Spectral Space @ Summerhall
Spectral Space is an invitation to slow down and attune to the ever-changing sky. Its delicate coloured filters — drawn from the observed and recorded hues of Edinburgh’s skies — infuse the glass with shifting tones that respond to light, time, and weather. One central pane remains clear, offering an unfiltered glimpse of the sky in that moment.
As the day unfolds, so does the work: cool tones intensify under midday’s blue-rich light, while warmer hues come alive in the golden glow of sunset. The perception of colour additionally shifts with one’s position: viewed from afar, hues deepen and gather; seen up close, they soften into delicate veils, recalling how distance transforms light and atmosphere.
This window has undergone several transformations across its lifetime. Once home to commemorative stained-glass panels installed when Summerhall was the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, it served as a site of narrative and symbolic imagery. After the college relocated in 2011 and the stained glass was removed, the original glass was restored, giving an unobstructed view of the courtyard and sky beyond and returning the window to a more functional role as a source of light for the space. Spectral Space now reactivates the window as a site for attunement: a quiet threshold where colour, weather, and time unfold moment by moment.
Rather than obscuring the view, the work keeps the courtyard and surrounding architecture visible, softly layered with colour. The window shifts from a backdrop to a site of dialogue — an ongoing exchange with light, time, and the built and natural environment, where the sky itself becomes an ephemeral participant in a quiet choreography of place.
By reactivating this historic window, Spectral Space acknowledges its past while proposing a new kind of presence — one that is porous, responsive, and grounded in observation.
This work was made possible with the support of Creative Scotland. With special thanks to Head of Visual Arts, Samantha Chapman, for her incredible support throughout the process, and to the wider team at Summerhall Arts. Many thanks also to Mackinnon Slater — Colin and David Mackinnon — for their expertise in printing and installing the vinyl, and to Vajid Moazzam Ali, Fiona McLachlan, and Irem Serefoglu for their invaluable support and advice during the development of the work.