'We Stay Because We Like It' – This week in Scottish Art

Whether you're into the occult, public art or cycling on a monumental sculpture, there's something to see in Scottish art this week

Feature by Adam Benmakhlouf | 28 Oct 2014

It’s Halloween week, and things are getting a bit witchy at the CCA. Before the end of Gregor Wright’s exhibition in the CCA on 2 November – reviewed in this month’s issue – there will be a symposium on ideas of magic, witchcraft and the occult. Speakers will include Samantha Cooper, co-owner of one of Scotland’s oldest Occult shops and Christine Ferguson, expert in the Victorian occult revival. The event is this Friday 31 October. Though a free event, booking is essential. Tickets can be found here

Opening in The Modern Institute on Saturday 1 November, Richard Hughes’ exhibition of new work will preview on Friday night from 7pm. Hughes’ 2012 exhibition in the Tramway Where it all Happened Once saw Hughes meticulously remake in fibreglass a community centre from the 1980s. The new exhibit entitled Field Trip will continue Hughes’ interest in the everyday and locating the romance therein. 

Our video of the week comes from The Briggait, documenting The Comedown by Stephen Murray, which closes on Saturday. Murray describes the work as “a monumental sculpture in the form of a figure of eight velodrome, 30 x 12 x 4 metres in scale,” and operates “as a post referendum reflective work with ideas of opposition and duality.” Confident cyclists willing to sign a disclaimer are welcomed by Murray to have a shot on the work.

Stephen Murray : The Comedown from arts-news on Vimeo.

In SWG3 this Saturday, NVA will host the world premiere of its Speed of Light art films. Back in 2012, NVA creative director Angus Farquhar spoke to the Skinny before the first staging of the spectacular public artwork on Arthur’s Seat, with amateur athletes choreographed in specially designed LED light suits. According to the NVA, this event is a homecoming for the work, which has been touring worldwide ever since. On Saturday, there will be live music, visuals by Novak Collective and a set by the Chemical Brothers’ tour DJ James Holroyd. The event takes place from 8pm until 2am in SWG3 Saturday 1 November. To attend the event, tickets can be purchased for £12 from here.

Ghost Peloton Short Film Trailer from NVA on Vimeo.

In Edinburgh, the exhibition to accompany the Collective’s Satellite programme continues with Matthew Richardson. The Satellites Programme is Collective’s development initiative for emergent artists based in Scotland. In this exhibition, Richardson’s short film is displayed directly onto the gallery’s window. Collective describes the film as exploiting “the backdrop of Calton Hill and more obliquely a subjective and political landscape.” Richardson’s exhibition is on until this Sunday 2 November.

Still in Edinburgh, Charles Avery’s edition of Ingelby’s public art series Billboard for Edinburgh comes to an end this week. On the side of Ingleby gallery, Charles Avery is the 25th artist to fill the gallery’s billboard space. Avery’s work is best known as his drawings of the fictional dystopian city of Onomatopoeia. On this occasion, he has chosen to mount a text piece on the billboard, reading “we don’t stay here because of gravity we stay because we like it”. For examples of Avery’s wider practice, visit the GENERATION exhibition in the National Gallery of Modern Art, on until the 25 January.

In the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Luke Fowler’s 61-minute film is into the final week of its exhibition. In this film, Fowler’s subject is the Marxist historian EP Thompson, of whom he forms a portrait using found and newly shot footage. The filmed is screened throughout the day, beginning at specific times which can be found here. The film will be on show until Sunday 2 November. 

Please send details of future art events to adam@theskinny.co.uk