Gail Griggs Photography kindly attended the event in collaboration with the SHRUG Ladies, and took some cracking shots. Go to the link below to view the album. You can even buy copies of the pics for yourself!
MOG 2010 Sunday 20th June, Derbyshire
The SHRUG Ladies took to the road in style this weekend, performing at MOG 2010 in Buxton. The weather was glorious and the ladies had a super time entertaining the members as they picnicked on the lawn. It was a real treat meeting so many interesting people and of course getting to sit in a few of those truly amazing Morgan Cars!! Well done to all those winners!!
Below are just a few of the instant photos we took on the day but watch this space for the official photos coming very soon, we cant wait to see all those glamourous shots!! xxx
11th March 2010, Lincoln
This week, SHRUG ladies dusted their way into lincoln town to find out what the lovely folk who lived there thought of ART. It was an exciting day as a new SHRUG Lady ‘Sarah’ was with us and it was her first outing, she did splendidly and much fun was had. With flowers starting to peep from their buds and the sunshine making a more regular appearance, it only meant one thing to SHRUG and that was time for a glamourous clean.
The ladies sprinkled glamour through the town, stopping the unsuspecting public to write spring thoughts on paper flowers, between manic cleans to music. When it all got too tiring the ladies stopped for a tea and cake break and much needed rest. The sun shone all day for us and the Lincoln lovlies welcomed us with open arms. May I add, we left the town SPOTLESS and GLEAMING.
On 7th March Shrug Lady 1 embarked on her first outing since moving to New Zealand. She had a great time at the Newtown Street Festival in Wellington, dancing to some music, hanging out with friends and of course, sharing lots of tea and cakes with passers by! It was a lovely hot summers day and her sun parasol came in very handy for giving people a place to hide for a moment before moving on their way. She was even given a sticker by the police which said ‘Never talk to strangers’ hmm not sure what he was trying to say there!! x
Saturday 19th December 2009, Nottingham
The SHRUG Ladies will be out in Nottingham city center as part of the Sneinton Showcase day. Enjoy an alternative Christmas Market and be entertained by the many performers and events. The SHRUG ladies will be creating their own 12 days of Christmas, so join them for a little Christmas cheer!
Merry Christmas 2009 xx
November 2009 – Nottingham Evening Post
The SHRUG Ladies were recently interviewed for the Nottingham Evening Post in the run up to the launch of the Nottingham Contemporary. The lovely article is right here…
November 2009 – Nottingham
This week saw the opening of the brand new modern art gallery, Nottingham Contemporary. The SHRUG Ladies had the pleasure of entertaining the crowds as they queued in anticipation. Gallery punters were invited to play SHRUG Human Scrabble by making words on the Ladies’ dresses using sticky letters! Younger audience members were given the opportunities to draw portraits on the Ladies’ chalk boards and fun was had by all.
This piece was inspired by the exhibition featured in the gallery by Frances Stark.
The event was also the first outing for new SHRUG Lady, Katie. Well done!
October 2009 – Nottingham
Nottingham played host to a wealth of artistic talent at their Hatch Abroad event on Nottingham’s Broad Street. SHRUG performed some new devised & durational pieces to the onlooking crowds.
September 2009 – Nottingham
The SHRUG Ladies set up shop to launch a unique range of SHRUG merchandise, including aprons, knapkins and doillies, bracelets, broaches and scarves, and a selection of our photographic prints from our many ‘City Happenings’.
The Ladies had the fantastic opportunity to show this range of hand made goodies as part of Wayne Hemingway’s KiosKiosK project.
The man behind Red or Dead first launched his KiosKiosK pop-up shop concept next to City Hall in London earlier this year, in a bid to provide fledgling creative businesses with a rent-free showcase.
Now he has brought this idea to Nottingham. The Kiosk will be based on the corner of Pelham Street and Thurland Street, from October to December, with the SHRUG Ladies kicking things off in true style.
Wirksworth Festival, Art & Architecture Trail 12 -13 September 2009
5 SHRUG Ladies set out on a fantastic weekend trip to Wirksworth festival. They were ready and prepared to present their newly devised performance piece as part of the ‘What is SHRUG’ research project. The piece included 3 sections entitled ‘SHRUG Tea Dance’, ‘Day at The Beach’ and ‘Sailor SHRUG Hand Jive’. The setting was superb; Wirksworth truly is a village of extreme beauty and quant character, which suited the SHRUG Ladies to a tee!! The SHRUG Ladies performed their piece at various locations on the festival trail including the station, the church yard, a bench on the square and the farm as well as doing their usual walk about meet and greet. There were so many amazing photo opportunities, not to mention the awesome new costumes well done our new SHRUG Lady Helen!!!!!
The SHRUG Ladies made their debut at London’s Tate Modern at the weekend. The girls did an impromptu performance while the public watched on in amusement.
The performance was halted soon after by some burly security guards who almost frog-marched the ladies off site! How dare they?! Live performance art? At the Tate Modern!?
Never mind. It was fun while it lasted.
August 2009, London
The SHRUG Ladies enjoyed a wonderful day out in London this weekend seeing the sites and meeting the people on a lovely Bank Holiday Monday afternoon in the sun!
August 2009, London
The SHRUG Ladies joined again with the fantastic Fete Encounter this weekend to enjoy 3 days of performance and picnics on Abbey Green in London as part of the Lift Molten Festival.
August 2009
This week sees the launch of our shiny new website! We have lots of fabulous new features like our gallery/blog page. So, stay for a while, make a cup of tea and discover what the SHRUG ladies have been up to.
Here’s a quick homage to our old site that served us so well over the last few years. We couldn’t let it fade into nothingness so we’ve saved the best bits for posterity! x
August 2009 – ‘What is SHRUG’ research project, Nottingham.
The SHRUG Ladies took their first work in progress as part of the ‘What is SHRUG’ research project down to the Life’s a Beach event in Nottingham’s Market Square. In a truly British style the sun was shining but then the rain poured! This did not dampen the Ladies spirit however, they waited out the shower dancing under a large umbrella before returning to the beach to dance with newly found friends, slide down the helter skelter, have a nap on some deck chairs and finally relax with a nice cup of tea!
A lovely day out Ladies!
The SHRUG ladies are currently embarking on a research and development project supported by Arts Council England. We have recruited some new performers and will be undertaking street and studio based performance research, attending local festivals and events, contructing this fab new website, making and selling unique SHRUG merchandise and of course eating our usual fill of tea and cakes!
Happy Summer Ladies! Looking forward to seeing your new stuff! xxxx
This summer the SHRUG ladies are embarking on a new adventure! 2 ladies have become 4, expanding their company, their performance, their look and their selection of goodies on offer. Look out for this glamorous troop as they hit the streets of Wirksworth, engaging with all whom they meet. Will you stand and watch or will you come closer to join in this world of surreal glamour with an unnerving edge, the choice is yours!!!
August 2009, Dance 4 studio, Nottingham.
The Ladies spent their first day of studio based research as part of the ‘What is SHRUG’ project devising a piece of choreographed movement. The workshop was led by Zoo Indigo’s Rosie Garton and provided some fantastic new ideas to develop the performance work of the SHRUG Ladies.
Thanks Rosie!! xxxx
May 2009 – Hatch ‘ONE’, Ropewalk, Nottingham
Hatch is a regional platform for new work from the East Midlands set to transform the live arts landscape.
Hatch: One responded to the theme of One to help celebrate the events first birthday. 14 artists took over their biggest venue yet with work that delt with one-ness. One night only. One of a kind. One to remember. Hatch: One.
4 SHRUG ladies sat together and played a game on a draft board made of cake for 4 minutes. This was followed by a variety of individual tasks alone for 1 minute. Tasks included a one-minute tap dance, a one-minute interaction, the knitting of one row of knitting in one minute, the placing of one sticker or a single pose for a single photo. Timing was everything the performance ruled by the constant ticking of time and ringing of the bell.
March 2009 – Our Style is Legendary Left Lion Exhibition, Malt Cross, Nottingham
First outing of 4 SHRUG ladies durational performance entitled ‘I am Waiting”. This piece was a new experiment for the SHRUG ladies exploring emotions and feeling around being alone and waiting in a public space and socialising as a group in a public space.
September 2008 – The Bristol Do
A two-day SHRUG event in collaboration with the Fete Encounter. This event saw many children keen to interact with the SHRUG ladies or was it the tempting cakes?
Photos courtesy of Graham Shackleton.
June 2008 – Whitstable Biennale, Whitstable Beach, nr Old Neptune Pub
In collaboration with The Fete Encounter SHRUG ladies took their stall down onto a sandy beach. SHRUG ladies had a beautiful day out, sunbathing, building sand castles, and dancing with bears. As always interacting with passers by supplying them with a choice of cakes or a more traditional poke of chips.
May 2008 – Birmingham
SHRUG ladies joined forces with the fantastic Fete Encounter. Based on the traditional British fete, The Fete Encounter is an outdoor art event. It aims to blur the boundaries between art and the everyday and explores traditional outdoor popular entertainments such as vaudeville, seaside distractions, magic, circus and other fun and games.
Feb 2007 – Clipper event with Dance 4, Nottingham
SHRUG decked out their very own cave with all things SHRUG then invited their audience to experience an intimate 5-minute, 2 on 2 performance, making and serving pancakes. This was performed in both Nottingham and Leicester.
March 2006 – Nottingham Contemporary Launch Event, London
The SHRUG ladies were invited to make a keepsake to be included in some special artist Goody bags which were given to attendees at the launch event in London. The SHRUG Ladies chose to produce some very stylish yet practical tea towels for the event and this saw the launch of the very first piece of SHRUG merchandise.
Highly collectable you know!!!
Commissioned by Future Factory.
As the home town of the SHRUG Ladies, Notingham has hosted many city happenings. The Ladies have enjoyed the various sights and seasons the city has to offer!
June 2005 – Weekday Market around Nottingham City Centre
A project which mapped the city and linked the three main sites Bonington Gallery, Angel Row Gallery and CCAN. The SHRUG ladies wheeled a customised market stall full of goodies around the city of Nottingham, interacting with passers by and of course enjoying the occasional picnic.
Commissioned by ACE & Future Factory.
April 2005 – Nottdance, The Red Shoe Delivery Service, Nottingham
The SHRUG Ladies became a live interactive installation, driving around Nottingham city centre with the Red Shoe Delivery Service, offering free lifts and tea to passers by.
April 2005, Chelsea Theatre
The SHRUG Ladies enjoyed a trip down to the big city! They spent the day taking photos around the beautiful borough of Chelsea followed by a duration performance at Chelsea theatre as part of the Chelsea Live festival.
