Ann Shaw -
"I am a writer/artist based in Scotland. After working as a Feature Writer on the Glasgow Herald I went to Glasgow School of Art as a mature student.
Check out my web-site: annshaw.co.uk "
Contact- annshaw
I am having difficulty embedding video into blog. Please click on following link to: Stone Circle
This video was made last Sunday in Pittenweem, Fife at the end of their annual arts festival.
The Japanese installation artist Yoshihito Kawabata imported stone from the north of Scotland, he put a message and signed each stone then laid them in a gigantic circle with part of it on the shore. As soon as the tide came in it took some stones away.
He believes in "free art" and he wanted his installation to be enjoyed by visitors to the Festival, and if they wanted a stone as a "keep-sake" then he was happy for them to take stones away. The sea, wind and waves took the rest...
This video shot in Stirling of the last march through the city of the world famous Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders has been watched in 35 countries, viewed by over 14,000 people and attracted 50 comments on Youtube.
It was filmed on a very old camcorder on the spur of the moment...I mention this to show how these days with the most basic technology you can make little films and show them worldwide - for free!
It so happened that the Drummer collapsed and I had it on film.
While I have been deeply engrossed in writing "The Children of Craig-y-nos" a multi-media, online project with a book to be published with the help of Dr Carole Reeves , oral historian with The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London and funding from the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund my videos online have developed little communities around which people gather.
The 47 videos on my main internet channel www.Youtube.annshaw- ) have a life of their own. It is as if the video has acted as a flashpoint, or catalyst, allowing people to congregate online and exchange their views. ( I have another internet video channel for my current project www.Youtube.childrenofcraigynos
I am not too surprised that the blonde woman wrestler in our local Highland Games who flashes her knickers from time to time as she throws men to the ground has attracted thousands of "hits".
Others continue to surprise me. An old clip I put up of dog sledging I made in Alaska while en route to Japan has been bookmarked by many devotees of huskies. Likewise one dealing with predators- one featuring a European eagle chick in a Highland Wildlife park. As for the three minute clip of the last march of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders through Stirling before they were amalgamated this still draws comments today, years after it happened. On Youtube you just don't know what grabs folks attention: the odd, the quirky, the unexpected yes.
As for my art videos I am afraid they are the least popular. Perhaps I should not be surprised; or disappointed.
We organised a Patients Reunion in September- the first time many had returned to Craig-y-nos Castle, in the Swansea Valley since they left over 50 years ago.
Mary Williams was a former TB patient who had beenbrought into the sanatorium, once the home of the famous opera diva Adelina Patti, as a very sick child.
She was given weeks, if not days, to live. Byi thanks to the miracle drug streptomycin she recovered. Nurse Glenys Davies remembers her because of her dramatic recovery.
Have started to roll out some work after a week in Dahab. Spent one day going up to St Katherine's monastery in the Sinai desert and filmed these camels. Added a touch of surrealism.
Fungal foray with Stirling branch of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Inspired to make this after biologist Roy Sexton showed us slides of mushrooms under a microscope in the lab. at Stirling University. Roy and Sue Sexton run the Stirling branch of the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
This is my last video of 2006...have got to get Christmas under way! It's a constructed narrative from an afternoon walking my dog in the snow. Hope its got a festive feel about it, well, a snowy one anyway.
I came across this video last night in my studio ( i.e. spare bedroom) while trawling through some old footage and I realised that it has never been seen by anyone so I decided to put it up on You Tube this morning.
After all, I reckon that those people who were kind enough to take part in my inter-active art project in the Changing Room gallery might like to see it. So lets hope they click on to You Tube and see their hands!
But there's a little problem...I've got over 40 images of hands up and I only know a few peoples names. In the excitement/confusion of the week in the gallery my list of names does not tie up with the photos...so if anyone looking at this video recognises themselves then please email me( annshaw@mac.com) and I will put the names in.
So far I have got the following: John Gray, Fiona Ross, Chris Walker, Malcolm Shaw, Lys Hansen, Kirsteen MacDonald, Peter Russell, Jamie Jack, Lynn Wilson, Ann Turner, Pamela and Katie Morley.
Climbed Ben A'an yesterday. This is a quick charcoal sketch I made. Nearly had heart failure when I caught my first glimpse of Ben A'an. A sheer peak rising out of nowhere....a video will follow.
Craig-y-nos Castle has had a violent and colourful history. Built in 1840 by the Powell family, it is said there was a curse on the family because Captain Powell's children died of either disease or terrible accidents. He ran out of monery, went blind and eventually insane.
Adelina Patti, world famous opera singer, lived there for over 50 years. She entertained the "great and the good" including Royalty, with concerts in her private theatre. She died after falling down a flight of stairs. Today her ghost is supposed to haunt the castle and the grounds. Many sightings have been reported along with her singing.
After her death the castle was used for around forty years ( 1920- 1960) as a childrens TB sanatorium though all records for this period have been destroyed. Today it is an hotel specialising in weddings and ghost-hunting. It claims to be the most haunted castle in Wales.
On April 12 2003 Hungary voted to join the Common Market. We were being entertained by our Hungarian friends at the time and they were showing us around Budapest. This is a snapshot of that day.
Ann Shaw web movie based on the "Clach" Stone Sculpture Symposium
Laurent Guyolot "Clarsach"
Carving in stone may be deeply unfashionable in some artistic circles- after all its no longer taught at art colleges- but there is no doubting the ability of stone to resonate with the human spirit throughout the ages- from the cave paintings in Spain to its popularity with the public today.
Witness the hugely successful first ever Stone Sculpture Symposium in Scotland held this month ( Sept. 2006) in the grounds of a castle near Stirling.
Hugh Collins ""Torso"
A dozen sculptors from as far afield as Canada, Germany, France, Norway as well as Ireland, England and of course Scotland had been invited to make work in the grounds of the castle for a week .
Marina Weir "Water-horse" They were: Tom Allan ( Glasgow), Hugh Collins (Scotland) Marina Weir ( Ayrshire),Brunton Hunter (Borders), Laurent Guyolot ( France/Italy), Eldon Guay ( Canada), Alan Ward ( England), Nils Hansen ( Germany/Italy), Susheila Jamieson ( Borders), Arne Maeland ( Norway), Aileen-Anne Brannigaan ( Ireland), Paul Cook (England), and David Kent ( England).
Alan Ward "Throne for a Celtic King"
The event was organised by sculptor Tom Allan, who passionately believes that stone still offers a valid expression for the creative expression of art, and he describes the week as a “resounding success”.
Arne Maeland ""Tower House"
Plans are already underway for the second Stone Sculpture Symposium in Scotland next year.
Nils Hansen "Triskele symbol"
But first Tom is taking a well earned break - with a few weeks carving in the Carrara marble quarries, near Pisa.
Susheila Jamieson "Spiral"
On a personal note I found the symposium a refreshing change from the arid conceptualism masquerading as art that fills so many of our galleries today.
