Join us to celebrate the launch of I'm a Bellmaker by Rob Bidder. I'm a bellmaker is a collection of 10 short stories, told in comic form about a nameless bellmaker. Throughout the stories, the bellmaker shares thoughts and feelings with the reader, and with other characters about work, creativity, mortality, the capitalist mode of production, the function of art and the semiotics of bells. Dressed in faux-georgian attire and incredibly buff, the bellmaker cuts an enigmatic figure sometimes pompous and other times vulnerable, trying to work out what it's all about.
Rob Bidder is an artist, person-centred counsellor and educator based in Glasgow. Alongside various day jobs, he has sporadically produced comics and zines for over 25 years. Most recently he was the illustrator in residence for Wellcome Collection, where he was commissioned to do the weekly webcomic Body Squabbles for 3 years. He also plays in the "pencilcase punk" band Dog Chocolate and various other weirdo bands over the years.
On the night we will also have reading form Jer Reid and a performance from rotter otter
rotter otter is a newish improvising quartet featuring Rose Dagul (cello), Hannah Ellul (synth/tapes), Ben Ellul-Knight (vocals) and Rebecca Wilcox (vocals/samples). rotter otter make mulch music swirled up from the river bed. For the launch the band will be responding to some of the stories and words in I'm a Bellmaker.
Jer Reid has spent a lot of his time being involved with music: playing and organising in lots of different bands, configurations and roles.
He started writing lyrics for the first band he was in, dawson, when he was a teenager. It was catharsis. Writing was a crucial way to vent his rage at prejudice, injustice and the disconnected culture of consumer capitalism he was living in. Over the years that catharsis has been maintained while his process with writing has expanded. Writing has become a dialogue between, and a meditation on, different notions of the self and relationships of all kinds, and a point of connection to his dearest friends, places and experiences.
After years of helping with editing friends’ books in 2023 he finally self-published his first book. Days and Diary Entries is a collection of ideas, poems, lyrics and occasional emails and one-liners written over thirty years.
He started writing lyrics for the first band he was in, dawson, when he was a teenager. It was catharsis. Writing was a crucial way to vent his rage at prejudice, injustice and the disconnected culture of consumer capitalism he was living in. Over the years that catharsis has been maintained while his process with writing has expanded. Writing has become a dialogue between, and a meditation on, different notions of the self and relationships of all kinds, and a point of connection to his dearest friends, places and experiences.
After years of helping with editing friends’ books in 2023 he finally self-published his first book. Days and Diary Entries is a collection of ideas, poems, lyrics and occasional emails and one-liners written over thirty years.
As always tickets are free but must be booked in advance. You can pre -order your copy of I'm a Bellmaker here