Cal Mack (Scotland)      That Kind of Thing Doesn't Happen Here

 

This work alternates between physical phenomena and quotes from LGBTQIA+ people on their wellbeing in rural Scotland. There are several suggestions to the viewer on this contrasting connection – some are intentional and overt; some are subdued and open to interpretation.

As someone who had to travel to cities to find a sense of belonging, this work explores how my situation is not unique. In rural Scotland, it’s not just that prejudice is more common, but that the lack of anonymity, combined with homophobia & transphobia in powerful institutions, drives LGBTQIA+ people out of their communities. As a result, their relationship with nature wears thin.

 With this work my opinion is eliminated, I just collage experience and fact. I married artificial club lighting and club clothing with the last of the daylight in Cove Park. The oddity of this marriage gives it the title ‘That Kind of Thing Doesn’t Happen Here’.

 

Cal Mac graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2020. Working between sculpture and video, he collages a range of visual, personal and scientific perspectives. His video work often makes suggestions about human connection, with interests that span from addiction to queer attachment. Rhythmic intuition is critical to Mac’s editing sensibility, and so his work usually involves movements within dancing and water. Likewise, the timing of his spoken word is central to its effect. Although his objective is to generate an emotional response from the viewer, it’s important that the approach to taboo subjects is non- judgemental and pragmatic, with the hope of presenting quiet vulnerability through the bare material of the voice.

 

Since graduating, he has exhibited in Limerick, Skye, Aberdour, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 2021 he did residencies in Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and Cove Park. In 2020 Mac received the Film and Video Umbrella Beyond Moving Image commission.