Threshold Artspace
A digital playground for artists' films, photography, visual poetry, light spectacles, sound art and interactive environments.
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Threshold is a dedicated facility for production, exhibition and collection of a new generation of public art using creative technologies. Threshold was made possible through an award of £250,000 from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Capital Fund |
Located within Perth Concert Hall, Threshold artspace is an original idea by artists and public art innovators Hamilton and Ashrowan.
It has broken new ground in the technological world by transforming the concert hall into an intelligent building, using embedded projections, multiple screens, sound and light display, sensors and cameras. The creative team was made up of Alexander Hamilton, Richard Ashrowan and Illyana Nedkova.
Go to the Threshold 10 website for more on the Threshold project by Hamilton and Ashrowan.
In addition Threshold has a computer control system built by using 'open source' software which will be available to artists worldwide through the internet. This allows almost all aspect of the imagery and sound to be seen and heard at Threshold to be manipulated and developed. The software was developed by 55 Degrees.
- Threshold Welcome - interactive sound box at the front entrance
- Threshold Wave - canvas of 22 display screens on the foyer mezzanine
- Threshold Stage - 2 large projection walls and screen in the foyer
- Threshold Base - sound box trail in the foyer floor
- Threshold Flush - display screens in the public toilets
Go to the Horsecross website to view a selection of video clips.
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This shimmering series of one minute-long video, text and sound sequences was shot on location across Scotland from Raasay to Rannoch Moor. |
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In their first ambitious collaboration, composer Craig Armstrong and artists Dalziel + Scullion have come together to create a work that looks at the increasing acceleration and compression of time in our lives and work, allowing us to reflect on our place in the world.
This project was commissioned as a collaboration between Horsecross, Houldworth Gallery, University of Dundee and ie:music.
Go to the Horsecross website to see the Craig Armstrong video.
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An audio-visual ode to the people of Perth and the portable music player.
Local residents star in this interactive film clutching their headphones and humming away to Janek’s compositions while moving smoothly from one department store level to another, almost automatically and thoughtlessly.
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It was commissioned as a collaboration between Horsecross and audiOh! as an exploration of the evocative moods created through manipulating field recordings with live modified vinyl and found sound and imagery.
View the Janick video clip
| The views from Glenlandia are linked to webcams in rural Perthshire and Tayside – home to Scotland’s Silicon Glen. Gradually, hypnotically, these views unfold – pixel by pixel, second by second, season by season over the course of a year. |
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It was commissioned as a collaboration between Horsecross and Film and Video Umbrella exploring themes of landscape and technological innovation in relation to the history and geography of both East of England and East of Scotland.
Richard Brown, adventurer, artist and scientist, has explored the rainforests of Australia in search of the endangered species, the Lyrebird. He has unearthed new technologies to create this celbration of the Lyrebird at the Threshold Welcome - the entrance to the Perth Concert Hall. Lyrebird is a sequel to Richard's Mimetic Starfish - the most successful interactive exhibition in the Millenium Dome where his "starfish" responded in a lifelike and animated way to the gestures of visitors.
Showcasing various artists 40 years after the first computer game Spacewar! was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, artists, musicians and film-makers continue to be fascinated by the ever more sophisticated gaming culture. This festive season they bring you the best of the artists’ games and sound toys which over the years have twisted the rules of the industry. Jump, climb, run and sneak your way through an otherworldly version of the Threshold Space.
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In November a whole new cosmic experience lands in Perth to calm, delight and inspire in the crazy six weeks leading up to Christmas. The Threshold space in the foyer of the concert hall becomes home to a specially constructed self-contained theatre. |
This touring show uses surround sound and images to create a whole world of its own. It brings a whole new meaning to the idea of sitting back, relaxing and watching the world go by.
Cosmic Sky’s influence will spill onto the Threshold Wave screens in the foyer. Here they bring you another cosmic battle of light and darkness: The Moon and the Oceans of Separation – a major new commission exclusive to Horsecross by Finnish and Brazilian artists Henna Asikainen and Silvana Macedo.
Inspired by the tidal coastline of Scotland, the artistic duo have worked with astrophysicist Reza Tavakol to create new digital moonscapes which are bound to surprise and enthral you in the Threshold Space.
Cosmic Sky is a collaborative project between astronomer Francisco Diego, planetarium producer and artist Gill Russell, and poet/storyteller Brian Hill. It is funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
In 1876, the painter Millais stood for several months watching the flow of water above Rumbling Bridge on the River Braan, a tributary to the River Tay, Perthshire. The resulting picture 'The Sound of ManyWaters' was a masterpiece of observation.
In 2005 Hamilton & Ashrowan returned to this exact location over many days, repeating the act of observation not with a paintbrush, but with a high definition video camera, recording over 12 hours of video footage. These were edited into 22 scenes subsequently stretched across the Threshold Wave - 22 metres long by one metre high. 'A Landscape Symphony in 22 Movements' is a reenactment of a process of deep observation - a powerful display of visual art within a framework of new media technology.
Coupled with the visual movements is a specially created soundtrack created from the sounds of water on Ben Lui, the source of the River Tay. It is gently mixed with lyrical, specially recorded operatic phrases based on the pentatonic scale often used within Scottish folk music.
On the Threshold Stage, one projector will show a video clip of closeups of the famous Millais painting 'The sound of many waters', which Hamilton & Aashrowan recorded on location at Fyvie Castle, the other projector will show the source video material (landscape observations) that was used to create the corresponding image on the Threshold Wave. |