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  • Under the Weather

Coutts, Nicky, 2014, Art or design object, Under the Weather

Abstract or Description:

‘‘Under the Weather’ was an architectural construct and artwork that served as a shelter, meeting place and viewing chamber. It was sited on a sea boundary of the National Trust for Scotland's most northerly property, Inverewe Gardens in the West Highlands of Scotland (2014-15). It was commissioned in partnership with the Trust and Creative Scotland in the Year of Natural Scotland. It was visited by over 62,000 visitors over the course of a season before it was taken down.

‘Under the Weather’ continues a trajectory of Coutts’ work in which conflicting perspectives that inform perceptions of place are translated and reworked to form a newly realised structure or film. The ‘miraculous’ growing of sub-tropical plants at Inverewe is dependent on the warm air provided by the gulf stream and the shelter belt of trees that protect the plants from the elements. Coutts selected fragments of knowledge that underpin this story of place, made them material and created a space of multiple function and appearance in a bid to encourage new narratives and uses of this space by viewers.

A short documentary film on the making of ‘Under the Weather’ was commissioned by IOTA (Inverness Old Town Association) and Creative Scotland and the publication ‘Artistic Reflections’ was instigated by the same partnership, documenting the impact of the work (published 2017). The selection of Coutts for the role of Signature Artist for The National Trust for Scotland, also involved consultancy activities focused on how to innovatively support working with artists within the Trust into the future. Over the six-month residency period, Creative Scotland invited Coutts to contribute to a series of public seminars, talks and an interview with Two Lochs radio. Coutts’ structure is featured in The University of Edinburgh’s Open Access Edinburgh Research Explorer, Scottish Natural Heritage Autumn/Winter, (2014).

Subjects: Architecture > K100 Architecture
Architecture > K200 Building
Creative Arts and Design > W100 Fine Art
Creative Arts and Design > W100 Fine Art > W130 Sculpture
School or Centre: School of Arts & Humanities
Copyright Holders: Nicky Coutts, National Trust for Scotland, Creative Scotland, IOTA
Funders: Creative Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, IOTA, London Sculpture Workshop
Date Deposited: 21 Mar 2017 09:55
Last Modified: 09 Nov 2018 15:47
URI: https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/2671
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