International Anthony Burgess Foundation _ Still Ticking

It is the 50th anniverary of one of the most influential books of the twentieth century, a book that I have read and reread four times; A Clockwork Orange written by Anthony Burgess. The IABF on Chester Street in Manchester decided to put on an exhibition event last Thursday within it's building and with A few friends, we decided to visit on that wet night.

A friend of my mine from uni was exhibiting (Mike Fowdrey) as well as two tutors from MMU, Dave Griffths and Andrea Zapp. The show was being put on by the IABF, madlab and the Manchester School of Art. Of course, each exhibit was influenced directly and also indirectly by the book.

As I knew that Mike was exhibiting I asked if I could help in any way and nearly got the chance to be a waiter a'la Korova MilkBar with wig and everything..I'd be a mannequin handing out the White Russians but a few days before the event I was told that they wanted female manequins..so that was a bummer. I could've easily fitted into a polyester dress a bright wig but that's another story.

So, we trotted down and entered the foundation and got ourselves a drink each and proceeded into the gallery. Some of the usual suspects where there and we said hi and then began to cast our eyes on the exhibits. Some bits where quite good and very much new media such as video work and Griffiths's slide projector based on primary school infomercials of the Fifties and sixties was interesting. Andrea Zapp decided to do a piece based on Burgess's colourblindness.

The desk of Alex with his facebook page open waiting to be fraped was one of the highlights because it shows how contemporary the moral of the book is and the relevance/relationship with youth and technology today. Seeing that we came here to support fellow Interactive Arts student Mike we found ourselves down to viddy his installation.

I'd seen him work on this piece for a couple of weeks now and got to see it in the flesh.. It didn't disappoint. He made a tower of TVs and had this particular phrase from chapter four played on three screens in almost random ways [I do what I do because I do]. You had to see this installation with 3D glasses on, it was quite hallucinatory.

After giving pleasantries we decided to leave and I had a bus to catch..not before another drink and buying a new book, The Doctor is Sick by Mr Burgess. I visited the gallery the day after to see the show without the crowd from the previous night had a halloumi and roast veg wrap and left to go to uni..