Most visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe in August will find themselves seeing a show at Summerhall. Quite of a few of those will know it is also a year round arts and cultural hub and its many events are not just confined to the Fringe weeks. Less will be aware of the over a hundred people, enterprises and projects that rent studio space at in this labyrinthine building, rooted visually still in its history as The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. You probably won’t be aware it is also home to a lab which goes by the name of ASCUS Art & Science. That name is very “Summerhall”, bridging the gap between two often seen as polarised opposite disciplines. Yet Artists and Scientists can both book space in this unique space, “a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing together art, science and beyond in the name of play, curiosity and experimentation.” Indeed, “ASCUS has facilitated projects at the intersection of art and science by both UK and international artists including Oron Catts, Marta de Menezes, Susan Aldworth, Hannah Imlach and Aurelie Fontan.”
So it was with much excitement and delighted that we had the opportunity to not only visit the lab, but also meet a few of the Summerhall residents whose creative businesses and enteprises have found a home at this very special hub in Edinburgh. It was also with some relief that we all recently heard that Summerhall, which had been reported as soon to be up for sale, had been funded for at least another three years. Uncertainty remains as to its longer term future, but by the end of this little visit, we were convinced, as I am sure you will be, that Summerhall must have a sustainable longer term future.
I was accompanied by fringe performer and show maker, Danielle Solof,
We began our tour at the Ascus Lab with a conversation with manager, Keira Tucker. We soon learned that Nature seems to create her own emergent art, that bacteria is inherently expressive and that you can make leather from Kombucha! “Serious” science is carried out here in the UK’s only publicly accessible lab like this of its kind. Businesses, freelances and indeed any member of the public can book access to the space as do artists, experimenting creatively and enriching their artistic work with experimental inquiry and creation. Here some of the lab’s current and past projects.
The tour got interesting as you can hear below. The key ‘wow’ moments were around briding and gap, and blurring the line between science and art, as well as the overall suprise that Summerhall is so much more than the shows and events it puts on year round for the public. Here is a community, a home for creative investigation and production.
Now you cannot visit Summerhall, with its eclectic pub and buzzing courtyard and cafe without getting into conversation. So it wasn’t long before we were also in conversation with just a few of the many folk who have studio spaces at Summerhall. You can easily get lost in its corridores, discovered yet another staircase leading somewhere, or come upon an old service lift that still works a treat and will transport you to a recording studio, an art studio or someone’ else’s creative lair. Our first conversations were back in the Ascus lab. We met artist Joanna Boyce who is based as Summerhall but works in museums, galleries and other art spaces across the region as well as being an artist in her own right. Based at Summerhall, she is director of CIC Creative Art Works. Joanna is an art/object handling technician and also paints “murals, panels and canvases, as well as creating scenic design and 3d objects, often made from wood, resin or paper-mache.” She does a lot of other things too!
We then spoke toi Alice Nelson, who works in film as a documentary director. Supported by Screen Scotland and BFI Documentart Society, she has been shooting her first feature length documentary on site at Summerhall. Alice discussed her work and what she finds special about being based at Summerhall.
Finally we were led through the maze of corridors and up a service lift into the wondrous realm of Jules Vaughan and his music and rehearsal studios, Tone Garden.
Jules, a bit of a visionary in music and sound, also further elaborated on why Summerhall is the idea place for his work, and we got a walk around the many spaces, including a soundproof drumming studio Jules has built as a room within a room. That felt very Summerhall as well!
Clearly the residents of Summerhall have come home to its uniqueness, the creativity that is infused into a place that began life as a scientific places that still has brewing at its heart, though not just beer these days. The lab, the people, the spirit of creative inquiry that bridges art and science, this was a perfect end to our Fringe and a call to wake up to what Summerhall wholly is and must be allowed to be in the future for a very long time to come.
Upcoming events at ASCUS are here.
The full Summerhall programme is here.
