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Blueprint100 Go to Edinburgh

From Emily Cooper – portraiture artist and blueprint100 Intern

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Earlier this month a group of intrepid Blueprint Members undertook an expedition to the frozen rain-soaked streets of Edinburgh in search of inspiration. Following an excited minibus journey we arrived at our first destination.

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Jupiter Art Land, a few miles outside of Edinburgh, hosts a vast array of large scale art pieces and indoor gallery exhibitions the first of which was the colourful and charming work Myth Cart by Hayley Tompkins, whose work did it’s best to brighten our spirits with its vivid display.

Soon though it was time to brave the weather and explore the grounds. We came across works from classical style structures such as Ian Hamilton Finley’s Temple of Apollo and Xth Muse, to the psychedelic Love Bomb by Marc Quinn.

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Particular favourites of the group were Weeping Girls by Laura Ford and Landscape with Gun and Tree by Cornelia Parker.

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Another thought provoking installation was In Memory by Nathan Coley a piece in which tall concrete walls surround a replica graveyard of apparently reclaimed gravestones.

All in all, despite the less than ideal weather conditions Jupiter Art Land proved to be a valuable and inspirational experience and certainly got our creative juices flowing and after something to warm us through in the onsite café it was time to head into Edinburgh and find our home for the night. The world’s first shipping container hotel! Some were excited…others were not.

As we pulled up into a slightly worse for wear, overgrown car park and were faced with the drab, grey corrugated iron walls, hearts began to sink and trepidation became rampant, however after hesitantly pushing open the gates, relief reigned supreme and what followed was a great night’s sleep in a warms comfy beds surrounded by friendly, colourful people. Our only regret was that we only had one night to stay.

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The following day began (somewhat late, after some difficulty navigating through the excessive crowds of fringe-time Edinburgh) with a trip to the pop up Arts Festival Hub to view the exhibition Platform followed by a guided tour of some other points off interest as part of the festival including the fountain of youth, created with the help of local school children!

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The rest if the day was free time to spend in whichever culturally education way we saw fit, for some that meant visiting the National Museum and exploring the various exhibits on offer whilst one group visited the National Portrait Gallery and experienced an impressive collection of self-portraits ranging from Matisse to Rembrandt.

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Art viewed, feet drenched and overpriced coffee consumed to excess, it was time for us to head home. A much quieter bus journey followed, interrupted only by the odd snore from the bus full of sleeping creatives. Thanks for having us Edinburgh, you were great…if a little exhausting!

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News

Kathy Hinde’s Luminous Birds

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Stunning sonic and light installation to visit Dumfries, Dundee and Glasgow from 7 September.
The large-scale work will illuminate lanes and public places in Dumfries, Dundee and Glasgow with an animated flock of origami-style birds suspended overhead in celebration of the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016.

Composer, sonic and visual artist Kathy Hinde will be bringing her stunning sound and light installation Luminous Birds to locations across Scotland this autumn.
As a key event in the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016, the sight and sound spectacular will illuminate public spaces in Dumfries (7 September – 14 November), Dundee (12 September – 19 November) and Glasgow (16 September – 16 November) as hundreds of origami birds flock overhead.
Luminous Birds is designed and hand-crafted by Cryptic Associate artist Kathy Hinde and encourages members of the public – from commuters to day-tripping families to night owls winding their way home – to ‘look up’ and appreciate their day-to-day environment. The innovative design of the mechanical birds (created from paper, plastic and metal) will transform their surroundings using synchronised lighting and spatialised sounds that create the effect of birds flying overhead. The action of many birds, flocking together, is one of nature’s most amazing phenomena – an ultimate act of cooperation, hundreds moving together in harmony.
Im particularly excited about showing Luminous Birds in Scotland during the autumn because many birds will be on their migration passage at that time, with huge flocks of Barnacle Geese resting near Dumfries and Pink Footed Geese further north near Dundee. said Kathy about the work premiering in Scotland. I want to create the effect of birds flying just above peoples heads, through alleys and lanes right in the heart of towns and cities, highlighting some of the many beautiful aspects of bird flight, through light and sound.
Cathie Boyd, Artistic Director of Cryptic said: We are delighted to be able to show the work of Cryptic Associate Artist Kathy Hinde on such a large scale, with Dumfries and Dundee being inspiring firsts for Cryptic. We are developing dynamic relationships with new partners and communities across all three locations and further afield – encouraging everyone to come and experience this mesmerising event.
Especially for Dumfries, The Stove has commissioned musician and composer Stuart Macpherson to create an accompanying sound work and performance artwork, that will pop up during and around Kathy’s Luminous Birds. More information on Stuart’s commission coming soon!
Luminous Birds is a free, non-ticketed event, to be viewed after dark; it opens at The Globe Inn, Dumfries High Street on 7 September, with further flocks appearing at The Howff, Meadowside, Dundee on 12 September and Kingarth Lane next to Govanhill Baths, Glasgow from 16 September. Celebrating its historical design as both a water tank and dovecote, the Mackintosh Tower at Glasgow’s The Lighthouse will also host the birds from 20 September up to 8 January, encouraging visitors to journey upwards through evocative soundscapes before reaching a flock of birds fluttering and chirping in harmony at the top.
The installations will feature an accompanying free workshop programme led by Kathy Hinde, encouraging members of the local community to create their own origami birds. In Dumfries, these workshops will take place as part of Nithraid, The Stove’s annual boat race and river festival on Saturday, 3rd of September.

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News Project Updates

blueprint100: an exhibition

blueprint100, The Stove’s emerging artist group have launched their mission for the Spring, to take over Glasgow! blueprint100: an exhibition, will run every Saturday from 12 noon to 4pm at On The Corner, a great wee venue near the Barras on London Road full of energy and enthusiasm.

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Artists taking part in the exhibition:
Emily Cooper
Sebastian Summers
Hayley Watson
Rhiannon Dewar
Jade Walters
Victoria Blackaby

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There will be a closing event to mark the end of the exhibition, details on this coming soon!

Huge thanks to exhibition co-ordinator Michael Moore, artist support Cate Ross, the emergency install team, and the fabulous guys and gals at On The Corner.

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News

Borderlands II – Journeys to the Ice Age

Borderlands II was a two day conference, including an amazing peat coring at Kirkconnel Flow, organised by Stove member and environmental artist Kate Foster, with delegates arriving from Northumbria and Cumbria, The Borders and D&G, as well as further afield.

The peat coring, led by Dr Lauren Parry, was a time travelling experience back to the Ice Age through the samples of peat and eventually down to boulder clay, six meters down in the depths of the bog.

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The second day was spent in the Stove, including exhibition and talks given by a range of speakers including story teller Malcolm Green, Dave Pritchard on wetlands, and Nadiah Rosli’s focus on Peatlands of South East Asia.

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Image: The corer used for the Peat Coring workshop, accompanied by artwork by Kate Foster
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Making Dumfries – Part 1

Week beginning 28th March sees the Stove welcome the Scottish Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design into our world with a series of events and activity, as the first part of an ongoing project, Making Dumfries. Over the course of the next few months, Making Dumfries will create opportunities to contribute to the development of a new vision for the town centre, with workshops facilitated by leading local designers and cultural groups, of which our events are the starting point of.

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Square Go
Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th of March 10am – 4pm daily
Join the Stove alongside a team of local architects, artists and planners in creating a giant pavement drawing re-imagining the town centre – whatever your interests. How would you like to experience Dumfries in the future? As part of Square Go, the Glasgow Institute of Architects will set up the travelling pavilion, Eolas in the square which will be the HQ for our Square Go project, drop by and get involved.
If you are interesting in participating in the development of this project there are more details available here

Possible Scotland
Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th of March Lateral North’s touring project, Possible Scotland will visit Dumfries as it travels around Scotland in 2016 to support and work with the Square Go project. Join the team for an open workshop on Wednesday, from 2 – 5pm.

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Scottish Scenic Route exhibition
28th March – 8th April
From the 28th of March, the Stove will host the Scottish Scenic Route exhibition, a project exploring the impact and possibility of small architectural interventions along Scotland’s key tourist routes.

Film Premiere
Tuesday 29th March 7pm
The premiere of a specially comissioned film by artist and filmmaker, John Wallace exploring the history and culture of Dumfries High Street. The screening will be accompanied by talks and discussions on the past and future of the High Street. All welcome.

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News Project Updates

Not To Be Sold Separately

From Emily Cooper

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Months of planning, budgeting and most importantly, creating; and the Young Stove were finally ready to burst on to the art scene of Dumfries and Galloway with our debut exhibition. “Not to Be Sold Separately”, our maiden voyage into exhibiting as a collective, embarked on the 3rd of July and was met with a storm of excitement and positive comments.

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As a group of eight young artists, all with contrasting styles and creative visions, coming together to form a cohesive show, seemed a daunting task, however rather than it becoming an obstacle it became one of our greatest assets and resulted in a vibrant, diverse collection of work that reflects us as a group of people.

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Installation day had its own challenges as we had only a matter of hours to transform a beautiful, yet unconventional space with complex lighting and to install all of our work before opening the same night. The learning curve was a steep one as our experience level ranged from exhibition veterans, to those of us (myself included) who had never exhibited publicly, but, remarkably we pulled it off without a hitch! Having complete creative control and being responsible for hanging our own work was an invaluable experience when it comes to exhibiting in the future.

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“Not to Be Sold Separately closes on the 26th of July and travels to Dumfries to be reimagined and reopened at the start of August. With a new space, new pieces and with even more artists added to the line-up, it’s gives us an exciting opportunity to redevelop and build on the success of the exhibitions’ first leg. Mill on the Fleet has been a fantastic opening venue. Transplanting a thoroughly modern, edgy, collection of work into such a historical and characterful building has resulted in a glorious, colourful, discordance, symbolic of the Young Stove.

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