Back at square one ?

by Janie Nicoll, 6 Jul 2008

The last few months for me seem to have been punctuated by the various gigs I have been to in an unplanned random kind of way; Arcade Fire and Clinic; Sons and Daughters; The Kills; Malcolm Middleton with Alan Bissett; Edwyn Collins with Roddy Frame; Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan. This week I went to both gigs at the Barrowlands, of My Bloody Valentine, who have recently reformed after 16 years, having been recognised as one of the most significance contributors to indie-dance crossover music from the early nineties. I first met them when I was in second or third year at Edinburgh College of Art, when they stayed at my flat after a Sonic Youth gig at the Edinburgh Venue. Last time I saw them altogether was down in London for three nights of the Rollercoaster tour, in 1992. It was good to catch up but I felt like it was a bit of a mind-f**k in the way that these kind of meetings, after such a long period of time leave you thinking about what you have achieved in the interim, so what have I been doing for the last 16 years??

The parallels between music and art continue with the next exhibition we have at the Park Gallery, entitled Garlands, after the Cocteau Twins first album. The image I have created for the invite card reworks the image from New Order’s album cover “Power, Corruption and Lies” which itself reproduces Henri Fantin-Latour’s “A Basket of Roses”. This artwork is featured in the book “Sympathy For the Devil, Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967”, published to accompany the show at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago which also features Jim Lambie’s work. For the invite image I have created what I think of as a cacophony of flowers, from Callendar Park, the Hidden Gardens and my own garden, mixed with a bit of Las Vegas neon. The Fantin–Latour rose is still visible at the top of the pile.

Having taken some time out for other commitments, this week is a crucial one where I need to get my ideas together for the forthcoming exhibition. This exhibition seems to have been shunted forwards due to the Mod happening in Falkirk later in the year, and I must admit that I could have done with more time to get my head round things here. Its still feels like quite a tall order to create a worthwhile and genuine collaboration with the residents while still creating cutting edge contemporary art. There still seems to be a divide that needs to be traversed, negotiated, navigated. While talking with Rachel Mimiec about her recent residency at the Hidden Gardens she said that she felt that often it’s the things that go on under the surface, at an invisible level that are often the most important.. This seems to reflect how I feel so far about our collaboration with the residents; it’s the small things that become significant and not necessarily the obvious things.

I have ideas about using photography to bring the park into the gallery, to make works that use the tower blocks themselves as a basis for new works. We shall see…..

As usual, it’s all to play for.