Visual Art
ALL OF EDINBURGH, GOOD AND BAD, COMES OUT TO PLAY
wamusr CULT-NATE oun GARDEN
Light after the Enlightenment
Without a blueprint or plan in site, Alexander Kennedy looks at contemporary artists’ and designers’ dark visions of Edinburgh.
t‘s easy to locate the source ol’ the schi/ophrcnic
nature ol‘ lidinhurgh a city with a Valley and a
scarring train line rttnning right through its heart. This rocky gully acts as a metaphorical and geographical houndary. a symholic line hurting the city from total knowledge ol itsell‘. an ahyss where past and present. rich and poor. good and had. the intellectual and the Visceral are at a stand ol‘l'. linked hy hridges and a train station that has the means to take you tar away from the conflict.
.'\’m'l/ir'm (‘in; expertly curated hy .\lot'ag Bain. drags many of these issues to the lore. presenting a group ol’ artists. designers and architects’ interpretations (not solutions) ol~ these prohlems. This is not a didactical exhibition about city plannittg. urhan renewal and the effects of architecture on society. per se. hill at presentation ol ways iii/u these prohlems. We are giyen philosophically resonant installed objects. prints. and sculptures that relate to and hounce oil. the architecture ol‘ the city. putting a strong and unayoidahle etnphasis on its (ioldcn Age past.
(it'oss. Max's dark installation takes Antonella da Messian‘s painting ol' ’Saint .lerome in his Study" as its starting point. The wooden construction acts as a plinth. a stage. a symholic way ol‘ lilting yourself tip from gravitys pull and tnundane reality so that purer. tnore serious thoughts can he considered. 'l’here are hooks. ohjects and photographs ll.e ('orhusier in his study) dotted ahottt this wooden womh. there to slittiulate and offer up inspiration. But the hook at the llront ol’ the desk tells a dil'l'erent story. llistoric prints of lidinhurgh are digitally re—mastered and eaten into by our contetnporzu'y situation. A l‘ox hunt shoots over
106 THE LIST 1-1 Elva u‘n-il‘,» .1 J.” .‘ .l/
ten lanes ol‘ tral‘lic. wolyes howl l'rom Vantage points in the city and all ol lidinhurgh. good and had. comes otit to play.
Nathan (‘oley's ‘We Must (‘ultiyale ()ur (iarden‘ lights the room with a pale electric sentiment. The words are written in a garish chartreuse hue. and throw stars ol‘ light and shadow around the walls: the project of linlightenment is reduced to hig lairy lights shining into the darkness. The sentence refers to Voltaire‘s ('um/n/t'. where the protagonist seeks sell-realisation. to ‘(‘omplete the (ireat Work‘ hel'ore lil‘e ends him. We could he skeptical ahout this neo-humanist approach. or go and haye a think ahout the nature of our own life and death. with a pint in hand. ‘Northroom’ hy Metis: Mark l)orrian + lan llawker and Victoria (‘lare Bernie go directly to the tomh of one ol' the Scottish linlightenmcnts main players Day-id llutne. Rohert Adam’s monument to the philosopher hecomes an enclosing curtain of small digital screen with yisual inl’orntation taken l'rom the site. Words. lines and signs sparkle in the darkness. hut the world is upside down.
The ‘sky” looks tip l‘rom the floor. like the rel'lection ol'
the world in the hottom ol‘ a well.
l)al/iel+Sctllliott\ scientific and technological apparatus spins and tilts at the hack ol~ the space; a long letter—hos landscape screen shows images from around lidinhurgh. You wait for the ltot‘i/ott to hit the centre ol the image. so that everything in the world will he ok. But it‘s not. and lidinhurgh. with its illustriotIs past. l’ragmented present and unknown l'uture tells its that.
Northern City - Between Light and Dark, The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Wed 4 Apr 2007 0000
=l= Douglas Gordon - Superhumanatural A major retrospective of one of Scotland’s most internationally successful artists. The various exhibitions around the city bring together Gordon’s video works, installations, film projects and text pieces that have been parked on floors and projected on the walls of some of the world's most prestigious galleries. National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, until Sat 75 Jan.
bi: Off the Wall The work on show at the National Gallery of modern art shows what can happen when you pull it off the wall and knock sculptures of plinths -- a glorious carnivalesque mess of installed Technicolor balls, multicolored duct tape and a lot of gaudy crockery laying about the floor. Artist exhibiting include Martin Creed. Jim Lambie and Yinka Shonibare. SNGMA, Edinburgh, until May 2007 (closing date to be confirmed). its Christine Borland This mini-retrospective presents a selection of some of Borland‘s profoundest works, sculptures and installations that draw on science and the narratives and limited perspectives it takes. Borland deconstructs these stories and adds multiple layers of new meaning. See review, page 105. The Fruilmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 28 Jan.
ii: Northern City Artists. designers and architects come together in another successful show at Glasgow’s Lighthouse gallery. The curators and exhibitions staff have managed to get it right again by keeping away from the blueprints and maquettes, allowing artistic vision to guide our understanding of Edinburgh past and present. See review, left. The Lighthouse Gallery, Glasgow, until Sun 4 Mar