Current Projects

2006 ongoing

GREENHOUSE BRITAIN

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, ecological artists and Professors Emeritus of the University of California at San Diego, by invitation from David Haley of MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University. GREENHOUSE BRITAIN addresses the question "The waters will rise gracefully. Can we withdraw with equal grace?" 

Greenhouse Britain is currently on tour across England including the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Devon; Shrewsbury Museums and Art Galleries, Holden Gallery; Manchester Metropolitan University; Knowle West Media Centre, Bristol; Storey Institute, Lancaster; and elements of the show have been presented at the London Wildlife Conference and at Gunpowder Park.

For info on GREENHOUSE BRITAIN see:

www.greenhousebritain.net

Tour venues and Dates

For info on Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison see greenmuseum.org

For info on DEFRA's Climate Challenge Fund

Writing > Presentation to British Cartographic Society,
       Bright Sparks Seminars (2)

2000 ongoing

On the Edge Research www.ontheedgeresearch.org

On The Edge, directed by Professor Anne Douglas is a practice-led research programme based at Gray's School of Art, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. The second phase includes The Artist as Leader (see below) and the Working in Public seminar series. These are funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Scottish Arts Council, and the Henry Moore Foundation. The first phase of the programme (2001-04) was awarded a large grant by the AHRC (£304,000) and also received support from the Scottish Arts Council and Shell Explo.. 

On The Edge is characterised by close working with artists in new and innovative contexts. In practice the aim has been to understand the specific qualities and challenges of working in areas without the conventional infrastructure of the arts. The first phase of the programme (2001-2004) involved five artists' projects hosted by partner institutions, and a spine of workshops for those involved in the research (academics, artists, administrators, advisors, sponsors and participants). 

Writing > Leaving the (social) ground of (artistic) intervention more fertile

The Artist as Leader (2007 ongoing). Research into the role of the artist in the public realm indicates that artists are uniquely placed to inform and creatively develop public life. In seeking to understand the Nature of Creativity in the public realm, this research focuses on the concept of 'leadership'. It opens up a new trajectory of thinking about leadership that is not predominantly management based, in which the role of artist operating within the public realm is scrutinised for what it can reveal about creativity in general. see Arts and Humanities Research Council

Writing > Leading through Practice
       'When is the artist a creative leader? A provisional framework'

Working in Public Seminars (2007). On the Edge (OTE) and the Scottish Arts Council have developed a seminar programme that aims to develop a new level of thinking in relation to art practices that work within social and cultural spheres of public life. At the heart of the programme is a significant, long term case study: the Oaklands projects, California (1990-2000) developed by Suzanne Lacy. Lacy is internationally renowned as an artist in social contexts. Working with key individuals in the field, the series will focus on the issue of what quality means by connecting the experience of Oaklands to recent work and critical thinking in the field. Transcripts and Essays are available on the Working in Publlic Seminars web site. Fremantle was part of the advisory group supporting the programme.

Inthrow (2002-03), one of the artists' project within the first phase of On The Edge, addressed agricultural change and the development of the village of Lumsden. Renwick is a practice led researcher at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee, and nationally one of the key practitioners developing a post-colonial aesthetic. He has been working with the Tlicho First Nation People in the Canadian Sub Arctic on their Land Claim to the Canadian Government, supporting the articulation of a non-Western understanding of the land and environment. Inthrow has been an opportunity for Renwick to explore his own practice within his own country and to collaborate with a different range of colleagues. INTHROW publication 2006.

Writing > The Dynamics of the Edge

Selected Past Projects

2005

All Talk (Pamela Van Der Brug) www.artabout.org.uk

All Talk was a residency undertaken within the regeneration area of Wallacetoun in Ayr as part of the World Youth Congress. The project involved the artist in working with young people in Wallacetoun to develop a sound installation incorporating the voices of residents of Wallacetoun.

Documents > Publication

2005 ongoing

Lights Camera Action

Lights Camera Action is a programme of creative activity for young people at risk. Developed in collaboration with the South Ayrshire Youth Forum and Community Education, the programme as resulted in the production of three short videos and the development, by the participants, of a script for their own film. South Ayrshire Youth Forum recently received one of only two awards in Scotland from the UK-wide First Lights Young Film makers scheme.

Documents > 3 short videos

2002 - 2003

Making, Finding and Responding to Places (Wendy Gunn)

Dr. Wendy Gunn brought together artists, architects, anthropologists and archaeologists into a structured dialogue through experimental workshops. She worked in partnership with Tim Ingold, one of the foremost anthropologists in the UK today, and Craig Dykers, founder Director of Snøhetta, the Norwegian architectural practice responsible for the new Library at Alexandria. This programme was an element of a major AHRC funded Research Project at the University of DUndee and contributed to an exhibition in The Lighthouse, Glasgow.

Documents > Publication.

2001

Boundaries.  (George Beasley (USA) and Helen Denerley)

This major project involved a performance/ installation utilising a purpose build furnace for casting iron, and resulted in a permanent new work spanning the burn. Boundaries was developed with Professor George Beasley of Georgia State University in Atlanta, USA and Helen Denerley, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire in collaboration. The project involved the whole community of Glen Deskry in the performance, and was broadcast live by satellite to International Sculpture Centre conference, Pittsburgh PA.

Documents > DVD

2001

Japan Festival 2001.  (Hironori Katagiri (Japan))
Residency and Exhibition toured Jock Colville Hall, Churchill College, Cambridge, and Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen.

Documents > Catalogue

2001 ongoing

CairnGorm Mountain: Landscape Initiative.  (Arthur Watson)

International public art project located in the heart of Cairngorm National Park.

Documents > Interview published in Reading the Landscape.

1998

Inverurie Development Strategy (Mary Bourne)

Placement of artist Mary Bourne within urban planning team.  Commissioned new works from Gregg Wagstaff and John Maine.

1996-1999

Bridge Projects

Programme of 4 one month long experimental interdisciplinary residential projects for young artists.  Following the pilot each project had a theme and was led by an invited artist. Home-by-ten (1997) focused on new media in a rural environment and was led by Nina Pope; Owergaeing (1998) focused on inhabitation and was led by Gavin Renwick; Fire in the Land (1999) focused on landscape and was jointly led by Alison Grant and Marion Smith. 

Documents > 3 publications

1997

Scottish Sculpture Open 9 (curated by Prof. Duncan Macmillan)

National exhibition of outdoor sculpture at Kildrummy Castle, Stirling, Argyll and Lanarkshire. 

Documents > Catalogue.

1996 ongoing

Place of Origin  (directed by John Maine with Glen Onwin and Brad Goldberg (USA))

Place of Origin is an artist-led initiative that draws attention to the historic quarry at Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. The team of artists, John Maine, Glen Onwin and Brad Goldberg, have been collaborating on Place of Origin since 1996. Place of Origin recently received a Saltire Award.

Place of Origin involved the construction of a new vantage point at the southern rim of Kemnay Quarry, Aberdeenshire, and the creation of a community woodland, which incorporates features that highlight the use of granite in the landscape. Aggregate Industries, owners of the quarry, have over the period invested perhaps as much as half a million pounds in sponsorship in kind. Chris as well as being project manager raised a quarter of a million pounds to meet other costs. 

Writing > Place of Origin
Leaflet > Hi Res (28mb) > Lo Res (2mb)