Sid Fletcher: Posted on 17 January 2011 23:20
Taken down the tinsel, put on a few er pounds, headed back to the grindstone, in need of a retox? Or just something bloody else to do! Beat off those January blues with a bit of TowerBlockMetal guaranteed to perk up any rainy day - well nearly. From the well known Park Hill facade to the satirical State Dependent Family or the iconic Tinsley Cooling Towers this is not to be missed. From block prints to framed prints and just, well, just on their own prints grab your very own slice of inner city Sheffield before they sell out. Most pieces under a £100; sale ends January the 30th.
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Sid: Posted on 17 December 2010 23:30
Been a hell of a busy week, here in TowerBlockMetal land, i need to go to work some nights just for the break! Monday - received calls from both Sheffield Stockists-Cupola and OldSweetShop requesting more mugs and prints for the much apprehended Xmas dash Tuesday -Gym(personal training aaaargh) straight to Oldsweetshop then Haircut then deliver an Ebay sale- back home clean house .Mount and frame prints Wednesday evening - framing and mounting prints Thursday took friends and children to Manchester Airport first thing (India for 1 month- lucky so and so's) drove back thru Snake pass - the snow started again was very Black Metal!!, then decanted mugs and prints to Cupola and BLOC Friday -Training course and nightshift (picking up a few last xmas bits in lunch) I am proverbially knackered ..! One of the bonuses of the hectic week!: i now have a beard which isn't the bonus rather more of a statement of my lack of selfcare ; is that i was able to meet up with a fellow Sheffield He is a very interesting chap ( and nice to boot)I look forward to meeting with him more often, like me he is similary interested in the perception of the Urban environment- he has certainly made me think in different ways about how i present my work. Nigel has kindly taken some photos of my work at the BLOCSPACE Art sale which is now on (see flyer) The smaller framed prints are £20-£30 Medium one with black frame £45 Large Yellow print framed £75
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Posted on 09 December 2010 16:18
BLOC artspace just off the Moor Sheffield City Centre (behind Decathalon) are having an art sale on the weekend before Xmas - Fri 17th -Sun 19th December- TowerBlockMetal mugs , large wallart prints and cards will be onsale there - think Xmas gifts for those cranky relatives whio are sooo difficult to buy for The studio takes commission so Mugs will be £10 , large prints £45 - cards £2 Its a great independant venue / studio and should be supported - got that kids..
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Sid: Posted on 26 November 2010 22:08
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Sid : Posted on 16 November 2010 11:54
A definite cert to cheer me up is recieving notification either by phone , email or simply a cheque dropping through the letterbox via my cheerful postie - that someone appreciates TowerBlockMetal merchandise so much , that they have put their money where their mouth is, seperated with their hard earned cash and now have the walls of their homes and their coffe tables adorned with essential innercity apparel A big THANK YOU to the customers of the OldSweetShop, Nether Edge Road , Sheffield 7 for buying mugs, tote bags, cards and prints - there are more designs to come, thanks again to Emma for all her help (another thing that is definitely going to cheer me up - is going to Manchester tonight , hanging out with mates that go waaaay too far back- drinking far too much - then watching the Godfather of Metal himself ladies and gentlemen....... Mr Lemmy Kilminster) There's is only one God! ...Available from TowerBlockMetal
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Sid: Posted on 08 November 2010 02:54
One of the perks.... well maybe probably the only perk!... of my employment is that I get the chance to cruise all around the city in the dead of night to many weird and wonderful places and get into the real under belly of the beast. Now I am not suggesting for one minute that the junction of the Inner ring road and Moore Street /Eccleshall Road is the heart of the beast but it has always been home to one of Sheffield finest and somewhat overlooked Brutalist buildings .....which is now bathed in irridescent light...ladies and gents check out... The Moore Street Substation Okay Okay i took the pics on my mobile.... needs must ....no doubt I'll be back for more shortly Personally I think its fantastic that it has been illuminated - the buildings a star anyhow, like many Sheffield 1960s city centre monoliths its loved and loathed alike Like countless other folk for many years I was always intrigued by the building, particulary to the fact that there are no noticeable doors or windows, and no body has ever been seen around it or even trying to get in it! apart from pedestrians and Urbexers of course - on a humourous level I always likened it to Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory and imagined Oompa Lompahs making magical bars of chocolate inside.....that thought was very short lived though as my mind rebooted to its default, sinister, cynical darkness, the structure then became the body recycling plant where surplus / dissidents civilians were turned into foodstuffs (like in the Orwellian film Solyent Green) Apparently the lights were turned on at the end of Sheffield DesignWeek at the end of October - a small crowd gathered in the subway intersection to watch the official "switch on" by the original architect Bryan Jefferson who was proud to comment "it is great that whilst I have friends whose buildings are being knocked down, mine are being floodlit - this is a very proud moment for me". I have to say that given Sheffields wealth of iconic 1960s Modernist buildings and also the historic celebration of them - this event should've been better advertised. i for one would've been there, its obviously been on the cards for a couple of years. Incidentally the bill for it is approx £47K which i have no problem with but I'm sure other nay sayers will.. Check out the links below for more info
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sid: Posted on 30 October 2010 22:39
Went to an Urban splash tour of the Park Hill redevelopement / refurbishment the other day. To be honest i was expecting an Architectural tour - but instead it was much more of a PR exercise for U Splash, with no real access to the curent refurbishment . That said though i did learn some snippets of inforamation and Urban Splash are to be opening a showflat next Spring so things are looking up Anyhow there was a motley crew of about 40-50 folks there so there's obviously some interest in the old girl still! I got talking with a very nice chap by the name of Paul who'd travelled to Sheffield all the way from Cambridge just to see Park Hill as he'd read so much about it the estate from a Modernist / Brutalist perspective Paul like myself is somewhat obsessed with public housing and design - he has a very well informed webpage singleaspect.org.uk and (i can only assume ) is a member of 20th Century or C20th as its colloquially known - an organisation dedicated to the study and presevation of modern architecture He was interested in accessing other parts of the site not covered by Urban Splash so i gave him a brief whistle stop tour , unfortunately time was limited as i had a meeting shortly afterwards and also i'd just finished nights so my brain was slowly turning to mush ( it really was!) Anyhow we've kept in touch and have promised to meet up agin in the future and spend some more time up there, i am very pleased to note he found the towerblockmetal tour more informative than the Urban Spalsh pitch so maybe thtere's a gap in the market for tourguides of Park Hill ! - to be fair to USplash they have stated that they are organising a tour for C20th next year, fingers crossed i can blag a place eh! You can read all about mine and Pauls exploits at Park Hill by clickin here
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Sid: Posted on 27 September 2010 11:21
Hulme crescents T shirts are going like hot cakes in Manchester !- cheers to everyone who's bought one , looking forward to Steve Ignorant gig at Academy on Friday - i've only waited 30 years to see someone playin CRASS songs live
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Sid: Posted on 13 September 2010 00:11
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