Mythic Instruments (Solo Show)
Lab Gallery, Summerhall,
Mythic Instruments is an immersive exploration that delves into the intersections of science, craft, mysticism, and culture. It reflects on our ecological crisis, detachment from the land, and loss of traditional knowledge while speculating on a future shaped by ancient technologies.
In an age where traditional wisdom seems outdated, Hislop prompts us to consider a return to ancient technologies, viewed through a lens of renewed value. Through a temporal tear, we glimpse a fossilised future, preserved for examination.
The Lab Gallery at Summerhall presents works as artefacts, in the atmosphere of an arid landscape. Fossilised aluminium wall reliefs evoke the solemnity of ritual, woven from the fibres of forgotten species. Amidst this tableau, the weaving of tubing suggests a primal life force pulsating through the veins of time, connecting past, present, and future in an intricate dance of creation and legacy.
Works evoke the evolution of materials and their histories, offering insights into a higher realm of understanding, highlighting both loss and innovation.
Through a mix of materials and their storied histories of forming and using vessels with fire for the transmutation of states and psyches, we see a view of the past to the future, revealing what is lost and what is made.
Hislop investigates the progression from ancient tools to modern scientific glassware, showcasing human ingenuity and technological advancement. Exploring designs reminiscent of ancient alchemists, such as Cleopatra the Alchemist and Mary the Jewess, whose complex apparatuses for distillation and sublimation hint at the convergence of artistry and scientific inquiry.
Mythic Instruments invites you to embark on a transcendent odyssey through time, where the boundaries between science and spirituality dissolve, and the echoes of ancient wisdom resonate with newfound relevance. Join us as we traverse the realms of imagination and inquiry, poised on the precipice of discovery and rediscovery alike.
Presented by Edinburgh Science Festival, The University of Edinburgh, Summerhall and ASCUS Art & Science, in partnership with Edinburgh Futures Institute as part of FUTUREPROOF.
Photography: Olive+Maeve