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.
“I’m 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 people’s 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.
Tag: Visual Art
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.
Artists taking part in the exhibition:
Emily Cooper
Sebastian Summers
Hayley Watson
Rhiannon Dewar
Jade Walters
Victoria Blackaby
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.
Not To Be Sold Separately
From Emily Cooper
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.
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.
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.
“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.
The Custodians Have Arrived
Mike Inglis pasted up his Devotional Shrines around the medieval centre of Dumfries today – these are based on real people Mike has met in the area, all of whom are concerned with protecting the spirit of Dumfries for future generations.
Something Special This Way Comes
Lisa Gallacher is an artist from Dumfries who has worked all over the UK and Europe since graduating from the Glasgow School of Art with an MFA in 2003. Since April, Lisa has been working on a project called TDRM: Dumfries, which has involved detailed research and making articles of bespoke clothing for ten local folk.
Lisa Gallacher – Queensberry Street Fabric
This has been a truly ambitious undertaking, with Lisa first designing and printing her own fabrics before turning them into new garments. This was the scene at the artist’s temporary studio in The Stove in the centre of Dumfries today:
We’d urge anyone with an interest in the arts and seeing an artist working at the top of their game to come along to the public event marking the project. NB: The garments will not be on show like this again… this is a once-only opportunity.
COME TO GREYFRIARS CHURCH, DUMFRIES… 7 pm on Wednesday, 7th November… FREE (and a glass of wine to boot)