Callum Innes light commission at Edinburgh Art Festival

Edinburgh-based painter Callum Innes (b.1962) has been commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival and the nearby Ingleby Gallery to produce The Regent Bridge, a new temporary work at the 19th century Regent Bridge in the city.


The work will involve flooding the underside of the bridge at Calton Road (under Waterloo Place) with coloured light. Callum has worked with architect and lighting artist Gavin Fraser, of FOTO-MA Lighting Architects, to devise a scheme that transforms the flat sides of the lower arch at street level into an illuminated plinth of floating colour. The work follows a series of set rules to create a structured and yet deliberately random order of coloured light, revealing and lifting the giant curve of the arch above. 

The work will be visible 24 hours between 4 August – 2 September 2012. 


To find out more visit the festival's website:
http://www.edinburghartfestival.com/commissions/callum_innes/

Graeme Miller's On Air

You have until the 5th August to catch Graeme Miller's brilliantly conceived On Air, which forms part of http://www.exhibitionroadshow.co.uk/ on Exhibition Road in London.

On Air is a durational site-specific radio broadcast that compacts the elements of local radio into a simple poetic system. Broadcasters from the worlds of sport and the arts have been invited to narrate the constant flow of activity visible from their eyrie on Exhibition Road in London, from passers-by below them to clouds over the North Downs, to planes landing at Heathrow.

To listen in you can pick up a bespoke in-ear FM radio from one of the stewards, and become both observer and observed.
Graeme Miller is an artist, theatre maker and composer. Emerging from the bold and influential stage work of Impact Theatre Co-operative in the 1980s, a group he co-founded, his own work now embraces a wide range of media. With the idea of being ‘a composer of many things that may include music’, he has made theatre, dance, installations and interventions. Often reflecting a sense of landscape and place, he regularly makes site-specific works to commission.

The work was commissioned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and produced by DREAM.



To find out more visit: http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/events/3104 


The other commissions include one by Katie Paterson: http://www.exhibitionroadshow.co.uk/programme/commissions/katie-paterson


and one by Tomas Libertiny:
http://exhibitionroadshow.co.uk/programme/commissions/tomas-libertiny

Studio Weave's tribute to Chaucer in Aldgate

Paleys upon Pilers by Studio Weave

Architects and designers Studio Weave's latest temporary commission has been unveiled in Aldgate in East London. The artists were commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects for the Olympic Games. The site marks the location of the historic Aldgate - where writer Geoffrey Chaucer lived between 1374 and 1386. 

Called Paleys upon Pilers (palace on pillars), the design was inspired by two dream poems (The House of Fame and The Parlement of Foules) written by Chaucer while he lived in the rooms above the gate. Paleys upon Pilers also marks the start of High Street 2012, the route from the City of London to the Games in Stratford. It was officially opened on the 27th July and will remain in place for the rest of the summer.

The project was constructed in place of the 100 metre-tall glass elevator that won a competition for the site back in 2010 but was abandoned when funding couldn’t be raised.

Read more about the project on Studio Weave's website:
http://www.studioweave.com/projects/paleys-upon-pilers-aldgate/

There's also an article on Dezeen:
http://www.dezeen.com/2012/07/27/paleys-upon-pilers-by-studio-weave/

Ackroyd and Harvey's tree rings at the Olympic Park

One of the Olympic tree rings next to the Velodrome

Design studio Pentagram have recently blogged about their involvement in History Trees, a set of ten metal rings which each encircle a tree marking the entrances to the Olympic Park by artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey. Several of the artworks were unveiled in May 2012, and according to the artists' website: 'Three of the sculptures will be present for the Games with the remaining seven to be installed for the opening of the Queen Elizabeth II public park.' 

The artists worked with Harry Pearce and Naresh Ramchandani renowned graphic design team Pentagram on the typography, which is based on stories collected by artist Lucy Harrison and research provided by the Museum of London. Each ring is made from phosphored bronze and stainless steel. According to the Creative Review website, each piece 'measures 15 metres in diameter' but this would be massive so I am guessing they might mean 15 metres in length. Each ring tells the story of the area in which it is installed – as "pieces of verbal archaeology," as Ramchandani put it on the Pentagram blog.

Interestingly Creative Review magazine have raised the issue that the rings appear to be actually quite high up the trees, posing the query of how easy they are to actually read.....

Read more about the project on Ackroyd & Harvey's website:
http://www.ackroydandharvey.com/olympic-commission/


Read source article at:
http://creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2012/july/typographic-tree-rings


Creative Review wrote about some of the other commissions in an earlier blog posting: 
http://creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2012/april/the-art-of-the-olympics

Damien Hirst's pregnant woman sculpture will tower over Ilfracombe

How the statue might look in Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe Town Council has voted a resounding yes to the offer of a sculpture by Damien Hirst on a 20-year loan to the town. The bronze artwork shows a naked pregnant woman holding a sword and will be sited in the harbour. At 66-feet high (20 metres) it will be marginally taller than the Angel of the North (doesn't everything have to be these days?) and has, perhaps inevitably, been nicknamed 'the Belly of the South'.

The work has been hailed as a tourism opportunity for the town. John Brown, chairman of the Ilfracombe Tourism and District Association said, 'This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that can only increase visitor numbers. Tourism is the lifeblood of this town and must be supported in any way it can be.'  

The planning application states that the sculpture will be placed on a bronze plinth of legal books and is envisioned as "a monumental modern allegory of Truth and Justice".

North Devon District Council now need to approve the plans.

Damien Hirst already owns a restaurant in Ilfracombe, 11 The Quay, has a home near Combe Martin, and has previously submitted a planning application for a development of ecohomes in the area, although it is claimed the artwork and the development are not linked. (See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9086620/Damien-Hirst-to-build-500-eco-homes.html )

You can watch a video about the proposed artwork here: http://vimeo.com/45117056

You can read the heritage statement here:

http://planning.northdevon.gov.uk/liveupload/Scanned%20-%2050k/54294/54294_Heritage-Statement_120628.pdf

Read the Telegraph article here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9369419/Damien-Hirsts-giant-pregnant-woman-to-hit-Ilfracombe.html

The local paper have drummed up a bit of criticism too:

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Ilfracombe-says-yes-Damien-Hirst-s-60ft-Belly/story-16561918-detail/story.html

OSA transform Piccadilly Basin into water park

Artists and architects OSA have recently helped to transform an area of Manchester during the Olympic Games through the project Atelier [zero].

Atelier [zero] took the form of a design competition that brought together architecture students from Manchester School of Architecture and Ecole Speciale d'Architecture to design and realise the project, which aims to 'inspire play'.

According to the press release:
'The project acts as a platform for social exchange....Opportunities to take part in Atelier[zero] include rowing sessions on the basin, basketball, new sporting activities and a chance to occupy/take ownership of Olympic village accommodation.'

I'm not sure where the swan pedalo features in the Olympics but hey, it looks like fun. Possibly even more fun than actual sport.

The project launched on 23rd June and will remain in place until September 2nd 2012. Activities are for all ages and all events are free of charge.

You can watch a promo video here: http://vimeo.com/jtaylorfoster/atelierpromotionalfilm and there are some nice time lapse vids too: http://vimeo.com/44580312

Find out more on the website: http://projectofficeatelier.com/

Yinka Shonibare's ballerina appears outside the Royal Opera House

Yinka Shonibare's ballerina at the Royal Opera House

Yinka Shonibare's Globe Head Ballerina sculpture has recently been launched at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. The animated artwork (the dancer will twirl around inside its' 'bubble') stands on the corner of Russell Street and is sited high up on the building's facade.

The dancer, whose body is modelled on a sculpture of the real dancer Melissa Hamilton (from the Royal Ballet) will pirouette parallel to the pavement below, and on her shoulders in place of a head is a turning Victorian globe of the world. The pose itself was inspired by a photograph of dancer Margot Fonteyn.

The sphere surrounding the dancer was made by a firm in Italy that specialises in aquariums, who also made the gigantic bottle to hold Shonibare's scale model of Nelson's HMS Victory, which after its display on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is now a permanent fixture at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. 

The artwork is due to remain in place for at least the next five years, and has been produced by UP Projects.

I can't find a photo of the artwork in situ (it was due to open today at 12noon) so it might still be in the process of installation - I'm guessing the one above shows the work in the artist's studio. When I find one I'll add it to the blog.

To read more, visit UP's website: http://www.upprojects.com/portfolio/current/globe-head-ballerina----by-yinka-shonibare-mbe/28 or read Maev Kennedy's article on the Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jun/19/yinka-shonibare-ballerina-covent-garden?INTCMP=SRCH