EXCLUSIVE
Antony Gormley’s Six Times will be fully restored to the Water of Leith next year, possibly as soon as May.
The four component statues that were removed from the river in early 2012 and put into storage in Granton will return to their original positions.
An anonymous private patron of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) will meet the costs of re-engineering, re-installation, and of any ‘failures’ for the first three years afterwards.
The welcome news follows extensive consultation by NGS with Antony Gormley himself, engineers, contractors, and regulatory authorities including the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).
The upshot is that the water-pressure threshold at which the Stockbridge and Bonnington figures tip over to prevent flooding has been raised. Their hinge mechanisms will be modified accordingly. The new design will also make it simpler to 'resurrect' figures to the upright in future.
The statues at Bell's Mill Weir and Powderhall will now be permanently fixed to the riverbed, with the latter being repositioned a few metres upstream to avoid a problematic, underwater depression near the bridge.
Julie-Ann Delaney is the National Galleries of Scotland curator who has been handling the project for the last three-and-a-half years.
She told Spurtle today of her pleasure that the innovative work – which proved such a hit with the public at its launch in 2010 – will return.
The 9–12 month run-in between now and the Gormleys' reappearance will allow time for a new SEPA licence to be procured, and for the completion of engineering tests. No new planning consent is required. Reinstallation will take place during calmer weather after the winter, and at a time which will not disrupt the fish-spawning season.
Delaney says intensive conversations examining all options have taken place since 2012. Repositioning the figures was discussed, but Gormley insisted that the conceptual rationale which underpinned the original choice of sites should be respected.
Delaney speaks of the ‘enormously positive response’ to Six Times since its arrival in the capital. This was, she says, instrumental in the anonymous patron’s decision to fund the restoration at no additional expense to the public. (These costs are expected to be lower than the £150, 480 originally incurred. See Breaking news, 15.7.15.)
‘Would the difficulties surrounding this project deter NGS from commissioning new works in future?’ we asked.
‘Absolutely not,’ replied Delaney . NGS is committed to ‘making new art’, and has learned a huge amount from the novel technical and bureaucratic complexities of Six Times.
The understanding acquired in restoring the project has, she says, been enormously helpful, and – if anything – would increase the National Galleries’ confidence about tackling other ambitious projects in future.
The restoration is likely to take place next year without fanfare, and at present there are no plans for Antony Gormley to attend.
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John Stewart-Young Great news! So pleased someone with the means has stepped forward.Well done that person.
Helen McGoldrick At last! Thanks anonymous donor
@theSpurtle I wish they were on a spring instead of a hinge so that they leaned with varying flow of the Water of Leith.
Sarah Hemming We think this is good news!
