Transient, Otherworldly, Paranormal - Sanctuary

From Sanctuary

Portishead's Geoff Barrow made a surprise appearance last night at Sanctuary - an experimental music and arts event in the heart of a Galloway forest. Arriving in a camper van after driving 340 miles from Bristol, Geoff and colleague Ben Salisbury performed a set under the name of Drokk, in front of Enclosure, Robbie Coleman's large scale light installation.

Hundreds of music fans, musicians and artists gathered for Sanctuary, which took place in the fields and woodland at the foot of the towering Murrays Monument, miles from the nearest town, in the Dark Sky Park in south west Scotland.

Robbie Coleman's Enclosure. Image: Mike Bolan

Sanctuary experiments with sound, light and space, featuring light installations. It featured Dark Outside FM - a radio station which could only be received in the forest and played 24 hours of previously unheard music donated by bands and musicians from across the world. The sound files will be destroyed so it can never be heard again. Other performers included from veteran sound experimentalists :zoviet*France, just back from gigs in San Francisco and Moscow.

Ben Ponton, of :zoviet*France, said: "It's a great occasion and really resonates with what we do musically. What we do is informed by our own part of the world in the north of England and this area has some real similarities, it's a fantastic place to perform."

They were also joined by Broken20, who created an eight-hour improvised light and sound event specially for Sanctuary. Dave Fyanes, of Broken20, said: "It's a one off, because the whole thing about this event is its transience. We create something in the moment, and at the end we pack up, leave and it's gone for good."

Sanctuary also featured a lecture by paranormal investigator Innes Smith; film installation work from Rupert Lally and Espen J Jörgensen, Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges, beside the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall; and the Dark Skies Lounge, where people could hear the music from Dark Skies FM.

Image: Mike Bolan

Tracks were donated by artists as diverse as, Carter Tutti, Bis, Craig Safan and Jon Brooks and came from as far afield as Australia, Canada, the UK, Norway, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Denmark and the USA.

The artists behind Sanctuary are Jo Hodges, Robbie Coleman and Stuart McLean who curated the music.

Jan Hogarth, of Wide Open which co-produced the event, said: "The whole magic of Sanctuary is that it only exists for 24 hours. People gather here from every part of the UK to be part of it - and you can only share the experience if you are here. The whole thing has an otherworldly feel about it - with the landscape lit up by a huge neon sculpture. The audience have loved the chance to mix with all the performers and musicians and to camp out in the forest listening to amazing music and enjoying the art."

Sanctuary was part of Mini EAFS, a curtain raiser for the Environmental Art Festival Scotland 2015. This included the Trading Journeys event by the stove network and the launch of Zero Footprint, a landscape photography work by Leeming + Paterson - both of which were at the Wigtown Book Festival.

Forest Sanctuary

From The Dark Outside

Find Sanctuary deep in a Scottish forest – an arts event in the heart of Galloway’s Dark Skies Park. It experiments with sound, light and space, exploring the unseen and in-between, featuring light installations and 24 hours of previously unheard music.

Sanctuary takes place on 27th and 28th September

Making a welcome return is The Dark Outside FM - a site-specific radio station curated by sound artist Stuart Maclean. For 24 hours, The Dark Outside FM will be broadcasting previously unheard sound and music from artists as diverse as, Carter Tutti, Bis, Craig Safan and Jon Brooks. Contributions come from Australia, Canada, the UK, Norway, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Denmark and the USA. This new work can only be heard at this site and the sound files will be destroyed afterwards.
This year’s broadcast will also include a live multi-transmitter performance from veteran sound experimentalists :zoviet* france

There will also be light installations including Robbie Coleman’s dramatic 100ft neon light sculpture called ENCLOSURE. Then there will be chances to discover aspects of otherworldliness – including explorations of the paranormal and strange psychic phenomenon – in the Dark Skies Lounge.

The event, which takes place around Murrays Monument miles from the nearest town, is a collaboration between artists Robbie Coleman, Jo Hodges and Stuart Mclean.

Jan Hogarth, from Wide Open, said: “This is one of the most exciting art collaborations to happen in the landscape of Scotland this year […] Jo Hodges, Robbie Coleman and Stuart Mclean are a highly imaginative team and they are offering the chance to experience a whole alternative reality.”

The event will capture the region’s creative imagination and unveil the many senses of place within landscape. It is targeting both local and urban audiences, bringing them to the landscape of Galloway for an unforgettable experience. Hundreds of art and music enthusiasts are expected to come from far and wide to spend the night in the forest and take part in the event.

Robbie Coleman said: “The Dark Sky Park is an incredible place to spend the night, looking at the stars and listening to music that’s never been heard before. It’s an exciting place to create experimental work.”

Keith Muir, head of tourism for Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park, said "The Dark Outside FM event not only highlights the importance of darkness but will also help visitors and locals understand light and how it affects who and what we are. How often do you get a good reason to take a drive to the countryside in total darkness and listen to music? 

For the Dark Sky Park art is proving to be one of the best ways to communicate the importance of light and darkness, the Sanctuary of music and the space it creates is a very powerful instrument and Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park is delighted to be able to host this event and the growing number of art works. The visitors who come to be part of an event or see the art works all contribute to making the south west of Scotland the premier destination for environmental art which further enhances the new Unesco Biosphere status in the area".

Food and refreshments by the famous Moniaive Green Tea House will be available.

Commissions Open Call from EAFS

From EAFS

Ideas to change our world are wanted for three environmental artworks to be at the heart of a festival dedicated to better ways of living.

The organisers of the second Environmental Art Festival Scotland (EAFS), scheduled for August 2015, are offering national and international artists the rare chance to be part of a major project all about transformational change.

EAFS is a rapidly growing biennial arts festival in Dumfries and Galloway and one of its central aims is to encourage practical thought and action on sustainable living. It’s also about creating experiences which will connect people more closely with the world around them.

The EAFS team is initially offering  research and development funding with a view to developing three main commissions – each worth between £10,000 and £15,000.

Jan Hogarth, EAFS Co-Producer, said: “Artists have an unrivalled ability to shape our ideas and spur our imaginations. We are confident that this offer will generate inspiring ideas from artists who want to seize the chance to help make a better world.

“In a society faced with challenges and threats at every turn, this festival is about using creativity for change.

“We are determined to give artists as much scope as possible – so the ideas they come up with could involve anything from installations, structures, visual art, design or architecture through to journeys, events or other happenings.

“The first festival was a tremendous success and sowed the seeds for a bigger event in 2015 which will once again put a national and international spotlight on the tremendous environmental art of Dumfries and Galloway.

“What’s just as important is that EAFS commissions have already been shown to help generate wider opportunities for artists, and that the festival is encouraging more people to see what a great place Dumfries and Galloway is to visit.”

Last year’s event showed the huge potential of EAFS as a festival and as an economic driver for a region which is ambitious to become Scotland’s home of environmental art. It attracted 4,000 visitors and earned more than £140,000 for the region.

Dundee-based international artists Dalziel + Scullion, who were involved in EAFS 2013, have voiced their support for the project.

Matthew Dalziel said: “Dumfries and Galloway is the centre for environmental art in the UK. The first EAFS was a significant event, it laid down a structure for future festivals, artists created new work, fostered connections, debated strategies, the festival revealed examples of good practice and highlighted role models.

“We are looking forward to the next festival, which will build momentum, developing an energy and excitement. It can turn plans into action, and it can nurture new groups and communities of thinking and proactive people. EAFS shows that through art and culture we can effect change and go forward positively and there are many opportunities to get involved.”

James Winnett, a young Scottish artist whose EAFS 2013 work The Rise and Fall of the Grey Mare’s Tail, involved the creation of a gravity-powered fountain using a forest waterfall, is now working on a Commonwealth Games legacy project with the Forestry Commission in Glasgow.

He said: “I’d really encourage artists to apply for these commissions. EAFS was a great experience for me. There was just the right level of support, without being restrictive – it was very enabling.

“When it came to applying for my current project, the EAFS work showed that I could create something that was ambitious, was a spectacle, that appealed to a lot of people but retained its artistic integrity.”

The festival has a series of intriguing themes and commissions will need to respond to one or more of these. They are:

·        Inventiveness, foolishness and generosity as a way of understanding the world

·        Food, clothes, shelter and environmental sustainability

·        Hospitality, hosting and community

·        Journeys, secular pilgrimage and transformation.

EAFS builds on the pedigree and projects and artists connected to Dumfries and Galloway such as Andy Goldsworthy's Striding Arches, Charles Jenck's Garden of Cosmic Speculation and Dalziel and Scullion's Rosnes Benches.

Commission Opportunity for Loch Ryan

From Wide Open
OPEN CALL for Expressions of Interest Sought for The Wig, Loch Ryan, Art/ Design Commission Opportunity - An imaginative art/design installation linked to the interpretation of the Loch Ryan.

Aims
• To create a sense of place inspired by Loch Ryan
• To create imaginative and thought provoking art/design works.
• To bring exemplar design to this stunning landscape location.

Background
Loch Ryan is Scotland’s most southerly sea loch located between the Rhins peninsula, the low lying Stranraer basin and the western Southern Uplands. Its sheltered waters have been used by man since prehistoric times whilst its proximity to Northern Ireland has given it added importance as a gateway between Ireland and mainland Britain.

Many of the important historic sites and remains around Loch Ryan lie close to the shoreline with sites all the way along the east coast and clusters at Stranraer and in the area around Kirkcolm. The sheltered location means people have used Loch Ryan as a gateway for trade and communication by sea and lived on its shores since the earliest days of human settlement in Scotland. During World War II the loch was an important hub of wartime activity.

Project Challenge
This is a fantastic opportunity for an artist/designer or multidisciplinary team to respond imaginatively to place evolving a new aesthetic for a landscape location of this type.

We anticipate that the selected artist/designer will come up with a creative scheme which encapsulates a design vision for the three elements:

• Design bespoke seating for a public seating area. This might use scale and form to create new functional space which enhances the experience of the location.

• Design an entrance feature for the car park entrance. This is a way of highlighting the location and should have a similar visual character to the seating area.

• Redesign/represent in a creative way the WW2 look out. This disused structure has its own aesthetic character which may inform themes developed for the other two features. There is an opportunity to do something creative and imaginative which encourages people to use the lookout as a shelter and interpretation space to bring its history to life or reimagine it in today’s context.

Location
The Wig area is the location for the bespoke seating area and the entrance feature. The WW2 lookout shelter is nearby at the eastern end of Wig Bay.

Location Map

Budget
The total budget for all the works including artist’s fees is £27,500. We suggest the breakdown is as follows:

•Sculptural designed seating area £5000
•Entrance feature for car park entrance £7000
•Conversion of WW2 shelter into interesting installation/interpretation space. £10,000
•Artists fee £4000 (incl £200 development fee)
•Contingency £1100

Timescale and process
•September – Submit expression of interest. Artists/designers will be selected to submit initial ideas.
•Early October – Selection by design team of artist for ideas development by artist (design team will include representation from the community)
•Late October – Presentation by artist of developed designs to design team
•December/January – Construction of works
•February – Installation of works

Expression of interest
An expression of interest for The Wig Environmental Art / Design project is to be submitted by 1st September 2014 and include:

• Examples of relevant past work (up to 6 images or files). Weblinks may be used for video or audio files that are more than 5mb
• Curriculum Vitae
• Letter of interest in the commission (1 side of A4)

Please save all word documents as pdf before sending. Please send to: jan@wide-open.net or Jan Hogarth, Wide Open, Gracefield Arts Centre, 28 Edinburgh Road, Dumfries, DG1 1JQ. Tel.07801232229

Star of Caledonia's political Support

From Wide Open

Senior Scottish and UK political figures have shown their enthusiasm for the Star of Caledonia landmark project for the Scottish border at Gretna.

The Gretna Landmark Trust, the community body behind the proposal, has now won the backing of Helen Grant MP, the UK Minister for Tourism, who has promised to promote the Star at government level.

Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, also took a close interest when a Star of Caledonia exhibition, featuring a scale model of the vast landmark, was held at the Scottish Parliament.

Last weekend trust members, along with Project Director Jan Hogarth of Wide Open, met Ms Grant and David Mundell, MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, to discuss the Star.

Afterwards Mr Mundell said: “Helen was very impressed with the project. Being from Carlisle, she recognises the significance of the Star of Caledonia and that it is vitally important that people across the whole of the UK are aware of this project.”

At risk of a little controversy, we did briefly consider a caption competition for this one… 

Ms Hogarth said: “It’s fabulous that the Star is winning so much support at the highest levels from across the political spectrum in the UK and Scotland. I have never experienced such a positive response among politicians across the spectrum for a project of this kind before.

“Helen Grant showed a real understanding and enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve for Dumfries and Galloway, and for Scotland as a whole, by creating a superb landmark at Gretna which will act as an important visitor attraction.

“We recently displayed a model of the Star at the Scottish Parliament where it attracted the interest and enthusiasm of many MSPs and cabinet ministers and we were especially delighted at the interest shown by First Minister Alex Salmond.”

“Star of Caledonia captures the powerful energy, scientific heritage and magnetic pull of Scotland, the design pays homage to Scottish innovation.”

The proposal has wide support from the local community and businesses which recognise its potential for tourism, job creation and economic regeneration – similar to what is being achieved by the Kelpies in Falkirk.

It is hoped that construction of the Star will begin during the 2015 UNESCO Year of Light, once the necessary funding has been secured. Research shows that the Star will attract new visitors and push them west through the whole region.

An External Assessment of the Star of Caledonia was carried out by BOP Consulting on behalf of Dumfries and Galloway Council and public art development company Wide Open. The key findings indicate it will mean:

• £2m into the economy from construction (equal to 17 one-year jobs)
• £4m a year from extra tourism (equal to 70 jobs)
• £6m to £10m worth of national and international publicity in the first four months
• £300,000 a year locally, and the same again Scotland wide, from operational spending (equal to more than 10 jobs)

The study looked at the economic benefits from comparable projects across the UK. During its estimated 50 year lifespan the Star is expected to repay its £4.8m investment costs many times over. The Star of Caledonia project fits with both Dumfries and Galloway Council’s priority to support and stimulate the local economy and with Scottish Government objectives to encourage economic regeneration, growth and tourism.

The Star also looks to the exciting advances in light science in medicine, energy, information and communications, fiber optics, astronomy, architecture, archaeology, entertainment and culture. The landmark will also help brand the region as Scotland’s home for environmental art and creates a visual link to the region’s Dark Skies Park.

Rosnes Benches Official Launch

Leading environmental artists have created 30 sculptural sensory benches in the wilds of Dumfries and Galloway where people can lie back, relax and reconnect with the natural world.

The Rosnes Benches, a groundbreaking ecological art project by Dundee-based Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion, allow people to tune into the natural world. They aim to combat Nature Deficit Disorder – the idea that modern lifestyles harm health and wellbeing because people lose their connection to nature.

Rosnes Benches - Dromore.  Picture by Colin Hattersley

They are clustered in small groups in 12 locations around Dumfries and Galloway’s Dark Skies Park and UNESCO Biosphere. The sites have been specially chosen to trigger people’s sense – perhaps through the sound of nearby water, views of huge day and nighttime skyscapes, or the noise of the wind through the trees and grasses.

On a clear night, people lying on the sensory benches will be able to see up to 7,000 stars and planets and the great arc of the Milky Way.

The official launch of the Rosnes Benches is at noon on Friday, 2 May, at Glentrool Visitor Centre, when the artists will lead a walk into the woodlands and give visitors the chance to enjoy the sensory benches for themselves.

Matthew said: “We are very much looking forward to Friday’s launch. There’s a real problem that people are becoming detached from the natural world and we are trying to find ways to help them reconnect with the environment.

“The Rosnes Benches have a profound effect on people when they try them. That’s because when you lie down, you slow down and engage your senses in a different way. You become aware of things like the breeze, the sky, the scents from plants and the sounds around you.”  

Rosnes Benches - Otter Pool. Picture Colin Tennant

Louise and Matthew worked with a team of artists to deliver the project including Kenny Hunter and Kenny Mackay from Glasgow and locally-based land artist Jim Buchanan. 

The project has been produced by Wide Open, a public and environmental art organisation for south west Scotland. It is supported by Creative Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Dumfries and Galloway Council, the Galloway Leader Programme and Forestry Commission Scotland.

Jan Hogarth, Director of Wide Open, said: “It’s a rare pleasure to lie back and in beautiful countryside and tune into nature’s sights and sounds. The Rosnes Benches let you do that.

“So many people are disconnected from nature. In cities they are surrounded by concrete and have tarmac underfoot and the stars are blotted out by streetlights.

“The benches and the Dark Skies Park offer an escape into nature and a way to enhance people’s health and wellbeing. They put people back in wild spaces, surrounded by natural beauty and allow them to breathe fresh, clean air and to enjoy the magnificence of our landscape.

“We hope people will make a special pilgrimage to Galloway to have the Rosnes bench experience.”

The benches recall the mysterious ancient cup and ring marked stones, and recumbent stones, which stand in many beautiful parts of the Scottish landscape. They are also comfortable, weatherproof and durable.

● Take a journey of discovery and find out more about the Rosnes Benches project on www.rosnesbench.com

Star of Caledonia landmark worth millions to Scotland

It is a big week for Star of Caledonia - with DGC Councillors deciding whether to commit £1 million to match the £1 million promised by Creative Scotland - a joint sum which would then need to be matched by Scottish Government. The importance of the arts community to our region is  highlighted below, in the press statement released by Wide-Open......the high heid yins making these big calls do want to know that artists here are behind the project and can see its value for highlighting the South West as a place of Creativity. Star of Caledonia at its various stages has been featured on The Commonty over its entire lifetime (search Gretna Landmark and Star of Caledonia in the search box)......this stands to be huge for us all for a long time to come - so where is everyone standing just now?


from Wide Open

Dumfries and Galloway Council will decide on 18 March whether to match the £1 million already pledged by Creative Scotland to help fund of the spectacular new landmark. At the same time a specially-created model will be going on show at the Scottish Parliament for MSPs.

Location of Star of Caledonia - next to the M6/M74 at Gretna

The Star of Caledonia landmark planned for the Scottish border at Gretna could bring £16 million worth of benefits in its first year alone according to the latest research. The Star of Caledonia (double the size of the Angel of the North) has been designed by world-renowned artists Charles Jencks and Cecil Balmond and will be visible day and night. Reaching high above the roadside it will be seen by around 10 million drivers and passengers a year, forming a grand and dynamic entrance to Scotland.

Project Director Jan Hogarth said:

“Great landmarks like the Angel of the North and the Star of Caledonia bring real benefits in terms of tourism, jobs and regeneration. The project will have a significant economic impact, creating the equivalent of 70 new permanent jobs for the region and attracting many more visitors.

“Dumfries and Galloway is doing a superb job of harnessing the power of the artistic and creative sectors to help revive our economy and create new opportunities for the future. The Star of Caledonia will not just be a landmark for Scotland, but a powerful symbol of the vitality of this region as a centre of artistic excellence.

“One of our great challenges has always been that too many people zip straight through the region on the way north or south. The Star will be a powerful magnet for them, persuading people to stop and to discover much more about what we have to offer, not simply in Gretna, but through to Dumfries and right over to the west coast.”

Twilight view of the proposed Star of Caledonia

The External Assessment of the Star of Caledonia was carried out by BOP Consulting on behalf of Dumfries and Galloway Council and public art development company Wide Open. The key findings indicate it will mean:

• £2m into the economy from construction (equal to 17 one-year jobs)
• £4m a year from extra tourism (equal to 70 jobs)
• £6m to £10m worth of national and international publicity in the first four months
• £300,000 a year locally, and the same again Scotland wide, from operational spending (equal to more than 10 jobs)

In a joint statement of support Isabell Tranter Gretna Green and Springfield Community Council and Alex Thomson Gretna Community Council said: "Lots of hard work has gone into the Star of Caledonia project over the years from the community and the local schools who feel it will be great for the area and the region. There is overwhelming support for the Star from local small businesses. They are keen to see the project completed as it will really help revitalise an area which has depended so much on the weddings industry and urgently needs to diversify.”       

Daytime view of Star of Caledonia

The Astronomer Royal and Restoring the Wicker Man Kirk

Latest news from Environmental Art Festival Scotland....... Scotland’s Astronomer Royal, Professor John Brown, will join chilled out listeners in The Dark Skies Lounge – a special spot deep in the forest where people can hear 24 hours of previously unreleased music by hundreds of musicians from all round the world.

The music will be broadcast by a temporary radio station curated by local music producer, Frenchbloke, called Dark Outside FM and can only be received within the Galloway Forest around the Murray’s Monument obelisk.
Robbie Coleman, one of the artists behind the project, said: “One of the fantastic features of the forest is that there is almost no light pollution so, on a clear night there are amazing views of the stars.
“So it’s great to have Scotland’s Astronomer Royal along to tell people about the night sky above them. He’s also an excellent magician and will be performing tricks while he talks about time and the universe – so it should be a very unusual way to spend a Saturday night.”

Elsewhere a banner created by Dutch environmental artists Pat Van Boeckel & Karin Van Der Molen will appear which teasingly talks of the “total restoration” of Anwoth Kirk – a long-roofless ruin made famous by the Wicker Man film.
Pat and Karin are creating a work called Gimme Shelter, which will involve an audio-visual display projected on large screens where the kirk roof once was. It explores sustainability and how each generation must make preparations for the next.

Old Kirk at Anwoth

It uses the example of a restoration of Anwoth Kirk, and what this would demand from the environment – including hundreds of years of growing time for trees to make the beams.
Pat said: “We want to look at the resources that society needs. The project will invite visitors to take part in the virtual restoration of this church, even if it takes centuries to grow the oaks that were needed for a new roof.”
Visitors will each be given an acorn which they will be asked to plant and register its location on a website.

Other EAFS attractions include:
•    Farming: Open Jar will be bringing a Pop-Up Milk Bar – this interactive installation invites the public to sample milk from the region and engage in discussion of the issues surrounding contemporary milk production.
•    Discussion: The EAFS Gatherings – four discussions led by artists, scientists and envronmentalists
•    Film: Speaking the Land, by Dalziel and Scullion and Breathing Earth: Susumu Shingu’s Dream by Thomas Riedelshelmer (see www.dalzielscullion.com/works_page/film/speaking_video.html and the189.com/film/breathing-earth-susumu-shingus-dream-by-thomas-riedelsheimer/ for films or clips).
•    Performance: Walking the Tide – a spectacular participatory performance event by Jo Hodges and Florencia Garcia Chafuen which creates a choreographed procession over the causeway from Kippford to Rough Island (Joint initiative with Solway Firth Partnership)
•    Sculpture: Balmond Studio: Exhibition about Star of Caledonia. See a 1m wide scale model of the artwork, which will tower around 40m above the landscape when it is built. Things that Befell us in Those Strange Times, sculptural installations and timescapes presented by archaeologists Macgregor and Shearer.
•    Performance and Faith: Tenger Gazariin Dund (Sky and Earth – The chance to witness a Mongolian shaman performing traditional rituals and learn about the spiritual practices of her people.
•    Participatory Sculpture: Solway Sea Monster - The public help artist Alice Francis built a giant sea monster using flotsam and driftwood gathered in community beach clear ups (joint initiative with the Solway Firth Partnership).
•    Exhibition: Place Identity Memory 2 – An international exhibition of artist made books which develop the idea of place.

EAFS is a partnership between Spring Fling, Wide Open and The Stove and is supported by organisations such as Creative Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Fresh Start, LEADER, Year of Natural Scotland.

EAFS Main Commissions Announced!!

And now, for the news you've all been waiting for - The Enivronmental Arts Festival main commissions have been announced! The festival, which takes place across Dumfries and Galloway at the end of August, will build on the region’s reputation as being at the forefront of environmental art.

Each of the principal works – by well-known and emerging Scottish and international artists – will take an imaginative and surprising look at ideas about land and power.
Matt Baker, festival co-curator, said: “There has been overwhelming enthusiasm for the festival, with artists from all over Scotland, the rest of the UK, Europe and even from as far away as Australia wanting to take part.
“Our four main commissions are highly intriguing and will encourage debate about sustainability, future lifestyles and the role of art in a world facing immense challenges in areas like energy and climate change.

Cinema Sark imagery - John Wallace

● Cinema Sark, Gretna
By artist and filmmaker John Wallace and ecosystem modeller Prof. Pete Smith of the University of Aberdeen
Beneath the nine lanes of the M74 and the signpost welcoming travellers to Scotland lies the River Sark – the boundary since 1552. Next year’s referendum could see its significance in geopolitics increase, once again becoming the line of separation between sovereign states.
Inspired by ecosystem services modelling, Cinema Sark looks at the identity of the river – following it from where it rises in the peat bogs, through Gretna to the Solway Firth. The video art installation will look at the river’s wildlife and ecology, its importance to farming and the economy and will include interviews with local residents and workers about what the river and 'the border' mean in their lives. Four pieces of film will be shown simultaneously on a 14m long screen suspended directly on the line of the border beneath the bridge as cars and trucks thunder overhead. Live data from environmental sensors will modulate the show to make every viewing unique.
John said: “We wanted to look at the physical reality of what the border between Scotland and England really is. Most people barely notice they are on a bridge when the cross the Sark, though they might just register the rattle of the joints. But this is an important place, and is becoming ever more so as the referendum approaches.”

The Rise and Fall of the Grey Mare's Tail

● The Rise and Fall of the Grey Mares Tail, Galloway Forest Park, Grey Mare's Tail, Clatteringshaws

By 29-year-old Glasgow-based artist James Winnett
The immense energy of a river will power a foaming five-metre gravity-fed fountain located downstream from a dramatic forest waterfall. The fountain will encourage people to question how we manage our environment and will explore issues about of sustainability, energy use and landscape identity.
James said: “It will be a real surprise and quite a spectacle, rising up from a river in a way that looks quite natural, yet clearly can’t be. So much of what we like to think of as wild is actually the result of management and I hope it will encourage people to look around and think about what is truly wild and what is the result of hundreds, even thousands of years of human intervention.”

● Gimme Shelter, Anwoth Old Kirk
By Dutch environmental artists Pat Van Boeckel & Karin Van Der Molen  
Made famous by its use as a location in The Wicker Man, the kirk has long been a roofless ruin. Pat and Karin will use large video screens to partially reroof the building. Visitors will be able to relax on cushions and watch a film on the temporary ceiling high above. Their project encompasses more than just a video, it explores in a wider sense just how much goes into creating something as basic as the rafters for a roof – sometimes needing trees that have been growing for hundreds of years. It will raise the issue of sustainability and how each generation needs to prepare for the needs of those who will follow.
Pat said: “We want to look at the resources that society needs. The project will invite visitors to take part in the virtual restoration of this church, even if it takes centuries to grow the oaks that were needed for a new roof.”

● Glimpse, Barony College, Dumfries
By Scottish artists Donald Urquhart and Will Levi Marshall
All 200 trees in a woodland will be used to create an optical illusion that looks as if a metre-high section has been sliced through every trunk – allowing the sky to be seen through the middle. The effect will be achieved by wrapping hand-tinted sky blue bands of paper round each tree at a specific height, which will be precisely calculated using laser sighting equipment. Viewed from a particular point all the bands will line up creating a “plane of disappearance”.
Donald said: “The idea is to create a horizontal line that makes it seem like a metre of the forest has disappeared and you can see right through. We will be making a painting with the woodland, in fact it may even be Europe’s largest watercolour.  It involves working with nature to create an effect, but one that does no damage, so at the end of the festival the paper is removed and the woodland returns to its original beauty.”

While visitors will be able to enjoy all the main commissions throughout the core festival period, each will form the event’s central focus for one day. During that day a range of other activities will take place nearby. These will range from live traditional music and costumed dance to lively discussions and special activities for children.

Gimme Shelter - Pat Van Boeckel & Karin Van Der Molen

Kenneth Fowler, Director of Communications at Creative Scotland commented: “The EAFS is a fantastic initiative exploring and interpreting the region's nature and landscape and our relationship to it in new, challenging and inspiring ways.
“It's great to see these four new commissions as part of the festival across a range artistic practice, involving both emerging and established artists from different parts of Scotland and overseas.”

The festival also includes many other commissions, events, workshops, talks, picnics music etc......AND the much anticipated Satellite weekends...three weekends, each one hosted by a different Regional Arts Hub (for the sharp-eyed...the fourth Hub is hosting some events as part of the Core Weekend)  – with details to be announced shortly. And there will be an opportunity to see environmental art sites and exciting permanent commissions in progress across the region.

Oh - and the website is live too now....http://www.environmentalartfestivalscotland.com/
  

Planners thumbs up for Gretna Landmark

The Gretna Landmark Trust is delighted to announce that “Star of Caledonia” today received planning approval from Dumfries & Galloway Council.

This brings the vision to create a world class landmark, designed by world-leading artist/designer Cecil Balmond and Dumfriesshire’s eminent land artist Charles Jencks, on the border between Scotland and England one step closer. Creative director and international land artist, Charles Jencks described the experience of entering Scotland's main and most southern gateway,

“Crossing the border to Scotland, across the River Sark, is now a passage obscured under a bridge by cars travelling at speed. Instead of marking this with motorway signs we are using a landform and sculpture that pulls together the adjacent site, the distant hills and the Solway.Nestled into the curving mound and springing from it is Cecil Balmond’s whirling creation”

Council Convenor Coucillor Patsy Gilroy said: ‘Our Star of Caledonia will put Dumfries and Galloway on the international map promoting it as a dynamic and creative destination and will be a flagship for regeneration.”

"The brief asked for several metaphors for Scotland. When looking for this impossibility of a people's identity, what came close for me was the power of their invention; our world owes much to Scottish genius. I thought that the theory of Maxwell's electromagnetism, intersecting waves, echoed the border crossing. A sculpture that traces a set of curves but gets intersected and spiked at right angles to the line of travel would reflect Maxwell's theory. If lights shine from the tips of the spikes a star burst occurs – the brainpower of Scotland." Cecil Balmond

The Gretna Landmark Trust needs a total investment of £4.8 million. The Gretna Landmark Trust have been awarded development funding to work up a bid for £1million, which will be the largest amount awarded by Creative Scotland to a public art project.

About Creative Director, Charles Jencks
Charles Jencks is one of the foremost international artists working in his medium. His Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Scotland is one of the most original and highly praised contemporary gardens, as is his recently completed Life Mounds at Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh. He engages with a wide range of contemporary themes from science and cosmology to war, regeneration and man’s relationship to nature.
For further information please see www.charlesjencks.com

About Artist Cecil Balmond
Widely considered to be one of the most influential creators of his generation, Balmond successfully occupies multiple roles as artist, designer, architect, engineer, theoretician and writer. Balmond has been highly influential in a raft of renowned projects including the CCTV Tower with Rem Koolhaas and Serpentine Pavilions, with architects Toyo Ito, Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura. Recently he co-designed the provocative ArcelorMittal Orbit with Anish Kapoor for the London 2012 Olympics.

Environmental Art Festival Scotland....starts here

The Commonty is proud to announce the first official information about an Environmental Arts Festival Scotland based across the whole region in D&G in 2013. 

The intention is that this should be the first in a biennal series of festivals that focuses on contemporary relationships between Culture and Land, bringing the unique spirit of the SouthWest to a national and international audience. All of us will have had conversations at one time or another about 'what if this or that worked together - that would be really something' - this just could be one of the opportunities to make the 'what ifs' happen in our region.

The first festival is, necessarily, something of an experiment....and produced with a limited budget - but if everyone works together then this could be the beginning of  genuinely important contribution to the future we want to live in. 

Environmental Arts Festival Scotland (EAFS) looks forward to hosting local, national and international talent.

The Commonty is in....how about you?

http://www.environmentalartfestivalscotland.com/