Arhtur's Seat light show will go on, vows artist Angus Farquhar

Published on Monday 11 January 2010 21:33

ONE of Scotland's leading artists has vowed to go ahead with his attempt to turn Arthur's Seat into a huge light installation to coincide with the London Olympics.

Angus Farquhar, who lost out on a 500,000 competition to fund projects for a nationwide Cultural Olympiad, says he has secured enough support to pursue his "Speed of Light" scheme.

The Glasgow artist, who had been widely expected to abandon the project, is now hoping to raise enough money by the end of the year to make the project happen. Thousands of volunteers would be sought for a human-powered lighting system, which would see people traverse a series of routes around the extinct volcano.

Arthur's Seat would become home to the huge art installation during the 2012 Edinburgh International Festival, which will be launched as the London Olympics reach their climax.

The Festival is among a host of arts groups and sporting bodies in talks with Mr Farquhar's arts organisation NVA about the Speed of Light project. He has previously put on similar shows at the Old Man of Storr on Skye and at Glen Lyon in Perthshire.

Lighting effects would be installed around Arthur's Seat and each participant would be fitted with colour-coded equipment to create flowing patterns in light around the landscape. Different colours would be used depending on the speed the volunteer participants would be travelling at, such as red bursts of light for sprinters, or green trails being made by marathon runners.

The group's proposal states: "The Speed of Light is a celebration of human potential through an unforgettable intermingling of sports and innovative cultural activity. The performance is inspired by one of Scotland's best-known natural assets, the mountain uniquely situated in the heart of its capital city."

Mr Farquhar's "environmental arts" group had been hoping to be Scotland's representatives in Artists Taking the Lead, a UK-wide initiative which will see 12 major cultural visions brought to life in 2012. It lost out to Edinburgh artist Craig Coulthard's idea of creating a new football pitch in a secluded Borders woodland for a one-off match before it is left to be "taken over by nature".

However, NVA, which is based in Glasgow, has secured enough backing for the project to enable it to go forward to the next phase. A spokeswoman said the response was "overwhelming".

"We have had such a good reaction from all the partnering organisations that there is still a strong willingness to make it happen," she said.

"It is clear from the feedback received that the concept really struck a chord with a range of non-arts partners and highlighted how NVA strives to widen the impact and positioning of each work beyond the art world alone."

Mr Farquhar added: "Working on the idea has been one of the most exciting creative periods I can remember. I can only describe the process as pushing at a set of open doors. In weeks we had the support of Sport Scotland, Jog Scotland, Scottish Cycling, the British Heart Foundation, Paths for All and the British Council."

Jackie Davidson, director of Scottish Cycling, said: "This exciting project will demonstrate how sport and culture can work together to support the aim of inspiring communities to be a part of the Olympic movement and to embrace the Olympic values of 'excellence, respect and friendship'."