GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES TOMORROW
Glasgow International, Scotland's biennial festival of contemporary art, launches tomorrow. The programme features new and commissioned work from 150 artists from 24 different countries, including Jim Lambie, Anne Collier, Sue Tompkins, Aleksandra Domanović, Michael Stumpf, Bedwyr Williams and many, many more. GI runs for 19 days, across 50 different exhibitions in galleries and spaces around the city. 

In the run-up to the launch of this year's GI, we spoke to Festival Director Sarah McCrory about the stunningly diverse range of visual art on display. "The starting point for me for Glasgow International is the city itself," she told us in our Northwest March issue. "Every city’s got an incredible history but I think Glasgow specifically, with all the different histories that make up this one relatively small city that has this huge artistic community, is very interesting. I’m particularly seduced by all these old buildings, some of which are available, some of which we’re trying to get access to. That’s exciting as a prospect because it feels like a sort of blank canvas of potential spaces that you can produce exciting things in."

A still from a video piece by Bedwyr Williams, who features at this year's Glasgow International

Elsewhere, we took a brief look at some of the highlights of the 2014 programme, and had another chat with McCrory about artwork available at GI through the Own Art scheme. Bedwyr Williams kindly enlightened our writer on the inspirations behind his dystopian coach-based installation in the Tramway. We also spoke to the BBC's Lindsey Hanlon about Art Screen, a season of screenings of rare and never-before-seen documentaries from the BBC archives, also taking place as part of GI. And our April issue cover hosts an artwork by Glasgow's Michael Stumpf, who let us into his Easterhouse studio for a chat and a sneak peek at the work he's prepared for his show in GSA's Mackintosh Museum.

Tomorrow night's launch sees a dazzling array of launch parties and openings taking place throughout Glasgow – with GI only taking place once every two years, its launch is one of the most important in the calendar for Glasgow art, so we recommend you get out there and get stuck in. Check our handy at-a-glance guide to what's on at the bottom of this article.

GLASGOW'S THE LIGHTHOUSE GALLERY UNVEILS SPRING PROGRAMME
The Lighthouse Gallery in Glasgow has unveiled its programme of exhibitions and events for the spring season this week, featuring an exhibition looking at the developments undertaken in Glasgow's East End to create the Athletes' Village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games (running 16 May-3 Aug); a showcase featuring work from makers and product designers who have benefitted from the Cultural Enterprise Office's Starter For 6 programme (running from 11 Apr-8 Jun), including work from Andy Murray Design, Scott Jarvie Design, Pea Cooper Millinery and Jane North Jewellery; and AIR Scotland, an exhibition of jewellery design featuring work created during residencies at three Scottish art schools: The Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (running from 16 May-1 Jun).

"The jewellery exhibitions capture the work from students at Scotland’s Colleges as well as those participating in the Scotland’s Artist in Residence programme," says Ian Elder, Manager of the Lighthouse Gallery. "The exhibition demonstrates the creative health of our emerging designers and also explore the relationship between technology and traditional methods of making."

Work from the Starter For 6 participants, showing at The Lighthouse Gallery

A later exhibition, Handmade By Machines, also looks at jewellery design, with work by final year students from the City of Glasgow College, Glasgow Clyde College, Glasgow Kelvin College and Fife College (running from 20 Jun-13 Jul). There will also be a major exhibition examing the environmental legacy of the Commonwealth Games, consisting of a a seven-month programme of exhibitions, events and activities. The GREEN2014 strand launches on 11 April.

"I hope the public will see the legacy which has been created in the East End with the most significant housing-led regeneration initiative currently underway in Britain," comments Ian Elder. "I hope they will appreciate the design and technology that has been a fundamental part of achieving this objective." For full details, have a look at the website for The Lighthouse.

CARLOS CRUZ-DIEZ TO PAINT A 'DAZZLE SHIP' AT THE LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL
Dazzle camouflage is an artistic relic of the end of an era when Britannia ruled the waves, and the UK's worldwide naval superiority was just beginning to be challenged. Introduced in 1917 during the First World War, the technique of 'dazzle' painting was used to camouflage ships in the British fleet from enemies, and was introduced by Norman Wilkinson, a future President of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. At the time, German submarines were attempting to cut off trade and supply routes to the British Isles, so Wilkinson designed a technique to camouflage the ships from attack. 

Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool, by Edward Wadsworth

Rather than trying to hide or conceal the ships, 'dazzle' techniques saw them painted "in such a way that their appearance was optically distorted, so that it was difficult for a submarine to calculate the course the ship was travelling on, and so know from what angle to attack," according to a press release from the Liverpool Biennial organisers. A series of "contrasting stripes and curves" were used to break up the shape of the ship when seen from a distance, using "garish colours and a sharp patchwork design of interlocking shapes," in an approach that was heavily indebted to the emerging Cubist movement.

Nearly 100 years on, Liverpool Biennial are re-examining the aesthetic of these 'Dazzle Ships' by commissioning Caracas-born, Paris-based kinetic-optic artist Carlos Cruz-Diez to create a modern 'dazzle' design on the ship the HMS Edmund Gardner, currently in dry dock in Liverpool. National Museums Liverpool and 14-18 NOW, and the WWI Centenery Cultural Programme, have all contributed to the commissioning of this new work, which will be twinned with another 'dazzled' ship – the HMS President – in London, to be decorated by another contemporary artist. Full details of the project, including the date of the ship's unveiling, will be revealed this month. Find out more at the website of the First World War Centenary, 1418NOW.org.uk or at the Liverpool Biennial site, biennial.com. 

EXHIBITION: SILAS PARRY @ SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH
Possibility of Life is the new exhibition from Edinburgh-born artist Silas Parry. It opens at Summerhall in Edinburgh on 4 April. Incorporating sculpture, automata, and soundscapes, this cross-discipline exhibition showcases Parry's striking artistic vision and mercurial subject matter. The exhibition is part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, with Summerhall also featuring new work by David Burrows, Bigert & Bergstrom, Jessica Lloyd-Jones and Helen Storey.

Featuring a series of kinetic taxidermy sculptures which "invest forgotten and lifeless relics with a new identity," the exhibition will present "a dystopian future: the processes of life, part-remembered and fading." It is free to attend, and runs until 24 May. There is a launch event on 4 April at 7pm. Find out more at the Summerhall site.

EXHIBITION: CIARA DOONE RUSH @ ARTS HUB 47, LIVERPOOL
A new exhibition of work by photographer Ciara Doone Rush is opening today at Liverpool's Arts Hub 47. Inspired by her love of horses, the new collection of Rush's work celebrates "the natural beauty, spirit and personality of horses." 

An image from Horses, Hounds & Hats, the new exhibition from Ciara Doone Rush

Combining dramatic 'action shots' of horses in motion, and beautifully-shot portraiture, the collection sees Rush exploring a life spent in the company of these noble creatures. The title of the exhibition is Horses, Hounds & Hats. It opens tonight at 5pm, and runs until 8 April. See the Arts Hub 47 site for more details.

EXHIBITION: MAP 2014 – A FEMINIST CHORUS (PART OF GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL)
MAP Magazine has branched out into producing and curating exhibitions for the first time, with a programme launching this GI. A Feminist Chorus by Lucy Reynolds stretches across three venues, with the GSA segment opening today, the Blythswood Square work on Thursday and a performance in Glasgow Women’s Library on Saturday followed by a video document screening in the bookshelves from next week.

Recording session for A Feminist Chorus in March 2014

Reynolds investigates the collective power of the women’s movement in Glasgow, tracing its roots and history across the public spaces, memories and writings of the city. The exhibition runs from 4-21 April at the Centre for Contemporary Arts and includes an actual chorus. Find out more here.

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL:

LAUNCH NIGHT EVENTS AT A GLANCE

Here's our handy at-a-glance guide to what's happening in Glasgow on Thursday and Friday nights for the launch of Glasgow International 2014. Some may require tickets, so come bearing invitations or attempt convincing patter. Full GI listings can be found here.

Thursday 3 April

5-7pm

Aleksandra Domanović, Come to Ozark, Sue Tompkins, Gallery of Modern Art, performance 6pm.
Gareth Moore, The Whisky Bond, Glasgow Sculpture Studios 

6-8pm

This Song Belongs to Those who Sing It: Michael Stumpf, The Glasgow School of Art 
Read our recent interview with Michael Stumpf 

6-9pm

Gymnasia: Opera Autonoma, Le Swimming (group exhibition), Underground Carpark, Fleming House, 134 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6ST

7-9pm

Khaled Hourani / Jerwood/Film and Video Umbrella Awards: What Will They See of Me? (group exhibition), Centre for Contemporary Arts 

7-10pm (*by invitation only)

Jordan Wolfson / Avery Singer / Hudinilson Jr / Charlotte Prodger, McLellan Galleries (speeches at 7.30pm)

and

10pm-late (*by invitation only until 11.30pm)

After party, Glasgow School of Art Students’ Association 

Friday 4 April

3-5pm

Kelly (group exhibition), Savoy Shopping Centre 

3-6pm

Lauren Printy Currie, Veronika Hauer, Andreas Heller, Baldachini 

4-11pM

Museum Of Alternative Motifs: Olivia Guertler and Ellis Luxemburg, Southside Studios 

5-7pm

Love: Anthea Hamilton & Nicholas Byrne, Govanhill Baths 

6-8pm

Anne Collier, Modern Institute 

Reproduction: Alex Frost, Glasgow Print Studio

Victory Park: Arnis Balcus / IMG_: Johan Nieuwenhuize, Street Level Photoworks, Trongate 103

Cloud: Henrik Pätzke, Project Ability, Trongate 103

6-9pm

Videos and Miscellaneous Stuff from Storage (Pt. 2): Michael Smith / Echt: Bedwyr Williams, Tramway 
Read our recent interview with Bedwyr Williams 

Reclaimed - The Second Life of Sculpture (group exhibition), Wasps Artists' Studios, The Briggait

AZQ<>$@ Ł•^, Alistair Frost, Mary Mary off-site, 32 St Andrews Street

Post-Military Cinema: Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Transmission Gallery

Times TBC

KlingKlang (group exhibition), Queens Park Railway Club,  Platform 2, Queens Park Railway Station,

Sehnsucht and The Chalet Archive (group exhibition), curated by Seth Orion Schwaiger, The Chalet