Wrestling artist and stargazers' bothy win share of £500,000 culture fund

A PLAY exploring the "art of wrestling", a shelter for stargazers and the creation of a poetic atlas of Scotland have won a share of a £500,000 cash pot set up by the nation's new cultural body.

They are among the first winners of Creative Scotland's "vital spark" awards, announced by culture minister Fiona Hyslop. They were set up to encourage artists to develop collaborations.

New work will be staged in cinemas, theatres, galleries and in unusual outdoor locations across Scotland over the next 18 months.

Groups of artists have won up to 100,000 after being whittled down from more than 100 initial applicants to the scheme, part of a 5 million Creative Scotland fund to support new work.

The Arches in Glasgow has joined forces with writer and performer Rob Drummond for a project that will see him train and create a character as a wrestler, then take to the ring for a bout with a professional.

Jackie Wylie, artistic director at The Arches, said: "The final production will feature a real wrestling match in a real ring that we'll be building specially.

"The audience will see how Rob's physical appearance has changed, but also how he has to learn to fight in character."

Artist Mandy McIntosh will be working with physics and astronomy experts to create a "magical refuge" inside a bothy which will take advantage of the status of Galloway Forest, in Dumfries-shire, as a stargazing haven.

She said the bothy would be open at night so people could sleep in it. "The original plan was for it to be there for just a few months, but we're looking at making it a permanent fixture in the forest now," she said.

Poets Ken Cockburn and Alec Finlay will tour Scotland creating work inspired by the people and landscapes for their "world map" of the nation.

Other winners include a project celebrating Scotland's evolving fashions and the textile industry, a bid to create an exhibition tour of "virtual" sculptures and other works of art, and experimental work created through an alliance of jazz musician Raymond MacDonald, visual artist Martin Boyce and film director David MacKenzie, of Young Adam fame.

A shortlist of 16 projects unveiled last month was judged by a panel that included Judith Winters, curator at Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre; writer and musician Luke Sutherland; and Julie Ellen, creative director of Playwrights' Studio Scotland.

It was chaired by Jim Tough, outgoing chief executive of the Scottish Arts Council, which is currently merging with Scottish Screen to form Creative Scotland.

Mr Tough said: "The standard of applications received was extremely high and there was an exciting mix of both established and emerging artists. All experimental, radical and innovative, these collaborations aim to creatively engage with audiences and cross boundaries uncharted before now."

The bright sparks benefiting from Creative Scotland funding

CURATORS and producers Lucy McEachan and Catriona Duffy, fashion designer Beca Lipscombe, visual artist Lucy McKenzie and illustrator Bernie Reid will present new work and ideas that examine and rework the forms and presentation of craft practice.

• Artist Torsten Lauschmann and Dr Jochen Ehnes from the University of Edinburgh will research and develop tools to create and view site-specific art using augmented reality, mobile devices and video projections.

• Composer and musician Raymond MacDonald, visual artist Martin Boyce and film director David MacKenzie will experiment with new forms of work that will adapt to gallery, concert hall and cinema spaces.

• Rob Drummond will train with the Scottish Wrestling Alliance, culminating in a piece of work that straddles both theatre and an authentic wrestling match.

• A shelter for stargazers in Galloway Forest will be created by visual artist Mandy McIntosh and composer Kaffe Matthews in partnership with the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance/Institute for Astronomy and the Forestry Commission Scotland.

• A world map or poetic atlas will be composed on journeys throughout Scotland by poet Ken Cockburn and artist and poet Alec Finlay. It will be made available online and in audio at various venues.

• Nicholas Bone, director of Magnetic North Theatre Company, with partners David Shrigley (visual artist) and David Fennessy (composer) will create a live performance that will combine theatre, animation, text and music in a part theatre, part gig, event.