I’m Amanda Robertson and I am currently going into my fourth year of studying Film, Media & Marketing at the University of Stirling. This summer I had the opportunity to work with Summerhall TV and help film and edit videos covering the Edinburgh Arts Festival.

The beginning of the Arts Festival in Edinburgh was very exciting. The first thing we filmed was Charles Avery’s Tree. The amount of media covering the unveiling was slightly more than I ever imagined for Waverley Station. However, it was nice to be able to be involved in filming such an important figure in the arts world.

I particularly enjoyed filming in the Dovecot Galleries. Firstly, the art work by Kwang Young Chun was incredible. His detailed work was fun to film and it meant that we could be slightly more creative with the camera to fully capture the intricacies of his work. As it was the launch of the Arts Festival, Dovecot Galleries was filled with different media people as well as art enthusiasts. I was very aware the whole time we were filming that I was most likely photobombing other people’s pictures and videos of the event. I hope they filmed my good side.

In general, the whole process of filming various significant artists can be quite daunting, as well as creating work that they are happy with. However, I feel like along the process I learnt so much about the artists and their work and how to capture the best version of each exhibition. The arts festival is a busy time in Edinburgh but it is extremely exciting. By experiencing the festival from behind a camera, I feel that I was involved in some way in the creative excitement surrounding the city.

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Luci Wallace, Project Coordinator for Summerhall TV, an arts news organisation based in Summerhall. We make 2 – 3 minute videos covering contemporary arts news and events around Scotland. I coordinate what we shoot, and the content that appears across our websites artinscotland.tv, summerhall.tv and writerstories.tv, as well as our social media channels.

We started the day by visiting Charles Avery’s Tree no.5 at Waverley Station’s concourse. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the press, we grabbed the artist for a quick chat about his work. It was really interesting to see a piece of work like this in the station, and watching members of the public interact with it.

After that, it was a quick jaunt up the road to Dovecot Studios for the Art Festival’s press launch and to interview the festival’s director Sorcha Carey, about the programme. We were introduced to the beautiful work of Korean artist Kwang Young Chun, and spoke to his British representative, Grey Skipwith, about the work as well. One thing I’ve learned from press meets is to always be prepared for extra interviews!

We then made our way down to the Fruitmarket Gallery to meet Phyllida Barlow and talk about her newest exhibition, Set. The work was incredible, filling the lower and upper galleries, and completely transforming the space. We had a lot of fun filming this one as there was so much, and it was great to speak to Phyllida about her work.

Once filming was wrapped, it was back to the office to upload our footage and get to work on editing. A lot to digest but a great chance for Amanda to put her editing skills into practice.

A big thanks goes to Allison Thorpe and Victoria Mitchell from Sutton PR, who pulled together the interviews with Charles Avery and Sorcha Carey, Lizzie Cowan and the Dovecot team for introducing us to Grey Skipwith, and Louise Warmington at Fruitmarket for arranging our interview with Phyllida Barlow.

Find out more about some of the exhibitions currently on at Summerhall:

The Thermos Museum | until 31 August

David Sherry : One Million Years of Laughter | until 5 October

Glyn Thompson : A Lady’s Not A Gent’s | until 5 October

For more art videos, check out SummerhallTV Director Dave Rushton’s Top 5 selection from their archive on Central Station here.

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The 2015 EAF Programme features performances, guided tours, workshops and talks by some of the world’s leading artists and curators throughout 30 July – 30 August. Highlights include a series of artist performances to run alongside the 2015 EAF Commissions Programme, uniting some of the most innovative artists from across the globe to create work under the theme of The Improbable City – a response to the unique fairy-tale architecture and setting of Edinburgh. Performances include The King Must Die by Marvin Gaye Chetwynd; SING SIGN: a close duet by Hanna Tuulikki; and a special one-off live performance combining electronic music and field recordings of dolphins and whales by Mexican artist Ariel Guzik, to accompany his first exhibition in the UK. Each year EAF’s popular Festival Detours brings a series of intimate live performances by leading and emerging stars to the city’s museums and galleries. This year’s programme will see acclaimed comedian Phill Jupitus perform live in Inverleith House; poet Carol Ann Duffy at Talbot Rice Gallery; A Pocket Full of Grimms, a children’s theatre show, at Jupiter Artland; and upcoming music sensation, Man of Moon, at Collective.

The 2015 Events Programme also sees the return of EAF Explorers, a special activity trail for families; Art Late, a popular series of specially programmed late openings and events; and an EAF Film Club to accompany Platform: 2015, an exhibition of early career artists selected by open call; as well as the festival’s Tourist-in-Residence, a series of alternative tours of the city led by artist Catherine Street. Street will lead three performative tours exploring some of the more improbable spaces in the city – including The Book of Money, a look at Edinburgh’s longstanding relationship with the financial industry, and a visit to the city’s newest institution, The Library of Mistakes, a reading room dedicated to the world history of economic successes and failures.

The wider festival programme will include regular opportunities to hear artists talk about their work, including Charles Avery in conversation with Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Director Simon Groom at Ingleby Gallery; a tour led by Tara Donovan at Jupiter Artland where the artist will select several works within the sculpture park’s permanent collection that reflect her exhibition; a panel discussion with curators from the Hanne Darboven Foundation and Talbot Rice Gallery, on Darboven’s legacy as one of the 20th century’s most idiosyncratic conceptual artists; and a part-improvised, group-vocal acoustic performance work by Deb Marshall created within and in response to the vast, neo-classical ‘Adam Dome’ of H.M. General Register House.

Away with the Birds, 2014 by Hanna Tuulikki

PERFORMANCES: 2015 EAF Commissions

Artists present performances as part of their work created for Edinburgh Art Festival’s 2015 Commissions Programme, housed in exciting off-site locations.

30 July, 8, 15 & 29 August | Fountains Close
Hanna Tuulikki
SING SIGN is an intimate performance devised for the closes of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Composed by Hanna Tuulikki, and performed with Daniel Padden, the work combines music and gestures drawn from British Sign Language to reflect on how our experience of the city is inseparable from the the languages that we speak. The performance on 15 August will be followed by a BSL Tour of the Old Town led by Karen Forbes at 3:15pm.

1, 22 & 29 August | Old Royal High School
Marvin Gaye Chetwynd
Known for her deliberately shambolic and lo-fi performances, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd’s new work The King Must Die explores the ancient Greek cult of the Mother Goddess, immersing us in an intense and supremely pagan celebration of feminity and female power.

1 August | Trinity Apse
Ariel Guzik
Mexican artist Ariel Guzik gives a live soundscape and performance of a specially devised set combining electronic music and field recordings of whales and dolphins, with Alejandro Colinas and Emilio Galvez. Field recordings by Nature Expression and Resonance Research Laboratory.

Sea of Cortez, 2007 by Ariel Guzik

Home Made Tasers, Studio 231, New Museum, New York, 26 October 2011 – 1 January 2012 by Marvin Gaye Chetwynd

ARTISTS’ TALKS

Enjoy a late breakfast with this year’s commissioned artists. The artists will discuss their work with specialists from areas related to their practice, over coffee and croissants.

30 July | Ingleby Gallery
Charles Avery in conversation with Simon Groom, Director of Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

1 August | Trinity Apse
Ariel Guzik in conversation with Mark Simmonds OBE and Nicola Triscott, Arts Catalyst

2 August | 9 – 11 Blair Street
Julie Favreau, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd in conversation with author Edward Hollis, and curator Sorcha Carey.

9 August | 9 – 11 Blair Street
Hanna Tuulikki in conversation with writer and curator Ella Chmielewska.

16 August | 9 – 11 Blair Street
Emma Finn in conversation with Sorcha Carey.

23 August | 9 – 11 Blair Street
Marvin Gaye Chetwynd in conversation with Professor Neil Mulholland.

EAF FILM CLUB

4 & 18 August | 9 – 11 Blair Street
Accompanying Platform: 2015, this year’s Film Club offers an opportunity to see artist films from across Scotland. Join us for an evening of screenings curated by artist-led gallery, Embassy in Edinburgh and Luke Collins, Project Manager for artist’s moving image agency LUX Scotland, Glasgow.

ART LATE

Art Late is a series of specially programmed late openings and events, taking in live music, performances, artist talks and tours. This year offers even more opportunities to enjoy the evening programme.

13 August | 6 – 10:30pm
Including Ingleby Gallery, Old Royal High School, Collective, Stills, Edinburgh Printmakers, Inverleith House and GARAGE

20 August | 6 – 10:30pm
Including Talbot Rice Gallery, Stills, Number Shop, National Portrait Gallery and Dovecot Studios, with a special Curator’s tour of the exhibitions at Dovecot Studios, a 10% discount on selected textile products, a weave demonstration by Apprentice Weaver Ben Hymers and a gun-tufting demonstration by Trainee Tufter Vana Coleman. Featuring band Miaoux Miaoux to close the evening, with additional support from Blue Moon.

TOURS

Each year the festival works with locally based artists, offering unique perspectives of the city through one-off tours. This year, artist and writer Catherine Street will be leading three new tours of venues across Edinburgh taking inspiration from the theme of this year’s commissions programme: The Improbable City. Each afternoon during the festival, there are guided tours of venues, leaving from the festival Kiosk on EAF Kiosk on 9-11 Blair St, EH1 1QR. With different routes to choose from, these are a great way to find your way through the city and explore the festival. Additionally, every Friday at 1pm, you can end the week with a Walking Lunch Tour. Armed with a brown-bag lunch, this tour is designed to give you a snapshot of the festival during your lunch break.

EAF takes place from 30 July – 30 August. For the full festival programme and booking details visit www.edinburghartfestival.com or go to the Edinburgh Art Festival Kiosk on 9-11 Blair Street, EH1 1QR.

See Festival Director Sorcha Carey’s initial response to the festival programme and exhibition recommendations on Central Station here.

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Find more events in our weekly bulletin here.

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Robert Montgomery’s Edinburgh Fire Poem was burnt on The Mound on 1 August. This work will remain on The Mound until 1 September as part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

RATHER THE RAIN ON THE WINDOW
OF THE CASTLE THAN THE CASTLE
ITSELF, RATHER THE FLIGHT OF
THE BIRD, RATHER BURNED
THAN CAPTURED

- Robert Montgomery

Read more at www.edinburghartfestival.com.

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Image: Richard Wright’s Stairwell Project at the Dean Gallery, Edinburgh

Richard Wright came to popular prominence last year when he won the Turner Prize for his large gold-leafed fresco, painted directly onto one of the interior walls of the Tate and praised by the judges for its ‘profound originality and beauty’. In recent years Wright’s work has focussed on the repetition of small details, hand-painted directly onto the walls of the spaces he is exhibiting in. The works, made in situ, are influenced and inspired by the space itself. They were described by one critic as ‘invisible art’ due to their hidden positions, for example on the ceiling or, in the case of one work in 2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, a high set window which he detailed with ripples of gold leaf.

Importantly his works are destroyed when the exhibition finishes, usually with a lick of white paint in preparation for the exhibition that follows; something which imbues the work with a sense of impermanence. Alongside the abandonment of the canvas these two factors work to challenge and diminish the gap between spectator and artwork.

For Edinburgh Art Festival 2010 Wright was commissioned to create a piece in the west stairwell of the Dean Gallery. Central Station caught up with the artist, after his In Conversation event last Friday, to talk about the project, his close connection to music and his enduring attraction to Glasgow.

You have said that one of the highlights of winning the Turner prize was the response and connection you had with the audience. It must be nice to chat to the public about your work in situations like this?

Yes, I mean, sometimes you have something to say and sometimes not. Sometimes it seems that there are too many conflicts to want to explain things, other times it comes easier. But of course it’s an opportunity for the work to be seen from a different point of view. Ordinarily people come and they only see the work, so for them to also see the human side of it… but hopefully I will also get something from them.

The stairwell project in particular is interesting because it is a permanent piece and won’t immediately be removed when the exhibition ends. Does that distinguish it from your other works for you?

Yes, I think that the fact that I knew the work may have a longer duration did affect the way that I thought about it. I was aware that I actually might have to look at it again, for a start, and that I actually might have to look at it again in a few years time. So my thinking about it was more prolonged, in the sense that I wanted the work to reflect a longer duration of thought than something I would just do and disappear. More than a month’s passed since I made the work, ordinarily it would be painted out now, and had it been that situation I may have done a different work.

In the talk you mentioned that for a piece you made for the Manifesta 2 show in Luxembourg, you took something from the space (in that case it was the runs in the concrete) that acted as a ‘way in’ for the piece. Did you find something similar for the stairwell project?

Yes, there was the symmetry of the architecture, the solidity of the architecture [and] elements which are in the rose of the ceiling, what appear to be honeysuckle leaves. And although I didn’t want to copy that, it was one way into the work. Also, the work of course is so made in the space, that the space makes the work. Whilst I may have started off with certain intentions, inevitably those intentions are deflected by the act of making it. So as you proceed along the wall, working in one way, you hit the obstacle of a piece of cornicing, or a corner, or change in direction of the physical surface which always speaks to the work, it changes the work. The work very much comes out of that process.

One thing I find fascinating is this connection to music and rhythm you can see in your paintings. Do you see this influence in all your work?

I think so, but I think that’s probably a question which is difficult for me to answer. As I said at one point earlier on, you think you’re doing something different and it turns out that it’s actually like something else that you’ve done [before]. And I think in terms of looking at things, art has been something I’ve been interested in since I was very young indeed, but music has had an enormous emotional impact on me. Music drives me in some ways and so the two things are very close together for me. Quite often some works will refer very directly to music or they might directly refer to what I call a poetic content of music. So that’s there.

I think it’s connected to the body as well – this act of making music and listening to music. When you look at things there’s this possibility to see them as being separate from you and when you listen to them they’re in you. That’s to do with the body, that’s to do with a more total experience and I think it is that experience I’m looking for with painting. It’s not that I want [the paintings] to overwhelm but I want them to become part of you or me in the way music does.

And the sense of space is so intrinsic to that…

Yes, definitely. But it is this perceived space, the work happens not there [on the wall], not here [where the spectator is], but somewhere in between.

You’ve stayed in Glasgow when many other artists have moved away. You were here during the nineties, a very exciting time for visual art and you’ve witnessed that scene change since. Do you still feel it’s a city that can offer you what you need from a city?

I still live there! Yes, I love Glasgow. Of course one’s drawn away, many times to different places but I always seem to come back. It used to be, back a long time ago, a city you moved away from if you wanted to be an artist. I see even now, and though the energy may have changed, it’s still a city that a lot of people want to move to, to become an artist. I am always surprised to discover that there’s something else going on there that I didn’t know about. I keep meeting young artists who are doing things and I think it’s great – it’s a good city. I was just in London for a week and I think I could never live or work there. There’s too much anxiety and I don’t mean that in terms of the pressure of getting on the tube – all that stuff is difficult and expensive. In particular in the cultural or art area, everyone’s so desperate, everyone wants to succeed, I guess because they need to, because of the pressure. I don’t have that same feeling, I think people are much more concentrated on the work that they’re doing in a place like Glasgow.

Edinburgh Art Festival continues until the 5 September 2010.