Latest articles for A Direct Experience in Local Time

• My 'The indirect exchange of uncertain value"

  by Geraldine Heaney 29 Aug 2011

  This will be my final post on the blog as the project came to a close yesterday. I would have liked to have more regularly given updates but there was so much else to organise and keep up with that this blog often had to sit on the back burner.

  So much as happened in the last month that I don’t really even know where to start. Picking up Vito Acconci from the airport? Spending an afternoon drenched in sunshine at Little Sparta? Handing out Whisky at the back leg of a giant cat? Marching a team of blue stickered, umbrella wielding art fans through the bucketing rain only to recite the words “alas the Callover Hall of Fettes College Edinburgh is not open to the public, so I shall describe the work for you…”

  The last month has seen a broad array of characters pass through the Carrington Road gates of Fettes College Edinburgh.

  “Welcome to The indirect exchange of uncertain value, your visit should last approximately 45 minutes and will include a short tour of the grounds of Fettes and an opportunity to experience the artworks currently sited here.”

  

  And so began, just over 3 weeks ago, the first tour of The indirect exchange of uncertain value. We ran tours every hour on the hour from 11am till 5pm every day from the 7th of August to the 28th.
  I had the pleasure of working of an incredible team of Tour guides who faced even the rainiest days with an enthusiasm that seemed to be fuelled by biscuits and a hunger for more facts. We spent our days in an elegantly constructed shed surrounded by bold coloured posters created as part of the project by The Artists involved and participants in our schools workshops at Broughton High School and Fettes College.

  The response to the work was excellent a real range of people visited, local residents interested in just getting a wee bit closer to the School Building, long distance travellers who came through from Glasgow who are already interested in the work of the displaying artists or confused tourists who think Fettes is Hogwarts and were cajoled by a tour guide to take part in the whole tour.

  I feel really proud to have been part of this project and can’t really take in the abundance of brilliant experiences I’ve had as part of it. The people I have met, the places I have visited and the discussions I will continue to have.

  I’m not sure what else to say except from Thank You, Collective, for everything.

  Geraldine

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• Public Art Summer School - Guest Blog by Shona MacNaughton

  by Geraldine Heaney 2 Aug 2011

  

  On the first day of the Public Art Summer School we learned about the most traditional of public art forms – the commemorative monument.

  Meeting in the Broughton High School art department, the base of the Public Art Summer School, surrounded by the remnants of secondary education, mood boards and still life parts, unit indicators and disembodied dolls, the participants met each other and were introduced to the project. Likes and dislikes of public art were shared; figures standing in water, giraffes, defunct funnels, marble steps and shopping mall turds. Issues of participation, popularity and the successful life of a public art work were raised.

  

  Then Ray McKenzie gave a brief overview of his research in public art before taking us on a tour of Edinburgh’s New Town examples. He laid down the facets of narrative context making for a cultural object; the urban, the political and the visual, making the point that their existence was never neutral, it was always a political act. Idealogically driven, the end result is an outcome of power struggles and subject to competing factors. And as was actually emphasised by the bank removing us from this grating, “public” art is forever entwined and restricted by private ownership.

  

  The case of Sandy Stoddart ‘s statue (2008) of physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) seemed to encapsulate several ideas surrounding the manipulation of history and the responsibility that inccurs. There seemed to be a number of contradictions in the commemoration of someone from a certain time who was not formerly commemorated, in the style of that time as if they were commemorated. So essentially this could be seen as a fake monument which seeks to fool the public, by re-writing history as it should have been. Is it then by that logic a thoroughly accidental post-modern act? In seeking to be anti-gaudy does Stoddart in fact create something which has more in common with the replications of antiquity available in Las Vegas, adding a pretender to Edinburgh’s historical theme park. In the context of the frequently corrupt history of these statues does it not, instead of elevating that figure to its rightful place, situate it within those values of power, and therein position itself in the defiance of a craft, with the emulation of the values it represents. As one of us asked when contemplating the immortalised swaggering playboy himself George IV, “why are they still here?” Perhaps because as markers of history, a fascinating history as told by an eloquent enthusiast such as McKenzie which cannot be reset lest it be forgotten, they are the result of a specific set of circumstances which tell of that time. Messing with the timeline of these markers either adds a new post-modern layer of reality or is an arrogant act in line with the dominant power elite which righteously plonked in the first place.

  *For Full Week’s Blog please see Collective Blog site

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• Pushing things forward and Wider Participation.

  by Geraldine Heaney 11 Jul 2011

  It feels like the whole project has picked up a lot of momentum.

  The artists are working on finishing touches and final confirmations.

  The line up for the 5th August Symposium is confirmed and is very exciting. There are Poets, Academics, Artists and Vito Acconci who fits in to any of the aforementioned titles and more.

  The Public Art Summer School is now on sale and looks to be rigorous and insightful week. The programme is very full and varied. It will be an intensive week-long experience of thinking, talking and making public art.

  The booking for tours of the work has gone live with the Fringe Box office and you can see our little blurb in all it’s glory on the 189th page of the Fringe Programme.

  

  Over the last month for myself and Debi Bannerjee our focus has been leading public art workshops with pupils from Fettes College and Broughton High School. We did three sessions in each school and then as our final session with each group we took at trip to Robert Smails Victorian Print works in the Borders. Some of the Letterpress posters created by the workshop participants will be used as part of a series of posters explaining and publicising the work to be sited at Fettes throughout August.
  

  
  

  It was really interesting to see the similarities and differences between the groups of young people and exciting to hear their ideas about public art.

  We had our penultimate Steering group meeting on Wednesday 29th June. Everyone has become much more comfortable in the steering group meetings. Even in the grand old library with the brand new chairs still in their plastic packaging, everyone was very open, encouraging and seem to be genuinely excited about the imminent arrival of the work.

  I have learnt so much at this point in the project and I know there is a great deal more to come – Best Admin Job Ever?

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• Sheds, Pavilions and Allotment Containers

  by Geraldine Heaney 7 Jun 2011

  There are so many strands to this project that hearing everyone give an update of where everything is at in the steering group meeting is pretty overwhelming. I’ve been finding it easier to take things in bite sized pieces and focus on them one little bit at a time. So here’s very brief update on how things are shaping up.

  The artists are all beavering away pulling things together, working on logistics, negotiating the future and finding a consistency through the works.

  We’ve confirmed the details with the Fringe office and have sorted out our slot in the Fringe Brochure.

  The Symposium is shaping up to be a most exciting affair with some incredible speakers and some exciting performances.

  The summer school plan is looking really jam-packed and we’ve booked a mini-bus!

  Our first schools workshop will take place in Fettes next week with the workshop in Broughton High School a week later. I’m really looking forward to hearing what the pupils at Fettes and Broughton have to say about the project and public art in general.

  Our dates and times have been submitted for our art and film workshops as part of the Inverleith summer schools programme and we’re hoping to secure a location for those in the next couple of days be it a shed, pavilion or shipping container.

  One of the most overwhelming things I’ve found in the last couple of weeks has been the generosity and support of not just the members of the steering group but most of the people I have approached about the project. I’ve had a 9am meeting in a park, an invite to a community council meeting and abundance of suggestions and helpful ideas. It’s such a pleasure to come across so many people who are so proud of their School/park/local area.

  There’s still a lot to be done and the with the momentum building it feels like before I know it the summer will have passed and it will all be over but I’m enjoying how this blog forces me to reflect on what is happening as it’s happening, basically I’m really pleased to be involved.

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• Sense of Humour

  by Geraldine Heaney 3 May 2011

  We had our Third Steering Group meeting at Fettes College on Wednesday afternoon. It really feels like the group are getting more comfortable both with each other and with the grandeur that surrounds us when we meet. This session the group were introduced to one of the participating artists, Chris Evans who gave a short presentation of a selection of his previous work.

  Chris’s work was really interesting and seems to have an element of humour that has been discussed in previous meetings about Joanne and Tom’s work. The sense of humour is something that was discussed in this meeting with reference to the Public Art Symposium and the idea that humour is often a way into something that might otherwise be intimidating or inaccessible.

  To give you a bit more of an idea about the project, and the many strands there are to it, I’ll try and break it down.

  Collective are working with Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan who have further commissioned Artists Chris Evans and Elizabeth Price to produce work.
  Alongside this Debi Bannerjee has taken up the post of Participation leader and will be working with students from Fettes College and Broughton High School. Debi will also be leading some wider participation public art themed workshops during the School Holidays in Inverleith Park and in the week running up to the launch of the work (5th August) there will be a Public Art Summer School.
  On 5th August, the launch day of the exhibition there will be a Public Art Symposium held in Fettes College.

  There is a lot happening and lots to be done so I think it’s probably a good think that there is a sense of humour surrounding the project.

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• Titles, thoughts and communication.

  by Geraldine Heaney 10 Apr 2011

  We had the second meeting of the steering group on Wednesday afternoon in the intimidatingly grand setting of the old library in Fettes College. The Library sits directly above the front entrance of the building and looks out on the front gates of Fettes as well as the rest of Edinburgh.

  The group were given some insights into the development of the works and more discussion was had about the wider participation element of the project.

  After and initial catch up of the project discussions moved into thoughts of the importance of naming a project, I feel I should stress again, the title of this blog is the Working Title of the project itself and will most probably change in the coming months to better represent (or misrepresent) the work.

  We talked about ideas of social media and social networking sites to disseminate information. It is a successful marketing tool but does it give too much away? Who would follow it? Where would we direct them? How regularly do we update those followers and can we really say what we’re trying to say in 140 characters?

  Maybe…

  Lovely biscuit selection provided by Fettes College for the Collective and Joanne Tatham & Tom O’Sullivan Public Art Steering Group meeting.
  (140 Characters)

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• Introductions: The project and I.

  by Geraldine Heaney 26 Mar 2011

  The Project, current working title ‘A Direct Experience in Local Time’. Lead Artists Tatham and O’Sullivan will create new work to be sited in the Grounds of Fettes College in August 2011 during the Art Festival. As part of the project Tatham and O’Sullivan have commissioned other works by Artists, Chris Evans and Elizabeth Price.
  A large part of the project is also the participation strand. The participation will be headed up by Debi Banerjee. Debi will plan and lead workshops. We are currently working out dates for workshops to be held in both Fettes College and Broughton High School and we’ll be involving the wider Inverleith Community through the summer as the project develops.

  There’s been a lot of work put into this project already. Collective and Tatham and O’Sullivan have been developing the idea and securing the funding for quite some time. With this build up everyone’s enthusiasm for the project is clear. For Me, joining the project at this point it’s not hard to get excited about it. When I started in January I spent quite a bit of time researching the artists, the Inverleith area and the schools. There is such a broad scope for the project and a chance to really explore some interesting questions particularly about Art in the Public Realm.

  I am Geraldine Heaney, as previously stated, I am the Administrative Assistant at Collective. As well as archiving, researching, finding IT solutions and helping serve Whiskey at Gallery events, I am also assisting with this adventurous new public art project. I’ve been helping to co-ordinate dates, taking minutes at meetings, I will be assisting in the participation workshops and I put together the Steering Group to keep a broad focus on the project.

  The first steering group meeting held at the beginning of March was really well attended with a good cross section of people from Fettes College, Broughton High school and the wider Inverleith community. It was a great chance to inform everyone about the ideas behind the project and hear the groups’ thoughts and ideas about it.

  I think everyone left the meeting with a lot of food for thought and a lot of action points to think on before the next meeting on the 30th of March.

  I’m sure I’ll have more to update very soon…

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