Have you seen (or heard) the new artwork in Hillside Crescent Garden?
It's been in position since June, but if you haven't noticed it don't worry: you're not alone. Seen from the east, it resembles nothing so much as a severed trunk ... one more arboreal victim of last January's gales.
But from the west, its surface is a wonderful, tactile undulation of concentric rings framing a steel-grey rotating disc (see below).
Select a number from 1 to 8, turn the handle for a few seconds, and you're rewarded with a short vocal message outlining the history of the Garden's formation and use, locals' anecdotes of wartime mishaps, or a topological explanation of nearby building subsidence (happily, now, a thing of the past).
The installation – 'Sound Inspiration' – is the work of East Lothian-based sculptor Robin Wood, who fashioned it from a fallen ash in Royal Terrace Gardens opposite and over the way. The Friends of Hillside and Calton Area (who commissioned it to coincide with the Edinburgh Art Festival) hope it may become a permanent feature here. By pleasant coincidence, Hillside Crescent was Wood's first address on moving to Edinburgh, and he knows the area intimately, he told Spurtle.
[img_assist|nid=3299|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=640|height=415]'I never really think of myself as a "chainsaw sculptor"', he writes, 'and only use this tool to remove timber quickly to the point where I can use various powertools and chisels to finish my work by hand. I am constantly inspired to further my abilities as a sculptor and seek to discover the infinite possibilities that lie within a piece of timber.
'Recently I have been relating my sculptures more to their immediate environment, creating site-specific work, creating a dialogue with the surroundings'.
Spurtle liked this piece's textural qualities, its link to local stories, and its modest capacity to blend in with its surroundings. We recommend you choose a quiet summer's evening to go and enjoy it too.
[img_assist|nid=3298|title=|desc=|link=node|align=middle|width=378|height=640]