Dunfermline

Toby started out by creating a Subjective Walking Tour of Dunfermline which picked a route through his personal highlights of the city.  He then went on to develop a series of three permanent commissions acting as informal landmarks throughout the city and drawing attention to some selected views and elements within the urban landscape.

Randolph Street Tower
This piece of work inhabits an area of open space on the High Street.  It emphasises the ridge-top topography of Dunfermline by placing a work at one of the highest points in the Town Centre.
The tower builds on and extends a visual language and spatial approach prevalent in Paterson’s other work, not least that used in the temporary structures in the parks during the temporary phase of the project.
As part of the whole ensemble of works the tower encourages the audience to take a novel point of view, both literally and metaphorically, of Dunfermline.  It creates a focusing landmark in what is a heavily used space.  The materials are steel with a coloured powder coat.

Opera House Plaque, Douglas Street
A small bronze plaque set into the retained historic wall on Douglas Street.  This wall is close to the site of the former Opera House which was demolished in the early 1980s, its interior shipped to Sarasota, Florida and then reinstated within the Mertz Theatre at the Asolo Rep.
The image simply represents, in the style of some of the illustrations used in the temporary phase publication, these two buildings that are central to an intriguing Dunfermline story yet are not marked in any concrete way within the town.

Birdbath, Maygate
This piece comprises a small sculptural ensemble in the park space on Maygate that plays on the ideas of public amenities and civic space.  It features two small sculptural birdbaths that reference ‘water features’ on each of Dunfermline’s main parks; the now-vanished paddling pool in the Glen and the striking water towers atop the primary schools adjacent to the Public Park.
The birdbath are cast in bronze and located securely on a composite concrete plinth.