ART RETROSPECTIVE LOOKS FORWARD TO NEW MUSIC

From the moment you step into the room, you know from the sounds and the amount of objects crammed into the space that this is going to be an entertaining and amusing experience, writes Rhys Fullerton.

Ross Sinclair’s 20 Years of Real Life is part of GENERATION, a series of exhibitions celebrating 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland. It is showing in the City Observatory on Calton Hill.

The exhibition space resembles the recording studio of some successful band. It’s wall-to-wall musical equipment, with hand-painted posters and placards occupying any free space. There is also a video which features a song written and performed by Sinclair recalling his very own greatest hits set, with the artist recapping major events from his career over the past 20 years.

Visitors are invited to create their own ‘Paint what you think’ posters, and these  are added to the walls alongside Sinclair’s work. There is also an opportunity for visitors to try out the instruments, which this reviewer politely declined to do.

Some of this may seem like a populist gimmick, but it’s outside of this building that Sinclair’s work will have its lasting effect. The real heart of the exhibition is that Collective Gallery and Ross Sinclair are giving away the musical equipment for under-20s to start five new bands. 

In so doing, they are bridging the gap between contemporary art and music; reaching out to musicians (or at least aspiring musicians) in another artistic branch.

This could help bring a brand new audience to the gallery, and help to show that art is not just about old paintings but can be so much more.

With Sinclair’s guidance, the bands are sure to be daring and creative, and perhaps in 25 years’ time we may see one of them take part in the next GENERATION series.

20 Years of Real Life runs at the Collective Gallery on Calton Hill until 31 August. Admission free.