Art

If you find yourself on the path between Five Ways Junction and Lower Granton Road anytime soon, whap oot your smartphone and hae a wee swatch at this sign by the entrance to East Trinity Road Tunnel.

The QR code links to a spoken poem: ‘No Birds Land’, by Tamsin Grainger.

It’s about birds: their song, their chirps and chirrups, their presence or disturbing absence in this echoing drip-lined passage.

It is distinctly odd. Stuttering. Repetititve. Alliterative. Bird-ish. Occasionally squawky.

Since 1981, the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) John Kinross Scholarship has afforded 10 students of art and/or architecture the chance to live and create in Florence for 3 months.

A few years later, an Academician’s bright spark saw works created during these Italian sojourns added (mandatorily) to a collection held by the RSA. Said hoard has swelled over the years until achieving national significance – who said you can’t have too much of a good thing?

‘The Art of Hospitality’ is a refreshing idea of what the Fringe could be, outside the hands of the big operators and showcasing the creativity of Edinburgh’s people.

Michael Worobec, an entertaining and talkative host, welcomes the visitor into his home on Claremont Crescent (Venue 109), a beautiful Georgian townhouse over three floors, and is on hand to provide first-hand commentary on his life, inspirations, and art practice as well as musings on the themes of architecture, nature, tourism, and much more.

Warriston Cemetery often throws up surprises, but few remember finding something quite like this before.

The artwork is suspended, or anchored, at three points to nearby trees, and seems to float in mid-air, gently rippling when disturbed by the wind.

Its subtle shades make it easy to miss, but from close quarters it has something of a hovering bird about it, or an angel, or a blade of kelp.

There’s a note attached which offers a partial explanation.

 EXCLUSIVE 

Something has changed about Antony Gormley’s Six Times along the Water of Leith. But so far, hardly anyone has noticed. 

Originally installed in 2010, four of the pieces were removed in 2012 following repeated topplings by more-powerful-than-expected floods. 

Too nerve-racking to watch the rugby this weekend? 

Instead, you could do a lot worse than to visit the BP Portrait Award 2019 at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. 

It’s a very accessible exhibition which all readers who also have the benefit of being higher primates will probably enjoy. 

This reviewer’s favourite work was the one that ended up coming second in the international competition.

Norwegian Carl-Martin Sandvold’s self-portrait ‘The Crown’ is more than simple Nordic noir.