Art Archives - Page 9 of 11

VSA Announces New Deadline For Entries To Exhibition

Jul 122012

Sparked by new nature trails and undiscovered woods, a local charity’s creative outdoor opportunities have been extended. With thanks to Claire McBain.

Although the official deadline for entries for the North East Open Studios 2012 gallery at VSA’s Easter Anguston Farm passed, the farm has announced a new deadline of Friday July 27. They also announced a boost to the space available in order to encourage local creatives to showcase their work and support the UK’s largest city social care charity.

Jane Bell, farm support worker and NEOS exhibitor, said:

“We’re thrilled to already have such an excellent response. We’re lucky to have loyal Easter Anguston artists register for another year and we’ve attracted some very promising new faces too. Although our gallery already boasts more entries than last year, we know there’s more local talent out there.

“So we’ve opened up new parts of the farm, like Linn Moor wood, to create more exhibition space than we’ve had any other year. Our new nature trail, created by Aberdeen Greenspace volunteers and Easter Anguston trainees, will be a brilliant exhibition space too.

“We’ve also stretched the deadline by a few weeks, hoping to give those who have been weighed down with other responsibilities a chance to explore this opportunity. For those who have been busy with end-of-term exhibitions, our gallery is a perfect outlet to extend their audience.”

“Most of the indoor space has been filled so our target artists are sculptors, ceramicists, 3D designers, land artists and others with durable outdoor exhibits. We do have sheltered areas too, so delicate creations are very welcome. We’re keen to work with artists to find something that suits their style and the environment they’ll be exhibiting in. I can’t wait to explore more ideas.”

Local artist Alex Kay, who has been heavily involved with NEOS at Easter Anguston Farm over the past four years, said:

“Easter Anguston sets itself apart from other galleries by creating a unique link with art and the community. Local creatives can showcase their work while raising awareness of the UK’s largest social care charity. That’s what drives me to be there every year.”

To find out more or get an application form for exhibiting at NEOS at Easter Anguston Farm, contact Claire McBain on 01224 358611 or email Claire.mcbain@vsa.org.uk

Old Susannah No 85: Brigadoon, Braveheart, Brave & Balmedie

Creative Writing, Satire and Humour 1 Response »

Jul 122012

Voice’s Old Susannah comments on current events and enlightens us with definitions of some tricky terms with a locally topical taste. By Suzanne Kelly.

Tally Ho! I will start by apologising for a recent column; I clearly misread the signs and got carried away. Specifically, you don’t need to worry quite so much about wearing sunscreen as I’d suggested. I also advised to make sure your pets had enough water – well, I think we’ve all had enough water by now.

Moving swiftly along, two art exhibitions are worthy of mention this week. The House of Annie Lennox exhibition at the Aberdeen Art Gallery opened with a bang. Ms Lennox was in town and a party and a press launch for the show were held.

Alas I did not get to the party, but it was a treat to have early access to the exhibition. The show is considerably expanded, and the early mementos and images from her childhood in Aberdeen show the roots of her talents and personality.

More homegrown talent is on display (albeit in Forfar) with artist Anna Geerdes’ exhibition ‘No Place’. Anna is from the Netherlands, lives in Torry, and studied at Grays School of Art. Her work explores questions of boundaries and landscapes; she’s had paintings in the Royal Academy of Art in Edinburgh, and I wish her all the best with this exceptional show on until 28 July.
http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/museums/meffan/exhibitions-2012-NoPlace.htm )

Looking out over foggy Aberdeen over the last few weeks (well, some days you couldn’t look very far for the haar) I peer through the mists and am reminded of the old film Brigadoon. This fantasy version of Scotland was so old fashioned! A bunch of tartan-clad, happy villagers in a town hidden by mist – really!

Thankfully, Hollywood has ceased any stereotyping. That’s why Pixar’s Brave’ is so much a hit, that we are helping to promote it and its vision of Scotland. Its far more realistic version of Scotland features tartan-clad, happy villagers dealing with witches and banshees. Result!

Rather than definitions from our government and its great initiatives, here is a look at some Hollywood films set amid the heather of Scotland.

Brigadoon: (proper noun; English) Movie/musical love story set in Scottish Highlands.

The tale of Brigadoon centres on a mythical Scottish town, Brigadoon. The story opens with American tourists getting lost in the foggy weather – kind of like this past fortnight. They had been in the countryside to engage in the perfectly legitimate, lucrative tourist occupation of culling invasive species, (ie, hunting).

In times past, Brigadoon was beset by evil forces.

The pair sing the memorable songs ‘no heather on the hill’ and ‘ A forestry-managing we will go’ as they look for deer to cull, carefully hanging warning signs all around them according to their risk assessment document.

The hunters discover the beautiful town of Brigadoon, with its rolling fields, sparkling granite and beautiful development opportunities. Brigadoon only appears out of the mists once every hundred years. In times past, Brigadoon was beset by evil forces.

Developers threatened to turn the fields to cheap houses and transform the market square into an iconic TIF project, and put wind turbines o’er land and sea. So the local minister prayed, and magically Brigadoon was saved from over-development, urban sprawl and unwanted forestry schemes by being hidden in time, only to appear once every 100 years (about as often as the No. 23 bus).

The villagers prepare for an upcoming wedding; the bridegroom sings ‘Go Home With Bonnie Jeannie’ , and the villagers all reply with a chorus of ‘Go Home, Ho Malone’. One of the Americans falls in love with the range of development opportunities on offer, and the locals sing a chorus of ‘Scotland’s open for Business,’ and ‘Smart, Successful Scotland.’ He returns to the land of his granny (near enough) and opens a golf course. Brigadoon is never seen again.

Braveheart: (proper noun; English) A documentary film made by Mel Gibson on the life of William Wallace.

This popular historic recreation has proven to the world that Scotland must be independent from England; it’s what Wallace would have wanted if he were here today.

These days some segments of the press are comparing Alex Salmond to Wallace for his unswerving moral code, his desire to uphold the rights of the common man against the wealthy and powerful, for painting his face with woad and going to battle for Scottish independence.

Apparently the referendum will be scheduled near the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn , where Wallace saw the English off. Salmond bravely rode into battle against Donald of Trump; he and his two merry administration men sailed to far, far New York. Armed only with taxpayer money (about £6,300), Salmond and Trump engaged in combat at the Battle of Le Perigord (one of Manhattan’s most expensive restaurants).

I guess Salmond didn’t want to see anything that would discredit the great windfarm expert Trump

Both sides claim victory. Salmond said windfarms were never discussed; Trump says Salmond promised no windfarms near the new Trump resort. Trump won a great victory over the moving sand dunes to tame this corner of Scotland, creating the world’s greatest golf course.

Alex Salmond is, however, not quite brave-hearted enough to watch the film ‘You’ve been trumped!’ . He has declined several invitations to view it now, including its showing at Holyrood.

I guess Salmond didn’t want to see anything that would discredit the great windfarm expert Trump, whose address at Holyrood will go down in history for its grasp of science, economics and environmental concerns. Or something. This film has disturbing scenes of people being critical of The Donald and his flunkies, which some viewers might find upsetting. The two documentary makers show Trump’s effects on the Scottish landscape and residents, as he changes nature to his own designs.

Some of these unappreciative locals selfishly refused to sell their homes to Trump and even complained when Trump’s minions accidentally cut their water off and damaged their property. The filmmakers were quite rightly arrested, and should have been hung, drawn and quartered for embarrassing Trump and Salmond with this film.

It is understood that any day now The Donald will create millions of jobs – cleaners, porters, dishwashers and maids wanted.

Alex Salmond, like Wallace, understands the importance of seeing what assistance foreign powers can bring to the struggle for Scotland’s independence. This is why Salmond allied himself with the great Rupert of Murdoch. Alex pledged his allegiance to Murdoch and apparently did all he could to help with the BskyB merger, and exchanged several messages with (soon to be former) culture secretary of the hated English, Jeremy Hunt.

This was apparently done to get the Murdoch empire to support the SNP. Like Wallace, Salmond has been summoned to England to face his enemies at the Leveson enquiry, where he was asked to explain a few things. For some reason Mr Murdoch said he could not remember anything about this matter. Let’s hope Rupert’s memory improves sometime soon.

Freedom!

Brave: (proper noun; English) Animated tale of the real Scotland of ages past, complete with happy tartan-clad villagers, a princess and a witch or two. Apparently soon to be part of the SQA curriculum for Scottish History.

Some years back, the Government and Scottish Enterprise were keen to tell the world that it was wrong to stereotype Scotland as the land of tartan, whisky, castles and sheep. Times have changed.

According to News Net Scotland, here’s what they’re saying about ‘Brave’:-

“First Minister Alex Salmond said the movie presented a huge opportunity to promote Scotland and said: “This will present us with an immense opportunity when Scotland will be centre stage in the film with all the tourism and business opportunities this will bring. I fully expect that as the film launches across the world, so will awareness of Scotland increase. Brave will be the most high-profile film ever set in, and themed around, Scotland, featuring Scottish stars.”

VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay said:

“When better than in the Year of Creative Scotland, and where better than right here on Scottish soil, to launch Brave for the first time in Europe?

“The film will showcase the scenery, humour and culture of Scotland, and we are looking forward to converting cinema-goers into visitors.”

Why go and see this film, when for a mere £150 or so you can have a round of golf at Trump’s newest venture?

So there you have it – the first minister says that the most high-profile film ever set in Scotland is a cartoon with witches, banshees (no offence Aileen, Kate and Jennifer) and castles. Visit Scotland (which is now working with Disney to promote the film) says the film showcases the ‘scenery’ and ‘culture’ of Scotland. We can at least look back on this film when Aberdeen is choked by housing developments to the loss of any green fields.

So bring on the new independent Scotland, battles in kilts and some witchcraft – that will put any old stereotypes to rest.

Local Hero: (proper noun) Award-winning cult film in which environmental concerns take precedence over greed.

This fantasy film depicts a Scotland which is ‘closed for business’ and as such should not be screened. Worse still, it foreshadows a very dubious film indeed…

you’ve been trumped: (proper noun) Multi-award-winning documentary depicting Donald Trump’s quest for the world’s greatest golfcourse – whatever the cost.

Result! The galaxy’s greatest golfcourse opened this week! Why go and see this film, when for a mere £150 or so you can have a round of golf at Trump’s newest venture?

Old Susannah suggests that you might want to see this film yourself when it returns (in a newly edited version with extra footage) to the Belmont Cinema this week. Saturday will see Baxter and many Menie residents come along (1:15 and 6:00 showings as well as 11:00 am). Details at http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Belmont_Picturehouse/film/Youve_Been_Trumped/

Hope to see you there, so you can judge for yourself who is in the right: an honest American tycoon trying to make an honest pound, or the area residents, mainstream Scottish media, and little-known documentary maker, Michael Moore.

Quotes:

“I heard it was boring. I heard it wasn’t good.”
— Donald J. Trump (Property Developer)

“Factually challenged”
— George Sorial (Trump spokesperson)

“I didn’t think I could be shocked by the abuses money and power can inflict on ordinary people, but Anthony Baxter, with a calm but steely determination, exposes the way a ruthless, greedy thug can corrupt the state, the police, the media and academia. …When a handful of decent Scottish people try to defend their homes and their environment from destruction, the angry billionaire seeks to crush them. For showing us the reality of this “development”, Baxter is intimidated, harassed and bullied. But he succeeds in giving us a film as magnificent as the landscape he tries to save, and as warm and principled as the people who live in it.”
— Jeremy Hardy, BBC

“An amazing film….Director Anthony Baxter throws a spotlight on the contemptuous way in which Trump deals with the residents. But most controversial of all is the way in which the potential environmental damage caused by the development has been disregarded because of the perceived benefits to the local economy.”
— Bob Ward, The Guardian

“This is a real eye opener of a film, and a cracking piece of filmmaking from Baxter, who uses his own nous, nerve and a few judicious clips from Local Hero besides, to make a compelling case. See it and decide for yourself who are the real Brave Hearts in this tale.”
— Glasgow Herald

“A quietly angry and important film that will inspire plenty of ire in anyone frustrated by the way money and power frequently crushes anything in its path.”
— The Scotsman

“Rogue filmmaker Anthony Baxter entered the front lines of the fight against the developers to capture the outrage of the locals, who stood tall against bulldozers even as their own police force aided Trump’s henchmen in protecting his project. This shocking investigative film aims to hold Trump—and anyone else who puts personal gain ahead of the environment—accountable for their actions as it documents a protest that still wages on.”
— Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival (Winner, Special Jury Prize)

See you in the funny pictures.

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TIF Business Case Complaint – An Open Letter

Aberdeen City, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Jul 092012

Mike Shepherd has lodged a complaint in a letter to Aberdeen City Council Chief Executive Valerie Watts regarding the recently published TIF business case. Mike shares the content of the letter with Aberdeen Voice readers.

To The Chief Executive, Aberdeen Council

I am lodging a complaint about the TIF Business Case “Aberdeen City Centre Regeneration Scheme” which has been written as a report to inform a council vote in August. This document should be a disinterested analysis of the case, or otherwise, for Aberdeen Council borrowing £92 million through Tax Incremental Financing (TIF).

It is not. The report is a constructed narrative that contains major factual mistakes, errors of omission, false statements and flawed data. It is not credible.

The key argument of the report is based on input by private developers and their advisors who have a clear interest in a positive outcome to the council vote. The conclusions of the report are therefore incompetent.

I request that Aberdeen Council withdraw the TIF business case as unfit for purpose.
http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/TIF_business_case

The details of my complaint are as follows:

The TIF business case contains a major factual mistake concerning funding for the Art Gallery:

On page 11 it is stated:

“It is expected that a further £20 million of funding will be secured via Grants and other funding mechanisms to enable the City Art Gallery Redevelopment.”

In a table on page 42, it is stated that:

“The City Art Gallery redevelopment: Funding identified from existing sources – £20 million”

This is incorrect. There is no identified £20 million funding for the Art Gallery. Council minutes show that the appropriate figure is £4 million.

The £20 million figure stems from an unrealistic aspiration to apply for funding from the Scottish Heritage Lottery Fund (SHLF):

“Both the Art Gallery redevelopment and a Museums Collection Centre would be eligible to apply for Heritage Fund Lottery grants, although the value the City Council would wish is beyond the annual allocation, which for all of Scotland is currently £20 million.”
http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=7314

The Council have yet to apply for funding from the SHLF and intend to do so later this year, in November. They have approached the SHLF:

“Officers have also discussed the current status of the project with the Scottish office of the Heritage Lottery Fund; the Fund advises that if matched funding can be raised within the City, then their Board would accept this as the Council’s contribution to the project within the application.

“The Art Gallery redevelopment is also included as one of the projects within the Tax Incremental Fund BID to the Scottish Government and if this is successful, that funding can be counted as part of the city’s contribution.”
http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=18050

The Art Gallery component of the TIF application is for £4 million (Ref: Table on page 42). Matched funding from the SLHF for the TIF sum would be £4 million, not £20 million.

In the table on page 42 it is also stated:

“The TIF Scheme creates the opportunity to invest in the City Art Gallery and even if after this investment the City of Culture bid is unsuccessful, the City will still have a state of the art asset for future generations to enjoy, as a result of the TIF mechanism.”

This is misleading. The Art Gallery redevelopment costings are as follows:

“The Development Study was fully funded by the Marguerite McBey Trust. Gareth Hoskins Architects provided an options appraisal in 2010 outlining 5 schemes ranging in scale and costs from £15.7m to £24.3m [2010 prices].”

TIF plus matched funding from the SHLF would only account for £8 million of the total sum required. The conclusion that “the City will still have a state of the art asset for future generations to enjoy, as a result of the TIF mechanism” is false and incompetent.

The TIF business case is misleading about funding from the private sector:

On page 11 there is a statement concerning private funding for the City Garden Project:

“This includes £55 million that has already been pledged to the City Garden Project by private donors and a further £15 million to be raised”.

It is also mentioned that Aberdeen Council are confident that the extra £15 million can be found even though that this has been an unfulfilled aspiration for the last two years. Although the full £70 million has not been pledged, this figure has been assumed as valid for the rest of the report.

By page 42 this has become “funding identified from existing sources: £70 million.” This is incorrect, only £55 million has been identified.

On page 89 the conclusion states:

“The estimated total cost of the assets and enabling infrastructure for the TIF Scheme is £182 million.

“Pledged donations towards the City Garden Project of £70 million and potential grants for the City Art Gallery of £20 million creates a public sector investment requirement of £92 million, or marginally over 50% of the total cost, which will be borrowed by ACC as part of the proposed TIF Scheme.”

This conclusion is incompetent. The sums are wrong. A consequence of this blunder is that Aberdeen Council may be required to borrow more than £92 million to ensure that the ‘city centre regeneration project’ is enabled.

An overlooked detail of critical importance to the business case:

The report quotes extensively from the conditions voted through at the January 25th Council meeting. However, I have failed to find the following information mentioned.

From the report to Council of 25th January and voted through:

“Instructs officers to enter into negotiations with a view to putting in place a development agreement with Aberdeen City Garden Trust (ACGT) and/or their representatives, which sets out the terms upon which Aberdeen City Council (ACC) would be prepared to make necessary Council owned land available, to realise the proposed development described in Appendix 1 of this report after 1st March subject to;

“(x) Requires ACGT to confirm, in a legally binding form, that they have access to at least £70 million of private sector funds to invest in the CGP, prior to the signing of;

“a. An appropriate Development Agreement, and

“b. A TIF agreement confirming ACC’s ability to invest at least £70 million in enabling infrastructure related to the CGP. “

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=18252

In other words, councillors have already decided that if the extra £15 million of private investment is not guaranteed, they are not going to apply for TIF funding. This should have been stated in the business case.

Flawed data:

Part of the justification for the City Garden Project is based on a questionnaire that was sent out to two selected groups in Aberdeen. This covers several pages of the report. One ‘cohort’ was a small group of 35 developers, landowners and agents in the City Centre area; the second comprised

“four hundred local private, public and third-sector organisations, representing a wide range of views.”

They got no replies from the first group (“a small response”), and later tried to phone them to get any views at all. Eventually seven people replied and several pages of analysis ensues in the report based on the comments of only seven individuals. There was a bit more interest from the second group, a group that included me.

I found that the questions were framed in such a way that it was virtually impossible to register any negative opinions about the City Garden Project. By dint of answering almost all the questions you ended up agreeing that the project was worthwhile.

This is typical:

“Considering each of the development schemes, which of the following benefits do you envisage they might deliver to the wider Aberdeen City economy?”

There is a clear intentional bias to the questionnaire that looks designed to elicit positive statements in favour of the City Garden Project. My opinion is that this is propaganda not data, and it should have no place in what should have been a dispassionate report informing councillors regarding the decision they have to make about the TIF business case.

Inappropriate input from the Aberdeen City Garden Trust:

The bottom line of the business case is that the City Garden Project will “will act as a catalyst for regeneration and economic growth” in Aberdeen and gives “The potential to unlock significant private sector investment and generate up to 8121 jobs and an average of £142.0 million per annum of economic growth over 25 years.”

The business justification is that take up of commercial space in two large business parks being built in the north of the city will be significantly under-subscribed unless the City Garden Project is built. An additional assumption concerns extra business activity in the city centre.

There is no discussion concerning how these assumptions have been made, yet this is the crux of the business case. We are being asked to trust that these assumptions are valid without any cogent analysis provided.

Yet, trust is a major issue concerning these assumptions. On page 74 under the section “ASSESSMENT OF NEW DEVELOPMENT AND BUSINESS RATES UPLIFT” we read that:

“In undertaking this assessment of development uplift ACC has received specialist research support from property advisors CB Richard Ellis as well as input from ACGT and PwC.”

(ACGT –Aberdeen City Garden Trust, PwC – Price Waterhouse Coopers, CBRE – CB Richard Ellis)

The relationship between CB Richard Ellis, PwC and the Aberdeen City Garden Trust is made clear on page 52:

“ACC, with support from ACGT Enterprises and their advisers (PwC and CBRE)”

Thus it appears that major input has been provided to the critical argument in the business case by Aberdeen City Garden Trust and their advisors. A private company seeking to take over a lease and operatorship of council property, has been allowed to dictate input to a report recommending that Aberdeen Council borrow £92 million for a project in which the company has a direct interest. This is entirely inappropriate.

The Aberdeen City Garden Trust has a clear interest in a positive outcome for the City Garden Project. They and their advisors should not have been allowed to have input into this report.

Conclusion:

Aberdeen Council operates at both a corporate and political level. Politicians make policy while key council officials provide a detailed examination of the background that commonly informs the decision making process.

In this regard, it is important that council officials provide a rigorous and dispassionate analysis, with any recommendations based on logic and a clear basis for the arguments that have been set out to justify these recommendations. In the report detailing the business case for the City Garden Project and other ancillary schemes, they have failed abysmally.

The most recent version of the business case is a travesty of synthesis and thesis. Rather than setting out a well argued case leading from careful marshalling of data towards a conclusion, the report appears to proceed from conclusion (the City Garden Project is a good thing) via a constructed narrative that includes mistakes, flawed data and wishful thinking.

Given that a consequence of this report is that Aberdeen Council could end up borrowing £92 million on the basis of ‘economic regeneration’, this may result in major reputational and financial damage for the council. The vote to approve submitting the business case to the Scottish Government is likely to take place in August this year.

The outcome I would like to see:

The TIF business case should be withdrawn immediately as incompetent and unfit for purpose.

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House Of Annie Lennox To Open In Aberdeen

Aberdeen City, Events, Featured, News No Responses »

Jul 052012

Following a successful showing at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, Aberdeen Art Gallery is pleased to host ‘The House of Annie Lennox’, opening 7 July.

The House of Annie Lennox pays tribute to the creativity, style and passion for life of the Aberdeen-born artist.

This touring exhibition from the V&A features costumes and accessories worn by Lennox together with photographs, personal treasures and awards, ephemera from the political campaigns she has championed, music videos and a specially commissioned video of Lennox in conversation.

There will be exclusive new content curated by Annie Lennox in partnership with gallery staff including memorabilia from her musical beginnings in the city, family photographs and a piece specially written by her for the exhibition.

Annie Lennox said:

“I’m delighted to be presenting The House of Annie Lennox in Aberdeen. I used to regularly visit the gallery as a teenager, and found it to be a place of beauty and inspiration. It feels like coming full circle to be actually holding an exhibition here myself, over forty years later.

“I very much hope that people get a better sense of my life as an artist and communicator, and can derive a similar sense of inspiration that I enjoyed from my visits there.”

Christine Rew, Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums manager added:

“We are delighted to host the only Scottish presentation of The House of Annie Lennox. Growing up in the city Annie was a frequent visitor to the art gallery, and we are delighted that she has lent additional material for the Aberdeen showing. The exhibition illustrates her vitality and passion for life.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the gallery and our visitors to pay tribute to her amazing career as singer, songwriter and campaigner, who has transformed the status of a generation of female performers.”

The exhibition is open until Saturday 29 September 2012.

Image credit: ©Mike Owen

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Tales Of Wartime Trawler Inspires New Exhibition

Aberdeen City, Featured, News No Responses »

May 242012

An innovative and inspiring exhibition will open this weekend [Saturday 26 May] at Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Shiprow. WAVE/ING by artist Jini Rawlings, is inspired by the journals of an Aberdeen trawler skipper written during World War II. With thanks to Julie Aitken-Brown.

WAVE/ING is an exhibition of films created by artist Jini Rawlings around the Icelandic coast and countryside and inspired by a diary written by Aberdeen trawler skipper Alfred Craig onboard HMS Van Oost, who described his trips to Iceland as part of a convoy escort service from November 1940 to March 1941.

These journals are part of the museum’s collections and will be on display alongside Jini’s artistic interpretation.

This new video and mixed media art installation explores themes of journey and thresholds. Shot on location in Iceland, the journeys are linked by location and personal witness but separated by time, class and gender.

Jini was also motivated by the journals of lone female traveller, Elizabeth Jane Oswald, who explored Iceland in the 19th century.

The exhibition features constantly changing images and text that explore the experience of a visitor to a location and the gesture of the wave; whether it is welcoming or bidding farewell.

Aberdeen Maritime Museum curator [maritime history] Meredith Greiling said:

“We are delighted to host this new work by Jini Rawlings, based in part on the museum’s collections. These installations are distributed throughout different spaces in the museum and create unexpected encounters for visitors. It is an excellent way of interpreting the collections and using them to inspire visitors and encourage them to think in broader terms about the people and stories represented by objects.”

Artist Jini Rawlings added:

“As well as providing the original inspiration for WAVE/ING the Maritime museum provides a powerful location for this exhibition. I am fascinated by the museum as a ‘container’ of memories. Much of my work has been inspired by uncovering and re-interpreting often hidden texts and Alfred Craig’s log provided an especially rich source.”

The exhibition runs until Saturday 01 September 2012. Admission free.

WAVE/ING is supported by Arts Council England.

Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Shiprow, Aberdeen, AB11 5BY
Tel: 01224 337700
Fax: 01224 213066
Opening Times:
Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm
Sunday 12noon – 3pm
CLOSED Monday

Ewan McIlwham – An Appreciation

Creative Writing, Featured, Satire and Humour No Responses »

May 242012

A major retrospective exhibition of the work of Scottish painter Ewan McIlwham opened at the Podgers Hall in Pumpherston last week. Special Correspondent for Arts and Culture Gubby Plenderleith reports

McIlwham, a recluse who has led a solitary and ascetic existence on the West Coast island of Gin for the last twenty years, has been an enigmatic and controversial element in the chemistry of contemporary art since he first launched his Woman Eating a Tattie Scone on an unsuspecting public in 1932.

The model for this revolutionary piece was his muse, the legendary Senga, who featured strongly, both descriptively and metaphorically, in his early work.

Senga was a seventeen-year-old factory girl when McIlwham was first entranced by her elfin-like beauty and asked her to sit for him. But the artist/model relationship, at least as far as McIlwham was concerned, was soon to metamorphose into an all-consuming passion which knew no bounds.

It was therefore a shattering blow to the painter when in 1934 he learned of Senga’s elopement and subsequent marriage to the critic Edwin Cohen.

Indeed, so traumatised was he by the news that McIlwham, in a fit of emotional instability, attempted to cut off his right ear. In the blindness of his excited mental agitation however, he was successful only in severing a tendon in his right hand.

Fate nevertheless plays strange tricks, and it was this seemingly tragic episode which forced McIlwham to choose between forsaking his beloved painting and returning to his job with Customs and Excise, and facing the painstaking and gruelling exercise of teaching himself to paint with his left hand. McIlwham chose the latter.

It was this turn in his own personal tide, this caprice of Providence, which set him on the life-long quest which was, in time, to afford him the accolade of attaining the ultimate artistic achievement – of discovering the symbolic silver sixpence in the metaphorical dumpling.

From the point in time when McIlwham ‘changed hands’, he forged ahead using his new style: those tremulous, almost tentative, lines which he used in the execution of his craft and which were to become his trademark, the unique stamp of the master.

McIlwham’s strong attachment to Joey was a substitute for his erstwhile infatuation with Senga

His technique, to my mind, was never better than in Still Life with Budgie which he completed in 1936, two years after Senga’s elopement. He did not publicly exhibit it until 1939, by which time his significance, some say notoriety, as a major aesthetic visionary was widely acclaimed.

This painting, in which the elongated cubist form of the central subject is dramatically juxtaposed against the crude monochromatic linear background which is ambiguous while retaining perceptive lucidity and a solidity of definition which permeates tenuousness, remains my own personal favourite.

Indeed, I have yet to encounter a more overwhelming tour de force than the ingenious placing of the cold fish supper in the bottom left hand corner of the canvas. It is a master stroke which surreptitiously harmonises with, while creating a surreal counterpoint to, the budgie.

His subject was, of course, his beloved Joey, McIlwham’s constant companion from 1935 until the bird’s demise in 1947.

Many people have postulated that McIlwham’s strong attachment to Joey was a substitute for his erstwhile infatuation with Senga. Indeed, Michael A. Buenoroti in his Life of a Recalcitrant Genius makes much of the surrogation theory and takes the further step of suggesting that the characters of Senga and Joey are empathetic to his right and left hands, such a parallel being perceived as a powerful driving force for physical and emotional survival.

Others, notably Hew Janus, have produced convincing documentary evidence which adds credence to the suggestion that Joey was originally owned by McIlwham’s mother and was given into his unwilling care at the time of his mother’s committal to a mental institution in 1935. Some observers have also noted the irony of McIlwham’s own committal only two weeks after Joey’s death in 1947.

But, for whatever reason, the McIlwham/Joey cohabitation was instrumental in the production of some of our finest works of contemporary art. Any analysis of the phenomenon neither enhances nor detracts from the resultant work. As McIlwham himself once remarked when questioned on the subject,

“Wid yis count the beads o’ sweat on a jiner’s broo tae see if the table he wis makin’ wis auny gid?”

Time and space, alas, preclude a deeper examination of the life and work of Ewan McIlwham – the course of his life, from customs officer to painter; from unrequited lover to left-handed bird fancier, from his living nightmare in a mental institution to his relative obscurity in a boarding house in Largs, before his eventual, lonely, retreat to the island of Gin.

Alas, too, we must forgo an in-depth catalogue of his work; his Budgie at Bay, the startling Rape of the Budgie Woman, his poignant When Did You Last See Your Budgie, the emotive Laughing Budgie and even his series of lithographs depicting Trill packets.

What better postscript then, than the sentiment expressed by McIlwham himself on his recent, rare, public appearance at the opening of his current exhibition:

“Whaur’s yir Pablo Picasso noo, then?”

Yes, where indeed?

Old Susannah No.76: Election Reflection – A Scream

Aberdeen City, Satire and Humour No Responses »

May 112012

Tally Ho and Long Live the Revolution! Dong Dong…! Things genuinely seem a bit more vibrant, dynamic and forward-looking since the elections. Labour have a majority and the LibDems got the ballot-box cull they had asked for. By Suzanne Kelly.

No I didn’t get in – but I couldn’t have been much happier with the results, although we have one more Malone than I’d hoped for. The candidate list I’d recommended got hundreds of hits in the run-up to polling day, and the results came out pretty much as I’d wanted for the deer, for UTG and for basic transparency in government.

Running was quite an experience and so was the count. There were tired and emotional councillors and would-be councillors, some of who looked as if they’d been to the BrewDog AGM (held at the arena the Saturday before), and hadn’t been home yet.

Frenzied minions ran from computer screen to computer screen for glimpses of spoilt ballots and early result indicators. The most softly-spoken man I’d ever heard was tasked with whispering the results out to the candidates before the official announcement.

I had as much chance of winning Torry/Ferryhill as I did of winning the Grand National, but I was very very touched to have been the first choice for some 91 people. Thank you.

A diminutive rabbit-faced woman in an eye-wateringly lurid, mustard-coloured jacket was looking tired/confused/fearful, a bit like the 22 deer which she’d ordered destroyed on Tullos Hill. (What was with that jacket? Did she have a job as a theatre usher to go to after the count? Was she wearing it for a bet? Was it some new high viz outfit?)

I almost felt sorry for her as the members of her little herd were culled one by one by the voters and each loss was reflected in her doe-like eyes. But I wasn’t.

Speaking of culls, newspapers accuse the Government and landowners of secretly planning a beaver cull in the Scottish countryside (what’s left of it). Surely the transparent, non-political, scientific body that is Scottish Natural Heritage would not help secretly destroy wildlife? Must be a mistake.

In some parts of Tayside beavers were reintroduced, and others escaped into the wild and have bred for generations, and are now wild as well. Still, some clever clipboard-holder somewhere is thinking about taking some of them back from the wild now or culling them (beavers build dams you see – something the SNH could not have anticipated). SNH – Where would nature be without it?

If you are interested in beavers about to be persecuted by some ambitious SNH pencil-pusher, contact Louise Ramsay of the Scottish Wild Beaver Group.

Elsewhere in the news Eduard Munch’s famous painting ‘The Scream’ sold for £120 million. For only £20 million more you could destroy a Victorian garden and get a granite web, if you’re interested.

I was struck by how closely it resembled some of the ex-councillors at the count, and a few of the hopefuls when they learnt they didn’t get in this time. It is also quite a futuristic painting – it looks to me like a terrified person running away from a giant granite web.

The Cults, Bieldside, Miltimber online newspaper is a simple, straightforward, informative means by which area residents keep up on the latest news. It became however, the point of attack for Stewart Milne’s legal rottweilers. Why you may ask?

This little newsletter had repeated the (widely-circulated) rumour that Stewart Milne and family were going to depart their big house on the hill and have it turned into a hotel. The ordinary Tom, Dick or Stewart might simply have dropped an email to the editor to say the rumour wasn’t true, but not Stewart Milne. Nothing short of legal representatives contacting the newsletter would do – it was SERIOUS you see.

Munch’s ‘The Scream’ also resembles the area residents’ faces when they learned Milne wasn’t leaving. Allegedly. I’d best not mention the rumours around the ‘heated driveway’ or the destruction of a listed home for Milne’s ‘eco-friendly’ house, or I’ll have the lawyers onto me, too – so I won’t. And as far as any stories about liquidity problems, well, you won’t hear about them from me.

But at this rate there won’t be time for any definitions, so here we go.

Spoilt Ballot: (noun) Eng. 1. Voting slip or card which has been defaced or incorrectly marked so as to make it void. 2. Voting slip or card which has been marked to elect a Liberal Democrat.

Well, possibly one of the best laughs of the count was watching computer screens which displayed the spoilt ballot papers. The voting system might be less than simple in terms of tactics and strategy, but in the end all you had to do was put a number one for your first choice, a number two for your second choice and so on – for as many or as few candidates as you wanted. Simples.

The spoilt papers made everyone laugh. There was someone who’d written their life story on their slip, and another person livened the proceedings up with little smiley faces. Unbelievably, neither slip could be counted.

Then we had someone who wrote number 12 next to each of the ten candidates in their ward. Perhaps it was a good attempt at sarcasm; I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Far more sarcastic was the person who chose only one candidate, and gave them a number 26 (out of 14). Other people had four or five choices to be their second choice.

Others used ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs instead of numbers, and some people just could not keep inside those pesky square boxes. Just for the record, the referendum voting instructions did not say anything at all about not making stray marks on the voting form, but the election did. Hmmm.

Fix: (slang, English verb) to alter a genuine election or vote result

I am outraged! Horrorstruck! Shocked! That a blatant fix could have happened in this country, perpetrated by a special interest group to further their own ends. The BBC confirmed it today, and it is now time to take action.

Yes, Spanish drinks giant Diageo fixed the results of the British Institute of Innkeepers award for the ‘Bar Operator of the Year’. This award had been voted to go to BrewDog (and quite rightly so) – but Diageo put the frighteners on the competition organisers, threatening to pull future sponsorship. This is apparently neither a threat nor intimidation nor even sour grapes according to Diageo, who are calling it a “serious misjudgement” on their part.

If you are out there James, Martin and all of the BrewDog crew, award or no, you are assuredly the Best Operator of the Millennium.

The AGM BrewDog held probably made more money than some football clubs or newspapers made all year. On the day, sales of rare, premium top quality beer was sold as fast as could be managed to eagerly queuing crowds; hundreds of cases of beer were sold.

The shareholder meeting was refreshing on several levels – the presentations were riveting, and the premium products we tasted during the meeting were some of the best beers I’ll ever have. It was Beer Heaven on earth. It was international. It was emotional. It was tasty. It was an AGM, but not as we know it.

As to Diageo, well I’d not forgotten how they decided to slaughter the deer which lived on a site they acquired (wholly unnecessary, but as usual, sanctioned by SNH dogma). Coupled with trying to wrest an award away from BrewDog, war has been declared as far as I’m concerned. I’d list all of their products, but that would take ages. Suffice it to say that Diageo brands are off my shopping list forever.

Loss of Office: (English phrase) – to find oneself without employment.

Pity those who had found suitable employment, only to have it taken from them suddenly, abruptly, and with no guidance on a future job or career, leaving them with financial worry, self esteem issues, loss of social contact and insecurity. It is not fair to make people suffer like that.

So my heartfelt sympathies to those of you who suffered in the 2008 budget cuts which saw beneficial programmes such as ‘Can Do Aberdeen’ cut and its employees cut off without a lifeline. (And sympathy also those people who needed and/or worked for many services for the elderly, people with special needs and so on who lost out when a past administration decided to cut you out).

They say that in the end time redresses balance, and what comes around goes around. Perhaps something like just desserts will be served sometime soon.

But I am out of time and space for now. Next week: Summertime special.

Bobby Niven Presents ISLAND: Peacock From May 25

Aberdeen City, Events, Featured No Responses »

May 112012

Bobby Niven presents ISLAND, an exhibition using film, sculpture and found objects to explore the history and architecture of Inchgarvie, an uninhabited island located under the Forth Rail Bridge. With thanks to Peacock marketing manager Kylie Roux.

ISLAND is based around the strange architectural history of Inchgarvie whose now uninhabited ruins tell of past lives as a castle, a prison, a quarantine and a foundry and accommodation for workers who built the Forth Rail Bridge under whose shadow it sits. Like the Inchgarvie ruins themselves ISLAND comprises distinct but related parts: the film, the grey room of concrete sculptures and the orange room of objects and artefacts.

Shot on location the film evolves around a room full of sculpted birds and a lone inhabitant. There is a seemingly playful and humorous visual language to Niven’s film as the character prances and cavorts across his island but this quirky abandon is misleading.

Despite the humour a dark undercurrent runs through. Framed shots of sinister sculpted birds, contaminating deposits of guano, the lapping water, flotsam and jetsam and a manic trumpeted soundtrack all contribute to a feeling of suspense and isolation. (The suggestion that our island fellow is perhaps quarantined, the result of a modern day pandemic, alludes to the island’s history as a place of seclusion for syphilis and plague victims.)

The colonies of sea birds that occupy the island and their vast deposits of guano were the inspiration for the sculpted birds perched inside the concrete dingy rooms of the ruins that feature in the film. Niven further references and repeats these motifs by creating large-scale concrete abstract forms that take over the gallery in all their monochromatic splendour, paying tribute to the island’s concrete structures.

Continuing the narrative and landscape of the film found objects and artefacts that relate to the island, the structural forms of the bridge and the activity of the fictitious character are displayed with museum reverence inside an orange fluorescent box in the reception gallery.

About the artist:

Bobby Niven was born in Fife in 1981 and is currently based in Glasgow. He holds a 1st class honours degree in Fine Art from Glasgow School of Art and a masters degree from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Niven has exhibited both in the UK and internationally. Exhibitions include: Sierra Metro, Edinburgh; Lowsalt Gallery, Glasgow and CSA Space, Vancouver; The Royal Standard, Liverpool; Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art (2010); TBC Gallery Melbourne; and Peterfabers Gallery, Copenhagen.

Preview night Friday 25 May, 6 – 8pm, all welcome!
Exhibition runs 26 May – 7 July 2012

Other Exhibitions And Events

BIG JESSIE // Donald Urquhart
The Brunswick Hotel, Merchant City, Glasgow
http://www.peacockvisualarts.com/events/373/big-jessie-donald-urquhart
exhibition runs until 27 May 2012

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
At PVA throughout 2012
http://www.peacockvisualarts.com/get-creative/courses-classes
call 01224 639539 for more info & to book

http://www.peacockvisualarts.com/

North East Open Studios 2012: Space For Artists

Aberdeenshire, Events, Featured No Responses »

May 032012

With thanks to Claire McBain.

Entries for North East Open Studios (NEOS) 2012 may have been declared closed but VSA, the UK’s largest city social care charity supporting people in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, has announced it still has space to accommodate further artists and creators at its annual NEOS event at Easter Anguston Farm, Peterculter.

NEOS is an award-winning, not-for-profit collective of artists, makers and galleries in the North East who open their doors to the public each September. VSA’s Easter Anguston Farm has been a venue for the last four years.

Belinda Rowlands, farm manager at VSA’s Easter Anguston Farm, said:

“We are so excited to be a NEOS venue again. It gets better and better every year. We’ve already attracted some great local talent for 2012 and, as usual, we’ll be celebrating the creativity of VSA service users, displaying artwork from Easter Anguston Farm trainees and Friends for Life clubs’ children with additional support needs.”

“However, there’s still space for many more to join us, whether old, young, a dab-hand or a newbie. It’s an ideal occasion for artists in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to present work to a captive audience and support the local community at the same time. Our space is most suited to sculptors, ceramicists, land artists and other outdoor exhibitors but there is very limited indoor space remaining too.”

“We’re also keen for students and other groups to consider working collectively on a NEOS project. For the last few years, we’ve been lucky enough to be home to the Knit Wits, a group of knitters led by VSA Trustee Rosy Wood, who come together for NEOS each September. The knitters covered the farm in multi-coloured woollen sheep last year and have already organised their 2012 designs. They’ve gone for a topical animal theme but to find out more, you’ll have to visit in September!”

Well-known local artist Alex Kay has been heavily involved with NEOS at Easter Anguston Farm over the past four years. She said:

The Peterculter-based attraction, comprised of a 70-acre working farm and 20-acres of woodland, nurtures adults with learning difficulties. It provides meaningful work and training, in social skills as well as horticulture, aiming to eventually ensure trainees are confident about entering the potentially intimidating mainstream job market.
The farm is open to the public and has a coffee shop, education centre, farm shop and garden centre where the trainees sell their homegrown fruit, vegetables and plants.

To find out more or get an application form for exhibiting at NEOS at Easter Anguston Farm, contact Claire McBain, fundraising officer, on 01224 358611 or e-mail Claire.mcbain@vsa.org.uk

More information about VSA:

VSA is the UK’s largest city social care charity, providing the best of care to the most vulnerable people in the community. VSA, established more than 140 years ago, looks after around 5,000 people in Aberdeen City and Shire each year.
Its work falls into three main categories: education and lifelong learning, older people services and social care and wellbeing, incorporating carers’ services. These services help children and families to build better futures, older people to lead more independent, dignified and fulfilling lives, adults with disabilities and mental health problems to get the most from life, and both adult and child carers to juggle everyday life with caring responsibilities.
The fact that 96p in every £1 donated goes on direct charitable expenditure really sets VSA apart from other not-for-profit organisations. Money raised in the north-east stays in the north-east. VSA encourages supporters visiting its services to see exactly how their money might be, or hopefully has been, spent.
For further information about VSA and its work in the local community, visit www.vsa.org.uk

FoUTG Chair Addesses Council Re. Referendum Report

Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Environment, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Apr 062012

A report on the UTG referendum was discussed at a meeting of full council on Wednesday with a view to it being approved before being sent to the Scottish Government. Friends of Union Terrace Gardens chairman Mike Shepherd was permitted to give a deputation. Aberden voice presents Mike’s deputation in full.

“I was allowed to give a deputation here in January when I said that the FoUTG would agree to take part in a referendum if it was fair.

We agreed to the referendum in spite of the shameful behaviour of this council in ignoring the result of the public consultation two years ago. We agreed for two reasons.

First, we saw the CGP as a juggernaut pushed through relentlessly by business and a friendly council. There were only two options to stop this; either through the referendum or legal action. We chose the referendum.

Secondly, we chose this route through public spirit. We were only too aware of the poisonous attitudes building on both sides of the issue. Aberdeen was at war with itself. A fair referendum was the only way of killing this beast.

I also told the council that the referendum would have to be fair because implicit in taking part was that we accepted the final result, whatever it was. This was said in good faith.

THIS WAS NOT A FAIR REFERENDUM!

We do not accept the result. The process was flawed. Internet and phone voting should not have been allowed as without signatures, this was open to fraud. The Green party have also asked me to complain about their shortened message in the information pack that was sent out.

The City Garden Project supporters were allowed to spend tens of thousands of pounds on PR, newspapers, leaflets and radio ads. This money spent on advertising bought a marginal result for the referendum.

The ads were often misleading and in some instances blatantly so. We were told of a bogus £182M investment, consisting of a bogus £15M of private investment and a bogus £20M Art Gallery grant which didn’t exist. One misleading ad is under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority.

This council also misled the public. The claim that a new park could create 6,500 jobs was utterly ludicrous. They did not explain the risks of borrowing through TIF properly, even when Audit Scotland expressed their concerns about the long term implications for the Council’s finances.

You are £618M in debt, you cannot afford the risk on further borrowing.

The council were partial to one side of the referendum. The ACGT were allowed to show a video in the Art Gallery, council property, yet we were excluded until after several days of complaint on the matter.

This was a dishonest referendum. The public were misled right up the City Garden path. The council should vote to ignore the result. Furthermore, this report should not be passed onto the Scottish Government as suggested. The proposal to spend valuable investment and infrastructure money on something as trivial as a new park is a disgrace.

We do not accept the result of the referendum and we intend to carry on campaigning to save Union Terrace Gardens. Thank you.”

Evening Express report here. http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx

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