Autumn Education News

31 October 2011

The autumn term has been very full and busy so far. We have had visits from Fettes AS level groups, SEASONS mental health group, Anniesland College, Telford College, Clifton Hall, Project Scotland management team, Queen Margaret’s University art therapists group, Morrison’s Academy S2 classes, Napier College, St John the Baptist Primary School, Whitburn Academy, St George’s and Inveralmond High School.

Elderberry Rorschach Prints

Some of these schools came for inspiration and a starting point for projects and the drawings and photographs they made at Jupiter will fill their sketchbooks. Other groups came to engage with the artworks through hands on workshops. We used the work of Cornelia Parker both at Jupiter as well as generally as a basis for several of these workshops. The berry Rorschach workshops were fun and also informative. We looked at toxic and non toxic berries around the artland and used the non poisonous berries to make the prints with as well as learning about their culinary uses.

Hanging Fire After Cornelia Parker

The October Artsparks 2 day course during half term was led by Davina Richardson and she used Cornelia Parker’s work to inspire the course. The course was fun and inspiring with budding artists responding enthusiastically and creating some wonderful pieces for the end of course show.

 

Little Sparks

Izzie Chappel's Tuesday Little Spark classes continue to be great fun and inspiring - next term's block only has a couple of places left in the afternoon so get booked in!

Little Sparks

19 September 2011

August saw the launch of our preschool classes at Jupiter. "Little Sparks" is a morning and afternoon weekly session which makes the most of all the wonderful outdoor space at Jupiter to explore nature and art. Alongside the outdoor activities there are singing sessions, imaginative play, drama and stories inside our woodland classroom which help to develop preschool skills. Little Sparks is led by Izzie Chappell and we are so pleased by the lovely emails with great comments and feedback - thank you. 

Over Here - Vandalised

2 August 2011

Shane Waltners piece "Over Here" was vandalised last week and found destroyed in Milkmaid field, the police responded quickly and launched and appeal for information. It's a wanton act of destruction that has highlighted how vulnerable some of the work is.

Shane who is currently showing in Australia will replace the work in the autumn. We were all very sad that such a delicate piece could be so brutally destroyed but thoroughly heartened by all the kind words of support that Jupiter received.

2011 so far

20 July 2011

Upcoming events in August
Installation of Henry Castle’s ‘Hare’s Hill’, a new commission for Jupiter following Castle taking up an artist’s residence in 2010. This thought provoking piece will open to visitors during the second week of August.
 
Temporary installation of Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich’s ‘The Conch [Sound Studio]’ on the 27th and 28th August. The engaging piece invites people to share their hopes and fears within the walls of the wooden conch.
“There are amazing people everywhere, people are fascinating and are doing fantastic things in big ways and in small ways, for their own communities and/or the environment. It’s just a case of finding them and bringing their ideas together.”
Following its launch at Scotland’s Housing Expo in August last year at Milton of Leys it has travelled around Scotland, collecting voices on its journey and it’s coming to Jupiter! 
New Arrival
Jupiter was ecstatic when Eliza the miniature donkey arrived on Monday 27th June. She measured only 12 inches high but was happy and healthy, which her parents Pink and Chisolm seemed very happy about. Come and say hello to Eliza when you’re visiting us, but remember no pulling her ears or feeding her titbits as she doesn’t like it.

Facebook Photography Competition
There is still time to submit your entries!
Just become our friend on Facebook and upload your entries to our wall (only three entries per person please) with the name and date of your photo.
Jupiter Artland owner and creator Nicky Wilson will choose her favourite taking into consideration the public’s choice too and a winner will be announced on 14th September.
The prize is a year’s membership for two adults, an invite to a private view in 2012, as well as your photo being used in one of our adverts or guidebook. So it’s well worth the effort!
Entries must be in by the 28th August.
Good luck and happy snapping!
Fresh start
To mark the opening of our 2011 season we have brand new guidebooks available to buy in Reception for £7.99. They will give you a deeper insight into the works at Jupiter as well as a background on the unfolding story at Jupiter Artland.
The season opened on May 13th and with Charles Jencks’ ‘Life Mounds’ finally finished, after five years in the making, it was set to be a good one. Visitors and Friends flocked to see the mesmerising work that deals with the very core of our being, the cell, and the life of it. 
“The theme is the life of the cell, cells as the basic units of life, and the way one cell divides into two in stages called mitosis (presented in a red sandstone rill). Curving concrete seats have cell models surrounded by Liesegang rocks. Their red iron concentric circles bear an uncanny relationship to the many organelles inside the units of life.”
This year’s Gallery Show ‘Metaphysical Landscapes’ celebrated and complemented the completion of the landforms.
A sterling effort from Richard Irving, Head Gardener, laying the last sod of the Jencks and Hugo Pengally who returned from London to help finish the epic five year project.
Charles Jencks is giving an evening talk on 7th August 2011 for a further insight into the work. Book your tickets online to avoid missing out!
Spring News 2011
This year begun in March with the Annual Friends of Jupiter talk, given by Andy Goldsworthy. Our annual talks are becoming known for their rare and exclusive access to artists. He gave an insightful overview of his work at Jupiter as well as discussing his art and methods more generally. This was a roaring success as I’m sure all our friends would agree.
 
This is one of the many benefits of becoming a Friend at Jupiter, as well as invites to private views and events.

2010 round up

13 December 2010

Because Jupiter is an outside space it is entirely at the mercy of the elements and this provides us with a chance to see the work interact with light and shade that is not possible in a gallery space.

 

But with the elements come the dynamic extremes of frozen fog, drought and of course snow.  As we look out from our office at a winter wonderland we reflect on what a busy year we have had.

Year 2 at Jupiter has seen the bedding down of the existing works – the landscape has evolved to meet the woodland works: "Firmament" floated in a sea of wild flowers this June and “Suck” is surrounded by hawthorn and mallow. The final mound of the “Cells of Life” nearly got finished and whole woods of  young trees appeared in the parkland.
Jupiter has welcomed some very important new works this year. Nathan Coley’s “In Memory” is a powerful new addition to the collection, overwhelming some people with its raw strength and providing grit in the metaphorical oyster.
 
“Landscape, Gun and Tree” continued the work of Cornelia Parker at Jupiter and played with a sense of scale that alluded to fairytales but was rooted in the Gainsborough painting Mr and Mrs Andrews.
Jim Lambie’s permanent piece “A Forest” lit up the back of the gallery reflecting the trees in fragmented technicolour. Zobop and Jim’s other gallery works transformed an old stable into an urban clublike space.
7000 black tulips marked out the shadow of a winter oak tree this May. A filigree of branches of the shadow of the old oak tree were there and then went again-
It’s been a very busy year with double the number of visitors, a new cafe and a huge number of special events. It’s been both rewarding and exhausting for our fantastic team at Jupiter. Friends of Jupiter have trebled in number and have proven to be both enthusiastic and hardy (see the winter opening). We really appreciate them being our Friends and value their support.

Autumn News

3 November 2010

FACEBOOK PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

We held our annual photography competition and the results are splendid.  One thing is for certain our photographers have had a marvellous time experimenting with I phone apps, light and extraordinary angles.  After much deliberation and negotiation (our Head Gardener had used a 50 ft cherrypicker crane for his entry!) we picked Janina Dilny's photograph of Shane Walteners World Wide Web captured in a way that no other photographer has done, we are really impressed.  Janina wins a prize of a two year Friends of Jupiter membership.

Autumn Term

11 October 2010

 

The advanced higher English class from James Young High School, Livingston came to Jupiter and wrote wonderful mesostic poems in response to the sculpture.

   Life
stIrs
  Fluid and
  Everlasting
 
       priMordial
         sOil
         bUbbles
           Nature’s
  mounDs pregnant
with paSt
Megan Beattie
 
  domeSticated
       naTure
     expOsed
 elemeNts
   trappEd
           Housed
          fOrever
           Under
           Silent
      StrEngth

Jessica Stevenson

  
 
Inverkeithing High School did a workshop based on Clay Tree Wall by Andy Goldsworthy.
Laura Glennie, age 15, from Inverkeithing High School wrote this article based on her experience at Jupiter Artland.
“Experiencing natural and ‘in-situ’ sculpture is a very in-depth and thought provoking process for teenagers learning about art, and having the chance to see artwork with a relationship to nature in the flesh – as opposed to photographs – is a brilliant chance to develop young art evaluation skills.
Seeing Laura Ford’s sculptures, a parade of young girls with indefinable faces was a standout moment for the group and caused much interesting deliberation over their status. Some agreed that the figures were eerie and frightening – their Victorian style nightgowns and stony white colouring brought connotations of ghosts, death and horror – whilst others decided that the “Weeping Girls” were a humorous statement about childhood tantrums and the vain aspects behind them. The contrasting views led to a chance for the class to further learn to develop their own opinions and think about other sculptures in the park in unique ways. The atmospheric and unique Artland also led the group to experience different, personal styles of sculpture and they received the unique opportunities of seeing Cornelia Parker’s new piece for 2010 a fun deference to Robert and Nicky Wilson. Dominating the visit was Antony Gormley’s “Firmament” and Andy Goldsworthy’s Stone House Bonnington, which led to a deeper insight into Jupiter Artland’s true ‘site specific’ ethos. Firmament mirrored to its current location to provide a completely different feel to the piece whereas Goldsworthy’s Stone House presented and original, specifically chosen location. This further helped prove the importance and effective nature of sculpture artists’ use of ‘topographical location’
   

 Three classes of St George's P5s visited and did workshops in response to the works by Andy Goldsworthy and Jim Lambie.

                              

Other educational visits this autumn term have been from Clifton Hall School as part of their John Muir Award, Telford College BTEC Art and Design group to have a lecture and tour and Anniesland College of Art too.  Ardvreck School visited for a tour around as well as Edinburgh University 3rd year architects as part of their gallery space project.  Harmeny House did an inservice day here on a sunny September day.
Our project with Juniper Green Primary School continues and their excellent editorial team visited to discuss publishing the stories they have written about Jupiter and further website ideas.
 Wester Coates Nursery visited on a blustery October day. They created  "Applemen" outlines  on the colourful background of the Zobop floor.
                           
Woodmill High School from Dunfermline visited and their lovely advanced higher group did a clay twig workshop and had a tour around the Artland in its autumn glory.
Just before half term Napier University general design first years and the Glasgow School of Art sculpture and environmental art 3rd years (alumni include Nathan Coley and Jim Lambie) visited for lectures on and tours of the Artland.

Bryony Farrant-Davis has joined us as an intern from Edinburgh University's History of Art Department. She is doing an Msc in Modern Art: History, Curation and Criticism and  will get involved with all aspects of life at Jupiter Artland from our archiving to helping with educational activities.

Summer News

30 June 2010

Upcoming events

Peter Liversidge is arriving at Jupiter on the 1st of August. He is going to make everyone a G and T and offer a piece of Lincolnshire plum cake (proposals no. 63 and 97 of his Jupiter Proposals) This dynamic, exciting talk from one of Britain’s young bright stars is really unmissable. We are so pleased that Peter is continuing to fulfil his proposals for Jupiter. Winter Shadow (proposal no. 47) arrived after such a hard winter it was with wonder that we gazed upon the sea of black “Queen of the Night” tulips that created a filigree pattern of a tree shadow on the lawn.
Nathan Coley returns on the 6th August to give a fascinating insight into his powerful work “In Memory”. His talk will be followed by a chance to have a peaceful evening walk around the collection and view the works as the sun goes down. A complementary glass of wine and canapés will be served. 
                 
 
Poetry by the Pool
The “Cells of Life” landforms by Charles Jencks have been created deliberately to contain a natural amphitheatre and on a rare sunny and warm June evening poetry was performed by the series of pools. After a good BBQ the audience lapped up Jenny Lindsay’s stark but utterly moving poems. The pace, delivery and pathos chilled yet uplifted us all. A real talent to watch for the future.
Ash Dickinson created an atmosphere of confession and intimacy as the audience were embraced by his clear and pugnacious poem “skin” and transported to the world of office routine and drudgery from the otherworldly setting of the landforms.
A beautiful evening, with two of Scotland’s best young poets.
 
A Sense of Place: the Jupiter Artland Award
Henry Castle, recently graduated from Wimbledon College of Arts has been presented with the “Jupiter Artland Award”. Jupiter Artland has presented this award as part of the University of the Arts London’s year long initiative “Shaping Sculpture”. Henry won the prize because of his ambitious investigation into archaeological finds, past stories and for creating objects part found/part made that contain a memory and develop a narrative. Henry will be in residence from late July.
 
Picnic in the Park
Sometimes Jupiter is blessed with staggeringly good weather not just the bad as seen on the opening night of Year 2 in May, this was a memorable evening. 60 gathered for drinks before dispersing to all four corners of the Artland to savour their favourite sculptures in the evening sun. It was a soporific event of gentle wafting amongst the lengthening shadows. All the picnics were scoffed and the RHS traffic beaten. A good night and the first of our annual Midsummer picnics.
  
New booking system
For easier access to Jupiter we have developed a new system for booking – it guarantees your car park space and entry on busy days. We do recommend that everyone books in online but understand that life can be complicated. So please come along and “pay at the door” if online booking is impossible. http://www.jupiterartland.org/bookings/
                                                        
 
New arrival
Apollo arrived on May 4th. A beautiful miniature donkey colt. He is friendly, comes to his name and loves the visitors to Jupiter. Please say hello – it’s very good for him. But remember donkeys ears are very sensitive and they get a sore tummy very easily – so no pulling his ears or feeding titbits. Thank you.
 
Don't forget to look at Education News too.