Looking Again…..
by Bernie Bell - 08:53 on 05 April 2024
Looking Again – Part One…..
I admire the work of many of the artists involved, so decided to catch an exhibition in Tankerness House before it ends on the 6th of April.
To quote from the Orkney Islands Council website.... https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=8920 ….
“Look Again: Artistic Response to Orkney’s Wartime Remains” is a collaboration between various artists and features photographs, drawings, paintings, sculpture, and tapestry.
Look Again was the brainchild of photographer Ian Collins, who invited artists to contribute their work inspired by the defences from two World Wars. As well as Ian there is work by Robin Bownass, Ingrid Budge, Ros Bryant, Katherine Diaper, Catherine Grivas, Rebecca Marr, Cat Moore, Kris Rowell, and Fiona Sanderson. There are also pieces by the late Gunnie Moberg, courtesy of the Orkney Library & Archive.
Ian Collins said: ‘This exhibition brings together the work of painters, sculptors, printmakers and photographers, as well as a few lines by George Mackay Brown. It is intended as an acknowledgement of the fact that the physical and social environment of these islands has been profoundly marked by military activity, especially that of the Second World War.
The exhibition is also an invitation to remember the circumstances that led to these structures being built and perhaps to consider what efforts should be made to preserve or erase them and the stories associated with them. The works on display will include pieces that reflect on the human cost of conflict and others that seek to find unexpected beauty or harmony in these monumental remains.”
Which reminded me of a previous exhibition in Tankerness House, of Ian’s own work …
And now…to a purely personal view of the present exhibition…
Through the door, on the wall to your right is Catherine Grivas‘ striking image… ‘Collapsed Water Tank Lyness 2019’. All forms of art are open to personal interpretation, and I have to admit to seeing a Christmas bauble!
Walking round the room clockwise, next I came to a group of images by Ian Collins...
Another image by Catherine Grivas – this time of …’Chair, Officer’s Cottage, Hackness Camp, South Walls 2021’.
A homely image in a place dedicated to war….
I covet Fiona Sanderson’s ‘Sundial’, which is explained as being…’Found Copper, hammered over a cast-iron gun-emplacement protractor.’
Robin Bownass’ ‘Z Battery, Flotta’ - simply because I likes mounds!
‘Parliament of Scarfies’ - pic by Gunnie Moberg – accompanied by words from George MacKay Brown…
Ros Bryant presented a row of four tapestries and carved slates entitled ‘Looking Out – Hoy Sound at the Spring Equinox. From the searchlight emplacement below Ness Battery.’.....
Katheine Diaper’s ‘Reflections 2024. The War to end all wars 2024'. I saw what was in these images best from the other end of the room….
This exhibition holds much of interest – presenting very different interpretations of what war has left in Orkney.
And here’s my tuppenceworth…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/11/14/rerwick-revisited/
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Looking Again – Part Two
Since the artefacts from the Tomb of the Eagles were placed in the Orkney Museum, I haven’t had the heart to go and see them, so far from their place of origin.
As I was there to see the ‘Look Again’ exhibition, I decided that I can’t hide from what might make me feel uncomfortable, so went to look again at them in their new ‘home’.
There’s not much there – two small glass cases and a brief telling of the tale of what is now labelled the Isbister cairn….
But which, to me, will always be The Eagle Cairn…
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16579
I only took one picture - of an eagle’s bone and talons….
This saddens me - there was so much there – and this is all that folk can now connect with.
PS
I’ve been thinking more about this.
The cairns were partly there to say – ‘This is our land, we are here.’ If the Ancestors of Isbister are taken far from Isbister – that would make a mockery of their beliefs and way of life.
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Looking Again – Part Three
After my visit to the museum I crossed the road to the calming influence of St. Magnus Cathedral, where I encountered Russell Gilmour, painting.
His art-works show different approaches to his subject….
https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=4822
https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=8345
To my eyes, the piece he was working on stands out as another expression of the Light in the North – the light in St. Magnus’ Cathedral.
Russell very much favours each individual seeing what they see in his work and was loath to say how he sees it. For me, this work in progress also includes the Spirit of Place of St. Magnus’ …..
Russell is a locally based artist who told me that examples of his work are to be seen in the St. Magnus Centre, just up the road to the right of the Cathedral.
It was a day of looking again – at the legacy of war in Orkney – the continuing story of the Eagle Cairn, and the Light in the North…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/04/22/a-vessel-of-light-in-st-magnus/
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