‘Deep Time’ is a concept developed by the geologist, James Hutton (1726-1797); referring to the idea that evolution can only be measured over vast, immeasurable amounts of time where numbers no longer have any meaning. Edinburgh born, Hutton was considered to be the founding father of modern geology. He proposed that Earth was a lot older than 6,000 years, as most people thought at the time. ‘Deep Time’ is also the title that was given to the opening event of the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival, in Edinburgh where the artist lives. I tried to represent this on canvas and what you see it the result.
A regular participant with an official Edinburgh Fringe venue; I was inspired by this epic event, which was staged by 59 Productions in August 2016. The show tried to reperceive the ancient site from which Edinburgh originated, using the iconic Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock as the backdrop for the projected light show. Castle Rock is a volcanic rock of 350 million year old dolerite and Edinburgh has a deep geological, political and art history.
Edinburgh Castle, is one of the longest continually inhabited sites in Scotland – from a Bronze Age settlement to the spectacular structure we see today, spanning almost 3,000 years of Scottish history. It is also important to celebrate the people of Edinburgh, among them great inventors, explorers and artists.
I use collage cut outs of the radio laria fossil, from the Summerhall Programme of 2016, as photographed by Swedish artist and scientist, Linnea Rundgren, who showed her work at the Edinburgh Festival that same year. (I obtained special permission to use these copyright protected images of microscopic sea fossils. Rundgren was very generous in allowing me to use her work).
‘Deep Time I’ celebrates the profound geological and historical significance of Edinburgh as a city.(This painting is available as a Fine Art Print in various sizes - See Fine Art Prints on Canvas or Paper)