Artist Kaya wants Bute residents to give her a call

An Artist in Residence (AIR) on Bute is inviting residents of The Bush and Ballochgoy to give her a call as part of her new participatory artwork, writes Fiona Scott.

Perth-based Kaya Fraser was chosen by the Mount Stuart Trust as their Emerging AIR for 2021, an annual opportunity for a new graduate to create a socially engaged artwork in collaboration with communities living on the island.

The artist is asking participants to phone her, via a landline installed in her kitchen, to give her an update on the everyday; how they are feeling and spending their time and to tell her what island life is like for them during more normal times. The conversations, Kaya hopes, will feel like the discussion that would usually evolve over a cup of tea or an pint.

Kaya, who begins her residency this month, will record the conversations which will be stitched together as a soundbased artwork called Milk + Two Sugars, which will eventually be exhibited on the island for audiences to engage with.

Over the last few weeks, invitations have been extended to residents aged over 18 years in The Bush and Ballochgoy.

The phoneline will be open to two people per day between 10am and 5pm on March 11 and 12 and March 18 and 19. An answer phone message will be available in between times for people to register their interest in taking part. Kaya, who graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone in 2020 with BA Hons First Class in Art and Philosophy in 2020, said: ‘I begin this residency with a strong nostalgic feeling of connection to Rothesay, knowing it through family anecdotes of holidays there. I hope this residency extends these memories into my own stories of the people and stories I come to meet.’

Full story, www.obantimes. co.uk