DALZIEL + SCULLION

CORPUS, 2019. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge for the grounds of the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Corpus recalls the stone circles erected by our ancestors and appear as a series of scattered bones. The forms draw on the structure of spinal vertebrae – a sophisticated design solution we share with many other species – epitomising inner strength, persistence and determination. People are encouraged to interact with these stones, discovering that each has been shaped around the human profile. They invite the user to sit, recline, lie or lean on their cool stony surface. Their evolving shape from recumbent though to standing, allows the body to sense a range of physical and perceptual experiences and perhaps an opportunity to recalibrate.

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CORPUS (detail), 2019. The work is located on the grounds of a new biomedical research centre focusing on health at a cellular level in stem and blood cells. Neighbouring buildings focus on research for cancer and diabetic treatments, others are global players in the pharmaceutical industries. Not far from here one of the largest medieval burial grounds in Britain was discovered, dating back to the 14th century and the Hospital of St John the Evangelist. The concentrated thinking around what makes our bodies both vulnerable and successful is palpable on this site; amplified in the names of streets and buildings, enacting a roll call of medical pioneers and their enabling patrons. This scientific work on this site will continue to develop in directions we cannot presently conceive, changing what we feel about our ancient anatomy and physiology.

Dalziel + Scullion have been selected for national and international exhibitions including the British Art Show and the Venice Biennale and have received awards and prizes including the Saltire Society Award for Art in Architecture, the Saltire Society Award for Art in Public Places, the Eco Prize for Creativity and were short-listed for the international Artes Mundi Prize. In 2018 they completed their residency as the John Muir Fellows, publishing their artists guide to reconnecting with nature titled Homing.

Dalziel + Scullion's work has been included in many publications, articles and magazines concerning Art & Nature and Art & Landscape including the seminal survey books Land Art, published by Tate publishing and L’Artiste Contemporain Et La Nature, published by Hazan. They have three books published on their own work HOME published by The Fruitmarket Gallery 2001, More Than Us published by Scottish Natural Heritage 2009 and HOMING published by North Light Arts John Muir Residency 2018.

Dalziel + Scullion’s work can be seen on their website:

www.dalzielscullion.com

HOMING, 2018 - John Muir Residency. A field guide to reconnect with nature, to rekindle our abilities to find our way back ‘home’ to an organic world of plants and animals, land and sea, weather and seasons, and of ways to feel ourselves part of it. Today more than half the world’s populations live in cities that demonstrate an incredible ability to work together as a species albeit often in ways that lead us away from nature and its complexities and rewards. Homing encourages its users, through direct, practical activities, to (re-)connect to an experience of nature that lifts the blinkers of habitual or goal-driven behaviour and expands the sensory world we are evolved to compliment. This book was published by North Light Arts as a culmination of our residency in Dunbar, Muir's birthplace.

IMMERSION GARMENT, 2014 – Silhouette. This is a series of four garments, each made to facilitate a different type of interaction with the outdoors. The specific design of each garment focuses the wearer on an action that is a purposeful immersive act, functioning in marked contrast to the usual purpose of outdoor clothing that shields and protects and, by extension, isolates the wearer. This image depicts the Silhouette garment, allowing the wearer to shift their shape from that of a human to something more akin to an erratic boulder, from where the wearers centres and stills themselves, to watch and examine other species around them.

ROSNES BENCH, 2014 – Stincher. A permanent artwork for the diverse and vast landscape of Dumfries & Galloway. 30 specially designed recumbent benches, positioned in 12 locations, over a 300 square-mile site have a profound effect on people when used. When you lie down, you slow down and engage your senses in a different way. You become aware of things like the breeze, the sky, the scents from plants and the sounds around you. Today, many of us are disconnected from nature – in cities we are surrounded by concrete and have tarmac underfoot, the stars are blotted out by streetlights – the benches are an invitation and a conduit to the sensorial resources of hillsides, woodlands, loch sides and riverbanks. The design of the benches recalls the mysterious ancient cup and ring marked stones, and recumbent stones, which stand in many remote parts of Scotland. This image shows two of the benches at Stincher, the furthest north of the twelve locations.