TOWARDS A CITY OBSERVATORY INTRO FACTISH FIELD 7 A complex panorama Kate Gray 143 Introduction Ed. Angela McClanahan 13 A contemporary Observatory for 158 Interview 1 Richard Baxstrom the city Simon Sheikh 163 Interview 2 Wendelen van Oldenborgh 19 The hope of the Collective and the TOWARDS possibility of the Observatory Charles Esche THE INDIRECT Lesley Young 27 Out of home Observatory EXCHANGE ALL SIDED GAMES OF UNCERTAIN A CITY 37 Introduction Ed. Julie Crawshaw VALUE 41 Unconcealment Lisette Josephides 51 The Mind’s Miniatures: 175 Introduction Ed. Fiona Jardine Entangled Maps, Tactical Drawing and 180 Les Freres Barres: Tatham and Dialectograms Susannah Thompson O’Sullivan’s ‘Cat and Boot’ 58 Social Abstraction: 184 Outdoor Girl: Elizabeth Price’s OBSER- Jacob Dahlgren’s ‘No Confl ict, No Irony ‘Choir part 1’ (I love the whole world)’ Harry Weeks 186 Fat Cat on Fettes Rise: 65 Within and Outwith: Chris Evans’ ‘New Rules’ Constellations of art, of Constellations collaboration locality and Christina Lucas’ ‘001–100’ 194 Excerpts from presentations Anna McLauchlan & performances 73 ‘Play Summit’: 196 Conclusion Towards a conference for play 200 Towards a City Observatory VATORY* Nils Norman Richard J. Williams 80 Everything became a never- ending present: Florrie James’ Constellations of art, ‘Brighthouse’ Emma Hedditch HOW TO 88 What happened in Carnoustie: collaboration and locality Dennis McNulty’s ‘A Leisure TURN THE WORLD Complex’ Kate Strain BY HAND HOW NEAR 216 Introduction Ed. Jenny Richards 228 Thing Following James N Hutchinson, IS HERE? Alison Hulme and Jenny Richards 243 Those Naked Shahram Khosravi 99 Introduction Ed. Frances Stacey 248 Curatorial Collaborations 104 Playgrounds and Bombsites across Continents on Calton Hill Sam Barton Schlee 261 A Day Turning the World by Hand 116 And all because the lady loves mushroom fried rice and vegetable spring rolls: A transparent refl ection on a glazed expression Chloe Cooper CHORAL GLOSSARY 131 Response Charlotte Knox-Williams 277 TOWARDS A CITY OBSER- Towards a City Observatory Constellations of art, collaboration and locality VATORY* Commissioned and published by Collective Collective, Edinburgh, 2017 City Observatory and City Dome 38 Calton Hill Constellations of art, Editor: Kate Gray Edinburgh Chapter Editors: Julie Crawshaw, Fiona EH7 5AA Jardine, Angela McClanahan, Jenny t: +44 (0)131 556 1264 collaboration and locality Richards and Frances Stacey e: [email protected] All Sided Games co-Editor: James Bell Proofreading: Miranda Blennerhassett This document is available as a print and and Jane Warrilow electronic publication downloadable from: Publication Assistants: Emily Chandler www.collectivegallery.net and Georgia Horgan Graphic design: Åbäke ISBN Printed by Lulu.com Print: 978-1-873653-18-0 eBook: 978-1-873653-19-7 Copyright for the texts belongs to the authors © 2017 Publication © Collective, 2017 All rights reserved 3 All Sided Games was supported by the National Artist Contributors: Sven Augustijnen, Lottery through Creative Scotland. Mark Boulos, Andrea Büttner, Duncan Producers: Collective with Edinburgh Campbell, Karen Mirza and Brad Butler. Leisure, Glasgow Life and Arbroath Council. Anthropologist Contributors: Dr Richard Commissioned Artists: Jacob Dahlgren, Baxstrom, Dr Rupert Cox, Prof Tim Ingold, Christina Lucas, Florrie James, Mitch Miller, Dr Angela McClanahan and Dr Amanda Dennis McNulty and Nils Norman. Ravetz. Artist Contributors: Assemble and Ortonandon. The indirect exchange of uncertain value was supported by Creative Scotland’s Public Art How Near is Here? was a public Fund and part of Edinburgh Art Festival. Symposium and Intensive Programme, Producers: Collective. part of All Sided Games. Commissioned Artists: Tatham and Producers: Collective with Julie Crawshaw. O’Sullivan, Elizabeth Price, Chris Evans. Symposium Contributors: Alexandra Conference Contributors: Vito Acconci, Baudelot, Fulya Erdemci, Janna Graham, Chris Evans, Owen Hatherley, Fiona Kate Gray, Dennis McNulty, Mitch Miller Jardine, Elizabeth Price and Tom Leonard. and Albena Yaneva. Intensive Programme Contributors: Emma How to Turn the World by Hand was supported by Balkind, Chloe Cooper, Julie Crawshaw, Creative Scotland’s China Project. Neil Gray, Florrie James, Charlotte Knox- Producers: Collective, PiST/// and Arrow Williams, Kristina Norman, Eastern Surf, Factory. and Harry Weeks. Commissioned Artists: Ozman Bozkurt, Rania Ho, James N Hutchinson, Fiona Factish Field was supported by Creative Jardine, Didem Özbek, Wang Wei, Sun Xun Scotland, The University of Edinburgh and Pauline Yao. and FLUXUS. Artist Contributors: Chen Hangfeng and Producers: Collective and LUX. Feral Trade Café by Kate Rich. Commissioned Artists: Bertille Bak, Karen Cunningham and Wendelien Collective is currently supported by Creative van Oldenborgh. Scotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. 4 5 THANKS Mark Halden; Fran Hawker; Alex Hinton; Collective Staff: Historic Environment Scotland; Jenny Lori Anderson, Capital Project Hogarth; Alison Hulme; Marguerite Coordinator & Fundraiser; James Bell, Hunter-Blair; Laura Johns; Peter Kelly; Producer; Ben Callaghan, Operations Robert Kennedy; Jo Mathieson; Alistair Assistant; Siobhan Carroll, Head of McIntyre; Anna McLauchlan; National Programme; Emily Chandler, Operations Mining Museum Scotland; Dennis Assistant; Kate Gray, Director; McNulty; Minttumaari Mäntynen; A Eric Hildrew, Head of Marketing & Meadowbank Sports Centre; Mitch Miller; Communications; Georgia Horgan, MoD Barry Buddon; Adele Morrison; Operations Assistant; Lara MacLeod, Colin Murray; Emma Ogilvie-Hall; Katie Operations Assistant; Catherine Sadler, Orton; Sophie Orton; Tom O’Sullivan; All Sided Games Producer; Frances Dane Sutherland; PEEK; Anne Petrie; Stacey, Producer; Alison Thorburn, Piershill Community Health Flat; Piershill Bookkeeper. Library; Playbusters; Play Scotland; Maeve Redmond; The Ripple Project; COMPLEX Collective would like to thank: Wendy Russell; Viika Sankilla; Save the Assemble; Christine Baird; Baltic Street Accord; Marcus Schmidt; Kirstie Skinner; Adventure Playground; Debi Banerjee; St Andrew’s First Aid; Hitoshi Shimamura; Mike Barclay; Susanna Beaumont; David Stevenson; Alana Stewart; Ben Marissa Begonia; Sam Bellacosa; Tawil; Derek Whamond; Debbie Willett; Jan Bert van den Berg; Anne Bonnar; The Woodcraft Folk; Wounded Knee; Bridgeton Community Learning Campus; Sarah Yearsley. Broughton High School; Carnoustie PANO- Leisure Centre; Carnoustie Library; Thanks also to the designers, Åbäke, CCA Glasgow; Ben Cook; Luke for their insight and flair, all the artists, Collins; Barry Craighead; Amica Dall; participants and other collaborators who Edinburgh Leisure; Beth Ekman; Forestry are too many to mention here. Collective Commission Scotland; Charles Esche; and the projects in this publication would Graham Etough; Fettes College; Emily not have been possible without the Furneaux; Maria Fusco; GalGael; Tim dedication, commitment and support of Gill; Glasgow Against Atos; Glasgow Film many others who have given their time RAMA Office; Glasgow International Festival and energy. Kate Gray of Visual Art; Grounds for Learning; It may be a human condition to find the times that one lives in particularly complicated, and it may also be true that every time has its own complexities. However, we are currently living through particularly turbulent times and it is therefore important to acknowledge this while we, the group of people who make up the contemporary visual art organisation Collective, are repurposing Edinburgh’s Old City Observatory to explore what a new kind of City Observatory could be. How will it behave? How can it be engaged with? How do we articulate its complex nature through a multitude of voices? And what might it mean to our contemporary socio-political landscape? Or, in this new kind of City Observatory how will Collective support artists and others 6 7 to stretch and weave between actors within the landscape, whether people, architecture or objects? And what can be produced between artists and other people within this panorama? Collective was initiated by artists in 1984 to address their need to see, show and take part in the world beyond their studio walls. This impetus is still held within the fabric of the organisation and throughout our history of embracing change and learning, through both making and making public, Collective has played its part in an artist-led landscape. In 2013, after discovering the site while producing an artists’ project in 1 2010 , we moved to the Old City Observatory. Immediately responding This publication represents a moment within this period of public to this amazing, challenging and sometimes conflicted site, we began contemplation when the organisation pauses, reflects on our working a phased project including developing a proposal for a new physical methods and considers some of the pivotal projects from the past space while the organisation engaged in re-thinking itself in a way that five years to inform our way forward. We are using these projects as is intentionally public. a lens, through which to look towards a future as a new kind of City Observatory. The projects presented in this book represent five distinct, Built between 1800 and 1880 and sitting within a walled garden site, complex and pertinent productions, which took place between 2010 the Old City Observatory on Calton Hill is a significant icon of the and 2015. They are examples of Collective producing