SEE EYE FUTURE PLANS

SEE EVENT was very successful with the team working well together and with other services. Abbeyview has a good reputation for pulling together and being so flexible. Public Attendance – 270 people in total attended the See Eye event. The opinion meter results were varied but positive.

International Women’s Day & Sew the Sofa – The sofa is now at the Regeneration Office, Karen Vaughan's cover is ready.

Hanna Tulukki - Nest artwork is being donated to the crèche.

Carol Lambie - Dunfermline Reference Library has expressed interest in the documentation of the Ghost Lines drawing on Abbey view Library window.

Ben Spencer - The three yew trees, which were in ‘potent’ artwork, have been re-instated at Pittencrief Park. Karen Vaughan: Will lend one of the embroidery pieces for display at the Eco House and other places tbd within Abbey view.

Nicola Atkinson Davidson 702 Dwellings/Casablanca: The piece has been given a permanent home in the Eco House Meeting room. There will now be 400 white cardboard paper homes created as a spin-off piece entitled 'Casablanca'. Jackie Powton wants to involve English classes at the High Schools in writing text for 'Casablanca' and we can open the involvement up to the wider community. The SEE EYE events have highlighted the communities keenness to engage and be involved in art and this could be the perfect opportunity to further this.

SEE EYE Booklet and Bookmark –This will be in the form of a pizza box containing Stevie Jackson's 45 record, the 'booklet' which will in fact be set out like a carpet sample with the text written by Chris Hladowski and images create and a Bookmark design by the SEEEYE team.

Curiosity Cabinet – Nick Millar : The launch will be in Abbeyview in August 2007 for the cabinet/booklets and bookmarks.

SEE EYE TWO

June 2007 – March 2008

It is important to remain flexible in the engagement with the people of Abbeyview, since the most interesting and dynamic element in art is taking risks and using unforeseen events that will feed into any new public artworks.

R.A.D.A.R. Random And Dynamic Art Risks
The unforeseen happenings and inspiration in Abbeyview create by Nicola Atkinson Davidson and invited artists.
Timeframe: June 07 – March 08
Outcome: Dialogue and Action in the form of Art in Abbeyview.

Tweed Street Tour - Phase 1
This project will focus on the main bus route into Abbeyview and as starting point, using the windows of the houses lining the route in creating a piece of work. The artist Marisa Privitera has been invited to engage with the residents of Tweed Street and then to document the window arrangements.
Timeframe: June 2007
Outcome: To create dialogue with the community about Public Art

Public Art Panel
Create a public art panel consisting of 12 people from Abbeyview who have not been involved in a public art panel before. This will involve visits to public art works in Scotland, meeting with artists and developing a greater understanding of art in public places.
Timeframe: August 07– March 08
Outcome: To connect with the wider community about public art and to ensure that it is participating in the process.

The Tweed Street Tour - Phase 2.
Continuing the project started in June, the bus company will be involved in the second phase.
Timeframe: Tour date Oct 2007
Outcome: Promoting the Abbeyview community and highlighting its regeneration to wider the area by using its connection to Dunfermline town centre via the D6 Bus.

Photographs © Nicola Atkinson Does Fly

SEE EYE INTRODUCTION

SEE EYE (Collaborative interventions) has brought together a group of creative people, working with the Abbeyview community to provide an artistic accompaniment to the regeneration scheme. This was made possible through interaction with a number of individuals and organisations in Abbeyview, alongside funding from Fife Council and Communities Scotland. The opportunity to present works in alternative spaces, such as a vacant block of flats, as well as efforts to enhance living and working environments such as the library, the regeneration office, and the eco house, has led to the creation of a number of works, some transient in nature, others more permanent.

The SEE EYE team was put together by Nicola Atkinson as a means of working in collaboration with other artists, alongside the people of Abbeyview , on a series of artistic ‘interventions’. The team is made up of the artists Hanna Tuulikki, Carol Lambie and Karen Vaughan, musician Stevie Jackson, cultural broker Ben Spencer, carpenter Nick Millar and writers Michael Wilson and Chris Hladowski. The team is showing a series of works at an event in the Allan Crescent flats (112-126) on March 23rd and 24th 2007, as well as one piece, by Carol Lambie, in Abbeyview library.

There was a premise of collaboration which dictated everyone’s individual approach from the outset. Nicola provides the hub or point of contact for this, with each individual artist acting as a satellite, bringing new ideas to the project and collaborating with each other. There were many unknowns, such as which groups we would engage with, and a concern that we wouldn’t be able to engage with the community as fully as we would like within a short time. From the outset there has been a strong desire to create an interesting and exciting series of works, for the people of Abbeyview to enjoy. Each individual has their own unique approach and skills, whether it be conceptualising, constructing work, making films and installations, playing music, or organising events, and it is both challenging and rewarding to channel this into collaborative works.

Nicola has talked of the idea of the ‘phantom community’, the idea that someone else speaking on behalf of the people can only offer an abstract idea of what their thoughts are. The reality is always much more complex, and hopefully by taking this into account SEE EYE can provide a varied program of works which are responsive to the entire area of Abbeyview, its people and environs.

With regards to the current exhibition the SEE EYE team decided that, at the moment, a temporary piece is the most powerful representation of Abbeyview given the fact that it is in a process of transition. A lot of the work interprets destruction in an artistic way, and alludes to re-growth and an awareness of what has passed. Metaphors and symbols abound - the uprooting of trees, family ties, the flight of birds, the black crows on the estate – alongside music, celebration and the use of light. Even though many of the works are temporary they will mutate into other forms – Ben Spencer’s yew trees will find their way to Pittencrief Park, Hanna Tuulikki’s lanterns will entertain the children of Abbeyview crèche, hopefully for years to come, and who knows where Stevie Jackson’s anthem for Abbeyview will get played,. Furthermore the Cabinet of Curiosities, being constructed by Nick Millar, as an artistic resource, housing individual art works alongside books chosen by the artists.


This SEE EYE event has started new ideas and contribute to what will be created over Nicola’s residency until March 08.

The SEE EYE team.