Public to feature in pioneering digital artwork
- Free tickets released on Monday, 11 July for the ground-breaking Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time, the largest free, ticketed event of its kind in the UK.
- Further limited releases on Monday 1 and Saturday 6 August.
- International Festival calls on Edinburgh residents and former residents to submit photos to be used in the event’s finale.
Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time explores ‘deep time’ – a geological concept which explains the age of the Earth in terms of billions of years. Charting 350 million years of Edinburgh’s history, the event uncovers the unique geology of the city’s landscape, starting with its volcanic beginnings. It explores the intellectual legacy of the city – in particular the work of Edinburgh scientist James Hutton, who pioneered the theory of ‘deep time’ – and celebrates the cultural and scientific thinkers who have made Edinburgh their home through the ages, as well as the Edinburgh community which has lived and worked in the city in recent times. 59 Productions will use cutting-edge 3d animation and projection techniques to create the event, working in partnership with University of Edinburgh academics, who have lent their expertise to help tell the complex geological story.
In order to create this moment, the International Festival and 59 Productions are asking the public for their help. Organisers are looking for hundreds of photographs of people who have called Edinburgh home – both those who live or have lived in the city. The photographs will help form the finale of this spectacular art work.
Photographs should be of individuals with their faces clear in the picture, and can be submitted via the International Festival’s website at eif.co.uk/deeptime by Monday 25 July. Further information on how and what kind of images to submit is available on the website.
Leo Warner, Creative Director of 59 Productions and director of Deep Time, said: ‘We were inspired to create this epic story by Edinburgh resident James Hutton and his pioneering geological work, which impacts so much on how we view the world now. As part of that story, we want to celebrate the people who make the city what it is today. We ask those who live here, or have moved away, to share with us photos of themselves or of family who have lived here. These images will make up the grand finale of the event and bring the story of Edinburgh over 350 million years bang up to date. Please share your photos and be a part of something truly epic.’
Fergus Linehan, Edinburgh International Festival Director, said: ‘I’m so excited by the prospect of the Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time and this amazing artwork through which we’re celebrating our home city’s impact on the world stage throughout history and today. Working with Standard Life, 59 Productions, the University of Edinburgh, EventScotland, Edinburgh Castle and Blue-i Theatre Technology & mclcreate, we invite Edinburgh residents and visitors to experience the event with us and book their free arena tickets. This year, and in the future, the Standard Life Opening Event will declare to the world in spectacular style that the International Festival, and Edinburgh’s summer festival season, is truly open.’
Keith Skeoch, Chief Executive, Standard Life, said: ‘We’re counting down the days to this unique event which will give the people of Edinburgh, including our employees, the opportunity to be part of an incredible work of art. As a global business founded in Edinburgh almost 200 years ago, we’re proud of our heritage and to be part of this city and its wider community. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the pioneering spirit of the people of Edinburgh, past and present, being brought to life at the Standard Life Opening Event for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.’
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
