Deep Time tix info
Ticketing for EIF free opening event announced
Castle Rock will explode into volcanic life in front of an audience of up to 27,000 people, at the opening event of EIF 2016 on Sunday August 7.
The late night show, Deep Time, is set to celebrate the work of James Hutton, known as the father of modern geology. Visuals will be by last year’s opening event company 59 Productions and music will come from Mogwai.
Visualisation of volcano images projected onto Castle Rock, viewed from Castle Terrace.
Hutton came up with the idea that the earth is made from layers of rocks and minerals by examining rocks in Edinburgh. It led directly to our understanding of prehistoric life on the planet, giving the world a scientific attitude to history, rather than a religious one.
Headline sponsorship for the EIF’s opening event has been taken on by Standard Life and it will be known as the Standard Life Opening Event for the coming three years.
The announcements was made in Standard Life’s headquarters on Lothian Road, with a view that takes in both the Castle Rock and Radical Road round the Crags where Hutton made his discoveries.
EIF artistic director Fergus Linehan said: “Last year we just sent out a come-as-you-are invite and we didn’t quite expect the numbers to be as great as they were.
procedures
“This year we have put some procedures in place to make sure it is a safe event and to make sure that we don’t get a lot of people along and then not to be able to facilitate them in terms of their view.”
Richard Slaney (59 Productions), Fergus Linehan (EIF) and Rod Paris (Standard Life) launch the Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time.
The majority of tickets will be made available online or by calling in person at the Hub from Monday July 11. They are limited to two per person. There will be a nominal postage charge or tickets booked online can be collected at the Hub.
In recognition that people are likely to book more tickets than they need, there will also be a method to return to tickets to Hub.
There will then be a second release of a much more modest number of tickets on Monday August 1 and then a final release on Saturday August 6, the day before the event.
Speaking to Linehan at the Launch, he told Æ of his delight at the idea of making James Hutton the focus of the event.
complex yet simple
“We were thinking of Hutton, going around scraping in his little notebook, kind of being ignored by everybody, writing these incomprehensible essays. Would he have ever imagined he was going to be projected 20 meters high on the side of the Rock!
The part of Castle Rock used for projection in Deep Time (light blue) and the Castle Terrace viewing area (dark blue)
“It is a lovely idea to work from. On the one hand it is an incredibly complex idea, yet it is a very simple idea. And it is really pertinent at the moment, because it is basically the right moment to say gut feeling and superstition and religion are not good principles on which to base your thinking. You should base it on scientific fact. Obviously that is a really potent idea right now.”
The 20 minute show will feature a music soundtrack from Mogwai and use huge projectors to light up the side of the Castle and Castle Rock, with a projection that depicts 350 million years of history, from the time when Edinburgh was on the equator and beneath the sea, up until today.
The production is a huge technical issue for 59 Projections, which is building on the success of last year’s Harmonium Project. Richard Slaney who was the artistic director of the Harmonium Project and is producder of this year’s event was at the launch.
“It is a massive canvas for us,” he told Æ. “It is 500 square meters. We will use 44 projectors. And of course it is up high so the audience will have to lean back to appreciate it, which I think will have a real impact on how they feel it.
“We looked at a whole series of different buildings and spaces across Edinburgh, but we kept on coming back to the castle because it is such an iconic building. But also the idea of using the rock underneath the castle was exciting. Reading about James Hutton and his work made all the different pieces come together.”
Deep Time: The EIF Standard Life Opening Event
Castle Terrace, Edinburgh
Sunday 7 August 2016
10.30pm.
Tickets:
Available from 10am, Monday 11 July 2016.
Book online at http://www.eif.co.uk/deeptime/
Also to pick up in person from:
The Hub, Castlehill, EH1 2NE
ENDS
