Artist collective and Best of Manchester Awards nominee Contents May Vary is putting an interesting event this weekend:

ANTIFREEZE is an exhibition about the high-end art market delivered within the format of low-end trade. It is the grass-roots answer to hugely commercial art fairs allowing independent and non-commercial practitioners to explore ideas of value, exchange and independence with artists and artist-led organisations responding to the physical, social, economical, geographical and literal situation.

Taking in sculpture, printing, drawing, video, performance, installation, photography and collage, Contents May Vary’s ANTIFREEZE offers extreme clowning, trespassed pictures, Nazi poster art, Kun(S)t stylings, Tranni Bingo, naff music, Regal defacement, automobiliart, a gift shop, zines, hunting women, masked men from the woods, black dogs, Kipling, turd polishing, Mainlining (Intercity), dogs in hot cars, Nail art (modern), vernacular diamonds and bread, neatly packaged in the car park of a building lifeless without art.

‘Manchester’s first art car boot fair’ features work by the dozens of artists listed here. It takes place on Saturday 4 July, 12-7pm, at the CHIPS Building, Upper Kirby Street, off Old Mill Street, New Islington, Manchester, M4 6EB – click here for a Google map.

While you’re in that area, check out Hope Mill, which is hosting some interesting music and arts events right now.

Ste Campbell’s been in touch about an ongoing project he’s working on…

Soup o’ th’ Day offers a week-by-week guide to events happening in the city, in a visual calendar form. Next week, for example, you choose between Sketch City’s Sketchbook Sessions at Odder on Wednesday, a Blur aftershow party at Ruby Lounge on Friday, Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, or even ‘Women on the Edge of HRT’, both at The Lowry.

There’s also a Soup o’ th’ Day blog with videos, from Not Part of, Islington Mill and gigs, for example.

And remember to check out The Shipping Forecast if you’re interested in music event listings in particular.

Everyone loves a good spoof – and that’s what the eagle-eyed among us might have spotted around town:

Yup, the Best of Manchester Awards posters have been re-imagined as ‘Best of Manchester Notions’ – click above for a larger version, and check out the ninja symbol top right in particular.

The (official) organisers love it and are appealing for the designer to come forward. They’ll get their space within the BoMA exhibitions. Alternatively, anyone who helps out with some detective work will get a couple of tickets to the awards night. Email marketing at urbis dot org dot uk.

Despite its plentiful supply of restaurants, Didsbury Village is noticeably short of good, independent drinking establishments – especially ones where you feel equally safe order a coffee as you do asking for a pint. I was in The Art of Tea on Barlow Moor Road on Saturday and, when I’d finished being distracted by the halloumi salad, spotted details of a regular event that’s launching there tonight:

Gesampt is a new night bringing together all things creative and offers people an opportunity to exhibit their work for one night only in a Salon style – this could be anything from paintings to objects and videos to soundtracks.

Gesampt will also be showcasing acoustic and folk musicians that are either traditional or experimental in style.

Offering acoutic entertainment this evening will be Luffy the Acoustic Man, Clare Helen, Callum Plowright and Dan and Lee from No Drones for Leopold, while Cygnus and WEAR will be providing ‘experimental electronic shenanigans’. The event kicks off at 7.30pm and runs until about 11.30pm. Visit the Salon Gesampt blog for more information about future events.

One new thing and one old to tell you about today…

The former is An Apathetical Reader, which is ‘a creative community site that hopes to give a voice to the vast numbers of unsupported, disillusioned young people in the city and question why individuals feel apathy towards their own work’. It’ll achieve this through local news, national political comment, features of Manchester, music journalism and artist’s profiles.

The latter is The Chapel on the edge of Platt Fields in Rusholme/Fallowfield. This building, which dates back to 1790, was used as a meeting place for Manchester Amateur Photographic Society (itself founded in 1885) and the Russell Leite Theatre School until it was purchased a couple of years back.

Now, however, it’s being run by the same ambitious group of ex-students who launched Platt Fields’ Mad Ferret festival last year and who took over the (now closed) Ram & Shackle pub. Their aims, according to a post on Indymedia.org.uk, are  to provide an autonomous space for performing arts, learning, access to the arts and local campaigners. I’m hearing lots of grand ideas coming out of this unusual building, so best of luck to them.

And the link between these two? AAR will be holding an open meeting at The Chapel this coming Wednesday from 7pm. If you fancy getting involved, email Alice or join the AAR Facebook group.