Nuclear fusion: how Ricky Demarco plans to turn Torness into 'the

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Sep 11, 2005 | by Rachelle Money

THE Edinburgh arts impresario Ricky Demarco plans to transform Torness nuclear power station into "the angel of the true north".

The scourge of the Edinburgh arts establishment has - at the age of 75 - revealed his greatest art project yet: beaming art onto Torness power station in what will be one of the largest-scale projections in the world.

Speaking to the Sunday Herald from Skateraw farm in East Lothian, which nestles in the shadow of the mighty Torness power station and is now home to an exhibition of his life's work, Demarco said:

"This will be an incredible site of something spectacular. It's something more amazing than The Angel of the North. This will be the angel of the true north."

The well-known Gateshead hilltop landmark designed by artist Antony Gormley, The Angel of the North is an imposing 20-metre (65ft) steel figure, with 54-metre (175ft) outstretched wings like those of a jumbo jet, and is visible for miles around in Tyneside.

"It's ridiculous that we have to rely on an angel that is so far south that everybody in Scotland can't even understand the meaning of it. This will become the threshold into Scotland."

Demarco, whose 40-year archive is housed in a grain store at the farm, explained his motivation behind the project.

"I'd like people to have a better idea of my belief that art and science are interrelated. My favourite artist who defined this is Leonardo da Vinci, who is of course a supreme scientist as well as an artist.

"Nuclear physics is the science that defines our age and the 21st century. Therefore, it is important we show an image of that power station which is not just a building but one that can be turned into a work of art."

The first art to be projected will be a six-minute film shot by artist and film-maker Ken McMullen in collaboration with physicists at Cern, the European organisation for nuclear research, and it is hoped the film will run on a continuous loop for one year.

Demarco said: "The main reason for all of this is to share the idea of contemporary art with millions of people.

"When it is projected you will see how nuclear physics works. It will be a moving painting, a work of art. The 16.5 million people travelling on the road and on the train down to London every year will be unbelievably amazed by the beauty of this thing."

Torness power station was built between 1980 and 1988 and was designed by architect Howard Lobb. The white building stands on land beside Skateraw farm.

It is the largest employer in East Lothian with 600 members of staff and produces 1250 megawatts of electricity from two reactors, which counts as a quarter of all electricity supplied to Scottish homes and businesses.

Ken McMullen's film entitled Lumen De Lumine (Light Out Of Light) took six months to film and cost GBP40,000 to make.

The film will change in light density as the seasons change throughout the year. It has been estimated the projection costs of the film could reach GBP100,000.

McMullen says the project has not been finalised because of financial issues but that commercial interest has been growing.

"Sky Television have expressed serious interest in it. I showed them the film and they were totally knocked out by it. I was really delighted at their response. They seemed so open to the idea and the subject as a whole and of course they will be part of the coverage of it too."

McMullen says his film offers a serious interaction between science and art.

"It is a film about the nature of light in what is one of the largest projections ever done in scale and length.

"I feel strongly that artistic practice encompasses the laws of nature as they reveal themselves to us, and that can come through biology or through particle physics.

"It will provoke real curiosity about the nature of physics and people will be able to interpret the film in whichever way they feel. I think that there is a new feeling about how art and science can gain from a presence in one another in a new century."

British Energy, who run Torness power station, are also keen to get involved in helping the project get up and running.

Sue Fletcher, a spokesperson for British Energy, said: "We are bringing the land, our environment and art together in a community that we share with Skateraw farm.

"We generate a quarter of Scotland's electricity and we are doing it without any CO 2emissions so this all fits in with our own environmental attitudes.

She added: "Ken would like to start projecting the film in the new year, but we would actually like to see something happen sooner."

Johnny Watson, a seed merchant who owns Skateraw farm in East Lothian, has been influential in getting the project started. He now hopes to develop his land as a cultural "hub".

"I am considering this farm as being a possible hub for culture, art, archaeology and agriculture. It is rich in what it can do to educate people about the land and make them appreciate their surroundings He continued: "I'm very keen on people coming into Scotland and having some sense of arrival, a sense that they have arrived somewhere different - culturally different."