22 February - 29 March 2020
Aled Simons, Carlota Nóbrega, Cybi Williams, Dylan Huw, Elin Meredydd, Ella Jones, Gweni Llwyd, Hugo
RAT TRAP, High St Arcade, Alede Simons
A message from RAT TRAP:
Hi everyone, we have some important news regarding the RAT TRAP x g39 take over.
Due to concerns around the current COVID-19/Coronavirus outbreak, we have made the decision to postpone upcoming live events, including Blind Date Residency 4 and the RAT TRAP x g39 Closing Party.
We're absolutely gutted to have to postpone, however we must keep the safety of our audience at the heart of our interests.
All tickets bought for the RAT TRAP x g39 Closing Party event will be fully refunded.
If anyone has any questions about their purchase or refund of tickets or anything else, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing rattrapcdf@gmail.com
Stay safe kids, look after each other.
RT loves you.
It’s the year of the RAT not bat xxxxx
Aled Simons, Carlota Nóbrega, Cybi Williams, Dylan Huw, Elin Meredydd, Ella Jones, Gweni Llwyd, Hugo Brazão, Inês Brites, Jennifer Taylor, L. Barron, Mark Hicken, Molly Sinclair-Thomson & Rhys Aneurin. Also with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Keys, Private World, Panic Shack and The Bug Club.
In Spring 2020 g39 is handing over to the artist collective RAT TRAP. They come from a generation of artists and musicians that mix things up in different ways, find their own routes through the maze of protocols and ways of doing things and come at it from a different angle. Events often mix music and exhibition without one becoming the background for the other. They focus on live-ness and works that evolve during conversations, the work is raw, unmediated but considered and precise.
We are pleased to have offered them the budget, the building and our support to programme g39s Spring Season. RAT TRAP x g39 will be a showcase of work by artists, musicians and bands from Wales, England and Portugal through a series of live events, residencies and exhibitions.
RAT TRAP x g39 will generate new collaborative artwork by artists from Wales, England and Portugal. Mystery artists will be paired up - ‘blind date’ style - kicking off their collaborations with public candlelit meals and finishing with an end of residency exhibition party. RAT TRAP will also take over Breakfast Club in collaboration with Cardiff based organisations and creative practitioners. Live music, performance and screening events will occur throughout the takeover, including an opening party on 22 February and a closing party on 28 March.
From here on in, RAT TRAP are in control.
Not So Grand Opening Party
RAT TRAP is here and taking over g39 for six sexy weeks. You are cordially invited to a small- to medium-sized party to kick off RAT TRAP’s takeover of g39. If recorder music is your genre of choice or you prefer to dance in silence and don’t mind the odd bit of shiny and possibly latex material rubbing against your bare skin, then this event will be up your street (this is a lie, we don’t actually know if there will be any of this stuff).
Additionally, if you’re keen to see performances and works in progress by the RAT TRAP family this Not So Grand Opening Party will also be suited to your Saturday night plans.
*Those with globophobia are advised to take caution when attending the event.
Saturday 22 February 6.00-9pm
Blind Date 1. Residency 1.
Join us for this three-day bonanza starting off with a very public candlelit dinner-date with two mystery artists. Hang out with us over the three days (or come and go as you please if you tend to need sleep, food etc) to watch them develop brand new work in collaboration with each other… or without each other depending on the success of the first date.
To culminate Residency1 we’ll be opening g39’s doors on the evening of Saturday 29th February to show the fruits of their labour. Entertainment will be provided in the form of Karaoke - hosted by much loved RAT TRAP family member Mark Hicken.
It will be like a three-day binge watch of First Dates then David Attenborough documentaries and finishing off with the first audition episodes of The X Factor.
Blind Date: 27th February, 6-9pm
Open: 28th – 29th February 2020
Launch/ Karaoke: Saturday 29th February, 6-9pm
Blind Date 2. Residency 2.
Next up we’re inviting another two artists who will either make or break during a very public, dimly lit din-dins on Thursday 5th March. Come hang out and watch their progress for the following three days, like a prolonged trip to a human zoo. Then once again on Saturday 7th March join us on the final evening? as they share their work and we screen some YouTube stuff.
This one will be kind of like watching Dinner Date, then Big Brother and topping it off nicely with You’ve Been Framed for three days.
Blind Date: 5th March, 6-9pm
Open: 6th-7th March 2020
Launch/ Youtube: Saturday 7th February, 6-9pm
Blind Date 3. Residency 3.
Yeah you guessed it… another candlelight dinner with two strangers, who also happen to be artists, on Thursday 12th March. This is no ordinary artist talk… it’s more like Marina Abromovic producing the next series of Love Island.
To mark the end of their residency we’ll be hosting again on the final evening, Saturday 14th March.
RAT TRAP is a multi-platform collective of visual artists and musicians. They organise and curate events in unrecognised venues, where they attempt to blur audiences and formats. They started in 2016 while students after recognising the need for an accessible space and format for artists, musicians and bands to share and experiment with outcomes in Cardiff. In 2017, they set up RAT TRAP Studios in Roath to provide an affordable studio space for artists to work and musicians to record.