MOVIE MEMORABILIA
THE ART OF STAR WARS
City Art Centre, Edinburgh, until Sun 8 Sep 0...
Star Wars isn’t just for sci-fi nerds, and the sheer ambition and scale of The Art of Star Wars is surely evidence of this. Admittedly, it’s aimed at the big kids and little kids in the family, but these films have become such a huge part of popular culture — arguably more than any other movie - that they deserve this kind of exposition. lt’s surprising then that no matter how much you think you’ve seen before, the in- the-flesh experience of some exhibits is a real thrill, even if you’d run a mile from the nearest sci-fi convention.
The entire CAC is crammed with models, costumes, props, sketches and storyboards from the films, alluding to the skill and imagination at work as well as the inspiration and motivation behind some painfully arduous filmmaking processes.
Inevitably it’s the parts from the original movie trilogy that hold most interest, the latter work suggesting a degree of megalomania as director George Lucas’ singular vision is executed. It also reveals his bravery, flying in the face of fashion, making sci-fi movies back when his contemporaries explored war, drugs and politics.
The juxtaposition of the contemporary CGI technology with the early scrapheap thrift/sub- Airfix models not only highlights how far cinema technology has developed, but illustrates that bigger budgets don’t always mean better results.
Art
A Naboo Royal Starship by Doug Chiang from The Phantom Menace
In a way, visiting The Art of Star Wars is akin to coming face-to-face with any other movie megastar: Cruise, Nicholson or Kidman may fade with time but C-3PO and R2-02 remain locked in their breathtaking prime. Seeing the 7ft furball Chewbacca or how truly diminutive Carrie Fisher was as Princess Leia is delightful, but the highlight of the whole exhibition is Darth Vader. Ensconced in his own private chamber, complete with his trademark asthmatic heavy breathing, this may just be a costume but it’s as fittingly unnerving as it is on celluloid.
Lucasfilm has furnished the CAC with 40 new pieces from the latest Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones. Sadly these are no more than some
scene sketches, matte paintings and a handful of models, adding little to the overall exhibition. In addition, the documentary videos may give behind-the-scenes insight, but all date from 1999’s The Phantom Menace and so feel oddly out of step, given there must be a wealth of new material to hand. Lucasfilm could have made a little more effort to give anyone other than a devotee a reason for a second visit.
The sheer scale of this effort has be congratulated and while The Art of Star Wars offers a look into a movie world far, far away, it also most tellingly uncovers the skewed vision of a flawed cinema auteur. Cosmic.
(Mark Robertson)
PAINTING HAYLEY TOMPKINS
Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Fri 21 Jun 0...
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Untitled, 2002, (watercolour on paper)
Ha, iey T()ll‘l)klll$3 makes ‘ig..ratye-al)stractions anti con‘i)lete-unfinished works. Anzl. '.'./nere another artist might (l‘.'.'efl on sucl‘. (ltiétllilC‘fS. distancing the ‘.’I(3‘.'.’(}r and retrez‘iting into theory.
o npk'ns n‘anages to ii‘ake xv'xork that (Ioesit't so ii‘;ic'i (leiiiano attention as lll‘.’l‘.(3 dialogue.
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‘I irke heiiig llI‘.’()|‘."(l'(l wit" .‘Jork .vheii I'ii‘ ii‘akiitg ai‘ exhibition] l'oi ‘t)klllf; says Its a u'rorkihg process III the gamer}: I've aseo’ a io‘. of lill(:(l paper ill the shoz'x. aivl :ising exercise hook paper is alii‘ost a ‘.'.'ay of re‘axu‘g. It seeri‘s less pressurised if have a hunrlrerl pages an exercise Look. can
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'llris close relato'is'iii; twine-en :oea. artist. .'./or»< aria '~.'ie‘.'.'ei’ extends exen further, with eac". piece in the space t'eeg'i'g o‘t the others.
‘litas green shape is like an afterglow of the oi‘e l)t;-l().'. it. .l<e .'.'I‘ei‘ ,on look into the she sa,s. l)()lf‘lllltl o.it a .'.'a!‘ (liasxwg. And I‘ve usetl guite a lumen palette of solours. so these yellows aiio "eos are pick-ail at, or: that wall theref
Ihis is a show that a'. first glance II‘Itlili appear to he a ti‘r'o'xxau'ra', (L(;l‘.‘ll‘€:.".i. all s g": 'i‘arks oi‘ scraps of paper. hut. it ,’()t. speiio a little tiii‘e III the con‘paiiy o‘ I Iayle‘, loii‘pw'is' .'.’£I'.(:l(j’.)ltAll'fA. .l's hai‘tl not to (kl‘tl .iii (leer, in <;oii'.'e'sat=c.". .'.'Il." thei". 'JéttLK lI/ltil‘il't'll“:
PAIN IING 5; DHA‘JJING KIRSTY WHITEN - RIGHT-ON MUM Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 15 Jun—Sun 14 Jul
\."'.'lI(}'l the Collect ye Gallery took the (lecision to represent a few artists last Septeninei'. K ten ‘.'.'as one o‘ then: As a result o" this two-year i;rogrz‘:'i"iic-. game." aims to 'i‘t oex'. £1"°.'ESIS onto another level. the Edinburgh College of Ar". g";i<l..;itr:- has go'. he" ‘="st riiao" solo show.
\"fniteii has always f;li:)'.‘.’~:3(I i;"oiiiise-. Leaying college WIIII a first class degree in pa": l‘tl. she was the it'ie" of the ‘999 Miller Homes Young Scottish Artist of the Year. a l)" /e for a Scott’sn painting graduate which inclutlerl a one-year stay in La (j to lllftl'"7l£l7.l()ll£ttt} (les Arts Il‘. Pars. Her figurative paint1ngs. meticulous in their (retail, from the nKIes in a face to 'he rolls of a Nora Batty stocking is something that Whiten has cultivate-o sance leaving college.
'I'ye g< I so far that it's kind of .ike (Ioooling,' says Whiten. ‘I can sit for hours and "ot think about ‘.'.'hat l'ii‘. going. i-l<e all the stitches oi‘. the cardigan. In my previous \.'.'orks I wanted to make them (lelicious and glossy but now I have tried to coiiihine the two aho make then‘ a ‘ozt more cl‘alleiiguig as an image.‘
I: is the o'eta;l that init;ally (Iran-rs you in, but there is something guite oo‘tl about these figures. \“VOl‘Klllt/l i"on‘ photographs. that she has either takei‘. herself or has sourced from 'naga/ines anti nex'xsiiapers. Whrten creates stetlies z t people. They are not caricatures oi ‘orii‘al portraits. Sh 2 captures a gesture or a moment in tl‘ougl‘t. Strong n r‘arr‘atiye. the titles Ieatl the \.'I(}‘.'.'(3l to filé iii the gaps. to create a scenario ‘i'oiii their own imagination.
‘I keep things s mple out as powerful as possil)le.' she says. 'l'hey l‘aye a quirky edge. and I want them to he funny and a little ozt it.th ai‘tl cunousf
For the exhibition, ‘-.’Vhiten wll he shov/sng a series o‘ works from the Sc/ie/iii/ig l)"()l(3(ll in": by the (3o'5e<:t:ye Galie'y which *our a'tists ‘.'.’(}l'(} selected to '.'./oi‘i< ‘.'./ith "esitlents I" the [)iiiithierlykes area. Here. she pi'<;<lt.<:e(i (irawings of mar“, o" the peope who took part.
‘It's been a tai‘tastic ;)l't)}(}(l'. as | usualy use people I mow for models and I've been able to riieet so mars, new people in Dtinihieoykesf she says. 'liieie are two teenage g;i"s \.'-.’.’I() are (lute taken ahack ‘.'.’i'.l‘. the fact thatl am so ii‘tei'esterI in their: anti that I haye concentrate-(i so 'Ilthll time and energy or‘ them and it seems to naye l‘atl (lute a strong effect on then‘f
\"Jf'iiteri's show at Collectiye (ithlery is
a" iiiipoitaitt step Il‘. her career. and one ".'.’lll(ll‘. will iiiitlouhteo'y ‘eatl to
others. il Iele'i Mt)ll(ltllltl"i meticulous in their detail
v.1 .l;." THE LIST 83