For as long as most people can remember, this has been the view of the City Observatory on Calton Hill.
A blank wall and the promise of something more interesting just out of sight.
Now, though, a new installation has changed all that, providing a view into the overgrown and run-down world inside and beyond, and some novel perspectives on more familiar landmarks outside.
Simon and Tom Bloor’s ‘Structure for the City Observatory’ is not a thing of obvious beauty in its own right, but it’s interesting precisely because of what you can see and/or nearly access from it.
The accompanying explanation says that the artists’ ‘collaborative practice focuses on our often ambivalent relationship to the construction and use of public space,’ but perhaps wisely stays clear of going into too much detail.
They claim to draw inspiration from Robert Barker’s ‘Panorama of Edinburgh from Calton Hill’ (1792), and the pile of building blocks in the gate references a structure (not clearly identified by the artists) shown in that early illustration.
This ‘sculptural ruin’ combined with the scaffold tower ‘playfully address[es] Collective’s plan to redevelop this complex for a new era’.
Standing at the top in today’s teeming rain, this reviewer was left playfully wondering whether he was standing on art or nonsense, which of course is a valid question for any artist to confront the viewer with.
But my main experience of the piece was a blend of amusement, satisfied curiosity, pleasure, mild vertigo, and renewed sympathy for King Charles I in the moments before his execution.
I shall return to experience it again in different lights, times of day, and weather conditions. Rather against my own expectations, I cheerfully recommend it.—AM