list.co.uk/festival Previews & Reviews | FESTIVAL VISUAL ART
PREVIEW SARAH KENCHINGTON: WIND PIPES FOR EDINBURGH Hand-built, interactive musical installation
Sarah Kenchington has no desire to be a one-woman band. This is clear in her latest hand-built musical instrument / installation for the Edinburgh Art Festival, an interactive construction made from 100 decommissioned church organ pipes, which, with no keyboards involved, requires at least six players to operate the bellows. ‘The pipe organ’s becoming a bit of an endangered
species,’ says Kenchington, who began making Heath Robinson-esque musical instruments out of collected detritus a decade ago. ‘A lot of them are being scrapped, because they’re incredibly expensive to maintain and repair, so this has become a bit of an orphanage for unwanted pipes. Normally only one bloke gets to play a church organ, but now anyone can play.’
This is part of a mission Cambridge-born Kenchington appears to be on to reclaim the effort of making music as well as to democratise it. ‘It’s about swimming against the tide of everything being plugged in, and putting the physical back in music,’ she says. ‘I started off as a maker, but was never quite happy with just sticking something on a plinth. ‘I felt I’d gone off track, because I didn’t want it to be me
just sitting there on a stage. I felt like I’d let my instruments down.’ As well as its daily showings, a series of concerts will feature contributions from the likes of Eagleowl and regular collaborator, the One Ensemble’s Daniel Padden.
‘It’s a great leveller,’ Kenchington says. ‘It’s not designed for virtuosos. It’s more about groups of people playing simple parts together. This is about getting music back to the people.’ (Neil Cooper) ■ Trinity Apse, Chalmers Close, 226 6558, 1 Aug–1 Sep, free.
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PREVIEW ÂNGELA FERREIRA: POLITICAL CAMERAS Installation questioning colonial relationship between Europe and Africa Two video monitors sit opposite one another on silver stands. Between them, three beige-coloured steps are supported by what resembles a pair of large, steel-inverted shuttlecocks. Behind them, a domineering piece of tinted glass dwarfs a small landscape photograph: welcome to Ângela Ferreira’s debut solo exhibition in the UK.
PREVIEW ELIZABETH BLACKADDER: WORKS ON PAPER Return to familiar ground with new body of watercolours It would seem rather apt that Elizabeth Blackadder should choose to present a new exhibition of works on paper in 2013. Thirty years ago, in 1983, she was bestowed with the Royal Academy’s Pimms Award for Work On Paper; the influence of Chinese and Japanese art, particularly Far East-Asian fruits, resulting in a radically diverse explosion of colour throughout her upbeat still-life paintings.
Born in Maputo, educated in Cape Town and Three decades on, however, a new selection
currently living in Lisbon, Ferreira’s 2011 endeavour Political Cameras, like most of her previous output, questions the nature of the colonial relationship between Africa and Europe (both culturally and politically) via the exploration of photo-film and rendered sculptural form.
Highly conceptual stuff. It is, however, very real and indicates that photography, film and sculpture are the essential components of Ferreira’s work. The exhibition is presented alongside a recent
commission that references the heritage of David Livingstone’s life and work – the importance of freedom of expression lying at the heart of both. (Barry Gordon) ■ Stills Gallery, 622 6200, 2 Aug–27 Oct, free.
of watercolours has Blackadder return to the more familiar ground of flowers (tulips, orchids), leaves (of the autumnal variety) and, of course, her beloved cats. There are a couple of surprises, though. Thorny-stemmed roses appear in sooty pinks, and there’s even some marine life in there, too – Blackadder’s regular visits to her local fish market van clearly an influence. To say it’s a modest collection is understated: Blackadder has nothing to prove to anyone. The 81-year-old’s fresh body of watercolour works on paper would indicate her prolific prominence remains as strong, and as illuminating, as ever. (Barry Gordon) ■ The Scottish Gallery, 558 1200, 2 Aug–4 Sep, free.
REVIEW COMING INTO FASHION: A CENTURY OF PHOTOGRAPHY Stylish collection of work ●●●●●
Glamorous and stylish, this exhibition explores the early artworks of more than 80 fashion photographers whose work has graced the pages of Condé Nast’s publications since 1911. And art is what this show is about – powerful and graceful images that cast light on different trends, fashion and conventions as they have changed throughout the 20th century. Images by 1940s photographers such as John Rawlings and Clifford Coffin are elegant and seductive without being obviously sexual, while images from the 1970s – including one strikingly beautiful work by the Scottish photographer Albert Watson – capture the more overtly erotic fashion of the time. The exhibition highlights the fine line that both
photography and fashion tread between commerce and art, but the images demonstrate just how Condé Nast elevated fashion photography into a credible artform. Dressed to Kill, which runs alongside Coming into Fashion and shows how Scottish artists have captured fashion over the years, feels an unnecessary addition to this striking body of work. (Rhona Taylor) ■ City Arts Centre, 529 3993, until 8 Sep, £5 (£3.50).
1–8 Aug 2013 THE LIST FESTIVAL 99