in London's East End in 2006.
• Working with Jeremy Deller on a project involving bats
• Evaluating Jyll Bradley's Fragrant , this year's UK episode of an international participatory art project exploring people's relationship to cut flowers

September 2005
The exhibition 'Playing John Cage' opens on 6 November at Arnolfini in Bristol. Curated by musician and writer David Toop, co-produced with Plus Equals, the show explores Cage's creative legacy through the work of artists from Europe, Japan and the US.

Plusequals is working on initiatives with artists and companies including :

• David Buckland and the 18 artists of Cape Farewell on exhibition and publishing initiatives relating to their journeys to the high arctic to explore the impact of climate change
• Choreographer Sheron Wray to develop opportunities for audiences to interact with live performance events through text and 3G uses of their mobile phones.
• Abigail Lane and her design company Showroom Dummies to secure license partnerships with production and retail businesses.
• Clary Salandy of Mahogany Arts - a company renowned for its carnival, processional and community projects in London, across the UK and internationally - on exhibition and book initiatives.

Spring 2005 - Plus Equals launched
Our mission is to build cultural and economic value by brokering collaborations between artists, businesses and organisations across creative industries and disciplines.

Our proposition is that

• We can help businesses achieve their goals via fresh creative input
• We can help creative artists work across media and platforms

Our services are tailored to mobilise the ideas, skills and resources needed to help achieve projects of promise - whether generated by businesses, by artists or by us. Plus Equals can act as agent, executive producer, talent broker, rights manager, business and strategic planner