Architecture and the Arts

Architecture and the Arts Group Research Task Document 2010

CONTENTS 1 Artist/Architect Local Collaboration

Urban Exploration The Scotsman Steps - Martin Creed / Haworth Tompkins Architects In Memory - Nathan Coley / Reiach and Hall Architects Outlandia Field Station - Malcolm Fraser Architects Merchant City - Ian Alexander / Louise Crawford

2 Artist/Architect International Collaboration Petra Gibb - Kivik Gormley Studio - Antony Gormley / Chipperfield Architects Canon Muriel Bienniale - Kyoto Takahashi / Akihisa Hirata Beijing Olympic Stadium - Ai Wei Wei / Herzog & De Meuron Ma Yangson / Olafur Eliason

3 Artist Spaces Public Art Space Studio Spaces Performance Spaces Gallery Spaces

4.1 Art Organisations Commisioning bodies Funding bodies Agents

4.2 Sustainability

In Art Practice Artists working with sustainability as a concept

5 Individual Art Reviews

Artist/Architect Local Collaboration

Urban Exploration The Scotsman Steps - Martin Creed / Haworth Tompkins Architects In Memory - Nathan Coley / Reiach and Hall Architects Outlandia Field Station - Malcolm Fraser Architects Merchant City - Ian Alexander / Louise Crawford

1

Duncan Bain Ruari McCance Calum Robinson

Urban Exploration

Urban Exploration A Documentary by Thomas Harper and Dan Jewell.

This 15 minute film is a simple piece of artistic film documentary that involves the exploration of ‘forgotten’ spaces. It follows the interests and adventures of Ali, Ferg, Ronan and Arf as they document and interpret local ‘ruins’.

They form part of a sub-culture of Urban Explorers, people, often with no formal training in art or architecture but who could be considered, through their interests in the creation and composition of photography and other media, as outsider artists.

Their compulsion to visit these spaces is borne both out of curiosity and the desire to create works that respond to the characteristics of the spaces they find. This photography is often naive and cliché, the use of long-exposures and torches as an example, but the concept of documentary photography of abandoned post-industrial spaces is a part of more established artistic practice - Magnum photographer, Paul Fusco’s images of post-disaster Chernobyl or David Kohrman’s study of the ruins of modern Detroit, two proponents of the subject.

The selection of buildings that the film’s explorers chose to visit is important. Although living in a nation of a thousands historic ruins, it is those of recently vacated buildings that the team find interesting.

These building’s, often built as part of the post-war rebuilding programme, speak in the language of utopian mid-century Modernism. The surreality of these structures, so recently vacated, is more perverse than the ruins of castles.

Architects working today still use much of this language, we still live in the period of architectural modernism. The building sthat are visited in the film are not a great deal different to those built today. In areas like Fountainbridge the increasingly skeletal remains of the McEwan’s brewery can be seen alongside the skeletal construction new housing across the street.

In this respect, these documents, both the photography of the explorers and the documentary that follows them, are engaging in a sort of anthropological study of the remains of our age, much like archeologists would of past ancestors.

Exploring Dead Architecture

When one has a relative or friend who is ill they are compelled by instinct to look after them and visit them in their bed to show moral support and wish them better. This instinctual desire may also arise from curiosity regarding ‘illnesses’ and the inevitable onset of death. We as humans seem to be perplexed by the misfortune of others.

In the same curious way certain individuals are compelled and take some joy in seeing an ill building, a concrete tangle with eye sockets removed. The building is a mere shadow of its former vigour. We gawp at its sorry withered bones and its scabby skin but do we bring it grapes and flowers and stay up half the night making an elaborate card for it?

No, we stare unashamedly at its buckled joints and clamber inside its most personal regions. We take photos of it to remember how ‘he was once so good looking’. Some of us bring along flaming torches and hammers to systematically ‘help him along’ to his dusty death.

We become ad-hoc anthropologists deducing a ‘cause of death’. We become surgeons poking and prodding infected abscesses.

There is a curiosity in seeing something so strong fall down around us like a piece of clothing - a chequered shirt you bought, once made you look like the Marlboro man but now you just look like Barry chuckle.

Personal Exploration

St Peter’s Seminary, Cardross We ourselves have visited one of the buildings in the film, St. Peter’s Seminary designed by Gillespie, Kidd and Coia.

The practice were famed for their Modernist churches and the seminary was perhaps their most significant creation.

Built between 1961-66, it represented a distinctly Scottish take on the international Modernism of Le Corbusier.

From completion the building was riddled with problems and a decreasing intake of new students saw it’s use as a seminary end in 1980 when it was converted into a drug rehabilitation centre. It was fully abandoned within a decade In only 20 years, nature has sought to reclaim the site, and countless people have used it’s rotting remains as a space for all sorts of activity; from canvas for graffiti, to using it’s timber beams as bonfire materials.

As students of architecture, with our awareness of its history and significance in the development of modernism in Scotland, it is a fascinating and at times troubling place to visit.

However, it draws all sorts of people to it for different reasons; aesthetic, historical, and social. There is no doubt the buildings seclusion is attractive to many. The film gives a glimpse into a different outlook on the legacy of abandoned spaces and the mind set of those who visit them.

Hannah Fothergill David Robinson Tom Russell

The Scotsman Steps

The Artist

Martin Creed (born 1968) is a Glaswegian conceptual artist. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for Work No. 227, the lights going on and off, which was an empty room, where the lights went on and off.

Martin Creed was born in Wakefield and brought up in Glasgow. He studied art at the Slade School of Art at University College London from 1986 to 1990.

Creed is perhaps best known for his submission for the 2001 Turner Prize show at the Tate Gallery, Work No. 227, the lights going on and off, which won that year’s prize. The artwork presented was an empty room in which the lights periodically switched on and off. As so often with the Turner Prize, this created a great deal of press attention, most of it questioning whether something as minimalist as this could be considered art at all. Artist Jacqueline Crofton threw eggs at the walls of Creed’s empty room as a protest against the prize, declaring that Creed’s presentations were not real art and that “painting is in danger of becoming an extinct skill in this country”.

Creed is fascinated with pattern and repetition and this is what his latest exhibition at the fruitmarket gallery, “down over up” focuses on.

“I think life’s crazy and mixed up and I don’t know what its all about. But I think repetition is comforting. Its like an ordered version of life.”

The Architects

Haworth Tompkins was formed in 1991 by architects Graham Haworth and Steve Tompkins. The studio has designed work for clients across the public, private and subsidised sectors including schools, galleries, theatres, housing, offices, shops and factories.

Haworth Tompkins buildings are primarily influenced by the specific chemistry of individual places and cultural situations.

What they have in common is an approach rather than a stylistic signature. Key to their work is an understanding of the nature of a site and the needs of a building’s users, a process which often yields original or unconventional solutions.

The office has a significant work base in the arts sector.

Completed projects include the London Library, the Young Vic, Regents park theatre and Aldeburgh music centre at Snape Maltings Suffolk.

The practice has been involved in a number of collaborations with artists over the past 20 years including works with Clem Crosby, Dan Graham, Antoni Malinowski and Martin Creed.

Background

The Haworth Tompkins / Martin Creed collaboration was one brought together in it’s infancy through the London Library back in 2005. Architect and Artist were introduced to each other by the client with a view to creating an installation that related to the Library’s old and new additions. Taking Creed’s interest in repetition and Haworth Tompkins’ focus on the specific chemistry of individual places the two commenced with discussions on where might be a suitable location to place an installation. The London Library had given the team free reign to put their intervention anywhere within the entire library.

From the outset it was clearly important to both Artist and Architect that whilst the installation should not disrupt the process of the building as a library, said installation would also need to be something that people were aware of, whether visiting the library as a one-off or on a more regular basis. Intriguingly this led them to, of all places the lavatories.

The rhythmic nature of books stacked along wall to wall shelves appealed to Creed’s fascination with repetition, and provided a key concept starting point for the team. “Creed liked the repetition found within the stacks of books lining the library walls, but also liked very much that each book was unique, individual and different to the next.” says Colin Rose, one of the Haworth Tompkins team. “A Library is a collection of unique items - an encyclopedia of individuality - a wealth of the collective world.”

The vivacity of this concept can be seen clearly in the final product. The walls are replaced by the floor; the books by a plethora of coloured marble and ceramic tiles. “It’s like a library of marble. I normally judge a place by the bathroom.

If it has nice toilets, I like it more.” says Creed. Loos are so often a forgotten or left over space. In this respect Colin Rose’s words ring very true “ Collaborating with artists gives architects a licence to do something a little more unconventional and interesting.”

Since completion of the London Library lavatories Creed and Haworth Tompkins have also collaborated on an installation to the the Gavin Brown’s Enterprise NY (illustrated this page also) and have commenced work on a proposal for the Scotsman steps in Edinburgh.

The Scotsman steps

The latest in the line of Haworth Tompkins / Creed collaborations has focused on the application of different marble finishes to the Scotsman steps in Edinburgh. To be installed in conjunction with a three month long exhibition of Creed’s work at the Fruit market gallery titled “down over up” along with the performance of a ballet , Creed foresaw the steps playing a key role in his prolonged “performance” in the city of Edinburgh. Unfortunately the project is yet to be realised due to delays in the larger reconstruction project that the stairs are a part of. However, the collaboration is ongoing and hopefully in time the marble will be installed, prolonging Creed’s “performance” in the city for longer than even he expected. Playing upon the metaphor between Edinburgh’s international arts scene and the world wide encyclopedia of marbles, the stairs hope to celebrate Edinburgh’s international status and culture.

“The project began with conversations about going up and down steps. We invited martin to think about making a work of permanent sculpture for the Scotsman steps opposite the gallery and began thinking of his work in terms of additions and subtractions in degrees. Things being added to, things being taken away from, going up and down steps.”

Fiona Bradley Fruitmarket director

Analysis

The Haworth Tompkins / Creed collaboration has in interesting narrative to it. One initial collaboration has led to more, and although each has been quite similar in product One wonders where their collaboration will take them in the future. Each has gained and given to the other which is surely the sign of a good collaboration. The relationship is a symbiotic one with Haworth Tompkins helping Creed to realise his ideas, and Creed helping Haworth Tompkins to achieve an architectural solution with greater layers of narrative and interest.

Creed certainly has a habit of re-cyling his ideas again and again. Naturally this resides comfortably with his fascination in all things repeated. However it begs the question, that down the line, further on in process and at third generation re-cycling stage, how relevant is the initial concept to the new scenario? The repetition of the same concept within the framework of visual art is acceptable and potentially quite positive. However when that concept becomes intermingled with architectural interventions, as is the case has with the Scotsman steps, relevance to site and spirit of place come dangerously second to the pursuit of an initial and perhaps now irrelevant concept. It strikes an stark contrast to Haworth Tompkins’ central ethos of focus on the “specific chemistry of individual places.” Is it possible that this so far symbiotic relationship is becoming one more akin to that of a parasite?

The argument behind cladding the Scotsman steps in marble is one of expressing Edinburgh’s international platform to the arts and culture. However on reflection, how appropriate is it to use Marble to do this. Creed speaks of the

marble as an encyclopedia to the world. However marble is only found in quite specific areas of the world. Is Marble truly representative of the world collective? The relevance of the marble flooring in the London library is apparent - a beautiful concept and outcome. That same beautiful concept has been used with the Scotsman steps, but how successful will the outcome be?

Delay in installing the marble due to the steps being part of a larger reconstruction project that is behind schedule means we can’t yet see the outcome of this latest collaboration. It would therefore be both difficult and unfair to draw verdict.

Creed sees his exhibition, Scotsman steps installation and ballet as “one prolonged performance and presence” in the city of Edinburgh. However once the fruitmarket gallery exhibition closes its doors to the public and the dancers hang up their ballet shoes for the year where will that leave the Scotsman steps?

A visit to the Scotsman steps in their current state will give the observer a distinct aroma of urine and the feeling of wanting to hold onto their bag that little bit tighter. How long will it be before someone urinates all over Creed’s beautiful encyclopedia? Who knows, we like to think that maybe, just maybe this latest Creed / Haworth Tompkins installation might bring that little bit of “special” to the steps, they so desperately need. A transformation from back alley stair case to beautiful macro-micro journey. Watch this space...

Stefania Rowley Jen Balmer Hanin Elmardhi

In Memory

‘In Memory’, 2010, a permenant work of art that highlights the idea of impermenance, takes the form of a small cemetry located within the vast grounds of Bonnington House. The inventor of the concept is Nathan Coley, a Scottish born artist and Turner Prize nominee famed for creating installations based on architectural themes. The intriguing walled graveyard collaboration project merges the materialities of fauna and concrete and sits amongst works by Anish Kapoor, Andy Goldsworthy and Charles Jencks amongst others. It is site specific and has been designed from the point of view of the artist with the structural help and guidance of Reiach and Hall architects. The dimensions are accurate to the height and width of Nathan Coley, in particular the opening into the graveyard itself. The graveyard is not about any particular religion but rather faith in general. The headstones bear no names but are limited to small epitaphs and sometimes

ornate details. The intention was that within the ambience of the space the objects begin to speak for themselves in Coley’s absence. The concept explores the idea of how we create places of special meanings. The space within the hand poured concrete walls is given significance by the people who fill it. Each individual will imprint their own take on it, regardless of faith or religion. In Memory appears to be an extremely still, exciting, valuable conceptual space despite it’s simplicity. It involves intriguing detail and theory, forcing us to allow the space to become personal to us by projecting our own inner thoughts and feelings onto the empty spaces.

Ergonomics is the study of people and their relationship in the environment around them. For our experimental visual piece we have looked at typical hand/eye dimensions and combining the materialities within the existing project into one handheld form. The hand span is on average 172mm so the plaster cube we have created is 172mm in every direction with a ‘peephole’ into the project, a representation of the experiences we may feel if we could visit the graveyard.

Liam Doyle Craig Martin Linda Nicol

Outlandia Field Station

The Artist/ Architects

London Fieldworks

Formed in 2000 by artists Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson, London Fieldworks is a creative research and collaboration between art, science and technology. Their work explores the relationship of ecology as a complex multi discipline of social, natural, and technological worlds. “Art, science and nature? As categories we seem to know what they mean, but nothing is that resolved when we consider the work of artists who mess with the underside of these categories to the extent that they collapse in a field of their own imagining. Work which functions like a divining rod, never locating the source of that which passes through it but seeking it nevertheless.�

Denise Robinson, foreward to LondonFieldworks Syzygy/ Polaria

Outlandia is a tree house observatory designed by the collaboration of the artists London Fieldworks and Architects Malcolm Fraser Architects. An artist-led project, Outlandia was created as a platform for fieldwork and cross-disciplinary research. It will provide a multi-purpose platform for the use of diverse community groups as well as selected artists. One of the main aims of the project was to work in conjunction to the Scottish Forrestry Startegy which endevours to allow people to enjoy Scottish woods and forrests.

The Concept

One of the main aims of the project was to work in conjunction to the Scottish Forrestry Startegy which endevours to allow people to enjoy Scottish woods and forrests. With this in mind, the forrest itself became an inspiration and more importantly, the activities and objects within the forrest.

Treehouses, bothys, childhood treehouse dens, Japanese poetry platforms and forest outlaws became the main focus for the conceptial design which would become the driving force behind the development.

The Design

The Brief

London Fieldworks conceived and initiated the project in response to a lack of artists facilities in the area and an invitation to create a public art work for the Year of Highland Culture 2007. The original brief was for 3 treehouse studios and a hub with sleeping, basic cooking and toilet facilities.

Planning permission for this scheme was denied and so it was developed to one studio with no facilities with a new and less contentious site lower down Glen Nevis. The collaboration started by conducting outdoor workshops with the artists and architects so sketches were made onsite.

The skecthes were developed into designs by the architects.

Situated in Glen Nevis and approached along a series of walkways in the thick forrest floor, the treehouse is nestled high in the foliage of the forrest and constructed in timber.

The treehouse itself is like a tree; it has a trunk- a structural ladder which sits upon a minimual footing; and a canopy- a studio space. The sleek and simple design allows itself to settle within its surroundings. This is due to the simplicity of design and natural material choise. The use of the treehouse varies from an artist retreat, to a gather space and even a place to write Japanese Poetry, Renga. The project was originally to be completed in 2007 for the Year of Highland Culture, howver due to delays in planning, it was completed in August 2010. It was used by ‘The Road North’ in August 2010 as party of there tour of Scotland with Japanse poet Basho. Funding for Outlandia came from a number of places.

Some only funded the research and development phase (scottish arts council) and some funded into the production phase (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Highland Council and Highlands and Island Enterprise). Local company the Nevis Partnership funded the build of the path (undertaken by path building students from Lochaber College. As for the future of the project, London Fireworks are currently developing links with partners and putting a programme together, a mix of local users and those from farther afield, in particular creative practitioners from urban environments.

RVE

Our Renga

L LISTEN

leaving………. what about next time?

JOURNEY The gloom surrounds her clammy air she marches on CANOPY green turns to ochre leaves fall like feathers LISTEN with each step the land stirs branches break

OBSERVE

with each step the land stirs branches break

dappled light breaking through the solid air

dappled light breaking through the solid air

OBSERVE dappled light breaking through the solid air CURIOUS ochre consumes drawing her deeper woes dissolve

EXPLORE a foreign object lights the path intrigue beckons

DISCOVER passing through a rusted gate night turns to day the brighter light lifts all shackles

MASQUERADE

EXPLORE

suddenly bounding feet all around stunned they greet her with warmth

E

a foreign object lights the path intrigue beckons

REVERIE spaces distort promise awaits…

MASQUERADE suddenly bounding feet all around stunned they greet her with warmth

FROLIC the air lifts with dancing and laughter the colour blinds her

CO

home sweet home

COIN

IMAGINATION COIN gravity defies her swirling fabric sculpts her vision

INNOCENCE ring a ring a roses NOCENCE a pocket full of poses OIN

REJOICE the party seeps into the ground bringing life to more spirits

SHELTER ring a ring a roses ����������������� a pocketswirling full of poses fabric

����������������� swirling fabric sculpts her vision

lost in her thoughts the fantasy is complete ever present

nestling in her burro the warmth radiate home sweet hom

sculpts her vision

SHELTER nestling in her burrow the warmth radiates home sweet home

SECURE upon this creation she has made her place IMAGINATION lost in her thoughts the fantasy is complete ever present

REJOICE

HAVOC aware now clapping in the distance disturbs SALVAGE over her shoulder true surroundings present twigs and rags REPLENISH leaving………. what about next time?

leaving……….

EMERGE the gloom surroundswhat her about next time? clammy air she marches on.

aware now clapping in the distance disturbs

the party seeps into the ground bringing life to more spirits

Carl Fransson Thomas Paltiel

Merchant City

Background Merchant City, Glasgow, Scotland

First redevelopment started in 1980s, however in the 1990s it stalled. During 2000 it regained momentum. As a part of the initiative, a research between an artist and architect was proposed by “Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative” joint by Julia Radclif fe, director of “Visual Art Projects” seeking someone who would: “see the underlying grain and spirit of the area, and give a new perspective on its development”

The proposed architect and artist were chosen on the basis on local knowledge, and were both Glasgow based, Louise Crawford - lived in Glasgow since 1989 - worked internationally (Paris, Budapest, Berlin etc.)

- photography main medium Ian Alexander - works with Glasgow practice McKeown - sens i t ive approach - urban analyt ical strengths - local knowledge

Both with a strong sensitivity to the historical layers and perceptive visions of of ten overlooked signs and remnants

Process

Wanderings through the area separately and together, tracing evolution on maps, exploring closes and allies, sketching, photographs , swapping stories and observations were all part of their analysis.

Both introduced new ways of approaching a problem to each other, the artist to the architect and vice versa.

References from outside the arts were also central to their approach, such as George Perec and Robert Walser: A central concept was the t races , the layers Perec’s (neutral and factual) descriptions of the events taking place in the arrondissements of Paris was a great inspiration for approaching the rhythm of the l i f e of the Merchant City, a field of great concern for the par ts involved.

Product

“One thing that interests us is how people - both residents and visitors - can be helped to read the city without the usual plaque on the wall scenario” Actively referencing back to historical traces and landmarks which emphasized the richness of the area, the artist and architect highlighted “for example the sign that survives on a wall when a business is long defunct , perhaps a reminder of a trade that once was central to the district’s economy”

They aimed to influence the perception and movement of people through a district who’ s past was in the process of being forgotten.

By the end of the year long collaboration they produced a temporary light installation, a research publication and exhibition.

Artist/Architect International Collaboration

2

Duncan Bain Ruari McCance Calum Robinson

Gormley Studio

River and Rowing Museum, Henley on Thames

Firmament exhibition

“Stair” by Blinky Palermo

Antony Gormley David Chipperfield Architects Gormley Studio, London (2001-2003)

The Turner Prize winning artist Antony Gormley first came across David Chipperfield when researching an architect to convert his own home in 1989. Gormley commissioned Chipperfield in 2001, having outgrown his original studio in Peckham. His choice was based on Chipperfield’s ability to address mondernist forms in a more logical way and his control of material, form and light.

Antony Gormley’s work is rooted in the human figure and its relationship to the world around it. An interest in scale, proportionand materiality push him to explore different processes that frequently involve industrial working methods.

David Chipperfield’s work prior to 2001 includes Henley’s River and Rowing Museum and the Kaistrasse studios in Dusseldorf. His simple detailing, use of the contexts materials and acknowledgement of historical forms are intregral to his style.

The Studio

Gormley’s request for a factory led the design team to explore a building that could be seen as part gallery/ part shed. The ground floor is given over to production of work while the first floor becomes an area for reflective thought.

Durability of the building was crucial to the design due to the nature of Gormley’s working methods and processes. High tolerances for material’s performance specifications were set: such as suspension capacity, impact resistance and point loads.

The external courtyard, which covers roughly half of the overall footprint of the site, was necessary for a now highly commercial and sought after artist in that it can be used to store work, test work and practically accommodate two articulated lorries.

The large, top lit, main workshop space provides excellent and consistent daylight for working and yet minimises distracting views.

The building is simply arranged on two floors. Within the centre of the plan is the double-height main studio which occupies the central three of the seven ‘bays;’ the seven pitched roofs that top the structure. Each of these bays is based on the proportions of Gormley’s original central London studio. In this respect the building represents a step up in scale from domestic to industrial, while retaining formal aspects and qualities through the move. The main studio certainly uses this industrial aesthetic to great effect.

Large swing doors link it to the loading space; a courtyard in front of the building that allows articulated lorries to deliver materials and pick up completed works to be taken to site.

On the ground floor is a smaller workshop space, a plaster room (Gormley keen to avoid the mess from the significant plaster casting work he does from contaminating the main spaces), a small workshop office and two large storage rooms. On the upper floor is a room for model making, a communal staff kitchen, a paper archive for works produced and two drawing studios, one for Gormley and another for his wife, painter, Vicken Parsons. It is interesting to note that there is no internal stair that links these two floors.

There is no specific explanation as to why this might be.

While the external stair is wonderfully proportioned and expertly detailed, the inconvenience of having to go outside, in any weather, to go upstairs for a cup of tea is relatively inexplicable. However, given the appropriation of an industrial aesthetic and typology, one could draw parallels between Gormley’s 1st floor drawing room and a foreman’s office in a factory. Perhaps both artist and architect were keen to avoid this connotation, that an internal stair, linking workshop and drawing room, might have presented.

The Interior

The vast interior space of Gormleys new studio means he can work on more than one project at a time. Its ‘factory’ typology alludes to a feeling of mass production. I wonder if his new work has been influenced by the scale of the space, has his work become more intertwined with economics; more work=more money. It certainly seems that way in regards to his feverish production of life size casts of the human body. The new studio allows greater access for large vehicles which are able to import a greater amount of raw materials and presumably export a greater amount of finished works.

The studio has a neutrality about it, a sterile rationality, does Gormley feel obliged to fill it? Interior photos of the space in use show a wide variety of materials and textures. Has this new polished studio designed by a super-star-chitect turned Gormley into an art-producing machine? Has Gormley become gormless? The studio has become a sculpture in its own right which triumphs Gormley’s artistic output. It is almost as though by creating an ‘emblem’ for him in the form of a building that he has been turned him into an artistic martyr.

However, this increased publicity is necessary for sustaining art as a practice and as a subject that offers a strong mediation on society.

Kivik Art Centre Pavilion, Sweden David Chipperfield and Antony Gormley, 2008

Much like the Serpentine Galleries summer pavilions, the Kivik Art Centre in southern Sweden has created a series of commissioned temporary spaces for exhibition. The focus for this gallery is linking architects and artists.vGormley and Chipperfield collaborated for the 2008 pavilion entitled, Architecture for Subjective Experience. It consists of three 100m3 volumes, each interconnected. The visitor enters at the lowest level, entitled ‘The Cave’ before ascending to viewing platform called ‘The Stage’. Finally there is ‘The Tower’ which rises to a height of 18m giving view out to the Baltic sea.bThe entire work is formally and materially minimal and the Gormley described the project as. “a meditation on the status of sculpture and architecture and their respective relationships with light, mass and space.”

It is interesting to see the differences that working outside the constraints of practical requirement makes on the qualities and decision making process of both artist and architect. While, without visiting and experiencing either project first hand, it is impossible to fully judge their relative merits; one as a working studio, the other a sculptural, exhibited piece, it is clear that without a fixed ‘user’, the temptation for both to minimise form to an extreme has produced something less engaging as a livable space, and only highlights Chipperfield’s success in humanising and domesticising Gormley’s studio, that might otherwise been little more than an industrial shed.

Hannah Fothergill David Robinson Tom Russell

Canon Muriel Bienniale

Artist Kyoto Takahashi

Kyoto Takahashi is known as an interactive artist who specialises in creating vivid lighting installations and performance art. He is the head of his design studio known as Monoscape based in Tokyo, Osaka and Fufuoka Japan.

Matsuo was born in 1979 and went on to graduate from Kyushu Art and Information Design Department. In his time as an artist he has created numerous installations for exhibitions and performances. Matsuo cleverly integrates the physical movement of the participants with motion tracking, computer graphics, sound and light. All of which capture the imagination and provoke the senses so as to create an ethereal fantasy world to which the participant is temporarily transported.

Previous works have nearly always involved the use of projections. Sometimes displaying abstract shapes and other times creating dream like sequences of animals. Jelly fish will gently float across the wall in front of you responding to your movements. Nostalgic landscapes are created where a butterfly will land on your hand and flutter away. Sound is always a strong element of his work helping to guide participants emotions in the desired directions. Matsuo has received many awards and commendations for his work which is seen as the cutting edge of interactive art.

Architect Akihisa Hirata

Akihisa Hirata is a Japanese architect that has been practising since 2005. He is primarily concerned with exploring positive and negative space. This takes form in the differences between light and dark, solid and void spaces.

He has collaborated with canon prior to 2010 and for the 2009 adapted one of his previous works 6/1 to fit into the exhibition. This was an interactive exhibition in which the user directly affected the projections in the space, something that the 2010 exhibition has lost. This year’s exhibition again seems to be based on previous designs, particulary the tangle table, and seems not as effective as the previous years.

The artists contribution to both projects seems to be more creative, bringing a new piece of work for the exhibition as oppose to recycling other ideas. However the structure is visually interesting and stresses the difference between solid and voild and blurs the dichotomy between light and dark. In this sense it is a strong visually based piece.

Critical Analysis

The Milan design week 2010 Canon Neoreal installation set out to showcase Canon’s latest developments in projection technology. This it certainly does. The playful interaction between form, light and the movement of people around the space creates an ever changing beautiful sculptural experience through which to walk. Spectators become increasingly aware of their presence and its affect on the installation as they navigate through it due to their shadows being cast on the form. In this sense the installation does relate to its surrounding context. However interactivity is limited somewhat solely to this. Unfortunately the installation does not relate to its built context as much as perhaps it could. It really could be any where in the world.

References to Japanese culture are somewhat contrived through the projection of cherry blossom images at particular intervals.

Visual conversation between projection and sculpted form is also somewhat stunted. Whilst the shapes of projected light do match those of the geometric form, there is certainly scope for this relationship to have been celebrated more.

The potential for this technology to bring sculpture to life is immense, examples of successful augmented sculpture include Grosse8 & Lichtfront’s installation at Passagen 2010. A video of this can be found at http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Em4aJJyh-aY. If you have a moment this is really worth looking at. A stunning example of how, if the collaboration works well a truly integrated “as one” end product can be made. It is difficult to tell where the physical sculpture ends and the light projection begins in the case of Gross8 & Lichtfront’s installation. This strikes a stark contrast to Canon neoreal 2010 where the projections still feel like projections being placed onto a sculptural form.

Interestingly, previous collaborations between the Akihisa Hirata and Kyota Takahashi when Canon have not been involved have been more successful in an integrated approach. It seems that perhaps Canon’s involvement with a desire to showcase their technologies has shifted the fine balance between artist and architect, resulting in something rather different from any previous collaborations.

None the less, the canon neoreal installation 2010 certainly gives food for thought – a beautiful visual thing, it opens the mind to the possibilities of art, architecture and science collaboration. As technologies develop, artists and architects can realise new exciting ideas, and it is only through collaborations like this one that those ideas and technologies can be tested.

Stefania Rowley Jen Balmer Hanin Elmardhi

Kivik Art Centre

Kivik Art Centre

The Kivik Art Centre is located in Bergdala and Luna Stenshuvud, south of the Kivik, a small town in south east Scania, Sweden. The location is renowned for the depiction of light and the conceptual designs which provoke a creative atmosphere within the landscapes. It’s sensitive environment is portrayed through the existence of rare species of tree, open spaces, sea views and unique wildlife.

The ambition behind the development of the site is to try and develop the area from a concept based on a place for producing as well as showing art, architecture and design.

One particular conceptual design was created in collaboration with architect Petra Gipp and Turner Prize nominated artist Runa Islam. Titled ‘Refugium’ it is constructed to form a pale concrete structure which sandwiches a piece of solid wood. It was the intention of the architect Petra Gipp that the pavilion would not be evident at first glance through the forest. When in full view of the ‘Refugium’ it becomes evident that the structure was designed to sit fragilely within its site and attempt to have as little contact as possible with the surrounding forest environment.

The form is constructed around a nave made out of solid wood between the meetings of materiality (concrete and wood) and a circulatory route through the pavilion is unveiled. The staircase within the volume of the design ties the structure tighter together, maintaining its connection to the ground surface of the forest. There are carefully designed spaces and elements to the pavilion which assist the promotion of Runa Islam’s projected film. This space within the structure forms a small cinema.

The circulatory route opens up into the inner space, where the wooden core forms a niche. A bench which is designed to be used as a space where contemplative and intensive experiences are had is an attempt to link both the boundaries of the inside and outside. A thin slit in the wall where the ceiling is met, depicts a space where a slit of light and rain are encouraged to partake in the environment of the space, “what is inside and what is outside is blurred” (Arch Daily).

The structure is designed to physically and conceptually inflict as little damage or contact with its surroundings as possible. The foundations of the design are laid to the back of the design so that it becomes elevated, allowing for a large part of the site to be untouched.

With the use of concrete and wood, it was the intention of both the architect and the artist to allow two materials to age, as it would further reinforce the notion of allowing both the inside and outside worlds to blur together in one space.

Critical Analysis

In the absence of a site visit, the hologram model enabled us to understand the concept of the ‘Refugium’ in more depth.

The film piece by Runa Islam housed by ‘Refugium’ was the driving force in our experimental hologram projection. The idea of the object is that it doesn’t impose on its surroundings but is still affected by the environment, this is represented with the ghostlike weathered cube floating in the forest. The slits and other openings encourage nature to be brought inside, but the pavilion is still very much enclosed. The building itself consists of various materials intended to weather, gaining character with age, a concept we feel is strong. The location is a peaceful one and the serenity of the forest is an appropriate setting for the pavilion, designed as a contemplative space. When entering the structure visitors would probably become very curious as the entrance is not immediately evident, which could possibly lead to the small room being unnoticed.

Liam Doyle Craig Martin Linda Nicol

Feelings Are Fact

The Artist

Olafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic Artist who is well known for creating a unique system that transforms artistic form and experience with innovative methods. In 1995 he created Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin which was an idea factory for the research of spatial awareness. Today his studio is 35 strong and has a wide variety of specialist including artists, architects, specialised technicians and craftsmen.

Eliasson has been working with a large variety of architects since 1996 collaborating on various projects. A palette of light, colour, water, sky and temperature are used when Eliasson transforms vast empty spaces into artificial surreal environments. When experienced by the viewer, the viewer becomes a part of the art as opposed to only observing.

The viewer will experience an increased awareness of ones perception due to Eliassons play on reality. The observer enters a realm of highly sensorial perception where colour, light and architecture allow them to reassess the relationship between themselves and their surroundings. Eliasson’s work is a continued study of the recreation of reality; asking us to question if our thoughts must happen in a place of openness and nature when creativity is an inspiration.

The Architects

Architect Ma Yansong is a young talented Chinese Architect.

Yansong is a part of the Beijing based design office MAD, who are an innovative design practice at the fore front of design who’s concept of futuristic forms and technological advances have made them an award winning practice. Yansong escapes stereotypical categorization within the architectural world due to his frequent artist collaborations. His work displays a permanent element of surprise captivating his audience’s attention with the most technological advanced materials and their application to convey his bold design aesthetic.

His designs take an organic shape derived from human like figures conveying the concept of energy. Ma Yansong considers how people perceive a space and challenge the preconceptions of how people react to the space.

“Space and light bring life into existence. There is no space, unless given light and boundary. Space has never existed, but rather exists only in the specific feelings it induces. Space in reality, exists only in sensuality. With expanding desire, everything is managed with utmost efficiency. Our feelings and sensibilities are seeing facts in the context of habituated life. Not until shutting our eyes, can we feel the world from within, space and light will touch your soul.” Ma Yansong.

Background

The Collaboration || Feelings Are Fact

This installation is the proposal of a creative dialogue between Yasong and Eliasson pushing the boundaries of art and architecture to new realms. The installation invites the viewer on a remarkable journey, testing the preconceptions of the relationship between nature and an urban environment. Both Eliasson and Yansong share a unique quality; they embellish their work with charm and allure.

They captivate their audience with the ability to surprise as their work is much more than an artistic expression or an attractive object; their product is a questioning of reality, a controlled use of issues and a deep contemplation of reality.

Eliasson and Yansong have worked together to create a new reality, one that makes the viewer question what their own senses are telling them. The interesting element to this is their different cultural and design backgrounds. Yansong created an approximately 60m long curving space in the main exhibition hall at UCCA. Eliasson will fill the space with a fog which glistens with an artificial light spectrum which is created using red green and blue fluorescent lamps. The illusion with the light is something which is not naturally found in nature however as the viewer experiences the space with their senses diluted they can experience a new perception of reality. The exhibition begs the question whether or not it is possible to really experience something new and unknown or has our preconceptions of spatial awareness hindered this? Eliasson and Yansong wonder if we are stuck in an era where stimuli is drawn directly from politics, fashion and culture by not listening to what our own senses are telling us. “Time and again nature, as an inspirer of truth, shows us unbridled passion and awesome physical forms. Eliasson and Ma both show and aptitude and willingness to draw from nature and address the messages she sends us; given this, the artist and architect feel their upcoming collaboration will be a mutually productive encounter.�

Guo Xiaoyan, UCCA Chief Curator. The Collaboration

Intro

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Critical Analysis

The Artist || Olafur Eliasson The Artist || Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic Artist who is well known for Olafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic whocreated is wellStudio knownOlafu for experience with innovative methods. InArtist 1995 he experience with innovative methods.

In 1995 he created Studio Olafu of spatial awareness. Today his studio is 35 strong and has a wide of spatial awareness.

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A temperature difference marks the beginning of the journey of self awareness of space. The viewer is then subjected to flooding of light and fog with very low visibility. Echoed sounds of other viewers are all that can be heard in the dense mist. The thick light moves the viewer on a continuous path forward through the apparent vast space. The transition of the light spectrums changes the colour, mood and tone of the viewer at each stage. This suggests that due to a lack of visibility the other senses are heightened allowing the viewer to be engaged with their other senses and perhaps start to experience the space in a new way eliminating the preconceptions of space. Disorientation begins to occur as the viewer embarks on Yansongs 60m ramped floor. Again due to low visibility the viewer must rely on their other senses to ct || Ma allow Yansong the body to balance. The ramping reaches climax when it transits from floor to wall creating an unusable space. At this point the fogtalented clears and visibilityArchitect. is restoredYansong and we is a part of the Beijing based design office MAD, who Ma Yansong is a young Chinese found that the viewers interacted with the space in a fun of futuristic forms and technological advances have tive design practice at the fore front of design who’s concept and joyful way communicating with each other. We consider n award winning practice. Yansong escapes stereotypical categorization within the architectural world due to his this not to be the soul purpose of the installation. Whilst it is collaborations.

His work permanent element of surprise captivating his audience’s attention with the still experiencing thedisplays space, thealack of dense fog allows the ogical advanced materials and their application to convey his bold design aesthetic. His designs take an organic playfulness to overcome the conceptual idea of indulging in from human like figures conveying concept energy.

Ma Yansong considers how people perceive a space and the other senses when vision isthe impaired.

Weof think that this preconceptions of how people react to anticlimax dilutes the boldness of the the space. start of the journey leading to when the wall meets the floor. However, we believe that the boldness of the transition between the colour and exceptional wayThere to createisanno illusion of a unless new surreal ght bringfog lifeis an into existence. space, given light and boundary. Space has never existed, but space. The limited material palettes and the innovative nly in the specific feelings it induces. Space in reality, exists only in sensuality. With expanding desire, everything is way that it is executed was the key to the success of the utmost efficiency.

Our feelings and sensibilities are seeing facts in the context of habituated life. Not until shutting installation Feeling are Fact.

we feel the world from within, space and light will touch your soul.” Ma Yansong.

Public Acclaim

unique system that transforms The contemporary online artistic journalsform and and glossy magazines heralded Yansong and Eliasson as new visionaries for our Berlin which was an idea factory for the research time, masters of allure.

However with the general public pecialist including artists, architects, specialised there was a mixed review.

Reading reviews on online blogs ects since 1996 collaborating on various projects. many people blogged that it was not exactly contemporary ansforms vast empty spaces into artificial surreal and new as several other artists had worked in a similar way he art as with opposed to only observing. The viewer a similar result years before this was produced. People on reality.

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Our Response

Our Installation

Having studied a project that strives to penetrate the sensory systems within our body it seemed appropriate to evaluate this process by forming an installation that mimics the ideas behind “Feelings are Facts.” This piece acts to test the bodies sense of space and also looks at the way in which the sensory system reacts to problematic situations. It could almost be said that this is a sensory overload as the coloured light dazzles the viewer while the bubble rap reduces visibility in a way that should disorientate the person. The study aims to deduce whether the mind can then act upon this. The viewer is incased within a textured enclosure of bubble wrap, which creates a secure pocket. A bright light is projected at eye level with a range of colours penetrating your vision. The coloured light is softened anddissolved by the bubble wrap but the intensity of the light still pierces through to create a dazzling, disorientated feeling.

Having studied a project that strives to penetrate the sensory systems within our body it seemed appropriate to evaluate this process by forming an installation that mimics the ideas behind “Feelings are Facts.” This piece acts to test the bodies sense of space and also looks at the way in which the sensory system reacts to problematic situations. It could almost be said that this is a sensory overload as the coloured light dazzles the viewer while the bubble rap reduces visibility in a way that should disorientate the person. The study aims to deduce whether the mind can then act upon this.

The viewer is incased within a textured enclosure of bubble wrap, which creates a secure pocket. A bright light is projected at eye level with a range of colours penetrating your vision.

The coloured light is softened anddissolved by the bubble wrap but the intensity of the light still pierces through to create a dazzling, disorientated feeling.

The coloured light is softened anddissolved by the bubble wrap but the intensity of the light still pierces through to create a dazzling, disorientated feeling.

Our Response

aving studied a project that strives to penetrate the sensory ystems within our body it seemed appropriate to evaluate is process by forming an installation that mimics the ideas ehind “Feelings are Facts.� This piece acts to test the bodies ense of space and also looks at the way in which the sensory ystem reacts to problematic situations. It could almost be said at this is a sensory overload as the coloured light dazzles the ewer while the bubble rap reduces visibility in a way that hould disorientate the person. The study aims to deduce hether the mind can then act upon this. he viewer is incased within a textured enclosure of bubble rap, which creates a secure pocket. A bright light is projected eye level with a range of colours penetrating your vision. he coloured light is softened anddissolved by the bubble rap but the intensity of the light still pierces through to create dazzling, disorientated feeling.

Carl Fransson Thomas Paltiel

Beijing Olympic Stadium

Background

The Olympic National Stadium design was initiated by the Chinese government in 2003 prior to the summer games in 2008. The strongest architectural statement for the games, seen as a monument for the people and the nation. “The people have built a relationship with this kind of architecture that was so strong in their mind that it was impossible to ever even think of not continuing to use this, so it was our dream always to do a space which was memorable and would be accepted for the people, by the people.�

The architects were appointed based on a open competition entry

Ai Weiwei - born 1957, Beijing - artist, curator, architect, social commentator, and activist - his father, poet Ai Qing was exiled during Cultural Revolution - Lifetime achievement award at the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards, 2008 Herzog de Meuron - founded in 1978, Basel, Switzerland - 330 employees in three continents - both studied at ETH, Zurich (graduated 1975) - thir main inspiration Joseph Beuys - 2001 awarded Pritzker Price

Process

”...me [Ai Weiwei] and Pierre would make drawings…with scissors, paper and card...play with forms, discuss why and why not, a little bit philosophical and aesthetical level rather than architectural stadium” (Ai Weiwei in “Bird’s Nest - Herzog & de Meuron in China”, 2008) There were obvious problems with negotiations and communications between two cultures, two architectural traditions and two political systems. Consequently Uli Sigg acted as a cultural advisor and was active in the conceptual phase.

Initial discussions and observations showed the active use of public space amongst the Chinese and was subsequently made a key component of the design. (Tai Chi, dance, playing games and chatting are common sights in existing public places).

“We discussed the possibility of how to create an object that means more to the city, and also have a meaning after the games” (Ai Weiwei in “Bird’s Nest - Herzog & de Meuron in China”, 2008)

The architects carefully researched aesthetic and philosophical concepts of Chinese society and culture, attempting to define universal qualities of “beauty” and being careful to avoid imposing Western ideas and above all to create a building that would blend in culturally by being sensitive to Chinese cultural traditions and ways of living.

Product

Since the end of the 2008 Olympic Games the Birds Nest has had over 30 thousand visitors a day, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris it has become not only an exceptional piece of architecture but a monument of its time and place.

Critics have questioned the magnitude and function of such a costly and ambitious project. Nonetheless it seems like the people of Beijing have embraced its unique expression.

Maybe architecture goes beyond function and reason, like a sculpture it carries dimension which goes beyond the traditional; form follows function.

One can question if architecture and politics are related, and if so, is it the responsibility of the architect to challenge and object to the moral/ethical conditions involved?

If that is the case, maybe this building is not icon of success but rather of tragedy.

“They refine the traditions of modernism to elemental simplicity, while transforming materials and surfaces through the exploration of new treatments and techniques.”

Ada Louise Huxtable on Herzog de Meuron

“They are very different from all the architects I know. They would start it from zero. With any project they would start with a very innocent eye. There is nothing in their mind when they start a project”

Ai Weiwei on Herzog de Meuron

“A fitfully brilliant conceptualist” Peter Schjeldahl on Ai Weiwei, The New Yorker

Artist Spaces

Studio Spaces -

Performance Spaces -

Gallery Spaces -

Public Art Spaces -

Calum Robinson Liam Doyle Hanin Elmardi Carl Fransson Linda Nicol Tom Russell Duncan Bain Hannah Fothergill Ruairi McCance Jen Balmer Craig Martin Stefania Rowley Thomas Paltiel David Robinson

3

Graphics Studios

Navy Blue, Corn Exchange, Edinburgh The Navy Blue Studio is an large, international studio who do more commercial work and is more like an office than many smaller practices.

Their Edinburgh office has a beautiful, exposed steel roof structure below which sits below an open plan studio and mezzanine. The internal office organisation is necessary for larger firms, to keep efficiency high and to seperate noise from client meetings or conferences on the mezzanine level.

The abundance of natural light and open plan feel helps keep productivity and morale high. It is also important to remember to reduce glare in such a well lit space as well.

The soft furnishings help soften the feel of the white walls, aluminium finishes and steel structure above. The space lacks a personal show of the company’s work which could sell ideas and first impressions to clients.

However, in such a busy environment, they may have cluttered the space and left it feeling distracting.

Swiss Miss, New York More unconventional in that independent designers rent a space (desk, chair, window, storage) for $500/month and work in the space with other designers.

The aesthetic is clearly very minimal, crisp and clean and would probably attract designers with similar styles or design approaches. This then creates studios within a studio, with discussion and review from peers that you probably appreciate and respect.

The major disadvantage for this studio is however, a lack of private spave to discuss ideas personally with clients. But, if you are an independent designer, you may just as likely to hold meetings with clients over a coffee or and the clients own residence.

Effektive Graphic Design & Communication, Glasgow A very small independent studio (2 man, 1 room) with a well considered aesthetic that promotes their own style and design. The walls are white to act as a neutral backdrop and bounce light into the room while the furniture and floor are black, which contrasts the walls, creating a striking, stylish balance.

A Client would appreciate the order and organistaion of the bookcase which also acts as shelves to display work as well as a small library. The most important feature for the user is clearly the widescreen Apple Macintosh, which in itself is almost a design choice because of the brand name’s association with well packaged, clever, stylish design and programming.

To work effectively, a modern day Graphics Studio relies heavily on computers and technology. Architecturally, the a Graphic Design Studio does not have to be designed specifically for that purpose as production of work can take place in almost any space. The many contemporary firms that set up in disused warehouses, apartments, offices are testament to this. Naturally, the larger the firm, the more space will be required for staff, entertaining a larger clientelle, storage space and ancillary spaces such as toilets/kitchen/staff room. Essentially, the studio does not just allow for production space but is in itself a galley for the products that are created.

This affords the prospective client an insight into the creative world of the practice as well as promoting and inspiring creativity within the working environment. From a gallery point of view, many studios use white walls to help wash the interiors with light and to act as a neutral backdrop for work. However, they must also reduce the amount of glare while working at a computer screen. For a client friendly environment, the contemporary studio will feel crisp, stylish, clean and light; sometimes quirky and informal but retain a positive, mature atmosphere that fosters communication between colleagues and clientelle.

Main spaces: Studio (computers, printers, pens, paper etc), Conference room(s), Reception area

Glass Studios

Northlands Creative Glass Studio, Lybster An internationally renowned glass studio with hot shop, cold shop, architecture glass and mould making facilities. Runs masterclass courses for artists in residence or can be hired out at an hourly rate.

The spaces are all large rooms with the necessary equipment. Large tables, lots of light, well positioned drainage and strong, durable walls and floor ensure that the industrial nature of glass making can be carried out productively and safely.

Due to its remote location, Northlands has an old Schoolhouse that can be rented as accommodation during an artist in residence.

Osaka University of Arts Osaka University of Arts is much larger in its Hot and Cold Shop facilities probably due to its position as a University. The industrial and commercial feel to the studio is necessary for safety reasons regarding so many inexperienced students running about. Cleaniless, organisation and light is important here due to the high traffic of students that could potentially hurt themselves or someone else accidentally.

Liquid Glass Studio, Wiltshire The Liquid Glass Centre is the “UK’s leading glass school”. It is a wellequipped facility dedicated to the education of glass art and craft. The centre internationally renowned for its courses taught by qualified and experienced tutors. They also run Team Building sessions for company’s and have on site accommodation for longer courses.

The Liquid Glass Centre is an independent glass school that offers short and longer courses in all glass techniques for the public as well as artist in residence courses. They offer: Glass Blowing Kiln Casting Fusing and Slumping Hot Glass Casting Beadmaking Fused Glass Jewellery

Glass Studios are quite heavy industrial places and are primarily equipment based rather than materiality, light or aesthetic as buyers go to gallerys to view the work not the studio itself. Good light is important but more so in Architecture Glass rooms. Safety is very important and as such extraction of glass particles through air or water is vital. All floors in glass studios should ideally be polished and have convenient water points which allow water to drain away when wetting the floor at the end of the day to remove all the glass particles.

A Glass Studio could comprise of: Architectural Glass room - needs good light for working in and tall spaces to store work and materials. Also requires a large table covered in card or carpet to work on and system to pin work to windows so it can be tested.

Mould Making room - needs a good extraction ventialtion system over table which use powders.

Hot Shop - Commercial gas supply required for kilns and glory holes as well as compressed air for the glory holes. Also contains sinks, blowing arms, pipe warmer, furnace, annealing ovens, “chairs”, marvers Cold Shop - Hand held machinery for cutting and carving requires compressed air points and a heavy duty electricty supply. Also contains grinding wheels and hand held tools.

Fashion Designer Studios

Client: Narciso Rodriguez Architect: Calvert Wright Architecture PC Where: Garment District, New York City

Scale: Large scale studio workspace and showroom for well known highend designer.

Space: 7,50ft² refurbishment of an existing industrial space. The client is a major name in fashion with retail worldwide. The showroom and studio space is contained on an open-plan with timber floors to reflect natural light. The space inside is arranged with a single corridor along an exterior wall with large windows. The cell-like spaces use three-quarter height space dividers for ease of adaption. The white wall finish and simplicity of general material palette creates the ideal blank canvass for the designs to the feature. Each studio space has the essentials needed; a design desk, a production desk, a rail, a mannequin and vast amounts of wall space. This limits unnecessary furniture and allows for a spacious, light studio space.

Clients: VAKKO Architect: REX, New York City Where: Istanbul, Turkey

Scale: Large scale, mixed use media center.

Space: Headquarters for a major Turkish fashion house complete with offices, studios, showrooms, conference rooms, auditorium, museum, dining hall as well television student, radio broadcasting studios for the media company. The clients approached the architects with a brief and a site, an abandoned, unfinished hotel. The idea was to manipulate the existing concrete structure and using the void to create the ‘showcase’ space, a series of overlapping volumes which all contain a variety of functions. The exterior is wrapped in a thin, textured glass to disguise the floor slabs of the existing structure. Inside the building is very much for public viewing; the space are elaborate in there design and finish. The ‘showcase’ spaces use mirrored glass wrapping around the circulation space to create a kaleidoscope effect. The studio space is in cased in an elaborate heavy steel structure with a pitched roof. Full floor to ceiling glazing is used along three sides of the small cell-like studio space which restrict only one wall for built in furniture and fabric storage. This provides no wall space for design work.

The space is not very adaptable, nor does it feel very ‘worked in’. Whilst the fully glazed walls do provide light, they don’t provide wall space or any form of privacy. I feel this is the least successful space. It appears to fit the overall scheme, however the essentials needed for the designer has been exchanged for a lavish finish to complete the look of the building.

Client: CFDA//Fashion Incubator Architect: Kliment Hallbond Architects Where: Garment District, New York City

Scale: Small scale cells arranged around central circulation Space: The brief was to create a space for twelve young emerging designers in a former third floor show room in New York’s Garment district. The Incubator was also to encourage interest and investment in the dwindling fashion industry in New York. The 10000ft² will have twelve private studios accessed along an internal street. A kitchen and fabric workshop provide communal work spaces where the designers can socialise. The internal street can be cleared to provide a runway for shows and presentations. The lighting above this space has been applied in a random and creative way to allow for drama and suspense during the shows. Each studio space has a work space and a show room. A moveable partition can vary the size and privacy of these spaces. Many of the designers like to work in a secretive manner and this allows them the freedom to be comfortable in there space.

A simple palette of materials consisting of glass, polished concrete floors, red brick, exposed ducting and lighting not only draw on the site industrial heritage, but offers the designers a simple backdrop for their clothes to stand out in. The light walls and polished floor reflects light into the internal street. The studios are finished in a glass wall to get light into the internal street. Of all the case studies, I feel this is the most successful. Firstly it thinks of scale at the macro and micro with careful consideration of hoe designers will use the space as well as manipulating natural light into the internal street. The simplicity of materials and finishes allows for a clean finish which is important to the designers.

The requirements for a successfully well designed fashion design studio are fairly simple. Firstly the use of natural light allows for not only a happier work environment, but it helps the designers see the materiality of the fabrics more clearly as it eradicates the yellow glow from artificial lighting.

Natural light also helps the designers conceptualize their work. An open plan studio is most successful as it allows a ‘fashion community’ to develop.

The open plan allows for a space which can become quickly adaptable for busier times such as fashion week where many of the larger studio’s will have designers, clients, press, casting directors, model castings, stylists etc all occupying the space at one time. Smaller studios will have client showrooms with private studio spaces. Large expanses of walls for mood boards and texture palettes allow ease of conceptualizing the designers work. Neutral tones such as timber floors and white walls bounce light around and create a blank canvass for the designers clothing to stand out against. For smaller studios, careful consideration should be given to multiuse furniture i.e. a table which can be used for drawing, creating, cutting and sewing.

Architect Studios

Clients: Bark Architects Architect: Bark Architects Where: Queensland, Australia

Scale: Small scale for seven employees Space: The building developed from the need for flexibility from work and living. The modular twenty meter long structure of steel frame is penetrable along three sides whilst the fourth side is clad in plywood. Inside desks are arranged along a fully openable glass wall to allow nature to penetrate the space. The mezzanine level above allows for quieter reading and study as well as a place to eat, sleep and bath. A flexible floor plan and wrap around glazing creates an exciting space to work and be creative. The cosier library space has a different tone and the feel and finish emphasizes that. For the scale of the project, the study is an ideal place for a live-in studio. The office itself also acts as branding mechanism for the company as the study is there ‘trademark’ style; this was very important to the architect.

Clients: Tadao Ando Architect: Tadao Ando Where: Kita, Osaka

Scale: Large scale, seven floors ( two of which are basement) Space: Ando wanted to create a large, naturally lit space for his studio. The five upper floors are divided by an atrium space which widens towards the top allowing natural light to flourish within. This central courtyard space is occasionally used for group meetings and lectures. The balconies above this space can be used when a larger lecture is happening. The office space is centered around this atrium and was designed to encourage and enforce work relations within the office. A large bookcase lines an inner wall of the atrium space which creates a dramatic focal point. The atrium space is a fantastic idea, sourcing natural light when possible. My only concern with the project is Ando’ s use of concrete, a characteristic to his work. The space looks dark and cold on the lower levels. If a lighter or reflective finish was applied then light would radiate whereas here the light is absorbed and soften greatly but the dense concrete.

Clients: Architectures Jean Nouvel Architect: Jean Nouvel Where: Paris, Europe

Scale: Large scale, five floors Space: An existing 17th century building, Nouvel respected the buildings shell, but created an entirely new interior. The entire ground floor is occupied by a spacious reception area with bespoke Nouvel furniture. A galvanized stair runs up one side of the building allowing light from the skylights to light this space naturally. With a simple palette of white walls, a raw timber floor, large window openings and galvanized steel accents, the interior has a light feeling. The first to third floor has large tables to draw/model of with private meeting/conference rooms and offices off the central space. The top floor acts as a meeting room which can also be used as workable studio space. The building has an industrial loft feeling to the interior. The stairs are lined with drawings posters similar to that of a billboard which gives a college studio feel. In comparison to the Ando studio I discussed previous, I feel that Nouvel’s studio is a more successful space. Like Ando’s, a key feature was to maximize on natural light and to represent their brand. I personally feel the lighter interior material palette allows light to flourish more as opposed to Ando’s concrete shell. The studio spaces can be moved and worked to allow for fluctuations due to the large open spaces and moveable furniture. The top floor is also workable as a private meeting room or additional studio and I feel this attention to detail is what ids required I today’s office.

The requirements for a successfully well designed fashion design studio are fairly simple. Firstly the use of natural light allows for not only a happier work environment, but it helps the designers see the materiality of the fabrics more clearly as it eradicates the yellow glow from artificial lighting.

Natural light also helps the designers conceptualize their work. An open plan studio is most successful as it allows a ‘fashion community’ to develop.

The open plan allows for a space which can become quickly adaptable for busier times such as fashion week where many of the larger studio’s will have designers, clients, press, casting directors, model castings, stylists etc all occupying the space at one time. Smaller studios will have client showrooms with private studio spaces. Large expanses of walls for mood boards and texture palettes allow ease of conceptualizing the designers work. Neutral tones such as timber floors and white walls bounce light around and create a blank canvass for the designers clothing to stand out against. For smaller studios, careful consideration should be given to multiuse furniture i.e. a table which can be used for drawing, creating, cutting and sewing.

Performance Spaces

Traverse Stage

Traverse is a form of catwalk – though in its purest form it does not have the stage and back wall area that a fashion catwalk has – the purest form of traverse is illustrated above.

Thrust Stage

As you can see the basic shape of a modern thrust is not too different to the ancient Greek. Thrust staging gives a good all-round and closer view of the action, however this better view also comes at a cost – large scenic elements can only be placed at the rear of the stage.

Arena Stage

Theatre in the Round offers the audience a closer intimacy with the stage than proscenium theatre, and it also puts the audience in direct view of each other. A 360 degree sight line means that large scenery is out of the question unless it is suspended above the actors’ heads and out of the audiences’ view. Theatre in the Round tends to be a format chosen for intimate productions, although some large scale operas and theatre productions have also used the format.

Proscenium Theatre

The term Proscenium is also now used to describe any staging configuration in which the audience faces the stage straight-on regardless of whether or not there is a physical arch.

Berlin Philharmonic Hans Scharoun’s Berlin Philharmonic was opened in October 1963. It was the first Building to the South of the Tiergarten which would establish the new Cultural Forum of that area.

The concept of Scharoun’s design was focusing in on the fact that people always spontaneously form a circle around the musicians when the music is being performed. The concept of the Philharmonic is the attempt to transpose this principle into a concert hall. We observe street musicians on Buchannan Street in Glasgow and notice that it is an accurate theory to say that people spontaneously form a circle around the musicians even in an open air performance area. Therefore Scharoun’s awareness of this principal led to him designing a concert hall where there was “Music in the Centre”, this was the motto for the design.

For the first time a concert hall was designed where audience and musician were not directly across from each other. The orchestra is positioned in the centre of the room instead, yet none the less completely enveloped by their audience which is arranged at terraced segments of circles. Despite the monumental scale of the hall an intimate atmosphere is created and the hall has excellent acoustics too.

The philharmonic comes to life just as well with the contrast between the concentric heart of the hall and also the fluid roomscape of the foyer which is situated under the body of the hall. At intermission it offers relaxing promenading as well as the highly enjoyable observation of other visitor’s flow of movement through the building. However the exterior finishes do not in my opinion compliment the sophistication of the interior spaces.

As the concert hall is generally speaking a theatre in the round the audience is configured due to the laws of acoustics. The acoustical design of the auditorium was one of Scharoun’s primary concerns. Through his work with the engineer Lothar Cremer, they achieved reverberation times in the auditorium ranging between 2 and 2.4 seconds. A triple-shell roof system and double-wall design buffer the auditorium from outside noise, and the limestone walls surrounding the orchestra act as reflectors.

Particularly significant, however, is the fact that Scharoun, who considered the creation of interior and exterior spaces of equal importance, used the foyer as a mediating space so that both site and auditorium requirements could be accommodated. The foyer reaches out into the site, drawing the visitor into the entry, where, once inside, he

or she confronts a dynamic, fluid space. Angled walls break up the edges of the foyer, blurring the boundaries between one area and another. Located near the entry are amenities, such as ticket booths and coat rooms, which are split between the multiple levels. Within the foyer, dramatic stairs rise seemingly at random but are actually artfully controlled and successfully accommodate the large number of people attending the performances. Using the placement of the stairs to guide circulation, Scharoun creates a dynamic non hierarchical yet elegant spatial experience that removes the visitor psychologically from the world outside.

Exceedingly aware of the cultural and political importance of the building, Scharoun designed an architectural experience that creates a community through the dissolution of traditional barriers between the listeners and the performers. Scharoun explained the generative idea for his design as “music in the centre—this, from the very beginning, has been the guiding principle which has shaped the new Philharmonic auditorium.” In addition to his generative concept of the centralized performance space, Scharoun described the auditorium metaphorically as a landscape where banks of angled seating become “vineyards” sloping into the “valley” of the stage and the ceiling a “skyscape” floating above. The angled groups of seating prevent the creation of a single focal point, forcing the viewers to visually address the other listeners, thus subduing the overall symmetry of the plan.

The auditorium is equipped with a 72-register organ built

by Schuke with Professor Michael Schneider, facilities for television production and recording, locations throughout for small additional groups of musicians, and the ability to lower the orchestra floor in sections to accommodate a variety of performance types. None of the 2,218 seats, however, is more than 100 feet away from the stage, and only 270 seats are located behind the orchestra. The overall impression in the auditorium remains one of intimacy.

The Usher Hall

The Usher Hall is a concert hall situated on Lothian Road, in the west end of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,900 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its acoustics. The Hall is flanked by The Royal Lyceum Theatre on the right and The Traverse Theatre on the left. Historic Scotland has registered the Hall with Category A listed building status. The construction of the hall was funded by Andrew Usher, the son of a whisky distiller, who donated ÂŁ100,000 to the city specifically to fund a new concert hall. The choice of site caused early delays but in 1910 an architectural competition was announced with the requirement that the hall be simple but dignified. The winning bid came from Stockdale Harrison & Howard H Thomson of Leicester. The design was partly a backlash against Victorian Gothic, with a return to classical features owing much to the Beaux-Arts style. On 19 July 1911, George V and Queen Mary laid two memorial stones, an event attended by over a thousand people.

Its curved walls, unusual for the time, were made possible by developments in reinforced concrete. The dome was designed to reflect the curvature of the walls, not to give a domed interior (which would have been acoustically disastrous). The interior of the hall is adorned with decorative plaster panels by the Edinburgh sculptor Harry Gamley. The figures depicted in these panels show figures from the world of music, as well as famous Scots. These include: Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Allan Ramsay, R L Stevenson, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Edvard Grieg and Anton Rubinstein. Harry Gamley’s work also features on the outside of the building with two large figures representing Inspiration and Achievement, as well as another three figures by Crossland McClure depicting the Soul of Music, Music of the Sea and Music of the Woods. The finished building was officially opened on 16 March 1914 with a concert featuring music by Handel, Bach, Wagner, Beethoven and the Scottish composer Hamish MacCunn. The final cost of building the Usher Hall was £134,000. Andrew Usher died before building work was started.

It is extremely important to give the visitor a completely unique experience of the building. It is important to provide the visitor a comfortable night out where they feel they have there moneys worth. Therefore the new refurbishment of the

building by LDN architects provides a new foyer area for the building with a central spiral staircase enveloped by acoustic sound paneling. The new foyer space is constructed with reinforced concrete walls and a granite floor. The reason for a limited reverberation time in the room is due to acoustic sound paneling lining the walls of the room again pleasing the visitor with the high quality aesthetics of the room. With the elegant staircase leading into the auditoria it heightens the viewers enjoyment of the night out before entering into the performance space.

The auditoria itself was not refurbished in the present. It is interesting to note that the users of the building refused anything to be changed in the auditoria even although there is a slight flutter off the back wall in acoustical terms. The podium differs to that of the Philharmonie where the audience are all situated facing the podium. There are seats behind the podium which were originally used for choir singers but during recent years they have been accommodated by members of the audience. As it is not important for sightlines to be important but rather the sound quality of the orchestra themselves this is an appropriate solution and also from experience of other orchestra halls it is far more amusing to be watching the conductor rather than the orchestra. The Usher hall also has removable seats which means that the venue can be multi functional with the type of bands that accommodate the auditoria.

Theatres And Opera

The key differences between concert halls and theatres and opera houses are the requirements for stage set up. This manifests itself as the fly tower, the large space above the stage that allows props, scenery and curtains to be raised and lowered out of sight of the audience.

Opera houses are on the grandest scale; the main auditorium at the Sydney Opera house for example seats over 2,600 people. For Opera, which combines symphonic orchestra music and human vocals, the acoustic properties of the space are vital. It must perform as well as a concert hall and the same techniques are employed to affect reverberation times.

Theatres, where performance is largely that of the human voice, have slightly different acoustic requirements. The human voice, particularly spoken, is relatively quiet, certainly in comparison to an orchestra, and this constrains the size of a theatre without electronic amplification. In a theatre the audience’s view is paramount. Sight lines, the ability for all members of the audience to see all of the action on-stage is paramount.

While the different acoustic and visual requirements of theatre and opera design lead to a wide range of architectural outcomes, the vast majority employ the same range of spaces and features. This section of the new opera house in Wexford, Ireland by the Office of Public Works Architects shows many of the well established design details.

Theatres and Operas are broken into three zones; the front of house, auditorium and back of house. The front of house is the public side of the building, encompassing a reception area, box-office, access to the auditorium and very often bars and restaurants that generate financial income for the venue.

Within the auditorium the seating is broken into levels that are accessed from different floors within the front of house.

The lowest seats are the stalls. Above is the circle and a third tier is an upper circle. As the seats become higher, relative to the stage, so the angle of their rake must increase, to allow patrons to see over the head of the audience member in front and to see all of the stage.

In opera houses and theatres large enough to have an orchestra, the space in front of the stalls before the stage,

is where they are positioned. This space, the orchestra pit, is lowered so that the orchestra is largely hidden from the audience, so as not to distract from the action on stage. The pit is often set on pneumatic lifters that allow it to be raised or lowered to fit the orchestra size or for the the stage to be extended.

The stage itself is topped with the fly tower. Most modern theatres and opera houses are a proscenium stage arrangement and the fly tower needs to be at least two and half times the height of the proscenium.

Directly behind the stage is the backstage area where props and scenery are delivered through a loading area that connects directly to an outside area where articulated lorries can dock directly with building and unload materials brought by touring companies.

The other back of house facilities; dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces etc. are also defined as backstage but are usually located around the auditorium, normally concealed from the front of house and publicly accessible areas.

The very rigid relationships the define modern theatre and opera design have evolved over a long time, driven by the nature of modern touring companies and the economic realities of the performing arts. A fast turnover of performances and the smooth running of shows on the night is aided by well defined spatial relationships. While several recent projects have attempted to reinvent the paradigm and experiment with flexibility of space, for example the Wyly Theatre in Dallas by OMA and REX, the fruits of such architectural tinkering are not fully understood. It is likely that theatre companies will continue to seek the specifically tailored buildings that currently define the typology for some time to come.

Pop Music Venues

Venues specifically for popular music come in a huge range of shapes and sizes. These are largely determined by the economic and commercial power of the acts involved.

Increasingly live performance forms the largest source of income for artists as revenue from music sales continues to drop as we move away from physical distribution of cds towards mp3s. Acts will perform in venues with as large a capacity as they can fill.

However, the acoustic and spatial characteristics can inform the type of music that will be performed and can go some way to explaining the popularity of certain styles and trends in modern popular music.

Starting at the largest scale, musical acts with the very highest popularity often appropriate non-musical venues that are able to accommodate tens of thousands of people. These include football stadia, parks and city-centre squares. Huge numbers of people can come together in a shared experience in these places but in terms of their acoustic characteristics, they represent the very worst places to perform and listen to music.

The quality of acoustic space can largely be determined by its reverberation times; the time sound takes to reflect off surfaces once it has been transmitted from the performer or speakers. In these vast spaces these times can be enormous leading to tremendous echo.

For such large venues this echo precludes any music of high intricacy and quick key changes are lost. Stadium rock, a term that has come to describe bands who play in such venues, is characterised by mid-tempo music, often with a distinctly ‘epic’ feel; drums pounding and guitar soaring. While it has come to be used often in a derogatory way, it is important to note that acts working at this scale are heavily restricted in the textural nature of their music. U2, Coldplay, Oasis et al. are working with the space they find themselves in. Often the large reverberation is replicated on recordings of their music through digital alteration, to achieve the same sonic effect as fans will experience seeing them live.

Moving down in scale, most large cities have venues like the Edinburgh Corn Exchange or Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC). These buildings are large,

multi-use venues, capable of accommodating crowds of between 1500 and 5000. Again, due to the sheer sizes involved, the acoustics lend themselves to equally ‘large’ music, however, a certain amount of greater intricacy can be achieved as at least these spaces are fully enclosed. Often the acts that tour these spaces have aspirations to step-up to the stadium sized level.

More traditional concert venues, like Edinburgh’s HMV picture house, have been specifically designed for musical performance. At this scale music of great textural intricacy can be performed without the sound being lost in the enormity of the space. These venues attract a wide variety of genres and styles of music but it is interesting to note that bands often categorised as ‘alternative’ by critics often work with a far greater range of sound than those that top the charts. It is not fair to say that the scale of venue has fully driven this stylistic difference, however, it is clear that were you to take many of the bands who thrive at this smaller scale and place them in a 60,000 capacity stadium, the music would sound completely out of place. Space and sound apparently go hand in hand.

Regardless of your musical preferences, it is interesting to note the parallels between space and sound. Scale and typology are two key driving forces for architectural experimentation and development. Performance spaces give a clear indication as to how, within one quite limited typology, popular music venues, scale can force large changes in the cultural use and experience by members of the public.

Nightclubs The Berghain

Here two nightclubs have been chosen for analysis both of which sit at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of scale and use. The Berghain is a world renowned nightclub and is viewed as one of the best in the world. It is located in Berlin in the East and is housed in a former power station. The space has been cleverly reused and converted into a series of three floors with an overall capacity of 1500 people.

Designed by Karhard Architects each floor takes on a very different quality. The ground floor is the ‘Laboratory’, a dark and labyrinth like space where obscene acts that aren’t for the faint hearted take place. The first floor is less hardcore and inhabits the main hall of the power station and is seen as the focal point of the Berghain. The third floor is known as the Panorama Bar which is a slightly smaller space but with a less industrial feel and more natural light.

What is really interesting here is the way in which the architecture of these spaces strongly reflects the type of music that is created and played here. Techno and more specifically minimal techno has a very mechanical, repetitive and almost mathematical feel to it. It couldn’t be more appropriate for this genre of music to be played in these spaces.

This is true of many post-industrial cities, examples include Detroit also famous for techno and Chicago famed for its own brand of Chicago House. The size of the spaces also lends itself to the precision of the music which when played in the wrong type of space or sound system can sound radically different. Reverberation times are an issue here and large spaces have high reverberation times so as a result the music does not use as many lower frequencies. Another aspect of the Berghain success is like many performance spaces is its ability to remove you from reality. When approaching the door to the venue you are met with a team of serious doormen. The door policy is so strict that many never get in and mobile phones and cameras are banned. This adds to the sense of escape and mysticism that has kept the club going for so long. However despite the reputation that the club enjoys it still lacks a certain sense of humanity or intimacy that other smaller venues have. Often you can find yourself dancing and have no idea where and who the DJ is.

Dancers like to interact with the DJ, sightlines are almost totally ignored in this club.

Sneaky Pete’s Sneaky Pete’s offers the clubber a radically different experience. It is in essence a small box like room with a bar and small stage; “Of all the resurgent clubs in Edinburgh, the dark and compact box at the base of the Cowgate that is Sneaky Pete’s might well be the most relentlessly exciting” – Dave Pollock, The List The Capacity here is just under a hundred however this has not hampered the success that the club has had in the three years since it opened. The beauty of Sneaky Pete’s is the sense of intimacy that the space brings to both the user and the performer. At nearly every point through out you can easily see the the performer. This can be attributed to firstly the box like shape of the space and the simple small raised stage. Here a user feels like they are getting their moneys worth. Again the volume of the space has come to define the specific types of music that can be played in the venue. The space is small enough to allow music with heavy basslines due to the low reverberation time. This ranges from drum and bass, hard tech, dubstep and bassline music. A flexibly coupled with intimacy offers a wholly different experience to larger super clubs like that of the Berghain.

Street Performance

The art of street performance dates back to antiquity and could be said to be one of the earliest forms of performance. Simply put it is the art of performing in public places for money and can involve a number of forms including; acrobatics, magic, mime singing, fire eating, juggling etc. Before specific street performance venues are analysed it is important to define the basic principals and requirements of a street performer.

Probably most important is the choice of site, this should be preferably in a leisure area, not near other performers and have optimum footfall. This space should also facilitate the gathering of a crowd whilst at the same time allowing for traffic to pass through the space comfortably. Acoustics are also important; I.e being situated in front of a wall or under an awning so as to allow the performer to project their voice sufficiently and not wear it out over the course of the day.

The Royal Mile The Royal Mile is arguably one of the busiest and most important spaces in terms of street performance. It runs from The Castle to Holyrood Palace and every summer becomes the focal point of the largest city wide arts festival in the world. Within this area there are three different conditions that can be identified each with their own characteristics that often share similarities to larger more formal spaces.

Hunter square is situated further down the Mile and sits next to a busy junction allowing for high levels of footfall. It is also a natural gathering space and is on the most part stepped creating a theatre like condition. This is ideal for street performers allowing them maximum interaction and site lines with their intended audience. However this space does not perform well acoustically. The street itself which has recently been pedestrianised allows for excellent acoustic conditions.

The narrow street and high rise buildings allows performers to project their voices excellently. There are a number of spaces lining the street where you will often find musicians making use of the architecture, one example being the wall of St Giles Cathedral. These spaces also allow for protection form the elements shading and sheltering performers when it is windy, sunny or raining. The final condition identified in this area is the square situated outside St Giles Cathedral.

This is a vast space and although does not offer the same features as the above mentioned spaces allows for a very high crowd capacity and for performances of a much larger scale.

Place Georges Pompidou Situated in the heart of Paris’ centre this large civic space was designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano when the Pompidou Centre was constructed. Again this space is identified as a tourist hot spot drawing street performers from around the world to make money and perform. The atmosphere of leisure is furthered by the spaces adjacency to the Pompidou Centre an important art gallery. The space is very large therefore making acoustics an issue here however this counterbalanced with way in which the whole site slopes allowing for a makeshift theatre rake. This makes for excellent site lines and interaction between street performers and audience. However the lack of variation in spaces here does not allow it the versatiliuy gained from that of the Royal Mile.

Gallery Spaces

Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow

The GoMA is an interesting study in a gallery space due to the social implications of the gallery and the building itself. The gallery is an iconic building in Glasgow and is easily recognizable by tourists and locals alike.

This is what makes the space such an important building and place. Any visit to the city usually takes in a quick tour of the gallery and as a result manages to attract some influential figures in the art world. There is a vast array of artists willing to exhibit at the GoMA which include, among others, Turner prizewinners which seem to draw the attention of the public. A gallery as popular and well known as the GoMA seems to be a perfect space to study in its genre to analyze the way that every part of the gallery works together to create an interesting space for modern art.

Vitrahaus

The ‘VitraHaus’ designed by Herzog and de Meuron opened in 2010 to house the new Vitra home collection. Located on the Swiss German border it brings together the commercial and cultural aspects of Vitra, a company that manufactures furniture and is dedicated to architecture.

Other buildings in the Vitra complex include the fire station by Zaha Hadid and factory buildings by SANAA, Alvaro Siza, Nicholas Grimshaw and Frank Gehry. The inspiration for the new ‘VitraHaus’ was from the archetypal house with gable roof that is typical of the region. The twelve houses are merged and stacked together with ambient home-like spaces on the interior.

‘VitraHaus’ is devoted entirely to home living where you can purchase or order the objects on display. It is one of the largest collections of modern furniture design in the world with original works from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day. These famous pieces are available in replica form including works by Charles & Ray Eames, Jean Prouve and Jasper Morrison. On entering the building each guest is given a Vitra key that can be inserted into computers on each level to show prices and where to order the furnishings. The colour lab is a space in which the public can experiment with compatible colour schemes, a great space that is enlivened by both children and adults discovering new colours and matching them against the products on display.

The gallery itself is an interesting example of a modern gallery as the building is neoclassical in design and was originally a townhouse for a wealthy Glasgow tobacco lord. As the building had a different original use the space had to be adapted to house a collection of modern art owned by the city. The gallery also regularly organizes temporary exhibitions and the vast turnover of these exhibitions means that the gallery has to be flexible. The spaces have to have the ability to be adapted quickly to host a wide array of modern art. This refurbishment left two distinctive gallery types within the one building with one being the large and grand ground floor space and the second the smaller and more modest upstairs gallery spaces. The ground floor space has a historic and rich quality to it and can host a vast number of pieces due to the scale and versatility of the area. The large columns and decorative stained glass windows become a part of the art and must be considered by the gallery when setting out an exhibition. The upstairs spaces are bland in comparison but offer a different type of space which adds to the versatility of the gallery. The modern blank walls can be adapted in numerous ways to suit the art which is on display and the lighting can be moved to create different lighting forms. This is more in keeping with a modern gallery where white walls are commonplace but are not always the most interesting choice. This is particularly obvious in the GoMA where there is a large contrast between the two types of space and the richness of the historic gallery definitely forms the most suitable area for displaying art. Each piece of art is offset by the features of the room and this offers a unique backdrop to the modern art which at times can be the antithesis of classical decoration. It certainly can’t be said that the building is bland and this is probably why the gallery is such an iconic place within British art and also a major tourist destination in Glasgow.

Kettle’s Yard Cambridge

Situated in Cambridge, Kettle’s yard gallery is the creation of Jim Ede, a one time curator at the Tate, who wanted to share with others the art and objects he collected over fifty years or more, in what he called “a continuing way of life. From his earliest visits to grand and porticoed museums the thought grew that art was better approached in the intimate surroundings of a home. And so, in 1957, he adopted and converted four almost derelict cottages in Cambridge and began to hold open house for students and other visitors. In the 1920s Ede had met Ben and Winifred Nicholson through whom he came to know and collect the work of Christopher wood, David Jones and Alfred Wallis.

Ede acquired the estate of French sculptor Gaudier-Brzeska and met Brancusi, Miro and Braque in Paris. Works by these artists and more are contained within the collection on display at Kettle’s yard.

In 1995 the gallery was extended with the addition of a new specific gallery space suitable for displaying larger scale contemporary works.

The main collection remains in the house however, and today each afternoon, apart from Mondays, visitors can ring the bell and ask to look around.

Kettle’s Yard successfully makes no distinction between life and the display of art. Wallis paintings sit propped up in the bathroom next to the loo, Miro Sculptures hide round corners in corridors. The visitor is given an enticing sense of exploration as they move through the house.

Of course, each and every sculpture, painting and book has been placed carefully within the house with great thought as to how each artefact relates to the next and its space. Yet the experience is not a contrived one. Each visitor feels almost as if they have stumbled into the house whilst the owners are out, discovering a secret and personal collection of objects and art truly exciting and inspiring. The art is tangible. You certainly won’t find sculptures placed on plinths in this place, instead they sit on piles of books, tucked away on steps, or propped up on the piano. You can sit on the chairs in this gallery, flick through the books and touch anything you want. A far truer, multisensory interaction with the art on display than could ever be achieved in the white plain spaces of the conventional gallery spaces championed by many architects across the board.

On occasion the use of a residential building as a gallery does gives rise to lighting problems. This is especially so in the attic space where the dormer windows, even with blinds drawn on a bright day, cast strong reflections across the glass surfaces of framed paintings and drawings.

However, whilst some might also dislike the slanting angle on which these paintings are hung in the attic space due to the inclined ceiling, personally I feel this only adds advantageously to the spirit space.

Where the attic space does have its faults, these can easily be forgiven for the atmosphere it creates. An Aladdin’s cave stuffed to bursting with Gaudier-Brzeska’s paintings, sketchbooks and prints, this is one of my favourite spaces in the gallery. Many happy hours can be passed in that attic trying to absorbing everything as much as possible.

The use of residential typologies to display private collections to the public is by no means a new phenomena – the Sir John Soan Museum, the Piers art centre, to name but a few create gallery atmospheres similar to those found at Kettles Yard. However, this type of gallery space remains a minority. Perhaps this is part of the typologies’ charm. You leave Kettles Yard, almost wondering whether you should tell anyone about what you have found. Back on the cobbled Cambridge street it almost feels like a dream. A little oasis of artistic dreams.

There are lessons that can be learnt from this little gallery though.

Lessons that its bigger brothers would do well to listen to. So many contemporary gallery spaces try to do everything but end up doing nothing. The blankest of canvasses, providing the most scope for flexibility, many contemporary gallery spaces give little richness in experience. The art on display is very much the focus of attention, but where focus is gained, layers of experience and narrative are lost. Our experience of art in the conventional contemporary gallery space has been reduced to such a simplistic level, ultimately rendering these spaces intangible to the extent that some individuals are even intimidated by them. Surely this is disastrous? Art should be open to everyone, if the spaces we display our art in promote detachment and even avoidance, what hope is there of people interacting with the art itself?

Kettle’s yard set out with one main objective, bring down the barriers between life and art. This it certainly does.

Art Organisations Commissioning Bodies Funding Bodies Agents

4.1

Student Commissioning and Artist Agents It is an exciting leap to progress from being a Student to an Artist or Illustrator. Sometimes it’s a gradual transition, if friends or admirers of your work begin to tentatively ask you to do something specially for them. (or even ask brashly, not realizing how much of your heart and soul goes into every offering!) Or it may happen as a sudden switch, which is often the case when full-time students leave college and begin the process of looking for work.

The areas you need to consider when accepting or considering a commission are: 1.

Do you WANT to do it! Once you have got over the flattery of being asked, it is vital that you carefully think over what has been requested and ask yourself if itʼs the right commission for you. We are inclined to feel an obligation to provide whatever we are asked for, but the buck stops with you. A couple of hours Thinking Time can save you weeks of agony.. So if youʼve been asked to paint a portrait of your local High Street, litter bins and all, when your area of special interest is, say, botanical studies of roses, it is not unreasonable that you should say, Thank You, I’m SO delighted that you’ve asked me, but I’m afraid that’s not my area. You could, of course, privately attempt the very commission, to see how you get on, without the pressure of actually accepting the work. Unless you WANT to do it.

2.

The Deadline. This is so incredibly vital. If its a professional company, a publisher etc, you will always be given a deadline. Which you MUST meet. If, however, the Client is a member of the public, you may hear those dreadful words Oh, No Hurry.. How my heart sinks when I hear that.

I will confess that I have had 5 commissions in the past two years from lovely members of the public (i.e. not professional bodies), and all said there was no rush, and what happened?

I didn’t start on any of them. And felt guilty and neglectful, but I was busy with 100 other things, and sure there’s no Hurry...

2.5 The Deadline Again! If you are given a deadline that you know you can’t meet, say so immediately. Perhaps they need it in a week but you know it’ll take a month - tell them this,and either they give you more time because they want You, or they will have to find another artist because they can’t alter the timings. But they will come back to you again if you are honest - you should not try to do a month’s work in a week. You, quite simply, won’t!

3.

The Budget - A professional body will offer you a

fee, along with the deadline. Usually (but not always) the illustration fee covers the cost of the license to use your artwork for the agreed purpose, and you will receive the artwork back after they’ve printed it. On deciding whether or not to accept the fee, work out how long it will take you (roughly) and see if the fee will cover your costs (including scanning or postage etc as well as materials) AND give you a profit! If it’s a private non-business customer (your neighbour for example) use the time and costs as a starting point only. They may be shocked at what it actually costs you to produce it. For professional fees, contact the Association of Illustrators for advice.

4.

Understanding the brief - take notes, ask questions (you will develop a 6th sense so you will know they meant Pink when they said Green) and provide a Rough for approval before going ahead with the finished artwork. With private clients I also ask them to make notes on the rough drawing and to sign both that and the photographic reference and send it back to me. This ensures they understand what they will get, and have no surprises

5.

A successful Work Process - this will make you and your clients happy. You will work out what works best for you, in time, but generally speaking it means acting professionally at all times, and being honest and clear with the client from the outset. This is easiest with a professional client, but can be achieved with private clients too, so long as YOU take the lead. Don’t be embarrassed. If you’re calling a friend about a job they’ve commissioned, have a note beside the phone so you can say what needs to be said - just read it aloud! Everything should be decided at formal meetings.

These should be as few as possible. Take notes always, and confirm decisions, fee and deadline, in writing. Agree that one third of the fee is paid on acceptance of the rough drawing, the balance on completion. I also recommend you draw up a contract outlining the above. This way everyone will be clear - its the cloudy areas that make commissions difficult.

Artists Agents Many artists don’t deal with clients at all, but instead do all their work through an Agent. If you decide to do this, it is really important that you feel totally comfortable with the agent, and not in fear of them in any way. You need to build up a relationship with them, based on trust. (It doesn’t mean they’ll ever be your best friend, but you need to be able to be honest and open with them if they are to act on your behalf) The advantage of having an agent is that they will source the work for you, they have a client base already and do your marketing.

Of course, you will have to pay for the marketing as well as a percentage of every job you do with them. You also need to discuss with them how they feel about you having your own clients as well - some agents will want sole control over your work load. This is so that they know you aren’t overloading your schedule and that you can still meet the deadlines that they have negotiated for you. If you are looking for an agent, make sure you visit as many as possible till you find the right person

Mousetrap Theatre

Mousetrap Theatre Projects is a registered independent charity which works with the public to make the theater more accessible. They provide a large number of workshops which include: Bespoke, Acting/Performing, Directing, Shakespeare, Playwriting, Music Theatre, Physical Theatre/ Movement/Dance, Set Design, Costume/Puppetry/Mask, Lighting/Sound/Media, Non-European Theatre, PSHE/ Citizenship, School-Based Projects. They also provide support for teachers which include teacher training; learning difficulties; teacher preview nights, resources packs, theatre artists who work in schools and career’s events.

The major contributors for funding include: The City Bridge Trust; The Colwinston; Charitable Trust; London Councils; John Lyon’s Charity; Man Group Plc; Morgan Hunt Ltd.

Mousetrap theatre work with many organisations, internationally and in the UK, to make arts projects and events happen and our support can range from managing a whole event, to brokering funding agreements with overseas partners, or contributing towards the costs of a drama or dance performance overseas.

Mousetrap theatre is not an ‘arts funding body’ in the typical sense. This means that they do not support artists and companies for the purpose of developing their work.

The British Council does not offer support to arts and creative economy work that is unlikely to contribute to the development of cultural relations between the UK and the rest of the world.

As Mousetrap theatre are not a funding body, there is no application form. The process involves arts specialists assessing whether particular work or proposed projects match the British Council’s strategic priorities and whether they can be included in our plans for the country or region concerned.

If the project is taken up for consideration by the British Council office you will need to send full details of the project in writing. Where possible, and where relevant, include the following: reviews, curricula vitae, details of the number of people, length of tour, freight specifications, breakdown of weekly fees, tour budget, and copies of invitations from overseas. Theatre organizations are everything from large scale to small independent projects, the major theatres are provide with funding from the government, most of the time based on a 1 year plan to a 3 year approach, satisfying the objectives set at the beginning of the collaboration.

British Arts Council

Our global arts team works with the best of British creative talent to develop innovative, high-quality events and collaborations that link thousands of artists and cultural institutions around the world, drawing them into a closer relationship with the UK. The areas covered by the British Arts Council include music, drama, dance, visual arts, design, architecture, fashion, film, literature, new media, museums management and the creative economy. Arts Group is based in the British Council’s head offices in London, but also have multi-disciplinary arts specialists based in offices in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.

The British Arts Council are not a funding body. For funding to develop projects artists need to apply to their relevant Arts Council in the UK. How do they assess artistic quality?

They consider three dimensions of artistic work: • Idea - the concept or artistic impetus behind the work • Practice - the effectiveness of how the work is put into practice and the impact it has on those experiencing it • Development - the contribution the work makes to the development of the artist, the artform and the arts more widely Your application must include: • a signed and dated application form with all the relevant questions filled in • a filled-in budget in section D of the application form (you may also include a more detailed budget on a separate sheet if necessary). You must show a balanced budget (that is, your income and spending, including how much you are asking for from us, must be the same) • a filled-in tour schedule (if you are applying for touring activity) • a proposal, following the headings we ask for in the How to apply booklet • a CV if you are applying as an individual • if you receive regular funding from us, written confirmation that your lead officer agrees with you making the application • if you are applying for a building project, a copy of written confirmation from us that we agree with you making an application • if we are already assessing an application from you, written confirmation that we agree with you making another application • if you are an organisation applying for a grant over

£100,000 or if you are applying for over £200,000 for a national activity, a copy of written confirmation from us that we agree with you making an application

Current research projects • Public value programme - a programme of work building on the findings from the arts debate • Arts audiences - exploring patterns of arts attendance and participation • Digital opportunities - research into the challenges and opportunities for the arts in a digital world • Creative economy - exploring the role of public funding in a mixed economy.

The British Council is not a funding body, though we do offer some small grants via the Grants to Artists and Short Film Submission schemes.

Arts Council England – the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from the Government and the National Lottery.

UKTI – UK Trade & Investment provide business opportunities, expert trade advice and support to UK based companies wishing to grow their business overseas.

Scottish Arts Council/Creative Scotland – the leading body for the funding, development and advocacy of the arts in Scotland, this organisation will soon merge with Scottish Screen to become Creative Scotland and support for design will be available through The Innovation Fund.

Scottish Enterprise - Work with Scottish companies to help them access finance and exploit new markets.

Arts Council of Wales – The leading body for funding, development and advocacy of the arts in Wales. Arts Council of Wales is able to support projects involving international artists in Wales through its funding schemes.

Wales Arts International - Wales Arts International’s run an open application fund for international activity called the International Opportunities Fund.

Arts Council Northern Ireland - Arts Council Northern Ireland support design in a number of ways. Designers can apply for funding for international and locally based projects under the Support for the Individual Artist Programme.

Case Study: Save The Kings Theatre Campaign trail

The King’s Theatre in Edinburgh will have to wait at least six years for refurbishment work to begin - even though safety concerns may force the venue to close within two years. The King’s is one of Edinburgh’s jewels, home to the famous Christmas panto. But the Council says that the money for the upgrade cannot be spent until at least 20102011, and possibly later. John Stalker, the chief executive of the trust that runs The King’s on behalf of the Council, told the Evening News: “If there’s no significant work taken on the building in the next couple of years it will have to close.”

On 20 November the Council discussed the matter but didn’t agree to spend any money on saving the theatre. Social networking sites and online blogs created aplace for the general public to speak out against the possible closure.

Graham Baird It’s a brilliant Theatre seen mary great show there, it would a real shame if it close help to keep it open Join this group please thanks Funding Bodies

Together with the public outcry, media coverage and Creative Scotland, the theatre was able to secure some funding to remain open for the time being. Creative Arts Scotland provided grants and various workshops in helping keep the Kings alive. The agent in this case was Art and Buisness Scotland which is a New Arts Sponsorship Grants aim to: • increase the number of businesses sponsoring the arts in Scotland • encourage cultural organisations to approach businesses that have not sponsored the arts before, or have not sponsored for at least 3 years • encourage non-Scottish based companies to sponsor arts activities in Scotland

Arts Council UK

Arts funding in the UK runs into two broad categories - public and private subsidy. The Arts Council is the government body that provides public subsidy. Within the Arts Council itself, it is divided by country, and also by discipline, so there is a specific dance department who supervise the funding and maintenance of dance projects in the UK. The Arts Council of England also has ten regional boards which have an annual budget for funding specifically regional projects.

The Arts Council has the aim of both funding home-grown work and introducing international work. In addition, the Council’s stated policy is to improve conditions for dancers, encourage the payment of at least Equity minimum rate for dancers, plus proper pension and contract provisions.

Professional level classes are also a priority of the Arts Council’s funding.

The majority of the dance funding in the UK is divided between ballet, contemporary and African dance forms. Of these three dance forms, ballet is by far the most expensive - while a relatively small group of contemporary or African dancers can stage a successful production, most classical ballets require the participation of a corps de ballet, upping the payroll, and making ballet, like opera, an extremely expensive dance form. The result is that the smaller ballet companies struggle to survive. A recent example is Scottish Ballet which is currently going through a funding crisis, while City Ballet of London which does not receive a grant, only recently re-formed after being forced to close down for a period.

The Royal Ballet, the flagship company for the nation, is not funded directly through the Arts Council. Instead the Royal Opera House receives an anuual grant from the Arts Council which is then used for both the resident companies. This means that the Royal Ballet is in direct competition with the Royal Opera for funding as well as space within the Opera House. Until this year, Birmingham Royal Ballet was also funded through the Royal Opera House, but it now has financial freedom and will receive its own grant directly. The current year’s allocation is just over £20 million for all three companies.

The Arts Council dance budget is approximately £11 million, not including the Royal Opera House grant. Of this, the lion’s share goes to ballet, with English National Ballet receiving £3.9 million, and Northern Ballet Theatre getting just under £1.25 million. Rambert Dance Company, the main UK contemporary dance company, get a £1.24 million. Adventures in Motion Pictures no longer receive an Arts Council grant.

The Arts Council do not fund buildings. Even the Royal Opera House grant is for the companies housed within that building, and not for the maintenance of the structure itself. While the grant can usually be stretched to accommodate day-to-day maintenance, capital grants for refurbishment and major repairs to theatre buildings have not traditionally been available from the Arts Council. The National Lottery has changed that.

The Arts Council has also received Lottery funds in addition to its regular income from the Government. These funds are available for one-off grants which have allowed theatres to be refurbished. For example, the Royal Opera House has received funding from the Lottery board to renovate the premises, but only on condition that part of the cost is raised through donations. Similarly, Sadlers Wells Theatre has been closed down for a badly-needed refurbishment, funded by the National Lottery.

The other source of funding, the private sector, is indirectly responsible for the recent furore over the Royal Opera House. Private companies do not fund the arts for the good of their health. They seek some kind of benefit in return, whether it be the public relations prestige of being perceived as a patron of the arts, their logo prominently displayed to all visitors to an exhibition/performance, or access to an “exclusive” environment ideal for corporate entertainment. This last tag is what has caused all the fuss at the Opera House. The Arts Council, understandably enough, want the Opera House to increase accessibility in return for public funding. On the most fundamental level, this translates as a request for lower ticket prices.

Corporate sponsors, on the other hand, are attracted to the “exclusivity” of the Opera House, and the demands of the Arts Council on one hand, and the desire to attract more sponsors on the other, have created a major rift at the Opera House.

However a dance company funds itself, one fact remains constant. Dance in the UK is woefully underfunded. The Royal Ballet, the flagship ballet company for the nation, only covers 35% of its costs from subsidy. It has to find the remainder of its income elsewhere, between fundraising, sponsorship and ticket and souvenir sales. By comparison, an equivalent company in Germany would receive 65% of its requirements in government subsidy, which not only relieves the management of considerable financial worries, it also allows for better access. The arguments will continue, and it looks likely that the ultimate loser will be dance standards in the UK.

Public Art

Using the work of Anthony Gormley along with that of the Gorbals Art Project as a tool for exploration and discussion defined the groups approach to the subject of public art space.

Gormley’s “Six Times�, commissioned by the National Galleries of Scotland, is a series of stylized male figures placed in the main waterway running through Edinburgh, and proved to be an appropriate response to one of the most challenging spaces for exhibition of art. The universal human form and scale (1:1) of the work helped naturalize each piece to their environment, be it built or natural, and their vulnerable nature (nakedness) provides a source for attachment to the viewer.

The Gorbals Arts Project is a Glasgow based company which works in partnership with local communities to produce artwork to attempt to regenerate different areas. It is a great concept which allows members of the community to work alongside each other producing a piece of art that is intended to sit within the community where it was designed.

However, the work produced has little to no input from established artists, and aesthetically it is generally not very pleasing. There appears to be no consideration of materiality, site lines or engagement with the public which is very disappointing, in contrast Six Times considers and integrates each of these factors.

Historically public art has been the glorification of political leadership or memorials for significant civic events. Due to the sensitive nature of todays multicultural democratic societies, and through group discussion we feel the most successful public art today are events based and/or of a temporary nature. It has been pointed out that the modern paradigm to public art was conceived in the 1960s as a response to the urban unrest, where artists were called in to right the ills of the city fabric by using public art to engender a sense of a more intimate, premodern community (T. Finkelpearl).

Architecture, especially public buildings are thought to be equally or more challenging due to their impact on the environment surrounding and within the buildings themselves. There are however different pressures behind the commissioning of buildings and public art work which undermine the appropriateness for comparison.

Sustainability

In Art Practice Artists working with sustainability as a concept

4.2

SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE CREATIVE ARTS COMPARE – CONTRAST - CRITICALLY ANALYSE

A sustainable working model is about creating something that considers the social, economic and environmental context it is created in.

Dramaturgy (theatre /dramatics) Music Performance art Publishing Museums Galleries

Visual Arts: ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video/filmmaking and architecture (installation)

In this presentation we have decided to look at public art sculpture in the form of Echo by Annie Cattrell, the architectural installation Sixty Minute Man and the Cragside house museum amongst others.

SPATIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Virtually all Creative Arts demand an interior space to conceive or present their ideas. Sustainable considerations include: -

maximizing use/inhabitation using disused buildings minimized artificial heating/lighting requirements minimal embodied energy in construction

Essential differences: Production space -

artist requirements primary concern

Performance space -

spectators requirements primary concern

Relation between the production and performance space include minimizing travel distance between the two.

PRODUCTION CONSIDERATIONS:

The traditional arts are based around the manipulation of materials, be it sculpture as the carving/building up of mass or painting with the use of paints and canvas.

Paints, pencils and other methods of leaving marks on a surface have some simple considerations to take into account: -

toxicity of the material its self toxicity in use toxicity in disposal

-

transport of material (distance/method) energy going into producing material

Secondly the embodied energy in the production of each material must be considered

Contemporary art forms generally utilize digital tools in their conception. The production of this is usually done on a computer and therefore a relatively low energy demand.

Substantial energy cuts (compared to traditional art) can be seen when this work is finally presented, as they are often projected in some fashion (and not physical objects). Digital art have very few size restrictions and can produce virtual (remaining within digital world) or physical projections that would have been incredibly energy demanding if produced as physical objects in the traditional sense.

SUMMARY

In essence the whole L I F E C Y C L E of the conception and presentation in the creative arts must be considered to have a truly sustainable approach, which we have chosen to explain using the examples described. A critical factor to sustainability is the quality of the work presented. Each different project will have different pressures and demands, and it is all about finding the most appropriate solution for each one. Weighing different factors up against each other to be left with a truly well considered product is essentially what sustainability is about. Sustainability is far from just maximizing energy and minimizing waste. The factor of community is critical. A sustainable working model is about creating something that considers the social, economic and environmental context it is created in. One of the defining aspects of creative practice is the freedom of boundaries.

This does not entail that artists are free to waste, but rather to be aware of the waste and environmental impact they are creating and aim to reduce this in a relevant way to their form of art practice.

Artists working with sustainability as a concept Robert Smithson

In 2010 it is difficult to imagine a world where sustainability and environmentalism was not near or top of the news agenda on a daily basis. Humanity’s impact on our planet is almost endlessly debated and while dissenting voices still deny climate change, we are entering an age of acceptance of the need to radically change the way we live to provide for the future needs of our species and the rest of the world.

It is strange then to think that until almost 20 years ago, environmentalism and sustainability, as we understand them today, were subjects barely touched upon by prominent artists.

The very early birth of the subject can be traced back to land artists of the 1960s and 70s. These artists were largely driven by a wish to challenge established ideas of artistic production and exhibition, working at large scale, with the ground itself as their canvas, to be shamed to the artist’s vision.

Robert Smithson’s 1970 work, Spiral Jetty is perhaps the best known of these early land art works. Created on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, it is constructed from earth, rocks mud and salt crystals. Forming an enormous spiraling form, reaching out into the lake, it can be walked along by visitors.

Smithson imagined his art as a relationship with nature, differentiating works of site, those that exist in one location, and non-site, more traditional pieces that can be moved and displayed anywhere. Smithson, like many working at this time saw art increasingly commercialised. By working in a fixed, remote location, works like Spiral Jetty could not be bought and sold, traded on an increasingly wealthy art market.

In this respect he worked with in the idea of localism, part of the modern understanding of sustainability. This was an age long before the full picture of how human activity might be damaging the environment, and Smithson could never have set out to create a piece that would critique such activity.

However the piece has taken on a narrative of its own since Smithson’s untimely death in 1973. It was initially constructed during a drought when the lake’s water levels were low. A few years later it was submerged as the levels returned to normal. It only reemerged in 2004 for only one

year and recently reemerged again in spring of this year.

In 2008 it was announced that exploratory oil drilling would take place approximately 5 miles from the art work. Artists and locals took up voice as the opposition to the drilling. The artwork, in its existence in a single place, has demonstrated nature’s ever changing form and acted as a rally point for environmental campaigners long after its construction.

It is interesting to note that these early works were made without much consideration for how the methods of their construction might affect the environment themselves. At such a large scale, the use of heavy-duty earth moving vehicles was the norm. More recent artists, direct descendants from Smithson, for example Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy, create similarly evocative formal works that are specifically created to leave no lasting impact in the landscape.

Josef Beuys

In the 1980s artists began to directly challenge environmental concerns.

Josef Beuys work, 7000 Oaks, was an early piece that sought to actively question the role of the natural environment in an urban setting. The idea was beautifully simple, one that could have been thought up by anyone. However, it was Beuys role as artist; and a particularly charismatic one he was, that provided the impetus and organisation to make it happen.

In the German city of Kassel, as part of the 5 yearly arts festival, Documenta, 7000 oak trees were planted, between 1982 and 1987. Beside each oak was placed a stone marker.

Responding directly to the environment of Kassel, Beuys envisioned the project as a universal idea, reestablishing natural life and materials within cities on a grand scale. As the tree would grow, so the relationship between it and the stone, immovable and only ever diminishing in size due to erosion, would change and inform the space around them.

The trees continue to grow today and the project has been expanded upon in New York, Sydney and Oslo.

It is a work of environmental critique but also expands into other territories; city planning, local community cohesion. in that way it moves into the realm of sustainability, which encompasses a range of issues related to how we live our lives.

Recycled Art

Junk can be a beautiful thing, if you have the eyes to see it.

From litter off the streets to odds and ends in the house, artists from around the world find a use for what others would toss out without a second thought.

In this era of heightened awareness of our environment, artists are increasingly turning to junk stores, trash bins and surplus outlets to satisfy their urge to create while still caring for our planet.

For the past one hundred years, artists have seen creative possibilities in cast-offs. Pablo Picasso, one of the foremost artists of the twentieth century fashioned a bull’s head from a discarded bicycle handlebar and seat. While Marcel Duchamp a founder of the Dada movement asked viewers to see sculpture in a urinal and snow shovel. During the 1930s and 1940s Alexander Calder made whimsical animals from coffee cans.

Recycled Art demonstrates the creative use of recycled materials and found objects in contemporary regional art.

It reminds the viewer that while recycling is necessary to sustain our planet’s resources, it is equally valid as a creative and innovative material and subject matter in the visual arts.

Some artists use these materials because they are inexpensive and easy to acquire, although many continue to use them even after they can afford more expensive materials like paint and canvas. Others are excited by looking at ordinary objects in a new way, and transforming these common materials into works of art. Still others use these materials to make a variety of statements, whether a comment on environmental and social issues, a challenge to established artistic traditions, or even a personal expression.

Jools Johnson

Born in Wrexham, Wales in 1974 Johnson lives and works in London.

Since completing an MA Painting at the University of the Arts, London, in 2002 Johnson’s practice has evolved into predominately conceptual, installation and construction work that has been widely exhibited within the UK and recently internationally.

The artist’s use of such cheap and disposable materials draws attention to society’s rampant consumerism and often irreverent attitude to the planet’s resources.

Jools Johnson uses recycled materials to create artworks that can appear like architectural constructions and miniature cities. Rather than paper, however, Johnson’s materials are salvaged from defunct computers, the components of which he laboriously dismantles before reconfiguring them to create his sculptural pieces and installations.

In an ongoing body of work started in 2007, God Lives in Detail, Johnson presents a variety of floor, plinth and wallmounted pieces that look like models for sets of some fantastical science-fiction movie. In reusing the computer parts – made from numerous types of plastics and metals originally designed for specific purposes far beyond the knowledge of the average PC user – Johnson devises a model world that is rich in imagination and full of space for our own imaginations to run wild: processors, chips and circuitry can become a holiday resort, metal casing can be transformed into a barn or silo, or a variety of curiously shaped plastic components refashioned as a futuristic industrial complex.

With a work specially created for the exhibition, God Lives in Detail XVIII (2010), Johnson presents a tower made entirely from computer parts, with platforms, levels and architecturelike appendages throughout. With platforms, levels and architecture-like appendages throughout. With miniature epic proportions, the tower presents a disconcertingly dystopian vision of the built environment - a world in which the organic and natural are replaced entirely by synthetic materials and machine - made with shapes and forms, like a Tower of Babel for the era of electronic computing.

Isobar at Fieldgate Gallery “In contrast to these artist’s fascination with nature Jools Johnson addresses man-made technology. His constructions using redundant computer parts stand as monuments

to his own mixed feelings about the act of staring at pixelated screens for hours on end. With an incredible economy he creates sublime forms with perhaps just three or four components. There is a touch of George Lucas in the aesthetic of these pieces though this is apparently not conscious on Johnson’s part. These works are fixed to the wall using screws from the same machines he dismantles, which creates a pleasing circularity of process. Another entirely separate piece of work by the same artist appears from a distance as a strip of green Astroturf. It seems that the ‘grass’ is slightly too long and it is not until we are much closer that it becomes apparent that the carpet is made from wooden golf tees; 12,000 of them in two shades of green.

There is something almost religiously ritualistic about the iterative manner in which this piece has come to be”.

Saatchi Online Critics Choice by Angel Roberts (March 2nd 2009) “Technology, and our love/hate relationship with it, is one of the main themes of Jools Johnson’s work. The installations reuse every single nut, bolt and screw of old computers and reconfigure them into objects of strange yet familiar beauty.

His work has a playful quality, as though he had re-imagined these pieces of metal and plastic - unthinkingly consigned to the scrap heap by the vast majority of us - through the eyes of a child. The result is a group of meticulous dioramas that bear witness to the information that we collect and then discard. Johnson finds use for the debris of our information driven society. In his hands a pile of old circuit boards and the workaday plastic shell and metal casings for a computer screen or hard drive have new meaning.”

Yuken Teruya

Yuken Teruya was Born in Okinawa, Japan in 1973. Yuken received his BFA from Tama Art University in Tokyo in 1996, MFA from the school of Visual Arts, New York in 2001.

The artist cuts out shapes of tree branches and leaves on one side of disposable paper bags. Assembling the tree from the cut-out parts, there is then a tree standing in the bag. It seems like the bag is holding the fragile tree inside, however it is the strength of the tree that is holding up the bag. When you see it under the natural light, the delicate tree inside the paper bag shows us the strength and the proof of existence of the living tree.

For Notice Forest, Yuken Teruya creates enchanting dioramas within products made from paper such as a take-out bag or the cardboard tube inside a toilet paper role. Carving detailed, miniature trees in each, Teruya makes fragile, magical sculptures about nature, craft, and consumerism. Yuken Teruya is adept at transforming objects using very modest, intimately-scaled gestures. In Notice Forest, the artist subtly draws our attention to the effects of consumerism and globalism - alluding to the depletion of fragile natural resources, the disappearance of cultural traditions and identities, and the distribution of wealth in the new world order.

Working with discarded paper bags from takeout joints such as McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme, commercial gift bags and post office packages, Teruya creates delicately rendered shadowboxes in which the sculptural form cut out from the container is shaped by the container itself. Using photography as the starting point, Teruya photographs trees he encounters in his daily life and then painstakingly recreates the form of the individual trees as paper cut outs that are suspended inside the bags. Light filters down through the holes to illuminate the tiny tree within each bag’s miniature interior landscape in what the Teruya describes as his attempt to return a spent consumer product back to the forest.

Bike Bloc

In December 2009 tens of thousands of protesters and activist descended on Copenhagen for the U.N Conference on Climate Change. This sets the scene for an account of a piece of sustainable art that mutated and took on a life of its own. The Laboratory of Insurrectionarry Imagination was invited by the Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre (CCAC) to create a project as part of a city wide exhibition called RE:Think Contemporary Art and Climate Change.

The collective pulled together a group of engineers, activists and bike hackers with the intent of redesigning and building using Copenhagen’s vast source of discarded bikes. It was however after weeks of development that the CCAC pulled out of the project. The website states that they pulled out when ‘they realised we were not pretending to do politics; we were going to build machines and use them on the streets, they were not going to be commodities to contemplate in a museum but practical tools of resistance.’ This would be enough to put any contemporary art centre off.

Fortunately for the The Laboratory of Insurrectionarry Imagination a new venue called the Candy Factory stepped in. Described as less a ‘timid’ social centre it inhabits an old factory and allows for free thinking and radical action.

As the 19th of December drew closer Bike Bloc was supported by hundreds of climate camp supporters and many of them went to the Candy Factory to help. Five hundred bike carcasses were returned to life for service with civil disobedient. Permaculture and workshops were setup to transfer practical skills to those who needed and mass training was given in the way of bike ‘swarms.

They were consequently raided by the police and many of the bikes, known as ‘war bikes’ in the press, were seized. On the 19th the day of action began and 200 bikes took to the streets. A swarm of bikes with built in loudspeakers playing terrible noises acted as a barricade for activists trying to approach the U.N security perimeter whilst another swarm played a game of cat and mouse with police. But what was their point?

Having researched the events described above a few conclusions can be drawn. It is fascinating how a project originally intended for the CCAC has managed turn into an actual movement. However this could also be construed as a mistake. Perhaps The Laboratory of Insurrectionarry Imagination could have opened their minds a little and made

a piece of art that fitted within the parameters of the CCAC? Perhaps this work would have had more impact, been seen by more people and had more longevity? Thus raising more awareness of environmental issues. An attractive feature of this taking place was the workshops that taught people new skills that could be transferred and let people live more sustainable lives. However due to the disruptive and anarchic behaviour of the group, these workshops were lost after the Conference. Could they have had more impact with a longer term strategy? On the day itself it is seems very hard to understand exactly what it is that they are out to achieve and it seems almost as if they don’t achieve anything at all except getting arrested.

Water World 1995

Waterworld is a movie that for many defined a generation.

You may be wondering how it has found it way in here?

Being a movie it is then art and its plot inherently deals with sustainability. The film is a post apocalyptic science fiction film set in the distant future. It is directed Kevin Reynolds, based on the screen play by Peter Rader and produced by both Kevin Costner and Universal Pictures. Kevin Costner also plays the part of the anti hero in the film. The film was not overly successful and didn’t garner much critical acclaim. It was however the most expensive film at the time and coined the phrase ‘blockbuster.’

The film is set in a prophetic future where the Earth’s ice caps have melted and the sea level has risen submerging civilisations and cities. In the film a few survivors remain clinging to whatever they can some creating small floating communities called ‘atolls’ and others drifting between them and trading. Smokers travel across Waterworld pillaging all they can and searching for dry land. It is one of these skirmishes that Kevin Costner rescues a young girl from the Smokers. It soon emerges that the young girl has a map that shows the location of dry land, everyone in turn is looking for her. It is now Costners role to guide her through the movie as the plot unfurls in an astoundingly predictable fashion.

However are not here to discuss the finer points of cinema but to look at the merits that this piece has in terms of sustainability. The film at best does one thing for sure, that is to raise the awareness of the general public that global warming and the sea levels rising could be catastrophic.

With the film being advertised, reviewed and consumed almost everywhere the film is without a doubt provides us with a glum view of the future and should be enough to make people think twice. Maybe other films such The Day After Tomorrow and The Road offer a more harrowing prospect of the future Waterworld with all its imagery remains the most stark. A nice touch is at the start when the Universal Logo of the Earth displays its water levels rising to the point where it only shows sea. This excellent to see a large corporation such as Universal use the situation, no doubt in their own interests but still gets people thinking about the issue. The name of the ‘bad guys’ in being smokers is also interesting.

Not only do they smoke a lot but they are also the only people in the film who live in an oil tanker and use petrol engines.

The association between fossil fuels and evil here are very effective and should have been planted deeply within the physche of any young child in the cinema.

Individual Gallery Reviews

5

Hanin Elmardhi

Alex Hetherington The Roxy Art House, Edinburgh

Alex Hetherington is known for his performance pieces and video based projects. He begins by studying works that investigates gender, behaviors, memory and identity through complex appropriations and references to theatre, literature, visual art, mass media and even spam emails. Hetherington then, seemingly with pleasure, scrutinizes these pre-existing notions.

His work presented at Roxy Theatre displayed various forms of applied arts, sculptures and written pieces. When first entering the gallery you’re immediately faced with the choice of exploring any of the several displayed works of Hetherington’s. Having no specific standard rhythm in layout, you become almost wedged between uncertainties of where to start. Perhaps creating an order or a sense of beginning or end to the exhibition would have made the experience less 'awkward'. However, having now been to the gallery and explored the art thoroughly, Alex Hetherington could have quiet possibly arranged the space specifically in that way to provoke those exact feelings from the audience. The space depicted an old abandoned small church room that had been painted white to give a clean backdrop to Hetherington’s work that was pinned up or placed up against the room’s walls.

The process in which Hetherington's creations are created evoked a sense of excitement on my behalf. His portrayals of the contemporary late capitalist culture is depicted through collages framed by car windscreens or conventional frames and sculptures created out of seeminglyarbitraryobjects.Atfirstglancewalkingaroundtheexhibition, I found myself becoming more and more unintentionally frustrated that I was unable to comprehend the messages hidden within his artwork.

Unaware of the intensions of the artist at first glance may have been a factor that brought down the success of the exhibition as a hole on a personal level for myself. After speaking with the promoter of the exhibition I began to understand the violent remix of the world as Alex Hetherington saw and intended to depict, pulling in aspects of queer culture, high art, mass production and the proliferation of those images.

The work somehow acts as a spatial representation of the fragmented self. He implies in his work that society today forces ourselves to search for the ‘real self’ within us and so in retaliation he encourages us to believe and become aware of our essential unique hidden identity, who he acknowledges as our ‘Siamese twin’. Hetherington principle theory is that the pressure of today’s society creates an inversion, denying the self and making open the process of the construction of identity. It is this notion that inspires Hetherington to exploit pre existing identities by fabricating alter egos. This ‘fragile’ process is explored within various aspects of all his work. There appears to be this layer of masking the preexisting identity of his subjects, denying them of seeing their self, thus protecting their ‘idealised representation’; ‘The Siamese Twin’. Some of his works investigated artwork made by female artists, which includes Catherine Sullivan, Trisha Donnelly, Elizabeth le Compte, Joan Jonas among others. Hetherington states t ‘work with imitation: inhabiting the processes of another, improvisation, re-enactment, the synchronization of different materials, authorship, research and collage and employ constant re-editing, manipulating and re-arranging to look at the construction and establishment of identity, meaning and knowledge’.

Although the exhibition proved initially to be an interesting insight into theories on the pressures of society today, forgotten identities and memory, the overall experience was one I may recommend to someone who enjoys challenging conventional notions and making own interpretations. Alex Hetherington’s exhibition led me to research

further into his visual performances and artwork, all seemingly following his apparent philosophies at the Roxy Theatre exhibition, however portrayed in various diverse techniques. Ultimately I found the experience challenging to comprehend at first, however would recommend looking at his long history of projects first, as it best illustrates the notions he aims to portray within his exhibitions.

Duncan Bain

Matthew Herbert One Club Accidental Records October 11th 2010

Sampling has been a staple technique of electronic music production for over 30 years. Before that, the use of portable microphones and magnetic tape-recorders allowed the first pioneers of musique concrete to take the sounds of the world and ‘perform’ them, recomposed in the high-art context of concert halls as long ago as the 1940s.

Matthew Herbert is an artist who continues to explore and push the boundaries of what sampling can bring to music production. Beginning his career as a drama student, he was fascinated by the ideas of aleatoric methods; how chance can inform the creative process. His first forays into music creation often involved taking objects from everyday experience and re-contextualising them through performance. Around The House (1998) took the sounds of domesticity (think door slams, vacuum cleaners etc.) and transformed them into sinuous minimal house music, while Bodily Functions (2001) was an exploration of internal noise, the sound of the human body itself.

In 2000 Herbert issued his Personal Contract for the Composition of Music (incorporating the Manifesto of Mistakes) that set forth a collection of rules that would govern his production techniques. In it he banned himself from the use of samples of other’s work or stock preset sounds included in drum machines or synthesizers.

However, from all of this conceptual back story comes music that has found massive success, both critically and commercially. Herbert’s classically trained musical background and interest in melody and rhythm ring through the work; jazz-inflected and playful, while grounded in the modern languages of house and techno music. His most recent works form part of a trilogy of albums that push his conceptual aims even further. The One trilogy start from three distinct places. One One, released earlier this year saw Herbert write, play, sing and record every element of the album by himself, forcing him to learn new instruments and skills to create the autobiographical story of one day in his own life.

One Club takes the idea of storytelling in a more communal direction. Created from recordings of a single night in the Robert Johnson nightclub in Frankfurt, it is a highly detailed, audio document of the experience of dance culture.

Herbert and a team of assistants placed microphones throughout the venue, everywhere from the dance floor to the toilets, the bar to the cloakroom. On top of this, listening equipment was fitted inside taxis taking revelers to and from the club as well as around the venue, picking up the queue to get inside and those popping outside for more face time.

This was more than a voyeuristic exercise in eavesdropping.

Herbert actively encouraged audience participation; asking

them to sing along, beatbox, shake their keys and above all else, dance. All of this activity added up to a huge resource of sound samples, both musical and ambient, personal and architectural, with which to work.

The finished album, released in September of this year, distills the collective experience of the night into 10 tracks of distinctly mechanical techno. Each track named for an attendee, the album starts with the titular club itself, Robert Johnson. It is fascinating to hear how far Herbert has taken the source material; ambient and crowd noise, and transformed it into a frantic array of beats and staccato melody. If you were unaware of the album’s conceptual beginnings you would struggle to realise the root of the samples. It is only in a few select moments that Herbert rolls back the heavy production to reveal sounds more instantly recognisable; the pouring of drinks at the bar during Alex Duwe, the flushing of a toilet in Rafik Dahhane.

Whether this is a strength or a weakness, I'm unsure. Given my own personal interest in the auditory experimentation that can take place when space and music come together, it does seem rather disappointing that Herbert does not expose his process more clearly to the listener. However, he works equally on the level of a popular musician. His works can be judged by both art critics and the commercial music press and he is able to take unusual conceptual ideas to a remarkably large audience. Lady Gaga he is not, but his music is certainly not self-indulgent experimentalism either.

Perhaps his greatest strength as an artist is in provoking discussion of concept, aim and idea in a medium that often seems devoid of serious critical reflection; pop music.

By bypassing an artistic urge to overly highlight the eccentricity of his work, he allows it to be judged on its musical merits. One Club in that respect is an album of direct and dense techno, certainly an acquired taste for most. At times the music veers towards a more soulful sound, reminiscent of Herbert’s earlier works, but a layered approach to the production means things are far from simple and minimal.

The best tracks are the ones where the audience participate and sing along, notably album closer Kerstin Basler which sees the men and women in the audience sing a euphoric call and response before the music fades out and you hear the crowd head off into the night and homeward.

At these points the feeling of clubbing is best represented.

Herbert has created club music from a club experience and as such can only ever represent the auditory sensation. Of course it is much more than this that makes the experience special. The joyous physical abandon of dancing in a crowd of strangers, all swinging elbows and sweaty embraces, could never be replicated on disc. When the voices of the crowd are brought into the mix, these are the most representative moments; more than just the mechanistic repetition of the music but the people you share that with too.

Next for Herbert is the final part of the trilogy, One Pig. The name is a clear clue to the subject matter; the conception, birth, life, death and subsequent ingestion of a pig. Herbert continues to document, provoke and experiment. Quite how this new project might materialise as music is uncertain.

However, Herbert continues to push unusual and challenging subjects and ideas into mainstream music and looks likely to keep having a great deal of success doing so.

Jen Balmer

The Illusionist The Cameo Film Theatre, Edinburgh

French director Sylvain Chomet has adapted Jacques Tati’s ‘l’illusionniste’ screenplay into a mesmerising 90-minute artistic animation. Translated into English as The Illusionist, it tells the life-changing story of a down and out magician failing to make it big in Paris in the 1950’s. With minimal dialogue, light humour and relaxing music it is a very different approach to animated film with sketch like drawing creating more of a painting than a movie.

The film opens in black and white with the protagonist magician performing to empty theatres in Paris in 1959. His act is aging and unpopular while rock n roll music seems to be dominating. The story follows his travels across France to his destination at Dover. Changing into colour, the audience is invited to engage with this magician and travel with him as he starts his new life. On his arrival in the United Kingdom many ‘British’ symbols are made obvious, such as London buses, Big Ben and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, alongside stereotypical variations of the national anthem. It would appear that everything is working out for him at first. Yet the dialect is restricted to mumbles, and is often difficult to determine whether French or English, positive or negative. It is assumed he chooses to leave and continue his journey for similar reasons as why he left Paris initially.

The plot progresses to the Outer Hebrides where kilts, castles, Highland cows reinforce that this magical new place is Scotland. He performs in a small bar with a lot of drunk Scots absolutely love him. He resides in a small loft above the bar, where an intrigued cleaner cares for him. Portrayed as a loner, it comes as unexpected when he interacts with this young girl, fascinating her with his mystical performances.

Suddenly, when removed from his on stage persona, his character, and the capability of his feelings are exposed.

On his next journey he boards the boat to the main land and to his shock the young girl has followed him. He pays her ticket and after seeing an advertising poster, the two travel to Edinburgh. Here it is easy to relate to as all the common city monuments were featured and Princes Street, George Street, The Salisbury Crags, Jenners and Broughton Place are all portrayed perfectly. The magician sets up his ‘Tatischeff Illusions’ show at the Royal Music Hall and the two live with other failed performers in Little Joe Hotel off Broughton Place. Here the film becomes quite slow moving and develops into a sad and depressing story of the magicians failed performances. The girl remains lonely with her lust for new clothes and shoes no longer fulfilled and her new life in the big city isn’t what she expected.

Sympathy is felt for the magician as he attempts a short-lived job in a garage and another in Jenners. He rejects the girl when she sits at his shows to support him, seemingly a little

out of character. This is later determined as being alcohol related but prompts the girl to find love with a gentleman who lives opposite the hotel. They walk the streets of Edinburgh hand in hand and when spotted by the magician causes a noticeable awkwardness. This forces the magician to seek srefuge in the cameo cinema. He is shown walking into screen one, watching the film for a few moments and leaving again, a unique and somewhat novelty experience was that it was the cinema where I watched the film. This is something that made the setting very easy to relate to and made us more curious about what may happen.

In the final scenes the magician frees his rabbit on Arthur’s Seat and leaves a note in the hotel room reading ‘magicians do not exist’ before boarding a train with the destination unknown Perhaps the note is a reference to the young girl living in a little dream world and having everything provided for her. The young girl is met outside the hotel but her new man and the future of both the couple

and the magician are uncertain. The city of Edinburgh is zoomed out and the lights get switched off in the windows of the shops and places they visited together.

The illustrations were fantastic, something a bit different to contemporary animated cinema, but without dialogue it needed something to keep the audience engaged. The music was very relaxing and I’m not sure wholly appropriate, perhaps something a bit livelier again would be beneficial.

The references to Paris, London and Edinburgh I found very accurate and as the majority of the film is set in Edinburgh, knowledge of the city is probably an advantage to relate to.

The storyline itself could have been further developed as it became very slow moving in parts, however I did enjoy the switch from black and white to colour when he started his journey. A happier ending where the magician succeeds in life could be quite satisfying as throughout the film we are experiencing his frustration through failure.

Liam Doyle

Many shades of Gray…

Following a career that has stretched more than six decades, Alasdair Gray is exhibiting Gray Stuff: Designs for Books and Posters, 1952-2010 at the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh.

The exhibition includes the original drawings and poster designs from this critically acclaimed author, poet and artist.

The exhibition is accompanied by the much anticipated book release of Gray’s work, A Life In Pictures.

Gray was born in Glasgow and states that his sister was his first audience and critic. He would make up short stories and recite them to her at bedtime. His vivid imagination and creative allure started when going to the cinema to see Walt Disney films and was especially excited by Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The films created a form of escapism for a young Gray into a new surreal place. He would always be very disappointed when he would leave the cinema, when crossing the threshold from the black box into the reality of his working class existence. Gray has always struggled with peoples perception of him, especially the feeling of being disliked. As a teen, he would act friendly and warm towards is bullies as a way of manipulating them. This would later be taken forward into his professional practice.

After training at the Glasgow School of Art from 1952-1957, he took a variety of jobs ranging from teaching to a freelance painter. Gray wanted to ‘get all of his words out’ before he could create art, and so started writing. His works which include Lanark (1981), Unlikely Stories Mostly (1983) and Lean Tales (1985) catapulted him to critical acclaim. Gray provided all the illustrations and editorial content for his work. He became much more established as a writer and poet until the nineties, when a ‘Chinese whispers’ effect occurred within the art world of Lanark and most notably the illustrious within. This has led to Gray being very sought after by his younger contemporaries for collaborations most notably Lucy McKensie. Today, Gray is as well known for his art as his writing and poetry.

The gallery space opens into a lavish double height space, brightly lit with a very typical ‘white wall, timber floor’ gallery palette. The works are arranged chronologically in clusters. The large scale posters and graphics use a simple palette of black lines, used in a variety of forms to really create and capture the tone and mood f his subjects and reinterpret them to the viewer. Grays illustrations are not to accompany his texts, but rather to provide an alternate view into his descriptive world. His play on perspective and religious symbolic gestures strengthen the power and allure of the written word.

Through into another room this arrangement continues with large glass cases containing Gray’s sketchbooks. The sketchbooks contain meticulous editorial notes and his sketches use simple monochrome lines but applied in a variety of ways to show tone and texture. On occasion red is used to highlight a specific tone, texture or element to his work. The exhibition continues upstairs into a much more rational and

darker space which contains more darker and illicit pieces and feature some taboo subject matter. His use of his architectural sketches of Glasgow convey his idea that Glasgow is a fantastic world of heaven and hell, a fantasy land where he could escape and create.

The final space is an exceptionally bright top lit atrium space which contains some pieces of Grays writings . To the left of this is perhaps the jewel in the crown of the exhibition; a thirty minute BBC documentary about the works of Gray.

After meandering through the gallery and familiarising myself with Grays work, I had many questions in my head about Gray himself, his application and how he viewed the world.

The frank and honest documentary explains all. After returning to the start of the exhibition, I did wonder why the video was not shown first, especially when so many people (including myself) are not familiar with Grays work. On second thoughts though, I think that this was a genius move by the curator. This self interpretation into the dark and illicit world of Grays creativity was like an adventure into Grays surreal, alternative conscious. His writings in Lanark made Glasgow reinterpret Glasgow and I feel this blinded journey through the gallery was on a similar track.

Many conservative critics claim that Gray is nothing more than a ‘glorified piss artist’ and that his ‘drunken delusions’ harm his work. After the release of Lanark and especially 1982 Janine, the

critics described his work as ‘sexually aggressive radioactive hogwash’. I think that his frank honesty is refreshing and perhaps he was just too advanced in his vision for Britain in the 70’s and 80’s. His bold use of line and hatching in a generally monochrome finish mixed tastefully with subtle plays on perspective really capture Gray’s vision and allow you to escape into his fantasy. The extensive and meticulous editorial notes within the frames really show the level of his vision, a true artist whose surreal mind will not be compromised.

Hannah Fothergill

Open to all The Gallery on the Corner 1st - 16th October 2010.

The gallery on the corner sits in the heart of Edinburgh’s commercial gallery district, but something sets this little gallery apart from its neighbours. Tucked away below street level this relatively new gallery is doing something rather special. Conceived and developed by Autism Ventures Scotland, the gallery aims to provide a high profile platform in the heart of Edinburgh’s gallery district to exhibit and sell artwork produced by artists who have a disability, mental health problem or are from a disadvantaged background.

The current exhibition “open to all” has jam packed this tiny gallery’s bellow street space with an Aladdin’s cave of colour and expression. Taking a thought-provoking look at what mental health means to the individual artist, “open to all” could have proved to be rather dark, brooding and inaccessible to the average gallery-goer. However the reality could not be further form the truth. The exhibition as a whole feels like a colourful celebration of mental diversity, rather than a black questioning of mental health. It was encouraging to see a bright, positive take on what could be perceived as quite a dark, negative subject.

The work on show exemplifies how a range of people have learnt to cope with and manage their disabilities through artistic expression. Alison Prosser’s idealistic interpretations of farm landscapes capture the imagination and transport the onlooker to the green open fields of childhood and freedom. They reminded me somewhat of the farm arrangements I would meticulously lay out as a child on the living room floor, massive monster cows out scaling tiny luffa hedges. There is a beautiful naivety to her work, not in the pretentious or contrived sense, but in a gloriously sincere way. She paints what she wants to paint, what she wants to see. This is her therapy. Refreshing and honest.

Perhaps most striking is the large scale oil painting by Prosser depicting a pensive woman sitting at a table, knitting. Prosser described to me the importance this piece has played in her relationship with art. Taking nearly five years to complete the piece spanned a time in the artist’s life when she fell out of love with her art quite badly. The half finished canvas remained untouched for a good three years. However now she has resumed painting and finds herself very much back in love with her art. The sadness in the painted woman’s face perhaps reflects Prosser’s struggle with her art and mental health, but the use of bright colours mirrors a hope she has for the future and the happiness that her art brings her. She describes the knitting as the ongoing and never ending creative process she relies upon.

A beautiful and honest piece that filled me personally with hope.

Art as therapy is a long standing practice used across the world, but we all too often forget that all art to all people can be therapy. Art therapy need not be restricted to those with diagnosed mental health issues or disabilities. Art therapy

is for everyone and this is the message the exhibition really hits home. As the exhibition states “open to all.” The exhibition space itself is small, at times even cramped, but this potentially provides an intimacy with the work on show not achievable in the vast open whiteness of the “perfect” gallery spaces favoured by architects. The space makes the most of its corner positioning, drawing as much light in as possible from the deep set Georgian sash windows facing the street. For what the gallery lacks in space it certainly makes up on in intensity and warmth. An excellent respite to any grey Edinburgh day. I left the gallery feeling enlightened, inspired and full of hope.

The Gallery on the Corner, 34 Northumberland street, Edinburgh, EH3 6LS

Carl Fransson

P r i m a t e (1974)

“It is essentially about one set of primates who have power, using it against another who haven’t.” – Guardian

After watching Artur Zmijewski’s Repetition at the stills gallery I was intrigued to continue exploring artist use of documentary process. Therefore I decided to once again visit the stills gallery but this time instead of seeing Repetition I watched Primate.I had decided early on I would not research Primate in any way before seeing it. So before going to the screening of Fredrick Wiseman’s documentary I was unaware of its story. I knew his style of filming as well and documentary approach would different from Zmijewski’s, yet the illustrative moral and political tones accommodated by the fascination of human behavior are themes both artist deal with.

My knowledge of Wiseman’s filmmaking was limited; I had watched extracts from his movies and read articles in which was mentioned but nothing of significance.

As I knew nothing about the film I was not only surprised by its strength but physically ill at moments due to the imagery. Wiseman is said to have had 100hrs of film from the research center. From this he has managed to build up a story which begins as rather mundane description of a primate research center, but after a short while you he hints to the final outcome. Stage by stage the movie accelerates until it reaches complete absurdity and cruelty. What surprised me the most was the non-reaction of the hippie like researchers; they seemed completely unaffected by the inhumane treatment of the apes and monkeys.

His films often involve observation of social institutions, (hospitals, zoos and schools) exploring their functioning and how we relate to them. I would not call his movies subjective as has an ability to provoke the audience through is creative filming and ability to portray an underlying narrative to a non-narrative observation. However we should consider that his intentions are not to express a personal opinion but rather an experience, an experience based on a visit (4-6 weeks). In the end these are two very different attitudes.

Primate is about the Yerkes Primate Research Center, a place in which scientists investigate primates in terms of mental and physical development. With a detached eye Wiseman is able to observe “just another day at the lab”. Ethical questions regarding the treatment of animals and the necessity of extremely brutal experiments provide the audience with one question; has the pursuit of human knowledge past the boundary of moral intelligence?

I feel that the stills gallery provided me with a very interesting and out of the ordinary experience. Wiseman’s sometimes sickening message can at times seem difficult to process, you are not sure if he has cut the movie to maximize the shock factor or if it was truly his experience as a detached observer. One could questions its authenticity but even so its dramatic structure, thematic arrangements and fascinating cinematography left me with intense emotions and provocative images questioning the absurdity of the world.

Craig Martin

Simon Starling

Project for a Masquerade (Hiroshima): The Mirror Room The Modern Institute, Glasgow

Simon Starling has produced an exhibition which forms half of a two-part show running in both The Modern Institute and the Hiroshima City Museum. The exhibition is a visual interpretation of an imagined Noh Japanese play that Starling has dreamt up, and the props are a reference to the back stage dressing room that is often called a Mirror Room in Japanese theatre. Although this reference is seen as the strongest thread throughout the exhibition, there are several other ideas behind the six carved wooden masks, two cast bronze masks and hat. The amount of ideas causes confusion unless there is a deep knowledge of the research and imagery behind the exhibition. Starling seems interested in the contrast between the East and West and uses masks of stereotypes such as Sean Connery and KFC’s Colonel Sanders to depict life in both parts of the world. Although the proposed play is to be set in Japan, the story is based on works by Henry Moore and the Cold War. This only helps to enforce the link to the East and West. It is hard to envisage the importance of each character within the play and the exhibition as a whole but each piece of research seems to have been carried out carefully by Starling to create a complex story which may only come together in his head.

The masks themselves are beautiful pieces of art and are made by Yasuo Miichi, who is a master mask maker from Osaka in Japan. Each mask has been painstakingly carved to create a lifelike replica of the subject such as Sean Connery.

This is seen as the link to Japanese tradition by Starling and the aesthetic of the masks is possibly the most interesting part of the exhibition. The masks are sited on metal stands and are placed at head height which corresponds to the particular character and they all face a mirror at the front of the room. This seems to be an indicator of the personal reinvention which is a theme in the proposed play but it doesn’t seem to be particularly clear in the exhibition. The only link here seems to be in the title of the exhibition. This is possibly what Starling is trying to achieve by changing the space into a simplified dressing room. The exhibition could be seen as a collaboration of artforms which creates a theory for a possible production and it is hard to understand the true meaning of the exhibition without knowing what the final outcome will be. It also seems that Starling does not know what the final outcome will be and even if there will be one but it is evident that this would be helpful. It would also be interesting to be part of the second exhibition in Hiroshima as this may answer several questions which are posted by the artist.

The Modern Institute is an important addition to the fabric of Glasgow’s art community as it houses artwork which may not usually be seen in the city. The Institute is at the heart of the Modern art community and has emerged as the space where top artists such as Starling choose to exhibit. This is due to the spaces involved in the gallery, as they seem to add to the works on show. The main gallery on the ground level is the most interesting space in the gallery and is housed

in a large open plan building which seems to have been a warehouse in the past. The gallery is top lit by a series of skylights which bring a strong light into the space and this is only filtered by the roof structure which is exposed. This forms a loft style space which seems perfect for art and the blank walls could hold any exhibition. The intimacy of the gallery is also beneficial and this is highlighted by the entrance where the public filter through a modest door straight into the offices where there are several staff working.

This open plan space is shared by a shop which holds a few books referring to the works on show. The gallery spaces are then accessed through a small opening which leads into the light open space which acts in contrast to the previous space. The emphasis seems to be on the space where art is displayed and the other functions are squashed into the rest of the floor plan but this is done in a sensible way which adds life to the Institute. There is also a secondary gallery which is accessed by a small staircase and this held other works by Starling during the exhibition. This is also an intimate but interesting space which differs from the main gallery. The gallery definitely lends itself to an enjoyable experience of the art as there is no pretentious entrance or intricate spaces which act as a barrier to the work on show and the galleries definitely have a unique presence.

The exhibition acted as an interesting insight into the mind of Simon Starling and the imagination involved was unprecedented but there seemed to be a distinct lack of information on each piece of art. This may be rectified in the future by proceeding exhibitions but there is a need to explain the works in a more thorough way. It would be interesting to track the work involved in this piece and see where this takes the artist, as there is a definite base of knowledge which could form an interesting exhibition in the future. It is also interesting to see the way in which the artist has used the space to form the exhibition and the space itself adds another layer to the work due to the unique light which reflects on the mirror and onto the masks. It is definitely a case of the space adding richness to the art and this must be the sign of a well-worked gallery.

Ruairi McCance

Linda Nicol

Academicians Tron Gate 103

The Academicians exhibition can be viewed from the 13th November 2010 to the 30th January 2011.

The Tron Gate103 is a cluster of artists’ production facilities, education opportunities and exhibition spaces in the heart of Glasgow’s Merchant City. It is housed over six stories in a former Edwardian warehouse. In addition to supporting professional artists, the building offers opportunities for everyone to participate in arts activity in an environment that values the creativity of all individuals.

Tron Gate 103 is home to varying creative bodies including The Glasgow Independent Studio and Project Room, The Glasgow Media Access Centre (GMAC), Glasgow Print Studio, Project Ability and the Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre.

The arts centre is an inspirational space as the visitor can view, buy or if registered with a class they can produce art.

When entering the building from street level the viewer is gripped by the light, spacious double height space which acts as the foyer area. Within this foyer area there is a temporary exhibition which leads the viewer to explore the building further. The ground and first floors are primarily gallery spaces completely open to the public. The gallery spaces embrace a year round programme of exhibitions showing a diverse range of works. However it was rather disappointing that at mid day most of the gallery spaces where not accessible to the public due to exhibitions being constructed in each gallery space.

There are also indications that classes and workshops in a variety of media including printmaking and photography are to be found on the progressing floors. There is a vivid divide between spaces which are open to the public and the seemingly non existent progression of the private floors.

The exhibition, Academicians, is situated on the first floor of Tron Gate 103 and is comprised of a variety of artists who are members of the Royal Academy of Arts. As each artist exhibiting their work in the space has a varied method of media and medium the space was partitioned successfully to allow each piece of work to be enjoyed by the viewer.

The exhibiting artists included Eileen Cooper, a painter and printmaker whose playful, relaxed figurative works are constructed by the use of undulating markings and a confident use of colour. David Mach, who is a sculptor and installation artist working in various media. Multiple mass produced objects mostly notably magazines, news papers and playing cards have been used consistently by Mach throughout his career. Neil MacPherson, is a painter resident in the North of Scotland, Caithness. His surreal works have an extraordinary richness of colour with sparse compositions centred on large dominating figures. Lastly Michael Visocchi, a sculptor whose practice examines our relationship with the landscape around us. Using sculpture, Visocchi explores how we have shaped and utilised landscapes around us to demonstrate our economic and spiritual needs.

With the varied techniques demonstrated by each artist it was extremely important that the space was divided

appropriately allowing each individuals work to be complimented by the next.

The work of Michael Visocchi was one which was of particular interest. With the sculptures being presented at eye level on podiums they certainly gripped the viewer’s attention.

Limited information on the pieces led to the viewer taking a personal response to the artwork. It was quite evident that the sophisticated sculptures were representational of a landscape portrayed as organic emerald forms. However in the form of elegant black arrows they began to push at the landscape. This suggested that internal and external forces press on the landscape beginning to change its form. Some of the arrows began to penetrate through the landscape which suggested that some forces are progressing so fast that they drastically change the land. It is quite evident in the sculptures that the common theme is nature verses man as we continue to shape our landscape around our own needs. The sculptures by Michael Visocchi were of particular interest as they had an architectural quality.

As I found it difficult to find information on Michael Visocchi I e-mailed him with a few general queries about his work. He explained to me he was particularly interested in architecture and landscape. This might stem from the fact that Visocchi studied architecture for 1 year in Glasgow before giving up to study sculpture. Visocch’s work fluctuates between making these small scale sculptures to then scaling them up and temporarily installing them in the landscape to be photographed.

Michael Visocchi is thematically interested in perceptions of scale and dimensionality when seeing structures far off on the horizon. How we perceive an object in the distance to how we experience them up close and the area in between.

The ‘Broken Landscape’ series viewed in Glasgow are examples of restricting his process to 2 distinct forms: that of the landscape form and the arrow (both have diagrammatic, scientific overtones). Visocchi set himself the challenge last year of looking at how many variations of these 2 forms he could make and still suggest a worthwhile narrative.

Overall the exhibition was enjoyable but it would have been beneficial for the viewer to have a little more information on the artists exhibiting, such as the name of the piece and the media and medium used. However it was inspirational to be able to take a personal response away from the exhibition.

Thomas Paltiel

Artur Zmijewski

Repetition (2005)

Stills Gallery, 23 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1966, Zmijewski found himself growing up under strict Communist rule.

His entry into art education correlated with the fall of Communism and the introduction of the conflicting ideas of capitalism. This experience of radical ideological change informed his approach to art , which focuses primarily on social relations.

“I like it when art is no longer art , when it stops being art”

- Artur Zmijewski

His most significant piece today is the documentary “ Repetition ” (2005), which focuses on institutionalization. Based on a famous prison experiment undertaken at Stanford university in 1 971, he argues that it takes more than one experiment to draw any conclusion.

The piece recrea tes the simplest form of a prison environment , three cells with three inmates each, each cell with their own bed, a separate bathroom and a staff room. Paid volunteers act the role as guard and prisoner. Very few rules were set out at the initiation of the experiment ( yet this changes with the progression of the experiment , when Zmijewski takes a more active role).

Repetition starts by introducing key facts from the former experiment which had to be stopped (by the project psychologist , Philip Zimbardo) after six days due to it getting out of hand, followed by the initial discussions between the “expert panel” (sociologist , psychologist , former prisoner (acting as counsellor) and director) involved in initiating this second experiment . Before the experiment starts the viewer is introduced to each prisoner taking part , but not guards. The volunteers, unemployed men of varying age all claim to take part for the money (40$ a day).

We follow the experiment for six days until it is ended by an unanimous vote from the volunteering participants, both guards and prisoners, initiated by the recently appointed Warden. The warden fears the direction his own actions might take in controlling the behaviour of the prisoners as the actions had gradually escalated throughout the experiment . By then two prisoners had left the experiment due to unknown reasons (The ability for any participant to leave the experiment is one key difference from the Stanford experiment).

Repetition’s key themes are the dynamics of authority and the effect of de-individualization.

Despite the liberation offered in the execution of art (as opposed to scientific experiment , it

is illegal academic viewer a rendition

to re-enact such experiments in an setting), this re-enactment gives the sense of being introduced to an true of the events taken place.

The aesthetics of Zmijewski’s documentary is very unpolished and unpretentious, which add to the sensation of authenticity while signalling the directors trust in the subject matter as being sufficiently provocative or interesting to avoid any manipulation of the truth. There is no saying if this is in fact a true depiction of what happened. The viewer must judge for himself the level of involvement by the artist , as this is never clarified. The use of surveillance cameras “carries with it a rhetoric of truth: this is what we saw and this is how it happened” (Downey A., 2010), and is a critical aspect to how the viewer sees the film.

Zmijewski involvement in provoking events is however highlighted during interviews at the end of the film, when the volunteer appointed Warden states in regards to his actions “It may be that two bad people met , you [Zmijewski] and I, and we brought it off together. You devised, I did”. This obviously questions the authenticity of the social relations documented, while adding a heightened authenticity due to the exposure of “flaws” of the experiment . The involvement of unemployed men adds a level of desperation amongst the participants thought to influence the outcome to a certain extent . The use of college students in the original experiment proved highly influential of the outcome.

The exposure of provocative realities define all of Zmijewski’s work, be it recording the song of twelve deaf children or approaching a former concentration camp victim to get his faded prisoner number re-tatooed. Zmijewski admits the unpredictable nature of this approach and has been surprised by the outcome on numerous accounts. Repetition does bring into question some issues related to the directors involvement , but remains a highly intriguing human study.

Sources:

Downey, A., “The Lives of Others: Artur Zmijewski’s “Repetition”, The Stanford Prison Experiment, and the Ethics of Surveillance in Outi Remes and Pam Skelton (eds.), Conspiracy Dwellings: Surveillance in Contemporary Art. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010 http://www.shotgun-review.com/archives/wattis_institute_at_cca/repetition_artur_zmijewski.html http://www.artmargins.com/index.php/interviews/178-truancy

Calum Robinson

James Hugonin

The Ingleby Gallery, 15 Calton Road, Edinburgh 2 October - 20 Novemeber 2010

The Ingleby Gallery celebrates James Hugonin’s 60th birthday with a colourful gridded feast of his work that has span the last three decades. You may be forgiven for assuming that in selecting work from a twenty two year output, the gallery would have had their work cut out for them. But at an average rate of one painting a year, the surprising yet modest number of six recent works and two early works suggests that the Ingleby curatorial staff are either promoting a lazy painter who needs to pull his finger out or perhaps (and yes, thankfully it is the latter) a precision driven artist/visual musician who produces work that swallows time and bears colourful, slow process teeth of varying character.

Hugonin’s studio in the Cheviot Hills of the Scottish Borders is his base to produce the 1708mm x 1526mm oil and wax paintings which all adher to the same immaculately precise grid of 3.8mm wide spaces with 1.2mm gaps made by scoring lines with a silverpoint wire into the surface of a gessoed board. With such calculated parameters and methodical preparation, it is surprising yet stunning to feel the concentrated energy that each piece exudes, and for it to remain undeniably unique in its personality compared to its neighbour. Hugonin admits that he cannot predict the character for each piece but qualifies this in saying “if [I] knew what was going to happen, it wouldn’t be very interesting”.

There is no definable foreground or background in any piece, and in many cases training your eye to pull out colours sees them instantly retract while its neighbour starts to scream at you. It is clearly important to Hugonin that a colour’s position is vital; if it is comfortable and if it can hold its own.

To document and understand the process Hugonin keeps notebooks (works of art in their own right) which hold the answers or ‘key’ to each painting. They contain a colour transcribed ‘system’ or score for each painting which the artist and his team must agree with if the overall effect is to comply with the initial wider composition that Hugonin sets for the piece. It is not so much a set of rules but notes of an organic structure that discuss a bigger move within the painting. Although you cannot literally see the painting in the notebooks, it is deeply embedded within them.

“You can use yellow but only at the right time, place and amount” - J.Hugonin (paraphrasing Morgan Feldman)

All the James Hugonin’s Untitled series of paintings emanate light and play with rhythm and colour, of which Hugonin tries to incorporate himself; specifically mentioning the limes greens, the beiges and the pinks. Michael Harrison (Director of Kettle’s Yard) observed “the paintings carry with them that pace, that slowness, that sense of time. They ask us to slow down, and to look, and to settle as we would listen to a piece of music, allowin gtime to take effect - to acknowledge that, for all their quietness and stillness, our relationship to them is one of continual change.”

For me, the strength of these paintings lies in their collective composition. They sing and shout to each other, asking the viewer to see what all the fuss is about. In identifying the song, you dive right into the structured melody and start to tear out the notes. Fortunately the grid is too strong and the more you try to understand the more you will lose yourself.

David Robinson

Tomas Saraceno The Baltic, Gateshead

Tomas Saraceno presents his new work all this month at the Baltic in Newcastle. The Argentinian born, Frankfurt based artist’s most recent installation titled 14 billion (Working title) is an engaging, innovative and fresh exhibition that promises interest and beauty.

Saraceno combines the creativity of installation art with the rigour of science and architecture to investigate his ongoing facination with astronomical constellations and utopian theories. He draws on inspiration from the natural world to question ideas about the built environment, its structure and the relationship it has to man. In a collaboration between arachnologists, astrophysicists, architects and engineers, Saraceno has spent two years developing 14 Billion (Working Title) a 1:17 scale representation a Latrodectus mactans (Black Widow) spider’s web. Painstaking research, lazer measuring and computer modelling allowed the web to be analysed,and constructed. The precision of Saraceno’s work is absorbing and apparent, with 8000 black strings connected by over 23,000 individually tied knots the piece allows viewers to gain a fascinating insite into one of the wonders of the natural world.

Saraceno has always enjoyed collaboration which is apparent in this a culmination of previous interests and new inputs: “With both (science and art), not only the end product, but the actual process of doing something can itself be aesthetic.

In my work I care a great deal about the beauty of any given process. It makes sense, but I could also put it in other terms: the aesthetic of passion, the aesthetic of curiosity, of enthusiasm....Passion, curiosity and enthusiasm cross disciplines. I’m genuinely interested in collaborating with others, and so I don’t like to divide by the categories of “art”, “science”, and so on. I want to find out for myself what is characteristic about the people I work with, and with whom I share this expanded notion of the aesthetic.”1 (1 Thomas Saraceno interview with Mikkel Carl from Kopenhagen.dk‐ <http://www.kopenhagen.dk/index.php?id=21226>)

The background research and analysis is almost as facinating as the main piece itself. Saraceno's work references scientific study which use spider webs to explore the origin and structure of the universe. His sculptures then in using these studies explore the fragile balance between man and earth in the context of the universe.Investigations into the nature of a web and its construction, mans influence in this and the structure and form of the web all combine to produce 14 Billion (Working Title) a continuation from previous themes Saraceno has exhibited. The beauty of the deadly spiders web, is an interesting and uneasy blend of themes. The curiosity of the viewer is drawn deeper and deeper into the web mimiking the function of the web in its natural state. The absence of a spider yet the complex visual aesthetic of a web questions the idea of security and exploration. The scaling up of the web and removal from its natural environment also adds a sense of wonder and admiration. However the clinical

precision in which he has constructed and displayed the piece seems to take away the wonder of nature. It sanitises a beautiful and awe inspiring process of nature that in some ways would be better left to the imagination to work out.

The exhibtion on the 2nd floor of the Baltic runs till the 24th October 2010 and is a memorable and worthwhile glimpse into the boundries between art science and architecture.

Stefania Rowley

Anish Kapoor Turning the World Upside Down

Kensington Gardens, London, 2010

28th September 2010 - March 13th 2010, open daily 6am to dusk Admission : Free Anish Kapoor has recently installed four large-scale outdoor sculptures in Kensington Gardens, London. No new sculptures have been installed in Kensington gardens for decades, so I was very interested to see what had been chosen. The installation consists of four large stainless steel reflective sculptures mirror the surrounding landscape, foliage and weather creating sculptures which each change with the seasons and reflect the different sites they occupy, continuously changing their identity. The sculptures gradually appear one by one as you move through the landscape. There was a map being handed out which I chose to accept, but not to read to orientate myself. I find it to be far more fun just stumbling across the objects unexpectantly, experiencing the work as a series of encounters, with little glimpses across to each sculpture through the foliage. As I walked through the park, I found people gathered around the first of the four sculptures Sky Mirror, Red (2009) which sits close to the edge of the Round Pond. This depicts a mysterious reflection of the world above us, almost like a painting, or the floating and swirling atmosphere of another planet. The reflection is constantly changing depending on the weather, and due to the concave disk the reflection takes on a slight 3d appearance . The large disk appears to hover about the Round Pond. It does not reflect any of its local surroundings, and is completly focussed on being tilted up towards the sky.

As I wondered through the park the next sculpture I came across was Non - Object (Spire) (2008) - this was a spire that looked like it was pushing through from deep beneath the ground, or a metallic substance dripping from the sky.

It reflects itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surroundings as well as the sky, however everything was so warped it created more of an abstact moving pattern across its surface. From this location it was clear to see the largest of all the sculptures, Sky Mirror which sits on opposite edge of Long Water. It is tilted up towards the sky, reflecting the clouds. There is no way to get up close to this piece, as it is only available to be viewed across the water. It is so large and it its silver texture makes it feel almost alien, or like a very large satellite dish.

And finally, walking back through the park, past the Serpentine gallery and pavillion, I am drawn to the most engaging of all the sculptures, C-Curve (2007). C-Curve consists of a stand alone large reflective metallic curve which sits on a white plynth, and invites the viewer to move around it, watching the reflection of their body being manipulated, stretched, and multiplied. It promotes an awareness of the restlessness of our surroundings, reflecting a panoramic view from the grounds to the sky. Towards the edges the mirror begins to reflect itself and as you move around you gradually become taller, and are reflected upside down. Your own image appears to sit forward past the surrounding

landscape in an almost 3D like manner.

Sunlight glimmers off each of the sculptures, attracting your eye, and pulling you across park to each one, each with itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different characteristics. They are not as repititive as may be expected, and it is clear the artists intention is to bring to our attention the complexity of our experiences involving the dynamics of perception.

Each sculpture is constantly monitored by security guards 24 hours a day to prevent damage, and it is unfortunate that C-curve and Non- object need to have rope around them as it does take away from the exprience, I feel it would be beneficial if the pieces were more engaging physically, but I realise this really is not the intent of the artist.

Tom Russell

My Tiny Robots Rock Bossa Nova E.p Launch

The Caves 11th November 2010

This was my first experience of the recently refurbished Rowantree Bar, formerly another bar the name of which escapes me. The space is tucked away in the underbelly of Edinburgh’s Cowgate which is seen as a hotbed for the capitals small but strong live music scene. However I had not braved the wet and windy November weather to enjoy a beer but in fact witness for the first time a band known in the circuit as ‘My Tiny Robots’.

My Tiny Robots were formed in 2006 and consist of four members all of which play no set role in the band but changing and chopping which instruments they play. None the less they like to categorise themselves into the following; Dylan Childs: lead vocals, guitar – Ryan Marinello: guitar, drums, keys, vocals – Russell Williams: bass, keys, noises and stuff – Gareth Anderson: drums and percussion. The band have been sitting just under the surface and could be considered one of Edinburgh’s most budding talents despite this they still remain unsigned. Further reading led me to find they have had a lot of coverage in the past 4 years, highlights include; “Harmonic melodies reminds you of a time when Indie was jangly, fun and camp while aiming at society’s kneecaps”

The Skinny

“MTR illuminate the ear-sockets with a forever sought but rarely captured trait: charisma. Underpinned by a playful sense of humour, there’s an astonishing diversity to MTR’s songs.”

Under The Radar, The Scotsman

It was November 11th (Remembrance Day) and it was to be My Tiny Robot’s launch of ‘Rock Bossa Nova’ their second E.P. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

The venue as mentioned earlier is deep in the Cowgate and is actually part of the ‘Caves’ venue which inhabits the vaults that support the structure of ‘South Bridge.’ The venue which is mostly used for functions was split onto two floors with a bar on the ground level and a the actual venue space above.

The exposed brick work, vaulted ceilings, use of candles, distressed furniture and Persian rugs throughout made for a venue that was interesting. Somewhat different from the usual music venue fayre of dingy nightclubs usually found in the Cowgate. The turnout for the event was about average consisting of the usual crowd of Edinburgh hipsters and indie kids; tight jeans, brogues and fashionable haircuts were a plenty. This was mixed through with the usual smattering of the bands families who were easily identifiable amongst the scenesters. One criticism that could be made is that the venue was in fact to big and a higher attendance would have made the experience more enjoyable. This may be due to a last minute change in venue from the Roxy Art House (a considerably smaller venue, which recently lost its

arts council funding and had to cease trading) to the Caves a considerably larger venue.

Support consisted of Edinburgh’s renowned ‘Les Enfant Bastard’ a former student of the Art College and a prominent figure in the Edinburgh scene. Bastard was a one man band who essentially used a Nintendo Gameboy to create layers of sound that resembled music. The 8-bit sound generated took me back to my earlier gaming days and had a distinctly retro feel. Despite the sentiment the music was not in anyway enjoyable and I felt that the artist was merely jumping on the ‘vintage’ bandwagon which had rolled out of town months ago.

After ‘Les Enfant Bastard’s’ brief divergance, MTR began their set much to the relief of the audience and their ears.

They opened with ‘We Got It Wrong,’ a beautiful song laced with ukulele and self reflection. The band’s vocals effortlessly harmonised and it was an excellent song with which to open.

It acted as a natural segway, starting the set with an older song and leading perfectly into a series of newer titles.

Newer tracks consisted of The Ballad of ‘The Map-maker’s Daughter’ and ‘Other People Matter.’ As the set progressed the tracks became gradually harder and their style seemed to change form. It is at this point in time that I would like to point out that their style of music is not usually the kind of music I would listen to let alone attend a performance.

However I was pleasantly surprised and found that at a number of points I was in fact tapping my toe in time with the music.

What really struck me was the versatility with which the band swapped roles and used a number of different instruments. This was reflected in the array of different sounds that they produced in each and every song. I did feel however that a lot of the new song’s vocals had changed from their previous works and sounded uncannily like that of the Arctic Monkey’s. To me the sad loss of the bands Scottish accents through their songs was in fact a loss of local identity. In an environment where artists and bands are becoming increasingly monotonous strength in identity is crucial and a key element to the bands charm. As the gig continued I expected each song to be their last and each time I was surprised when they pulled another from their sleave.

An example of which is a gentle cover of ‘You’re The One That I want’ from Grease, yes you read right. The highlight of the set was to be found in ‘Rock Bossa Nova’ after which the E.P is named. This featured a dazzling array of synths that gave the band the contemporary feel that I feel they are searching for.

On the whole the event was very enjoyable and I found myself to be pleasantly surprised by how much I gained from the event. I might even open my mind to other bands of this genre. The current exposure that the band are enjoying is without a doubt deserved and with a busy calendar expect to see, hear and read more about My Tiny Robots.

See My Tiny Robots @ Electric Circus as part of ‘Sneaky Fest’ on Saturday 27th November – Tickets £10