OLD TO NEW
Kate Ive, Artist
Joachim King, Designer and Maker
Ruth Honeybone, Manager, NHS Lothian’s Archive
Client: Multiplex Construction Europe Ltd. and NHS Lothian
Funded by: NHS Lothian Charity’s Tonic Arts Programme
Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity
The importance of remembering and honouring the old whilst celebrating the new is at the forefront of Old to New by Kate Ive, a series of portals placed at key points within corridor spaces. The project aims to share the identity, history, and stories of the three institutions as they undergo a transition from their original sites to the new building at Little France.
Kate Ive said, “During my research I met with a range of people in the Children’s Hospital and heard the hopes for the new buildings. In DCN I was meeting neurosurgeons and saw some of the technology they use. Both groups were excited by the opportunity to have their input heard and reflected back in the artwork. It was clear through all the stories I got from the staff how important their everyday workspaces and the history in the buildings was to them.”
“I was commissioned to make artworks to go into wall-mounted lightbox cabinets throughout the hospital, designed by Joachim King. Eight are in the new Children’s Hospital, two in CAMHS and eight in DCN, plus one double-sided wall-mounted cabinet in a waiting room in the Neuroscience Outpatient Waiting Area. I also was lucky enough to get to spend time in the NHS Lothian Archives. I was given a lot of help by the team there and I used it to get a sense of the different departments I was working with.”
The portals address themes which include amongst others: identity, history, communication and dialogue, technology, repair and growth, architecture and legacy. For example, Angiograms woven in gold wire. MRI brain scans transformed into crystal geological agate slices. Brain neurons represented by ceramic dendrite glaze techniques. Polarized light artwork and porcelain pieces inspired by a 1859 nursing manual.
Each artwork in the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) was made using a relevant material, including: white earthenware, porcelain, gold wire, stainless steel, perspex, copper, polymer clay, soft play material, Jesmonite, laser cut wood, lead and steel. Working with the users and board from across the three services was essential. It ensured they felt central to the developing artwork and the pieces reflected their identity, values, histories and heritage to create a sense of connection and ownership with the work.