Gallus Inscription

Gallus: in Glasgow, bold, confident, slightly reckless, perhaps…!

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For more Gallus-ness see The Gallus Games

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Walled Garden – The Bothy Project

The Bothy Project is transforming a stalled space in Glasgow: the site of a Glasgow City Council Cleansing Department building.  I first stumbled across the space three years ago and had not been passed it since.

Returning from The Whisky Bond (the red brick building partially seen in the distance), I was drawn to the space again by the presence of a newly painted wall.

A shipping container is being converted into a studio space for artist residencies, with exhibitions in the walled garden. I really look forward to seeing what else happens in this newly emerging place (they were building a great looking pizza oven today !).  It already looks like its going to become a great example of how a stalled space can become a creative hub.

Objective: conversation on sculpture

Objective, A Citywide Conversation on Sculpture, is taking place in Glasgow with 16 venues across the city exhibiting sculpture, events and performances in March and April.

Having seen the map showing the locations of the venues, one lunchtime I had a quick conversation with sculpture.  First I visited the Patricia Fleming Projects Art in the Public Realm exhibition at South Block which detailed the development of two projects.

I then dashed through the streets of Glasgow to the excellent Gallery of Modern Art  (GOMA).  As a bonus I stumbled across a piece of public art I had never spotted before (too many lunches in front of the computer !).  Built into the wall of a restored B-listed building (named The Subirachs Building) is a carved sandstone Bust:

‘The Client’s love of the City of Barcelona was expressed by the insertion of an inverse Bust in the Main facade sculpted by the Catalan artist Josep Maria Subirachs who is responsible for work on Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.’

Slightly out of breath, I arrived at GOMA and passed the Statue of Wellington resplendently adorned with his usual modern hat !

Inside GOMA I had time for a brief exploration of the exhibition ‘Every Day’. It comprises sculptures from six Glasgow artists which explore familiar objects, juxtaposing, and reworking them in different media.  A glimpse of these is provided through Tim Steads wooden viewing room ‘The Peephole’.

I will not reveal anymore, other than to say that there are some striking and thought provoking individual pieces, together which are well worth a journey to GOMA to explore further.  Further details of Objective can be found at the GOMA wordpress website or downloaded on pdf map.

And if you cant come to Glasgow,

go explore your city, your neighborhood, for sculpture and take part in the conversation….

Palace of Light and Shadows

It was the first time I had been to the Kibble Palace, at Glasgow Botanic Gardens, at night and it was remarkable how different the experience was: plants brooding and sullen, shadows cast in sharp relief, the sounds muted…!

The Kibble Palace was originally built in 1873 and was subject to major refurbishments completed in 2006.  As part of this refurbishment, the late 19th and early 20th century Neo-classical figurative marble sculptures were retained and complemented by new interpretation including a striking series of fused glass panels.  Further details of these and the Botanic Gardens Heritage Trail can be found in a leaflet: which also has a remarkable story of where a large part of the Kibble Palace originated from !

The Kibble Palace has also just been used as a fantastic location for a light and sound installation, Heliotrope. The installation explored the relationships between people and light, in particular the impact light can have on our minds and bodies, and highlighted the long shadow that can be cast by Seasonal Affective Disorder.

The installation, subtle and compelling, really needs to be experienced, as it comprised a remarkable sound scape of resonant drones and chimes, by sound artist Hanna Tuulikki, but with a haptic element to this with sound (I think) in part emerging through the floor.  Gradually changing hues, levels and directions of light evoked, diurnal rhythms and annual solar motion, but appeared to be interspersed with micro-flashes of light.

If the Palace of Light and Shadows was brought alive for me through Heliotrope by the installations producers Trigger, I cant wait to see what they do next following Zombie Lab….

Past Inspired Sculpture 3

Another great example of past inspired sculpture is located on the University of Strathclyde campus in Glasgow.  The sculpture ‘Callanish (Steel Henge)’ by Gerald Laing was erected in 1974.  It comprises 16 steel pieces each 16 high, arranged in form that evokes the layout of Callanish, Lewis.

Its location and further art in the public realm in Glasgow can be found at University of Strathclyde’s Community Walk.  The monumental scale and nature of material of this piece means it is still a distinctive site in the city, which can be readily found when you look.  However, much art in the public realm does not survive as long as the near forty years of Gerald Laing’s, Callanish.  I wonder how many piece on the Active Art Trails can no longer be found, and are now no more than an archaeology of art…?