The Glasgow School of Art

Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition 'Alt-w', Heritage Site is an art and archaeology project working with the Five Sisters shale bings in West Calder and a house that is buried beneath. It brings together artists, heritage visualisation archaeologists and local community members to create new ways of imaging what lies underground in both practical and metaphorical senses.

GSA Researcher Nicky Bird investigates the contemporary relevance of found photographs, and the hidden histories of specific sites, investigating how they remain resonant. She incorporates new photography with oral histories and genealogy by collaborating with people who have a significant connection to the site, archive or artefact.

Nicky realised the project through a series of essential collaborations. Members of the Calder History Group share their knowledge of people, history and place. Artist Clara Ursitti creates a pungent and evocative olfactory intervention working with speculative fiction and memory. From GSA Stuart Jeffrey, Research Fellow in heritage visualisation, brings a background in archaeology, computer science and digital preservation. The initial creative work of Mike Marriott, artist and lecturer in Visualisation, forms the basis for the point cloud animations of house and bings, created by Clare Graham, a postgraduate student on the MSc in International Heritage Visualisation. Mike’s model also forms the basis for the 1:12 physical model, made by Kevin Thorton. 

Heritage Site brings together artists, heritage visualisation archaeologists and local community members to create a way of imaging what lies underground in both practical and metaphorical senses.