http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Project Eigg Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:49:00 +0000 a-n rss generator a-n The Artists Information Company and contributors edit@a-n.co.uk technical@a-n.co.uk http://www.a-n.co.uk/img/logo.gif http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Blogs have the interesting quality of being both intensely personal and exposing and yet also being largely overlooked by the majority of the planet who has access to them. This duality has drawn me back to create my second blog for Artists Talking, the first being the project Gaps in Archaeology posted some time last year. I think it is going to be mainly just a fence post to which I can tack the occasional notice of delight or despair about the project that I am currently creating. I think it would be a suitable way of recording the process even if it is only me that goes back to it in the future.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Firstly I reckon it is important to explain what it is that I do and why I choose to do it that way:I call myself an artist, and mainly I work towards relatively large projects with institutions that I find interesting or places where there is an area of unresolved debate around knowledge or history. I go on site visits, arrange meetings with key people and try to secure their interest and participation(which is often the most difficult part of what I do). Then I tie everything together into a proposal for a place and locate funding for it. So as well as artist I am also my own accountant, researcher, funding officer and personal secretary! It certainly isn't the gallery based route that many of my peers are taking, but I like being in complete control. I also don't have a lot of interest in showing work in a white cube, a place that tries to situate itself out of time and space but which is pretty laden with historical and curatorial baggage. I know dozens of artists who are currently exploring this very thing within their practices. A friend of mine said "You should be trying to build a mystique", and I suppose that by working like this I am subconsciously trying to do a bit of personal myth-making: "That artist who went round repairing broken road signs, then hid out in museum archives and library catalogues, appeared on a remote Scottish Island recently and did some strange performances..." -kind of thing. Though I am not sure what one does with mystique once obtained?Seems to do wonders for the likes of Marcus Coates, Adam Chodzko, and Matthew Barney though...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 So yeah, I started looking into islands. Almost from nowhere I started dreaming about creating a residency on a small island that would examine how islanders relate to their contemporary and historical landscape. I imagined that island communities had a strong sense of identity and connection to their history and culture and I imagined (naively) that most of them would have lived there since the year dot. So I was intrigued to discover the Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Small Isles. An 87 strong population on a 3x5 mile stretch of land with forests, lochs, a plateau, a unique geological rock formation, and a largely immigrant population who had fought and won to own their own island just ten years ago. This recent history defined their identity, and other than two written histories of the island (which is how the tourists see the place) I believed that this is how they defined themselves. But when I began to make contact with islanders and then eventually went on a research trip, it became clear that they we a bit fed up with the disparity between the contemporary history of the buy-out and the complete history of the island. "Yes it was a great achievement, but its been ten years now, perhaps it's time to move on and have something new to celebrate?" I was told in one conversation. Debates were raging about whether or not to encourage a fledgling tourist industry (which is vital for revenue), put up signs (there are almost none), build a museum, encourage immigration and home building. All these elements were creating tensions between the islanders and tourists, and between the islanders themselves, some of which wanted modernization, whilst others wanted to retain their wild idyll.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 I spent a month on Eigg in 2008 talking to Eiggach and recording several interviews as part of preliminary research. I caught the very end of the tourist season and then stayed for a further two weeks at the end of September as the pier café shut up shop for the season, and I continued to go to the Eigg ceilidhs. I was doing all this on the last scraps of an artist fee left over from a previous project, and as I wanted to create something while I was there, just to make it feel like it wasn’t a wasted journey if they eventually said no to me working there. So I spent several days beach combing for colour strips of plastic which I wove into costumes. I found bottles and polyester bedding that I cut to make props and hats, and I used the black bin liners, rope and bed sheets to create outfits. One incredibly misty morning, when I could not see the fields beyond the dry stone walling of the path, I worked my way around vast pitch stone mountain of Ann Sgurr (invisible in the sea mist) to the ghost town of Grulin on the windy south of the island. Here the inhabitants had been driven from the land by the sheep farmers in the 16-18th centuries, and with ten metre visibility I performed a curious Galloshing/Mumming style play for the long-absent inhabitants of Grulin. I wanted to begin creating connections between the contemporary and historical island and performing for the dead seemed like the best place to start. Plus my play deliberately referenced a whole host of folk play traditions, and the characters were cultural stereotypes which linked back to the contemporary island. I had four costumes and a camera on a tripod. I performed my play in four parts and a week later I left the island, having said nothing of the play to any living soul. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 I got back to Glasgow, which was to be my new home, and started to draw together ideas for a project on Eigg. I spoke to representatives from the History Society and the Eigg Trust, who said they thought it was an interesting idea to have an artist in residence, but that they had hated one [not to be mentioned by name] large landscape sculpture that had appeared in the region a couple of years before. I was given a month to put something forward before their next annual meeting, preferably a project that did not "plonk art onto the landscape and ruin the view!". Everyone I had met liked to talk about the debates and their experiences, but few could see them becoming visual art.I was a little nervous about the familiar pattern of support by groups up to a certain level like this, and I truly did not know if they would support me in the long run. I had previously done projects in museums and libraries and more often than not been given the cold shoulder by the institutional hierarchy. Recent No's included the prestigious Bodleian Library and the National Archives at Kew. Both had said yes until it reached the head of the institution who had the final say, which was No. When projects did get the go ahead (such as the Leicester Museums), they were often much reduced from my original proposals and their impacts' minimised by the needs of these institutions. I ended up conducting guerilla exhibitions, book projects on the side, and other ways to get a good project to emerge from the periphery of artistic constrainment. This, you might say, is fair enough. But in terms of aspiration and what I was able to actually make, I had reached a glass ceiling. Even the regional Arts Council in the Midlands would have thought twice about funding me to go back to a museum, knowing that what I could achieve there would be only a marginal step forward without the free reign given to more "experienced" artists, and other such paradoxes.I highlighted several key locations on the island where both tourists and Eiggach got their information from, and developed ideas for interventions and performances that would link them together and explore the debates relevant to islanders. I put in the proposal for Eigg at the end of October 2008... and waited. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 It took until almost March 2009 to get a clear response from the Isle of Eigg, which as it turned out, was a resounding Yes. I was delighted and really excited about getting there and making the work. It turned out that everyone on the island wanted the residency to go a ahead and they really liked my ideas, which was a relief and incredibly reaffirming. The issue had been that no one really wanted to supervise it or take responsibility, which is a common problem in approaching any institutional body. I made arrangements with the head of the History Society that she would be my point of contact and that the Trust secretary would act as liaison if needed. I would be ultimately responsible, and the matter was cleared up within a week. I asked for all of this in writing and (eventually) the residency was given the complete go ahead for six weeks over this summer, 2009. Hurrah! It would give me the complete freedom to undertake the residency in whatever way I wanted.In the mean time I was by no means idle. The performance for the dead, that had somehow burrowed into my mind as "The Battle for Eigg", was developing. I started to create posters to represent the characters from the play as if advertising what audiences had missed, retrospectively. Then I began creating posters for fantastical future re-enactments of the play. One involved each character in the form of hot air balloons, battling each other high over the Isle of Eigg. Then the characters began to change, taking on more of the issues that had arisen in conversation with islanders about tourism, immigration and cultural appropriation, and the costumes changed to reflect this.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 The next hurdle was funding.  Being that we are in a crippling financial downturn and public funding for arts activities ranks somewhere beneath making tourist trinkets for the Olympics, it was clear from the outset that I might be better off self-funding the project with painful office jobs throughout the year. But when even these dried up and I began to feel the pinch acutely on my own food and rent bills, I decided to apply for the support that I deemed necessary and justified, for a project that would have almost limitless potential for both me and the Island. Key players for arts activities in Scotland (for anyone who isn't aware) are: Scottish Arts CouncilHope Scott Trust(and in Glasgow) Glasgow Visual Arts Grants SchemeAll of these are hard fought over. The Scottish Arts Council who gives out the most grants to artists, awards only 10 percent of the money they receive requests for, gulp. So I applied optimistically to all of them, but also I started to look elsewhere. One of the artworks that I wanted to create was an alternative audio walking guide. I imagined hikers listening to recordings of the locals talking about the island, the audio having been altered to draw attention to the subtleties and personal myths used by the islanders to describe their home. This wasn't just art, this wasn't just art about tourism, it was tourism itself! And there are bodies who create funds to encourage the growth of tourism on the islands. What better way to explore the impact of tourism than to create a safe little bubble of the stuff? Eigg is in Invernesshire and the council have just such a bursary. I applied as part of a complicated part funded proposal alongside the arts council etc.  I have also realised over the past five years, that when self-generating projects publicity is the most difficult matter to deal with succinctly. You want coverage, and media interest in order to generate an audience, but you don't want your work to only appear in local papers and on drive-time radio, though both of these are great places to start. You can aim for art journals, but it might also be fun to aim for general interest magazines and television. Or does publicising the event remove much of the mythos of art taking place there? Do newspaper articles simplify the nuances of work for only mildly interested audiences?  Is artwork actually more successful if more people know about? I would hope not, but I have a chance here to reach a very large number or people with a good set of artworks in the making. Anyway, the next challenge I am going to face is publicising an event that will not fit into any clear boxes...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Publicity (six weeks to go until project Eigg begins)With precious little time now to do much more than prepare myself for the residency, I am still interested in having some form of publicity for it, so that art audiences might travel to Eigg during the residency and participate alongside Islanders and tourists. I have got contact details ready for regional BBC and radio, and I have made contact with in flight magazine companies that fly to the highlands.Actually, to be honest it is not really getting people to Eigg I am interested in (there will be an estimated 3,000 tourists during the six week period plus the 70-odd islanders), it is more that I would like to have press coverage of several of the activities. Someone once told me that if you want a performance documented you should call in all your favours, get every cameraman and photographer you know to come and help. I suppose I am stretching this philosophy to the press.Despite all of this publicity talk, I am slightly unsure that it is actually necessary or that valuable to my artistic practice to have this project paraded for the press (even for art magazines). I'm sure that many of you diligent readers who are still following this blog, have wondered the very same thing with your own projects...  Some part of me wonders if it wouldn't be better simply to put out public information leaflets on the island and post them to all of the islanders, and otherwise keep the whole project relatively secretive...? Releasing only the images I am completely happy with further down the line. It is a shame to miss such a good opportunity for international outreach, but if the work isn't even made yet, I may be slitting my own throat. I will focus back on the project itself instead and send images out to the press after the project. It might also be better to create a talk or exhibition in Glasgow following the project's completion and to publicise that instead. That's it decided, I will get back into the studio and focus on preparatory artworks and drawing for the residency, the project will have to develop it's own myth!  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 All is going smoothly but time is running out for preparatory elements for the residency. I know I will feel like a small child at Christmas time when my new digital recorder arrives, but for now I have been chasing the last couple of details from the early funders. The tourism board are debating whether or not a different (and partly european funded) project already taking place with an interpretative element, is too close to what I will be doing with the audio guide idea. I tried to explain that this is not a cultural sciences project, but visual art which is utilising those techniques...we'll see whether this is different enough! They should get back to me any day now. Still waiting on Hope Scott Trust as well, again, should be a reply any day. Scottish Arts Council by the end of the month. I hate the waiting and not knowing! On more cheery notes, I have negotiated to have a whole day of activities with the primary school. But it asks difficult questions for me as I do not want to be seen as an artist that does "kiddy-workshops" or tries to cure social ills with finger painting! But I have undergone a play for the dead, thus now I want to do a play for the youth, the future decision-makers of Eigg. I want them to almost take it on as their own, and have it grow so that perhaps it becomes a new tradition. Tradition-making has long been an interest of mine. So it means working with the kids (still waiting for CRB form from the School so time is short there too!). I will perform a puppet show to illustrate what I would like them to do, make costumes and then document tableaux-style scenes. Really looking forward to this bit. The weather up here is Scotland is so unseasonably glorious that, fingers crossed, it will remain throughout the summer and I can go out walking on Eigg every day that I am there. Must create a strong visible presence or I could risk residents not knowing I was ever there! a few flyers is NEVER enough to have any kind of real involvement or have a group take something on as there own. Yet again I am reliant on many elements of contribution from people I work with, both with people coming forward for interviews, and for them coming to see work installed afterwards. I have created some slick logos to go with each stage of the project and will attach them to public information letters which will hit the island regularly throughout the project. They are artworks in themselves and fully describe the processes I want to undertake. One month to go...  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Technical Hitches and Jubilation I was working towards a set of shadow puppets to be laser cut out of a very thin laminate material, and was very excited about the possible results. I imagined beautiful sharp laser-cut edges on art objects in four colours of shiny laminate, but it seems the CNC routing man had the wrong idea. I was not clear enough on the details such as shadow puppets needing to allow light through them, and some parts being delicate (hence the laser cutting option). Either way, that has come to a dead end, so reluctantly I will be making my own puppets. It's a shame though as I liked the idea that by having them made, they would not connote a hand-crafted artefact from the island, which is now a potential hang-up. I am thinking maybe I'll make them out of really modern materials and stick with really simple silhouettes (as opposed to hand-woven wicker-dolly clichés! If I did that, I wouldn't blame islanders if they decided to lynch me!). On a more jubilant note, both of the two major sponsors- Scottish Arts Council and the Highland Tourism Development Fund have confirmed their financial support! Hurrah! Hurrah! My past 12 months of hard labour will not be in vain! I can now cover my costs, buy the best production materials for the artworks, and even pay myself for the trouble. I am, in case you can't tell, extremely pleased and relieved...3 weeks to go. Bought a mosquito net-hat and a book on foraging. (For anyone still following this blog, you might be interested to know that what I said earlier about the percentages of scottish arts council funding was slightly mean (and they are now my best friends of course); This round they funded almost a fifth of the money requested, but with my £3,000 representing just under 6% of the total amount awarded. That could mean as little as twenty individuals in all of Scotland receiving arts funding this quarter! There really isn't very much to go around...)    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 I have finally finished the retrospective posters for the "Battle for Eigg: part 1" (see attached). This is just one of about eight different colour variants as a reduction print with Linoleum. It depicts the play in Grulin last Septmeber but has taken on the mythological status of a battle in the skies above the island. I am not as pleased with them as I had hoped I would be. The layout is nice and the images are okay, but with so little of the detail coming through I doubt they will ever see the light of day or be exhibited...I had originally wanted to create posters that referenced a combination of three styles: -Those old paintings which contrive an event such as a battle or a massacre. -Fly posters that are poorly printed and get pasted up all over cities. -And lastly, a hand crafted political print, where the maker did not see the event or has contrived it for emphasis.  I suppose that it ticks all these boxes, but is still not that interesting an image in it's own right...don't you hate it when something like that happens? You spend months on something and it is not quite right at the end of all that investment and hard work!  Two weeks to the residency now and I'm getting a bit nervous. It's been so long coming that I have already done it a hundred times in my head, and I'm not sure I can live up to that. The best way to do such things of course is to go and create something new again, and leave all the preconceptions at the pier. But easier said than done.  I'm making the shadow puppets myself now as I said in my last post. I have found a way of stencil spraying them onto transparent material and then cutting around the outline with a bandsaw. It looks great, just like the designs I posted last time. Hopefully they will survive and be nice enough objects to exhibit afterwards in their own right.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 My goodness, my Blog! I have neglected to write for a bit, as I have been busily undertaking the beginning of the residency and with minimal internet access. Now I am back online I'll add a few posts to update you. Also I think it would be appropriate to give a potted history of the island- The 12th June 1997 marked the end of a long and hard fought battle for the tiny island of Eigg in the Scottish inner Hebrides. The earliest clans fought amongst themselves and Eigg’s entire population was twice wiped out entirely (save an old lady who could tell the tale). The English, of course, considered sheep more profitable than the Scotts and ruined many of the Small Isles creating bracken strangled moors, unfit for farming. With the sheep farming came evictions, the new owners using the stones of old tenant housing to build field walls. There were the odd couple of progressive owners at the beginning of the 20th century, but the last pair of these trinket collecting King-for-a-day types took it a step too far. Advertising for new islanders to create a thriving community, followed by insensible and whimsical behavior and constant threats of evictions drove someone (no-one will admit to the crime) to set fire to His-Nib’s antique Bentley Limousine, by the pier. Schellenberg (a name that a decade on still draws a grimace) was shortly afterwards driven away only to be replaced by a more illusive despot; the German artist Maruma. This con-man laid out a set of bizarre development plans, only for it to turn out that he had bought the Isle with money from questionable foreign sources and had passed it through doubtful companies and guises. The Isle and its mixed bag of inhabitants (from England, France and from other parts of Scotland- immigrants of the Schellenbergian era, and numbering only 50) bought their island, in partnership with the Highland Council and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Whether it is true or not that Pavarotti put in a serious bid against the islanders is still a source of hilarity more than certainty. The community that had fought and won now busied itself with becoming self sufficient with its own hydroelectric power, and other Eco accolades. I intend to question the relationships between the preservation of historical and cultural artifacts, and the commodification of these artifacts for tourism. I want to explore how personal and island-wide myths are affected, and if any new ones are created as a result. The recent history defined their identity then, and unsurprisingly they are still largely defined by it today.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592   Almost a year since I first stepped off the Cal-Mac Ferry, I finally returned to Eigg. I’ve spent almost a year proposing, planning, and preparing, and it feels as if I have already done the project a hundred different ways in my imagination. I have, of course, had to make formal statements about my intentions to no less than five different bodies and trusts, but the very essence of a residency (in my mind at least); is the intention to observe one’s surroundings and be influenced by what you see, hear, and imagine whilst assuming the grandiose title of ‘artist in residence’. In other words- you shouldn’t plan too much, you should be responsive and allow a good deal of chance to form outcomes and activities. With this in mind I am not sure how much I can say about activities in advance. As I said though, I have imagined hundreds of possible outcomes, enough that perhaps I will make Eigg the centre of my practice for several years to come. One particular activity that I wanted to take place and has been a part of previous projects; is the interviewing of people involved.I still intend to lead-on from recordings I make with islanders twofold: to guide and influence activities and objects I create; and to form an alternative audio walking guide for future audiences. But it has proven a challenge to get a very private people to offer opinions that they often feel they will later be judged by. The content of the guide so far remains open, and may be quite philosophical or ambient, but the potential is still there for the islanders to contribute personal and island-wide myths and stories, create new ones, or simply have a platform for voices that don’t necessarily speak as one on issues that are important to Eiggach. The pub-mumming-style play that I created the first time I visited Eigg will see a re-enactment in line with the posters created before I arrived. This assimilation of periphery, tangency, and imagination is set to continue with the children of Eigg Primary, when they perform their own re-enactment of the play in the last week of August.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592   It’s been a few weeks now since I landed on shore, and I have settled in very well. The public information letters that I sent out before my arrival are starting to tally-up in the islanders’ minds, with the strange late-twenties gentleman who keeps cycling around the island; saying hello to everyone and asking what they think of the place.There is a strong drinking and dancing culture on Eigg that anyone who has joined the community in the last thirty years has taken on as their own. It’s a great way to meet people and ask them questions. But personally I find it hard to see straight, let alone think straight when I’m nursing my fith red-can; so I’m trying to meet folks in other myriad ways. There is the inter-island games coming up on the 15th (all welcome!) this year hosted on Eigg, and I’ve put my name down to help with the preparations for the Eigg-n-spoon, the sack race, and the tug of war etc. It’s really nice that such things still happen. And ties in well with the pub-mumming play still planned for the 24th. I have long wondered if wider-reaching public art is a reaction to the death of many of these fetes and carnivals at the hands of the dreaded ‘Health n’ Safety’? Feeling positive about intereviews today. I need to get at least another twenty to create a really comprehensive audiowork from them in September. There are lots of people who are saying they will come and chat with me at somepoint after the games, and who don’t seem to need it explaining particularly so all the information I sent is getting through. I get a sense from people that either they’d be happy to to be interviewed, or that they never will! I also realised that I really need to get on with the swap shop this week and next if I want it done in time, and it’s going to be a really tricky piece to pull-off.I am really interested in the cultural influences that have helped to shape the contemporary island, so I am thinking of persuing the re-ordering of the swap shop to represent the place in the world each object was made. There are plenty of items that came from all over Europe from places that you wouldn’t expect, and obviously lots from China, Australia, USA. etc. There is a plastic flute/recorder from Italy, a teasppon rack from North America, plates from all over England and France, plastic wares from Czechoslovakia, and the books are even more ridiculously well travelled; for instance- there are are English language childrens books printed in Budhapest and Tokyo, and a London Guide Book, printed in Singapore!    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 When someone looks at Eigg, perhaps, buys something from the gift shop, they aren’t just buying ‘’a gift from Eigg’‘. They are taking away all of the influences imbued upon that object. This taps-in really well to a chapter I wrote last year for an academic book on ’materiality’ (a PDF is available from www.museumcabinet.com).That London city guide printed in Singapore I mentioned in my last post, or the English language guide to Italy printed in Germany; perfectly represents the way multi-culturalism and globalism shape our perception of ourselves, and affect what we associate with a place. These guide books have become cultural artefacts ‘from Eigg’. Also, I really like the ‘gift’ ideology. The swap shop exists because people don’t want to throw things away- (it’s an Eco sin!). So “A Gift From Eigg” means: please take it away!- but it still exists as a cultural artefact of the island, as much as any tourist paraphenalia (probably more because it was once owned by an islander). I’m working on logo’s that can represent this over the next two weeks between interviews and I might start posting up prototypes as I go. Be good to use this blog as a source of feedback. One thing that is clear about undertaking a residency of this kind, is it never makes the list of options open to me any smaller the longer I am here. Rather than focusing in at this early stage; I feel as if I may be drowned in subtleties, interrelationships, and wholly new choices!   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 I’m over two weeks into a six week residency now, and thankfully the interactions I am having with islanders are becoming more meaningful and productive. I was worried that I might loose momentum and I wondered to what extent I would actually want the islanders’ input to drive the work? Also I was initially worried I might make some faux pas that would get me tarred and feathered. Interestingly I have been talking about just such attitudes as this with several of my peers by phone (when the signal is able to bounce of the clouds at the correct angle/ time of day/ position of the moon or whatever). Is it possible that just such a conflict might produce a more interesting piece of work than something that could otherwise be seen as ‘straight’ or clear cut? I thoroughly enjoyed a presentation by Marcus Coates about a year ago, where he explained how a residency he had undertaken in which he created a large billboard, with a huge poster of himself in character, in the middle of a wood; led the local population to unite in burning it down, “It brought the community together in a beautiful and unusual way” he explained (I paraphrase). I am currently having a little ‘battle of interests’ of my own it seems, though the enemy is unseen, perhaps even entirely in my own head. As you can see by the newly attached image, someone has come along and torn up some of the labelling work I have begun, and keeps removing the sign from the door stating “Sorting. Take what you like but please don’t rearrange the order, Cheers!”. I am imagining some brownie or sprite coming along each evening after I have been sorting in the remote Swap Shop and putting everything back where it was. In all likely-hood it is some overly attendant individual who didn’t get the memo and assumes someone is playing a prank. I find this really entertaining and have gone from feeling disgruntled to actually hoping they will return and do more mischief! The battle continues… ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 I have defined a clearer idea of the work I am undertaking in the swap shop now and I feel it might be good to place it here like a statement of intent: I want to juxtapose the swap shop (with its cultural discards) with ideas of cultural heritage, and a fledgeling tourism industry. The items from the swap shop represent the globalised contemporary islander, whose cultural identity (represented here by their personal possessions) may be influenced by hundreds of other cultures. Hence I am going to re-order the swap-shop to reflect the provenance of these items. This is no museum though, these objects: as ‘swappable’, are positioned to be given away as- “A Gift from Eigg”. And invites a new cultural object in it’s place as donation from the visitor. By ‘branding’ each item with a symbol of the island, whoever takes an item away with them will maintain the association between the object and Eigg (regardless of it’s original provenance). And in many ways these objects away in the world that I have ‘branded’, could be seen as the ongoing artwork. This symbol (or set of symbols) will represent this “gift” idea in the spirit of tourist paraphernalia, thus depicting the island as ‘quaint’ (meaning: attractive yet unusual or old fashioned). These images might come from views and landmarks I come across that meet the criteria, and might include some of my own inventions or mythologising about the place (I have an idea to create a May-pole for sheep, and re-enact the traditional Eigg Guising of which there is no photo record). The essence of the images will be banal but with oddness hidden amongst it and every now and then complete invention. On a separate note- It might also be interesting to create a sign for the swap shop (as it doesn’t have one) explaining how the swap shop works, encouraging visitors to add a sticker to the base of any new items as they become assimilated, and explaining the wider reaching effects of this process towards an ever more multicultural and globalised Eigg. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Despite my ability to on occasion take pretty reasonable photographs, I have been taking great pleasure in reducing the quality, saturating the colours and generally creating images that look like tired old 1970’s and 80’s postcards. This current obsession is a bit quirky but I am really enjoying the unusual quality of the images, particularly in the recently uploaded “Sheep Pole” Swap Shop icon. In a secret act of covert art installation, I decorated an ancient standing stone out on the hillside with ribbons ; marking the seemingly ritualistic (but in fact mundane and habitual) behavioural movements of the island sheep. I did actually weave the ribbons in the time honoured fashion and tied it off in a huge bow at the base, but I think the image of the as yet untangled ribbons, the ‘potential’, is far more interesting and inviting an image than the completed act. I have completed the sorting in the Swap Shop (phew!), and out of the couple of thousand items, nearly half had no traceable provenance, but the other half I identified as having been made in one of 45 countries world-wild, with only a handful of items coming from Scotland, and three handmade garments from Eigg.The list of “Made In” labels, for posterity, is as follows: Australia, Holland, Denmark, France, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Peru, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal, Vietnam, South Africa, Nepal, Morocco, Macau, Mauritius, Czechoslovakia, Pakistan, India, Philippines, Turkey, Greece, Singapore, Lithuania, Korea, United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Taiwan, U.S.A, China, P.R.C.(People’s Republic of China), Hong Kong, Foreign, UK, Britain, England (a huge number of books from: St Ives) Ireland, Scotland, Nowhere. I am still interviewing islanders for the forthcoming audio walking guide, and questions have been raised about what connection the tourists (only ever referred to as ‘visitors’ on the island as a policy), or even islanders themselves- actually have with many of the landmarks. I have spoken to one or two islanders who have lived on Eigg for decades, who have never visited parts of the tiny island that visitors pass everyday! I am currently feeling the need to re-enact the island tradition of Guising (in photography at least) with costumes described to me by the 91 year old, and the islands oldest orriginal islander, Katie MacKinnon. Though she couldn’t remember a great deal of the details, Katie said that she and her brothers would go out, on Halloween in particular; “Yes Halloween. But there’s hardly anything like that going on now. I miss it. It’s great fun. I was out guising once a time. Ha Ha. I wore any rags I could get a hold of. A false face. A ribbon round the back.” So there you go. No images of such costumes exist, so I am going to have to take a few liberties and embellish a costume of my own. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Since the interview with Katie MacKinnon, I have been developing a ‘guising’ costume from her description; embellished using the common island dress of century ago as depicted in the island photo-archive. Having created a costume I then strode forth (with great trepidation as the costume seemed pretty menacing) to cause imaginary havoc! I quickly realised that although the costume itself is pretty simple and harmless, the response I had from people was generally that of panic and fear! The tourists were intrigued but only felt at ease once they knew I was re-enacting some faux-historical event, at which point they lined up to watch or kindly stayed to onside to let me photograph. This only worked so-so and thus I took to guising in secret- ‘guise-bombing’ you might call it. Where I would strike out across the island finding quieter locations or abandoned vehicles, casually set up my camera, take off my waterproof, slip the sack over my head, set the timer, and run over to pose for the shot. This seemed to work very well and I am still creating a collection of images of the guising character stealing tractors, trailers and an old plough, and running about menacingly in the woods. There are no police on Eigg, and I wonder if this sort of behaviour would be tolerated back in inner-city Glasgow?The images I have posted alongside this article were strongly influenced by the photographer Meatyard, who of course has the last word on Halloween masks.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 I am soon to round up the recordings for the audio guide, in favour of more physical artworks and working on the play with the school. I have heard a rumour about a mythical cloak that lives in one of the forestry sheds. It is said that it was woven from mackerel netting and embedded in it are the hundreds of whiskey miniatures. I am hoping to go in search of this mythical garment (though expecting it to be a disappointing rag if I find it!) to photograph with a piece of head-wear I am working on. Very Lara Croft. There is a couple of interesting trends coming through in the conversations. For instance there is a sense that people come to Eigg from all over the place, but once here they take on the identity of a modern Eiggach (though it takes generations to be called “Eiggach”). One of the questions I have been asking: “Is Eigg a very Scottish place, or is it more multicultural?” has been met by every islander stating “Both”, but agreeing that the culture of the island does not change to accommodate incoming cultures, but rather shifts to assimilate them, and the result islanders all point to; is Scottish. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Two Tuesday's ago, I stirred my senseless body into wakefulness before dawn, and stole away from the little wooden cottage, heading up the track-ways towards the heart of the island. Not far on at all I found the forestry shed, a huge green metal barn used for woodworking and storing old tools. Within, amongst the timbers, I found what I had been searching for since the rumours of it’s existence first reach me a few days before; The cloak of Eigg. The myth of it’s being woven from mackerel nets and whisky bottles had held great promise (and knowing that all myths have a kernel of truth) the actual item was of course a lesser version, though altogether still pretty impressive. It was crocheted wool, that held empty miniatures of Famous Grouse woven into the knit. It was unfortunately also not a cloak, and was bound permanently around an old sheet of drift wood. Unperturbed I nabbed the relic in true India Jones style, humming his theme tune as I made a run for it down to the pier with my bounty and all of my other equipment I had left waiting for me half way down the path. I desperately clutched at the rattling bottles, hoping no-one would wake up and catch me, and ask me to explain! I had been so inspired by the myth of this cloak, and by the persistence of the phrase “A red can and a dram” which is the obligatory cocktail of every island occasion, that I had created a crown of McEwans cans to finish off the outfit.At 5.30am on Tuesday morning I set up my camera in the darkness in front of the pier tea rooms, with it’s single waiting room light casting a glow across the gravel. I set up the shot to take-in the great “An Sgurr” mountain behind and donned my canny-crown. I pressed the timer and ran, leaping up onto the table top and posing with the “cloak” attempting to hold it to my back as a cloak is worn, and trying to appear like the “King of Eigg”, wearing the ornaments of what it takes to be him. The early morning light seemed like I was the last man standing after an all night boozer, the contents of which might have composed my crown. I photographed a dozen poses, until a huge gust of wind took the crown off my head and smashed it to pieces on the gravel. Perhaps An Sgurr was stirring and my gesture was unwelcome? Either way I lifted an empty can in honour to the sleeping pitch-stone giant, popped the cans in the recycling, and silently hiked back up to the forestry shed to return the whiskey relic before 6am. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 A ram born without any horns, that one of the volunteers rather sweetly named Macbeth and who I visualised in a recent image wearing prosthetic horns; has vanished from his familiar field. The name Macbeth seemed to suit the curious creature, who seemed dumb and gentle and had no fight in him, with no interest in the other sheep, appearing quite impotent despite packing a sizeable lunch box!What greater symbol of potency could one create than to give a ram back his horns, his personal symbol of masculine power?I am currently creating a prosthetic set of horns for the creature using a pair left discarded, and an old belt. The visualisation I added to the photos here looks extremely sexually aggressive, possibly even a bit bondage. Thus I am going for something quite simple in the real, with the chance that they will simply droop to one-side, or impotently drag along the ground. But Macbeth is missing! Thus I intend to search the island with my prosthetic horns slung across my chest, find the beast and crown him in ritual, re-imbuing him with all of his lost power! There is only a week left now of this island residency, and I am feeling a sense of the draw-strings pulling closed. The interviews have all been incredibly revealing, allowing light onto a delicate set of debates into tourism, labelling, development and change to everyday life. Even the Kids during the pub-mumming play that I did with them this week had lots to say about labelling and new buildings.But it is identity and an annoyance at being “anthropologized” by so many visiting researchers that has been the main themes raised by anyone in random conversation. And the latter certainly seems to be the reason that more than half the islanders never came forward to speak to me, or could not be coaxed into talking about the island as a whole. Perhaps it is a West Island attitude; but people have been unwilling to talk in a way that they might be seen to represent more than themselves, and sometimes even just to have an opinion “captured” irreversibly that they might be presented as thinking to others. I suppose small communities everywhere survive by being so withdrawn about how they really feel about their community, because of the risk of offending people that you are crammed so close together with. It’s a shame because I was not interviewing to make judgements, but to make artworks that were relevant to and actively engaged residents. I could only do that by asking their opinions, and it is interesting how often even that was denied. I am looking forward to creating the guide, it should be an altogether different way of looking at this place, it could be a very welcome breath of fresh air. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 The Swap Shop installation is finished now that I have affixed the icons to it. Attached is some documentation of the them being applied to Swap Shop items.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 ...and here's some of the icons.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592   The Project Eigg residency period is over. I am back in Glasgow having had a hectic week or so of wrapping things up on the island, and now I am examining almost a thousand images of documentation and new work. I will now spend a couple of months composing the audio walking guide and the website that will house it. I would very much like to show images of the mumming play by the children of Eigg, but I am still waiting for permissions at this time. As soon as I have them, I will post them up. Last week was a miserably rainy period, but having had my photographer back only since the 22nd of August, I still had to arrange the photographs of myself in the landscape searching for the horn-less ram “Macbeth”. It was interesting that the search quickly took on the feeling of a cumulative process. Where the series of events each contributed something to the artefact I carried; a large pair of horns from a dead ram. I found myself being influenced by the landscape, the rocks, trees and lochan. I had to reinvigorate these relics of potency both with life and masculine vitality. The ever prominent Ann Sgurr the “jetty”, the “saw-tooth”, the “notch” that perhaps gives Eigg its Gaelic name; seemed like the most natural, immense, and potent presence on the island. Having photographed in the pouring rain, and waded knee deep in boggy marshes we decided that the images were being ruined by droplets on the lens and so I focused on applying the stickers I had made for the swap shop. The icons came out extremely well as vinyl stickers, and I was able to secrete over a thousand of them onto the items in such a way that they would not be immediately visible, and would not get in the way of the normal running of the swap shop. I hope to see some of the objects over the years to come, perhaps in a thrift shop in Europe.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592   At the end of the week, and with so little time left to make new work, we were amazed to wake up to rays of sunshine. Knowing it would be short-lived we bolted up the steep track-ways to the base of the Sgurr, improvising the shots as we went. It had not been my orriginal intention to do so- but the Sgurr quickly became a benevolent force and I held the horns up and they naturally came to rest as if the mountain crest wore them as its own. We climbed higher and higher and I stood at the base of pitch stone with my eyes closed and the horns raised like some ancient priest (or a Christopher Lee fan I suppose!) and as I did so the weather turned on us. Ann Sgurr had perhaps been taunted enough. We waited out the storm in a nook for while before attempting to climb up to the summit. But the wind had picked up and as we stood no more that a few hundred yards from our goal, the gusts threatened to sweep us to our deaths so violently, that we conceded defeat to the sleeping deity and returned to the cottage.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 The next day, the last official day of the residency, we went in search of Macbeth in earnest. A chance sighting the morning before placed him somewhere near the forestry shed where the ‘whiskey bottle cloak’ lived. When we found him he had been penned in with two sheep in a relatively small enclosure; perhaps he was not so lacking in potency after all? I felt I had come too far though to ask about such small details, and I held aloft the crown of horns to Ann Sgurr, and offered it to Macbeth. His snake-like yellow eyes blinked at us unconcerned, and he found a comfortable place to snooze a little way off. I had heard that there were laws about ‘sheep-bothering’, and that a few hundred years ago one could be interned, mutilated, or even killed for doing so. I am pretty sure though that the term “bothering” once took on a more sinister meaning and the most bothersome thing I intended to do was place a belt around a ram’s neck and give it’s woolly ears a good scratch. Thus with trepidation I stepped into the field and approached my neophyte ram. Macbeth stirred and rose to meet me, sniffed the horns with interest, so I turned them around and made to put them over his head. Joy! That the ram would once again be revitalised with this symbol of masculine power and imbued with the potency of the landscape through which I had taken it. Macbeth sniffed them again, turned and headed off at a trot, showing me his soiled testicles. By way of simulating the crowned ram I stood away from Macbeth and held the horns level with him, crowning him in the same manner as I had done with the mountain beyond. Though I don’t feel ready to summarise my overall experience of the past six weeks, I do feel elated at having achieved so much, in such a short period of time, and at having challenged my practice so thoroughly. There is huge scope to create a touring presentation of the project, an academic report for an art journal, and perhaps an exhibition of photographs, prints, and artefacts early next year. There is also scope to create new work inspired and transformed from the activities that took place on Eigg. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592 Just a note to draw your attention to the recent launch of projecteigg.info The culmination of a residency last summer on the Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Small Isles- the unusual website includes two audio walking guides created following interviews with the Eiggach (islanders), as well as documentation of the residency activities and related artworks created before, during, and after 2009. Download your own copy of the guides (it's free) to listen to on the move, wherever you are! www.projecteigg.info Regards Alex Project Eigg was kindly supported by The Isle of Eigg Trust, The Isle of Eigg History Society, The Highland Tourism Development Fund, and Scottish Arts Council. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/529592