{"id":8833,"date":"2020-03-05T11:19:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T11:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/?p=8833"},"modified":"2023-04-20T16:23:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T15:23:39","slug":"the-soft-rebellions-an-introduction-to-chloe-browns-soft-rebellions-and-dancing-in-the-boardroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/the-soft-rebellions-an-introduction-to-chloe-browns-soft-rebellions-and-dancing-in-the-boardroom\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Soft Rebellions\u2019: An introduction to Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s Soft Rebellions and \u2018Dancing in the Boardroom\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

About the author<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Chlo\u00eb Brown<\/a> is an artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has an MA in Sculpture from Chelsea College of Art, London (1994), and a BA in Fine Art from the University of Reading (1987). She has exhibited internationally over the last 30 years including three international biennials (Istanbul Biennial, Mardin Biennial and the British Ceramics Biennial) with work recently included in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).<\/em><\/p>\n

Using a range of media including film, sculpture, book works and drawing, Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s research examining the relationship to sociopolitical questions that focus on the post-industrial city from an auto-ethnographic feminist perspective. She has become interested in how acts such as dancing, eating and applauding can be seen as a playful subversion, a form of liberation. This was explored in her exhibition \u2018Dancing in the Boardroom\u2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) from January 15th to April 24th 2016 and has gone on to inform her ongoing research and practice.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Welcome to the first in a series of blogs on Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s Soft Rebellions<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

An introduction to the Soft Rebellions<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Film still: Dancing in the Street<\/em>, Chlo\u00eb Brown (2016)<\/p><\/div>\n

Since 2013 I have been working with what I term \u2018Soft Rebellions\u2019 as a way of questioning the representation of certain post-industrial cities in relation to my position as a woman born and bred in the city of Sheffield in the UK; cities whose \u2018reason for being\u2019, their industry, has transformed so significantly that the use of their nicknames: \u2018The Potteries\u2019 (Stoke-on-Trent, UK), \u2018The Motor City (Detroit, USA), \u2018The Steel City\u2019 (Sheffield, UK), becomes a melancholy gesture that talks about the past, not the now, nor the future.<\/p>\n

A Soft Rebellion questions what happens when the economic engines of a city slow down but the people don\u2019t. This research focuses particularly on the citizens, asking this question with optimism by rejecting the production of \u2018ruin porn\u2019 in favour of art work that is uplifting, celebratory, even life-affirming.<\/p>\n

So far, the Soft Rebellions have been a series of actions and events that involve:<\/p>\n

Dancing<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eating<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Talking<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Applauding<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yelling in places where it is considered transgressive to do so.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Dancing in the Boardroom (Turnin\u2019 My Heartbeat Up)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Film still: Dancing in the Boardroom (Turnin\u2019 My Heartbeat Up)<\/em>, Chlo\u00eb Brown (2013)<\/p><\/div>\n

This film was the first work I made as a Soft Rebellion and features two Northern Soul dancers dancing with passion in the empty, once splendid Boardroom at the disused Spode ceramic factory in Stoke-on-Trent, UK.<\/p>\n

Northern Soul is a uniquely British genre that began as an underground club movement in the late 1960s. It arose out of the escapist desire of largely white working class young adults who worked all week in mundane jobs but at weekends travelled to north of England venues to dance all night to raw, rare, soul music produced in America\u2019s industrial heartland, particularly Detroit. These records were commercial failures when they were originally released in the USA, but those failures, and their subsequent rarity, became Northern Soul.<\/p>\n

Dancing in the Boardroom leads to collisions of meaning, not least the questioning of the sanctity of the Boardroom, a place where traditionally the Managing Director and the Board would entertain buyers and guests. In the film, the room is transformed into a ballroom, a dance hall, where uplifting music is played and a couple dances, absorbed in their own movements and thoughts.<\/p>\n

Through this film and it\u2019s installation as part of the British Ceramics Biennial in the Managing Director\u2019s office at the Spode Factory issues such as the class system, labour and norms of behaviour are questioned. Notions of the industrial ruin in combination with Stoke-on-Trent\u2019s prominence within the history of the Northern Soul movement are explored through the film making connections between Stoke-on-Trent and Detroit (from where the music largely originates). The work articulates with contemporary questions around site, dance and music as a way of addressing emotional responses to particular places.<\/p>\n

The film was originally made in response to the Topographies of the Obsolete<\/em> research project (a site specific research collaboration between the British Ceramics Biennial, Sheffield Hallam University, Danske Kunstakademi, Copenhagen, Muthesius kunsthochschule, Kiel Germany, The Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway, Alfred University, USA, University of Newcastle and the School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University since 2012).<\/p>\n

The film can be accessed on Vimeo<\/a> (HD Video, 2013, 07:37).<\/p>\n

Since August 2015 I have been visiting and working in Detroit to further extend this on-going practice-based research. Detroit is renowned for being the epitome of a city in post-industrial crisis but my interest in the city extends to the development of soul music during the 1960\u2019s and \u201870\u2019s due to my previous research into Northern Soul. Utilising artistic research methodologies I use this history to challenge, question and contribute to specific narratives within the city, working and collaborating with native Detroiters, including Martha Reeves, of seminal Motown group Martha and The Vandellas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About the author Chlo\u00eb Brown is an artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has an MA in Sculpture from Chelsea College of Art, London (1994), and a BA in Fine Art from the University of Reading (1987). She has exhibited internationally over the last 30 years including three international biennials (Istanbul Biennial, Mardin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12068,"featured_media":8832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[228],"tags":[5,161,1496,1497,162],"class_list":["post-8833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-researcher-blog","tag-art-and-design-research-centre","tag-chloe-brown","tag-dancing-in-the-boardroom","tag-dancing-in-the-street","tag-soft-rebellion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/03\/soft-rebellions-chloe-brown.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8oFHo-2it","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8854,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/chloe-browns-soft-rebellions-from-alfred-street-to-temple-street-detroit-and-dancing-in-the-street\/","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":0},"title":"Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s \u2018Soft Rebellions\u2019: \u2018From Alfred Street to Temple Street, Detroit\u2019 and \u2018Dancing in the Street\u2019","author":"Laura Hetherington","date":"16\/03\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the second in a series of researcher blogs detailing Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s Soft Rebellions. See the first here.\u00a0 About the author Chlo\u00eb Brown is an artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has an MA in Sculpture from Chelsea College of Art, London\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Researcher blog"","block_context":{"text":"Researcher blog","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/category\/researcher-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/03\/dancing-street-cb-1.png?fit=890%2C294&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/03\/dancing-street-cb-1.png?fit=890%2C294&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/03\/dancing-street-cb-1.png?fit=890%2C294&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/03\/dancing-street-cb-1.png?fit=890%2C294&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7341,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/chloe-brown-soft-rebellion-corridor8\/","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":1},"title":"Chlo\u00eb Brown’s\u00a0‘A Soft Rebellion in Paradise’ reviewed in Corridor8","author":"Ian Braddick","date":"26\/06\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Soft Rebellion in Paradise\u00a0is a new short film by artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art\u00a0Chlo\u00eb Brown. The film was shot on location in Sheffield's Paradise Square and being internationally premiered in the form of an outdoor screening in partnership with\u00a0Sheffield Doc\/Fest\u00a0on Saturday 08\u00a0June 2019, in the Square itself.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Soft Rebellion in Paradise","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/05\/Soft-Rebellion-in-Paradise.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/05\/Soft-Rebellion-in-Paradise.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/05\/Soft-Rebellion-in-Paradise.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/05\/Soft-Rebellion-in-Paradise.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8869,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/chloe-browns-soft-rebellions-the-detroit-dinner-service-and-a-toast-to-detroit\/","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":2},"title":"Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s \u2018Soft Rebellions\u2019: \u2018The Detroit Dinner Service\u2019 and \u2018A Toast to Detroit\u2019","author":"Laura Hetherington","date":"30\/03\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the third in a series of researcher blogs detailing Chlo\u00eb Brown\u2019s Soft Rebellions. See the first here and the second here. About the author Chlo\u00eb Brown is an artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. 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In recent years artist (and SHU Senior Lecturer in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paradise Square, Sheffield","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2018\/08\/BROWN-2018-09-Paradise-Square-Soft-Rebellions.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2018\/08\/BROWN-2018-09-Paradise-Square-Soft-Rebellions.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2018\/08\/BROWN-2018-09-Paradise-Square-Soft-Rebellions.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2018\/08\/BROWN-2018-09-Paradise-Square-Soft-Rebellions.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7083,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/premiere-soft-rebellion-paradise-chloe-brown\/","url_meta":{"origin":8833,"position":4},"title":"Saturday 8 June 2019 – A Soft Rebellion in Paradise – The International Premiere of a film by Chlo\u00eb Brown","author":"Kirsty Christer","date":"17\/05\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"For one day this spring, Sheffield\u2019s historic Paradise Square is set to transform into an art gallery for a major outdoor screening event as part of Sheffield Doc\/Fest. 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