Art Club is a new initiative we started in October this year and its been slowly growing in a good way!
Art Club is an extension of what we try to do online, highlighting and connecting culture but in the real world, connecting with artists, documenting shows, connecting organizations and connecting with others through the creation and appreciation of art. Of course connecting with people outside the established art circles is easier said than done, especially in the real world with little to no resources. But thanks to the support of festivals like Nuart Aberdeen and spaces like Kekun and Arkade Gallery I've found myself in a strong position with access to space and the skills to engage those who might be afraid to step out of their comfort zones and into these oft intimidating arenas.
We've hosted two Art Clubs so far, the latest taking place Saturday just past and the turn out and engagement for both has been great. When you host an event and almost every participant is a new face, it feels good. And of course a new face becomes a new friend the second time you meet and you continue to build from there. It's something we tend to do less as we get older, meeting new friends, trying new things and often culture can feel like a hard sell to people. But with no price tag and asking for nothing more than peoples time I feel like the Art Club is a great way to bridge a few of these gaps and certainly feels like we're doing something worthwhile.
That said, what about those people who can't make it to a meeting or an event? How do they engage with creative events? My guess is they don't beyond liking a few posts on social media. I've had a few people enquire about making events accessible or viewable. But the idea of walking with a go pro stuck to my napper streaming might induce seasickness in viewers but static photos don't really convey the full picture either. So instead I'm going to try and make a 4D blog post that's got full descriptions of our event complete with photographs, videos and reference links to everything we saw and the personal anecdotes that made the day special. I might even pop round your houses as you read it and sprinkle some water on you to mimic the light rain we endured!
Be sure to click on photos to enlarge and click on the highlighted word links too. So without further ado, lets go to Old Aberdeen...
The Sir Duncan Rice Library
We arrived with 10 minutes to spare before meeting for lunch so had a look at some of the other University displays located on the ground floor. Right up the back towards the main road we spotted some comfy chairs and these unusual stained glass windows. A description said they we're part of an evolution series with the windows originally coming from the Cruickshank Library which used to be located at Marischal College. However this is evolution as informed by The Bible so God swirled the universe into existence followed by the planets, Adam & Eve also make an appearance. Although we think of glass as being fragile these windows look as though they could survive the big bang. Adam & Eve are on a second pane of glass and sit slightly raised up, about 1cm out from the background glass. There's six windows on display that we could find and they are quite special. I believe the library was named after Dr Alexander Cruickshank who's sister also helped to set up the Cruickshank Botanical Gardens in his honour in 1898. You can read more about the gardens here.
We made our way over to the cafe passing a rather beautiful sandstone sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesha. With many conversations around the looting of valuable artefacts during the height of the British empire, our first thought was how did it end up here? The description only tells us where its from, Indonesia but not how it was acquired. But to be fair Aberdeen University is the first institution to return their Benin Bronzes to Nigeria along with Cambridge University which you can read about here. As the clock struck 12.30 we wheeled our way over to the cafe and ordered some chicken paninis. The cafe space is nicely laid out with a couple of little covered booths and comfy seating. I was suprised by the number of students who joined the que in search of coffee and sustenance, assuming many of them have been working in the various library and learning spaces contained in the library.
Despite its barriers members of the public can sign in and visit the upper floors of the library. The views are incredible unless you have vertigo in which case they might spin you out! It is a working space so you have to be respectful of those working around you but it was quite amazing to see the upper levels. We didn't have enough time to head up on this visit but I've added a few snaps from last trip (I won't spoil all the views for you but that's the vertigo drop as I call it). I was delighted when a few familiar faces from our previous Art Club meet up and the Life Drawing classes appeared and joined our table in the cafe. By the end of lunch our group had grown considerably and more friends kept appearing. Before heading into the Barbara Rae exhibition we looked at another display for a previous exhibition titled 'Eat, Prey, Love' curated by students from the Uni and looking at different artefacts relating to our historical connections with animals, both as pets and livestock. You can learn more about the exhibit and try the themed quiz here. We made our way round to the gallery entrance, an unassuming space located just off the main reception area towards the back.
John Rae & The Northwest Passage
The first painting to greet you is a large canvas depicting an icey landscape with a deer and an inuit, both appearing almost opaque giving the viewer a sense of fuzzy snow and ice blowing around. The exhibition title 'The Northwest Passage' refers to the location which inspired the paintings located between Greenland & Northern Canada. The Arctic and Antarctic regions have often held the imagination of explorers and pioneers with many tales of failed expeditions like Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackletons legacy being well cemented in our the history books. The exploits of a physician from Orkney, one John Rae appear to be less well known despite his achievements. Thankfully the exhibition looks to correct this oversight, indeed highlight the incredible work and progressive thinking of Rae with regards to his approach to exploring the Northern region and working closely with the local people to learn about how they survive in the area, a lesson missed by previous explorers including Sir John Franklin.
Franklin is important when looking at the legacy of John Rae, who's discovery of Franklins last stop and account of Franklin and his men's final moments including signs of cannibalism ended up making headlines in Victorian Britain after a telegram leak made the story front page news (check the section for Franklins fate here and play the audio clip to hear Rae's telegram). Of course a knight of the realm could never be seen to have stooped to such barbaric actions and the wealthy Franklin family quickly instigated a smear campaign against Rae and as is often the case the history books of the time and indeed the aristocracy failed to fully acknowledge Raes contributions both to arctic exploration and to the Franklin legacy, something that 20th century historians and scholars have addressed. I highly recommend reading up about John Rae and his interesting history here and I found this great video looking at his life by Adventure Canada and Orcadian historian Tom Muir.
The Artwork of Barbara Rae
From one Rae to another, landscape artist and print maker Barbara Rae is a name known to many and has worked extensively with the team at Peacock print makers at the Castlegate. The paintings and prints in the exhibition all follow the arctic them, capturing ice flows and incredible sunsets over the frosty region whilst also alluding to the explorers of yesteryear. The paint has been thickly applied on some pieces, creating lumps which have been gouged and manipulated by the artist while pieces of maps, birds and ships appear to have been stuck onto the canvas. It makes these large paintings feel rather dynamic while their scale adds a feeling of being in the depths of the ice country. Even the low lighting of the gallery adds to the feeling of being somewhere remote, not uninviting but certainly a place that commands respect.
I've often felt Rae's artwork to be quite serious so was suprised to hear stories of her printing, spilling inks and having fun exploring the printing process, often with a glass of wine to hand. Indeed there is a weight to her artworks, the scale of some pieces at almost 2 meters square are imposing but convey more than just paint on canvas. Of course the artworks are paired with items from the universities archive which includes a model of John Rae's inuit style canoe and a stunning reindeer ornament carved from what I think is whale bone. Seeing items owned by Rae along with polar bear skins, snowshoes and inuit snow goggles helped to bring some of the history to life. And the group seemed to be enthralled in the exhibition including our youngest member whom I informed we had to keep an eye out for Pokemon's and to tell us if she spotted any. A red circular ball in the roof caught her attention and we spent some time debating if it was indeed a lost Poke ball and if any Pokemon were hiding in the gallery.
Another of our group asked about the appearance of glitter in some of the artworks and we discussed how this can be achieved through mixing glitter into your paints as apposed to sprinkling on after which would lead to glittery splodges. Barabra's technique created a shimmering effect drawing a parallel with how the light hits the ice and snow in the arctic, a subtle effect but one that adds to the works. It's a great exhibition that perfectly combines aspects of the Universities Special Collections archive with a good dose of Scottish history and incredible contemporary artwork. You can check out some photos of the show including a shot of Jev from a previous visit and explore Barbara's work here. Of course everyone of our group picked out something different from the exhibition and reminded me you can't beat seeing these works for yourself. The exhibition runs until the 16th of December.
Waterlines & Evolutionary Loop 517
As we left the library the group made its way down the smooth open path to the 'Waterlines' sculpture by Scottish artists Marian Leven and Will Maclean.
The uni press release states 'The sculpture is based on the form of the iconic Aberdeen fast sailing ship Thermopylae. Built by Walter Hood and Co, she launched in 1868 and is considered to be the fastest sailing ship ever constructed. The sculpture is made up of two shaped columns, 200mm apart, and is constructed from Kilkenny Blue Limestone. The shape and incised lines also reference the Pictish standing stones of Aberdeenshire'.
I'd scoped out the route for our walk the night before and the rather chalky stone had been transformed by the rain giving it a more polished look, very smooth to the touch and cold. The intricate carved lines also became more prominent in the damp but what I really wanted to check was the 200mm gap. Of course someone produced a tape measure and we very methodically set about measuring the gap at different heights until we reached the bottom which is indeed, 200mm or 7.87402 inches. Unusually the patron who paid for the sculpture wished to remain anonymous. It's an interesting piece although I have to admit walking past it a few times and not really paying attention other than to the slight bands of moss growing from the mortar joins higher up.
Just down a bit further we found the 6 meter high bronze 'Evolutionary Loop 517' by Nasser Azam. I've often taken a walk to see this sculpture, admiring its shape and size, one of the biggest public sculptures I can think of in Aberdeen certainly for height and girth. The first port of call was to establish if any Pokemon's were living in the sculpture, sadly none appeared to be. But our young explorer diligently checked passing through the lower parts of the loop. The bronze is smooth and appears almost black in colour but as my older photos show it can also appear different depending on the time of day.
The sculpture gained its name after the Uni held a competition with Professor Marcel Jaspars title 'Evolutionary Loop 517' emerging victorious.
He said “I chose the name Evolutionary Loop 517 to reflect the fact that students, academics and staff are constantly evolving in their experiences and connections at the University of Aberdeen, to show the organic nature of the sculpture in symbiosis with the research carried out at the university and to represent the age of the University when this sculpture was made. In a diverse way, we will all have a connection with the University of Aberdeen just by looking at the sculpture. In future years, maybe people will simply say ’Let's meet at the Loop’.
The group certainly enjoyed our pit stop to admire the piece. You can explore more of Nasser Azam's work here and of course by visiting Old Aberdeen, google map link here.
The MacRobert Memorial Garden
Despite the forecast for rain we seemed to avoid any showers and continued our walk down the olde time alleyways making our way to the old High Street. Despite the cobbled paving stones Jev managed to expertly manouver his scooter along the narrow paths, indeed this is perhaps the only part of our adventure that provided accessability challenges mostly due to a lack of lowered curbs. But we managed to find a driveway that allowed us to cross over to Grant's Place. You'll find the MacRobert Memorial Garden at the end of the lane but as it has a few steps up we took the other route along Wrights & Coopers Place allowing Jev to join us. At the far end of both lanes you come to the small stepped garden complete with a tiled MacRobert coat of arms with the latin motto 'Not for themselves, but for their native lands'. To the left of the first photo you'll find the memorial wall which holds the names of Lady MacRobert's 3 son's who all perished during service in World War 2.
Just on the edge of the pond you'll see a green bronze astro lobe, an instrument used for navigation using the stars. The significance of this is unclear although it could easily be concieved the astro lobe is to help guide the MacRobert's to heaven where they shall once again be reunited. It's a nice thought anyway. The memorial was created sometime between 1950 to 1965 and sits in a serene corner of the Uni campus, the row of houses and cottages that flank the path adding to the olde world feel. You can learn more about the family and their impact at the University here.
Although a place of remembrance I'm sure many a student has stopped to contemplate and muse on topics of the day, probably with a joint in hand or a bottle of wine. Our young adventurer began to show off as her wellington boots allowed her to step full depth into the shallow pond while I hopped across the granite paving stones. Still no Pokemons but google did provide us with a translation for the latin phrase before we continued back the way we came in search of more artworks!
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Cobbled Streets & Steve Dilworth's CASE
Our next stop required some careful driving along the incredibly narrow pavements of the High Street and during my initial recce I thought I'd hit a stumbling block in getting to the Steve Dilworth sculpture located behind the Old Brewery building due to a series of stairways. However if you continue down past the Old Brewery you'll see an entrance that takes you along the back of the New Kings building which will lead you to ramped access to the Dilworth piece titled 'Case'. Jev often jokes about the speed setting on his scooter which goes slightly faster than my usual walking pace so we had a quick race to see who could get to it first. The group was kindly waiting for us but had already started to discuss what the sculpture represented and a friendly debate began.
"It's a horseshow crab, no its a woodlouse, no its a space ship silly" were just a few guesses. Of course the beauty can be in the fact each of us saw something different or indeed had a different frame of reference depending on our backgrounds. 'Dilworth is known for his use of 'once living and found material, often held inside outer forms of wood, bone, stone and bronze. He also incorporates elements drawn directly from land and seascape, such as calm water, storm water, mountain air, the North wind and darkness. These are elements gathered at a particular time and place, in an exacting way that sit right on an edge between concept and material, the physical and metaphysical'. It was interesting to read how the Yorkshireman has lived and worked from the Isle of Harris since 1983, a place where time can appear to have stood still but for the seasonal changes. We discussed exactly how the piece was created as some guessed the piece had been welded although the joins are incredibly smooth if so.
Indeed the piece stands at 128cm high and is certainly a bronze sculpture, an edition of 3 no less so if you fancy one for the house get onto Gallery Pangolin! Perhaps seeing Kenny Hunters models in the Art Gallery with their wooden framing and fibreglass casings gives us an idea of how such a piece is made. Being located in a space where young people congregate there were obvious signs of interference, tape marks left from a lazy flyposter advertising the next must see event or student party. I can never understand why people stick posters on artworks, especially when they cause damage and for what? When we wrapped our knuckles on it the piece certainly gave a distinctive clang and isn't a solid piece of bronze. I for one like the mystery and since someone suggested it looks like a futuristic space ship we finished with the classic line The Truth Is Out There!
Academic Sculpture with Kenny Hunter
And speaking of Kenny Hunter, we made our way to the final sculpture on our tour to see 'Youth with split apple'. I've been fascinated by his work ever since his Friends of the Gallery talk back in 2021 (read about it here) and hadn't realized he was the artist behind 'Feedback Loop' at Aberdeen Art Gallery along with this piece in Old Aberdeen. The New Kings sculpture is made from bronze, smooth and cold to the touch and was installed in 2005. The lone figure is just slightly larger than a real person but not in a monumental way and has Kenny's distinctive facial features that can be found in most of his artwork. As the name suggested, the shoeless student, probably drunk on cider lies crotch up with a split apple in each hand, quietly looking towards the sea. A lot of thought will have gone into the piece from how its been sited, elevated on its plinth but creating a level view with the public, neither looking up to or down on the other and the deeper meanings with the work being situated at a university campus.
The statues casual pose and clothing is quite disarming as we're used to seeing statues of war heroes and landed gentry, the relaxed youth looks like he's ready to get up and walk back into a lecture any minute after soaking up some sun. One view of the work suggests that the statues relaxed damenour is a reminder to students that although their studies are important its also vital to make time to relax and absorb their teachings from the day. The split apple could also hold significance, is it an apple from the Tree of Knowledge from the biblical Adam & Eve tale, good and evil but which tastes better? Other cultures associate the apple with wisdom & knowledge which perhaps better aligns with the seat of learning represented by the Uni but the erotic connotations of the vulvic apple core could also be applicable. One things for sure, in the summer time the art imitates life as students lie strewn around Elphinstone Lawns! Check out more of Kenny's work here and the short video below.
Art Club Friends
And this is where we finished our Art Club mooch. We didn't have to walk very far to see quite a few interesting art works as you'll see from the google map I created. There is of course a wealth of history and things to see in Old Aberdeen as highlighted by this vlog on YouTube. It was really nice to connect with everyone and to explore the university campus together. The Art Club is about connecting with people and art and I think we managed to do both that day, I also think when you come to an event like this you come as a stranger, when you come to the second one you come as a friend and I hope everyone feels welcome to join our club. And for those who can't make it out in real life I hope this post gives you not only insight into our day but also helps you to feel included in the group. I will be working on filming and documenting more to share with our remote members and how best to share it but its a work in progress for now, Jev might just end up with a Go Pro strapped to his scooter!
Speaking of Jev we did hit one last hurdle as we headed for the carpark with him avoiding the cobbles along the front of New Kings only to find a 3 inch drop at the far end of the pavement and no ramp. But when there's a group like we had, not only can we hold space in galleries and explore new spaces, we can also help each other out and everyone grabbed a side and got his scooter onto the even ground. He's been a great supporter of myself over the last few months and its great to be able to help a new friend and to make some new friends too, it gets harder as we get older but I'm thankful to everyone who's joined in, commented and engaged with the Art Club so far. For anyone who'd like to join us we have a facebook page or you can contact me via my socials to keep in the Art Club loop.
