lNS'lALlAl ION
DAVID BURROWS: NEW LIFE Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Until Sat 7 Aug
Is this art, or just an explosion in the window of a branch of Office? From outside on Cockburn Street, this touring installation inspires a sort of magpie curiosity, the brightly-coloured plethora of fixings and hangings initially conjuring images of a well-dressed shop window beckoning easily transfixed consumers in.
Up close, though, it’s an entirely different beast. Spread over both main rooms of the Collective, Burrows’ expansive work is as precarious as a bombsite, yet as alluring as a colourful new toy for a child. The mounds of glitter-ridden black sand all over the floor make traversing it tricky, but there’s something about the hangars of foam-cut rags, smoothly chopped flip-flops embedded in the sand and plentiful mirrors reflecting this vivid tableau that makes the inner shopper in all of us want to
explore further.
It’s this instinct to vacantly consume that the piece cleverly exploits, and the first-glance ambiguity of it leads brilliantly into much darker areas. Each shred of Burberry-style foam, each shattered mirror and even the weird foam flora
growing from the ‘ruins’ has been painstakingly made and placed like the most attractive
window dressing. On the wall, computer- generated models beam down with the arch- eyebrowed confidence of the self-obsessed, seemingly unaware of the glass skewering their
Pl l() l ()(‘zH/Xl ’l W
SANDY SHARP: ANOTHER WORLD Street Level, Glasgow, Until Sat 14 Aug 0..
Nat-are has a .‘.':;r‘<1ert’u of r;ress:ng rtselt’ onto even the rues: barren ran: seaoes. Across the eer‘fr‘ai pelt. eoa' hrr‘gs. sag neaps. '\ll)t)f3tl (;()1.l)f;£il‘(l ft‘fSl.f;(;-fl "a ma, smirngs have peer: <;o::;ased u. plants 'n the ‘.‘.'I|(l2 T'rorn huddle-,a to .rper's hug oss. Tn l'la‘.'e-ns<;'a:g stee .'.()l'r<f;
19556 71992. are 2'14,- sarne a'rtl Sétl‘il‘, Sharp. pas :(l in “earo, 'vlotner‘sr-e-J. tas tY'it-(jr‘L-Iiil the
transformaterr of fl‘ :3 g'lesfr,
-:: rains of '.l‘e
pest “dustrra week for the past ten: ,ears. 'l he resets reear' llo.‘.'ard Seorey's pl‘votographs of '.l‘.(: ga'iler‘ at Derek .Jarrnans cottage on :"e sn-ngxe ot' Dunge'tess. Kerri. But that .'.as created as a Erghg new of ar’. and “.ere r‘atara: regenerator‘
has l)l'()‘.1<l(:(t t'tt: pa.ate and
earnas for S'larrfs eornpesfo'is.
t)l‘.‘;(l(3(l :r‘to three parts (lreahor‘. A<;lte.re'ne"rt arrr:
tt(:l‘.(:*.‘/ét' tllf:f;"rfz.'."8(1:73“:
eons .sis or 'r‘ar' r, or prarx ar‘d ‘.'.rh te portraits ::’ laete'”, getsafr‘. '.'."l(:ttl(3" aurorn genes or t‘.'.rrs'.e<:
respnator. arnrd r) arr", olavts.
shrner‘lrg n f;.)ll‘.(} .."see“ eree/e. A ‘.'.n"-‘.er ser es s'rosxs searred ar‘<' :1..steil'.r'-.r.!i'r
‘restrng of E3.'l()'.'.".
the top éi'til Earl of ti"e ex'rrzt are startlrtgl; *oeused (:1; our p’vrlts tron: s::a"r‘.e<i trans;:arerteres: sulpht.r'-stairte(l st mear‘d .i.."£ll'~lr\(:f$.."f£t(1(}f3. the hrnnrant l'(:Zt of a (:l..n‘p et fre.d poppies. ~:>gg‘,' heather pokulg t'troagr‘ cracks In the larn‘ae. lr‘ k/(i/lUtfiH/(Nl 227.") [racks seraoo, shra'rzs grow lar:l< of
rxrfrrents. /\!2()‘.ll(3' she: snox'xs
errg'rt ,eios.’ "rern tl‘.(:
the peaut, ot' eerraded r'on. ZMlt to irehe" on a roek. fi‘e ‘r'ral 'rnage sl‘o.°.'s t"e rtanr: o‘ ll‘u’i". aetrveiy ee'lt'lzutmg to the 'eg<;-neratrert: a lone r‘o‘.'.'ar: ernerg 'lg how a proteetrxt: t.rl>e arnrd a prarr‘ of nto‘xra grass. llox'xexer .'.re;l meaning. it Looks it"lrtltl'étr. arl‘. septrr; W'laf 'turnans apahdon, nature otte'l £til<)l)'.f;‘.'.’lt"l1(;ztf3§$'f;3£t"f:(:.
'tiarr‘, S'lep,
l
flesh. On a mirror lies the crudely-daubed slogan ‘Latte in my blood’. Admiration of the pretty objects on display and nausea at Burrows’ gust-of-fresh-air hatred of
Art
Installation shot of Burrow’s New Life
consumerist culture go hand in hand, and it’s a microcosm of the high street food chain as one which can only be broken by force of will. (David Pollock)
ALEXANDER NASMYTH’S UNION CHAIN BRIDGE
by James Holloway
lne frr'st trn‘e I saw 1'. was an a rather grey illustration about a hook on Alexander N;t\.:;rr‘\,tl‘ arm I thought rt looked an interesting parntrng. And then I saw the real thing and I thought :t's tantaslrr:ally good: it's thrrllrngll, good. The prrdge spans the l.'.'ee:r and 'rnks the S(I()ttlf$tl hank to the English hank rthat's why It‘s -::a:led the Uri-on Br'xlger and n‘ust ha\e been an rneredrhle engineering teat. It ‘.'.'as. | tlll'lk, '.".(:- longest suspension hr'rdge for :ts trrne. It's rather like no‘.'.’ada\ s a pazntsrrg ot the n‘ost n‘odern rr‘onun‘ent you (:ould poss:l>l\, tlét‘.(? 4- like the (3trggenheu‘ in lelmo. and so It's a (:lassrt: landseape parntrng hut wrth this phenomenal t'eat of modern engineering. l‘l'lere's thrs nree sort of tension hetween the t'.'.'o.
It's st'll :.'l use as a footpath. In la<:t the area's rs aln‘ost unaltered and you (:ar‘. stand on the same stone that Nasn‘sgth stood on and look at this lantstre And \.'.'l‘.at Is yen, nree rs that ill the preture you've got so rhueh happening. there's lots of traftrr: going oxer the hrrdge. there's little (:arrrages and it looks like ever".hody's going £t(il(‘t3i; tor the first trnre and all really erumrrlg It: hoats are gong .rnder ‘.'.ronderrng \.'.rhether the l>rrdge is going to (:ollapse.
So '.'.rl‘.at thrills rr‘e ahout ft rs its a tren‘endoush good exan‘ple of |andseape painting; and is also (:elehratrng the ruodern age. Now its In l’axton House on pern‘anent (tii;l)l£l\. fr‘on‘ July, you ean aetualh \‘Jalk to the hrrdge from the house. It's another painting that. as It were. has (torne haek hon‘e to Seotiand.
./.’;rnes l/o’fo;za\. (fl/(,‘(StO/ of {he Seoft/sh r\/at.'or>a,’ Port/art Gail/err: mu (,‘(I/l
see ,‘Jasrrrl this t/nxorr Char/r Bridge at Paxton I-lor/se, () 738$) .m()‘2.’.<) 7.
Union Chain Bridge over the River Tweed, 1819
r't...:. ~1 THE LIST 77