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Based in Glasgow, Ally’s work often combines light, movement, sound and video. This is one of his first permanent public art commissions.
Location: Exterior, Concourse
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Space Place
Ally was invited to look at the external space outside the hospital and specifically to signify that the Children’s Hospital is distinct from the rest of the campus. He was also asked to explore ways of marking the route from the main entrance around to the A&E entrance (which is open 24 hours a day).
Ally’s response was to create Space Place – a collection of brightly coloured poles. Set into rubber playtop, Space Place encourages you to interact with it. By day the vibrant colours are clearly visible from a distance and are a strong magnet for
children to interact with. By night the tiny pinpoints of fibre optic lights set into 40 of the poles give the impression of a constellation of multi-coloured stars and act as a marker for visitors and patients to A&E. Ranging in height from 1.8 to 3 metres, there are 75 aluminium poles in total.
To emphasise coherence between the artworks, designer Lucy Richards has used some of the Space Place colours in the main entrance signage.
I like it as a piece of art and it also seems to appeal to hospital users.
I’ve heard people calling it ‘the coloured pencils’. Weird how people attach these meanings.
I’m sure that if I’d titled it ‘Coloured Pencils’ people would have said that it looked nothing like coloured pencils but just a bunch of coloured poles.
As far as I’m concerned it's just a thing on its own, it’s not supposed to represent anything else. I like the way that it sits beside the building. It fits visually with the surrounding architecture and streetscape.
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Coloured Windows
Originally developed as a temporary piece for the arts launch, it proved so popular with patients and staff that it has been made into a permanent work. Light streaming in from the south facing window casts strong reflections onto the floor of the concourse. Children enjoy jumping in and out of the colours and seeing the world outside through different tints.
On making the temporary piece:
Maybe it was good that I was restricted by not being allowed to use ladders to reach the upper levels. It meant that I was forced to just use the bottom row of windows, which I wouldn’t have thought of doing otherwise. But that's the best thing about the piece, the fact that they're all the on the bottom row and that I did it quickly without fussing too much over the colours.
The whole experience has given me the confidence to work on other public art projects.
The idea has since been extended throughout the hospital with certain selected windows carefully coloured. |
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