Material Rites

18th to 31st March 2011, Tues to Sun 12-8pm.
Inspace, 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB

Material Rites presents new work in diverse media by a group of established and emerging Scottish sculptors. The exhibition explores artists’ engagement with materials and the creative opportunities and conversations afforded by new media and information technology.

Gemma Coyle, FOUND, Scott Laverie, David McAllister, Lyndsay Mann, Gordon Munro and Ewan Robertson, Bill Scott, Derek Sutherland.

Materials are often neglected in the interpretation of art. In non-traditional work they have something to say; iconographies and meanings that are recognised, manipulated then transmitted by the artist. Materials stimulate physical and psychological reactions, stirring emotions, memories and senses. The material revolutions in the art of the past century have transformed matter from a means of expression to expression itself. How do diverse material interventions operate in the context of a culture immersed in technology, consumerism and the intangible?

The evolution of sound, electronics, installation, film, animation, cutting-edge technology, interactivity and traditional craftsmanship afford infinite combinations to contemporary sculpture. The artists in Material Rites unite these multiplicities under an umbrella of material meaning and experimentation to offer audiences a fresh way of enjoying art.

The exhibition is presented as a collaborative project between the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and The Royal British Society of Sculptors.