Week 3 | Collective Gallery and anthropology?
1 February 2020
what works have them commissioned in relation to the site they are in (Calton Hill?)
‘The Fearful Part of It Was The Absence’ is a work associated with Calton Hill. Joey Simons, the author of the work, who is Scottish, and the study of the work – the importance of riots in English towns, both are closely associated with the land. On the other hand, the title of the work comes from a leaflet issued during the 1792 riots on the King’s birthday in Edinburgh. The exhibition at the Collective also responds to the history of Calton Hill as a venue for riotous gatherings.
Everything about this work has a huge connection to the location in which it is exhibited.
Are there any elements of their current artistic programme you can view through the ‘factish field’ lens discussed by Angela McClanahan in the ‘Factish Field’ essay?
In the introduction to ‘facitish field’, Angela McClanahan mentions that the gallery’s move from Edinburgh’s old city centre to Calton Hill, with its historic observatory, means that the gallery itself is always effectively projecting an observant gaze on the city. This means that the gallery’s commissions and exhibitions are based on observations and explorations of the city. The two projects I visited, ‘The Fearful Part Of It Was The Absence’ and ‘H-E-L-L-O’, were both exhibitions with the city at the heart of their discussions. One explores the riots in the British city, and one draws on New Orleans as an example, asking the viewer to consider Edinburgh’s relationship to its own environment, inhabitants and history at a time of upheaval and change.
Both of Collective’s exhibitions practice what Angela McClanahan intended, and the exhibitions themselves are relevant to their location in Edinburgh.
I was interest in the reference in the introduction to Amanda Ravetz and Mark Boulos about the differences in fieldwork between artists and anthropologists, but unfortunately I didn’t see the content in the paper. The difference between the two disciplines is, in my opinion, the part where the two disciplines can ‘connect’.
Useful insight into the Collective field visit; good perspective on the works and the Collective’s overall position in relation to the task. Some images of the works/Collective would help make this more of a visual approach. Perhaps you could also scan and incorporate some of your own fieldnotes? Remember also to provide full references + a bibliography just as you would in an essay.