Helmsdale Ice House 2009 – part of the OURS residency 2007-2009
Every Halloween, the Helmsdale Spooky Walk is led by Timespan’s manager, Lorna Jappy. A gifted story teller, she leads a captivate crowd of all ages round the village, transforming sites that we pass everyday into the scenes of sinister and supernatural happenings.
The last location on the walk is by far the scariest, Helmsdale’s Icehouse. As the door closes behind the audience ‘’BOOM’’, you may feel a splash if ice cold water run down your neck. The water has fallen from high above you but on a night such as this, who would dare look up into the cavernous darkness?
These same splashes of water have fallen for 185 years, firstly onto the ice packed salmon catch from the river Helmsdale, and later upon the already soggy chips sold in the coal fired fish and chip shop below. Not surprisingly, the post war chippie only lasted a year…
So when it came to the OURS curatorial project, which gave the youth arts group the opportunity of commissioning an artist to create a new body of work for Timespan, there was little discussion as to whom, what and where they would curate:
• A Scotland based artist • Double sited Exhibition • Responding to the Icehouse
Finding enthusiastic artists to take up the challenge was the easy part. Ensuring that the ice house would be fit for purpose was however a far more in depth project than I had first anticipated.
As a result of 7 months hard work, the ice house now has electricity, lighting, a new door and window. The carefully placed lighting highlights the beautiful vaulted arch and stonework, allowing the interior to be properly appreciated for the first time. Electricity now offers a limitless range of possibilities for the building, from film showings to ceilidhs. The final additions to the list were the new door and window. The previous door and window were solid and unlocked, leaving the building at risk from unwanted visitors and lacking in much needed ventilation. I designed both replacements under the guidance of local sculptor, Sam Barlow, who then fabricated the design using copper and iron.
Pictured, Sam Barlow
”On my first fleeting view in evening sunlight, the newly installed works irresistibly suggested large-scale jewellery against the grey cliff face of the Ice House. I had seen Ruth’s outline designs some weeks earlier but, even so, it was quite startling to see such striking pieces pierced into the building’s façade. As psychologist Jerome Bruner once put it, ‘surprise is the privilege of the prepared mind.’ Agreed!” Norman Gibson, extract from Elephant Test and Other Trials
The design seeks to reflect the curved lines and circular motifs that can be found in the ice house and surrounding architecture. The stylised fish shapes are mindful of the building’s intended use and the areas fishing heritage. The negative spaces between the rails and shapes now allow visitors to see inside even when the door is locked.
The first artist to benefit from these improvements was Chris Dooks, who on the 10th of April 2009, led a crowd of sixty five hardy souls through an intricate soundscape performed live in the vaulted chambers. Composing especially for the Icehouse and surrounding area, Chris was the OURS group’s chosen artist. He produced a fittingly memorable begining to the next chapter in the life of the Icehouse.
STUDIO 1824
‘’ A linguistic survey sound recording from 1964 featured Helmsdale fisherman Neil MacKay and wife Mary (née Sutherland). A story is told and in the background, bells chime. A knitting group helped me track down the next of kin who had never heard the recording. Using the acoustics in Helmsdale’s ice house, I shaped music from these recordings, adding fresh elements to create a mini-album of “folktronica” with accompanying photographic cover-art. The project became a live electronic concert, community workshops and a gallery exhibition featuring an enormous salmon of knowledge, patrolling the ice house and nearby Gartymore…’’
Chris Dooks
Curated by the OURS curatorial team, led by Ruth Macdougall
Exhibition Ran
Saturday 11 April – Sunday 17 May 2009
During the course of this project, I formed constructive links with the owners of the Icehouse, Sutherland Estates. In particular, Chris Whealing, manager of the estates was a keen collaborator, co funding the doors and giving generously of time and advice during the planning stages. Highland Council also funded the door and window as well as Helmsdale Community Council. Helmsdale’s local fire brigade kindly agreed to hose out decades of grime in preparation for its new role, but not before using the building as a venue for a dummy, emergency fire rescue.
On the first formal visit to the ice house with Chris Whealing and Lorna Jappy, I made a small yet exciting personal discovery. Amongst the random objects that dwelt, decaying in the ice house were a pair of old planks. On closer inspection these planks turned out to be a pair of salmon fishing oars, probably used on the cobble boats that regularly crossed the river, netting fish. These beautiful oars were abandoned for so long in the darkness and damp that they were almost beyond saving. After careful preservative measures were taken, I cleaned and waxed the oars , before returning them home, mounted opposite the window in the first chamber.
THE VISITORS
The second response to the Icehouse came from two very different artists, Chilean video artist Yael Rosenblut and Scottish artist Anne Brodie. Working primarily in digital lens based media, the intensive one month residency has derived two swift pulls of focal length from both.
Anne’s previous life as a salmon worker on the West Coast of Scotland has drawn her intimately observed images and sounds from the little known quarters of Helmsdale’s smokehouse. Anne worked closely with father and son, Sandy and Alexander Cowie who own the smoke house and currently represent the remaining thin layer of Helmsdale’s once rich fishing industry.
Contrastingly, Yael on her first visit to Scotland chose to engage with one of the most iconic strands of Scotland’s traditional imagery, the highland dancer. Working with Helmsdale’s newest generation of Highland dancers, she sought to create a collective portrait of youth and future heritage.
To read the full online review of The Visitors, written by Giles Sutherland and published on Hi Arts, click here
Curated by Ruth Macdougall
Exhibition ran: Friday 04 July – Sunday 02 August 2009