The glasshouse at Lauriston Castle provides the setting for an exhibition of work by 10 artists. The project has been devised and facilitated by a group of MFA students from the Glass and Sculpture departments at Edinburgh College of Art.

Lauriston Castle was originally a single tower house built in the 1590’s for Sir Archibald Napier, the father of John Napier the mathematician and occultist made famous by his discovery of logarithms. Despite it’s classification as a castle it offered no defensive purpose but rather acted as a summer escape for the powerful and wealthy to gain some respite from the smells of Edinburgh City Centre and it’s no-frills waste disposal services. In the 1820’s under the ownership of the banker and mineralogist Thomas Allan it was extended to include the Jacobean style mansion. Over the years it has been home to some of the most prominent names from Scottish history including the eminent, and some would say dubious, economist John Law who is often credited as being responsible for the adoption of paper money through his ‘real bills doctrine’. The final owners where the Reid’s who were the proprietors of Morrisson’s & Co, an industrial furniture company. The Reid’s are responsible for the current state of the house. On taking possession of the house they undertook an aggressive modernisation of the interior installing electricity and hot and cold running water an unrivalled luxury in those times. The house was handed over to Edinburgh City Council in 1926 after the death of Mrs Reid on the proviso that it be maintained as a historical monument to Edwardian predilections. So now it sits suspended in time displaying the numerous collections of the Reid’s, mass-produced tapestries adorning all the walls, several cabinets containing his assembled objets d’art and a surfeit of European furniture, all this housed within a carefully considered design scheme.

For this exhibition the glasshouse will act as a cipher for the display cases held within the main castle, an enlarged cabinet of curiosities with the work critically reflecting on notions of collection, display and decoration and all the inherent ideological concerns they raise in the context of contemporary artistic production.

Lauriston Castle is located just off Cramond road and is accessible by car or bus (LRT service 24)

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