I’ve been working lately with a couple of artists to set up a sculpture garden in the grounds of Dunollie House in Oban. If you don’t know the history of Dunollie Castle,it’s worth having a look at the website –www.dunollie.com.
The place is heaving with atmosphere. The air is thick with something unspecific but very tangible – I think its nature but I also think its possibly human history too. When I visited the site for the first time in late spring, I was surprised to feel so moved by it – because history is really not something that usually concerns me.
There is a little wooded area beneath the old house with a group of huge trees that almost form a circle. It would become the Dunollie Sculpture Garden. The undergrowth was littered with broken twigs and pieces of bark and moss and bluebells and toads. It seemed a shame to disturb it after all this time and the work we have done to form the garden has been as gentle as possible.
Once we planned the layout, the staff at the house cleared a lot and we spent a day or two moving things into place.
The sculptures are placed in a circular format too. This is to echo the group of trees and also to make a reference to a object which is central to Dunollies’s story – the Brooch of Lorne – snatched from the breast of a fleeing Robert The Bruce and held, on and off, by the MacDougalls of Dunollie. There is an open air performance in the grounds 17th July – 23rd Huly called “The Hidden Jewel” that explores this story .
I started to work on two pieces for the garden – although I knew we would only use one.
The first was made of scraps of metal. I wanted to start to viualise the brooch splitting apart and becoming human – perhaps a metal warrior but something I had heard about Dunollies history made me think that they at a some point ( urged by a woman figure - a wife of the chief perhaps) had tired of fighting and had strove for peaceful domesticity – no, the brooch was not becoming a warrior – the warrior was becoming a brooch.
The second piece that I worked on was a string figure. He would be a mixture of male youth and gentle feminism he would represent The MacDougall. He would hold something in his hand – perhaps the brooch, perhaps the future. He would stand like a classical figure yet be composed of humble stuff.
The place is heaving with atmosphere. The air is thick with something unspecific but very tangible – I think its nature but I also think its possibly human history too. When I visited the site for the first time in late spring, I was surprised to feel so moved by it – because history is really not something that usually concerns me.
There is a little wooded area beneath the old house with a group of huge trees that almost form a circle. It would become the Dunollie Sculpture Garden. The undergrowth was littered with broken twigs and pieces of bark and moss and bluebells and toads. It seemed a shame to disturb it after all this time and the work we have done to form the garden has been as gentle as possible.
Once we planned the layout, the staff at the house cleared a lot and we spent a day or two moving things into place.
The sculptures are placed in a circular format too. This is to echo the group of trees and also to make a reference to a object which is central to Dunollies’s story – the Brooch of Lorne – snatched from the breast of a fleeing Robert The Bruce and held, on and off, by the MacDougalls of Dunollie. There is an open air performance in the grounds 17th July – 23rd Huly called “The Hidden Jewel” that explores this story .
I started to work on two pieces for the garden – although I knew we would only use one.
The first was made of scraps of metal. I wanted to start to viualise the brooch splitting apart and becoming human – perhaps a metal warrior but something I had heard about Dunollies history made me think that they at a some point ( urged by a woman figure - a wife of the chief perhaps) had tired of fighting and had strove for peaceful domesticity – no, the brooch was not becoming a warrior – the warrior was becoming a brooch.
The second piece that I worked on was a string figure. He would be a mixture of male youth and gentle feminism he would represent The MacDougall. He would hold something in his hand – perhaps the brooch, perhaps the future. He would stand like a classical figure yet be composed of humble stuff.
The name of the piece is "Unconditional"
We finished setting up on Tuesday this week. The sculptures can be seen during the Walking Theatre Production 18pm 17th July to 23rd July and in the afternoon of Saturday 18th July 2-4pm and Tuesday 21st July 2-4pm.
We finished setting up on Tuesday this week. The sculptures can be seen during the Walking Theatre Production 18pm 17th July to 23rd July and in the afternoon of Saturday 18th July 2-4pm and Tuesday 21st July 2-4pm.
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