Message from the Skies 2020 - Chapter 2 - Irvine Welsh - The Sea
Channel: Szilárd Zsolt Sztupák
Date: 2020-01-28

Message from the Skies 2020

Irvine Welsh - The Sea
Malmaison, 1 Tower Pl, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland

About the creative team

Writer: Irvine Welsh was born in Edinburgh and is an acclaimed Scottish writer of novels, stories and stage and screenplays. He is most notably known for his novel, Trainspotting, written in 1993 that was eventually adapted into a film directed by Danny Boyle. More books have followed, Ecstasy and Filth being two that went straight to No 1 on the Sunday Times best-sellers list. He also branched into film and is a partner in two film production companies.

Visual Designer and Filmmaker: Norman Harman is an award-winning artist from Edinburgh. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, and winner of the RSA Latimer Prize for Painting, Harman's work has been exhibited internationally and he is a member of the art collective Ltd Ink Corporation. Harman’s practice incorporates painting, photography and moving image; exploring the discordant interference between analogue and digital processes. Deliberate digital misrepresentation reveals the beauty of lost transmissions and corrupted imagery. Harman's work allures to the space between abstraction and figuration through painting, digital and film.

Composer: Steve Mac is a music producer and DJ with over 25 years of experience in the music business. He began his career as a scratch mix DJ at the age of 11, but he is best known for being one half of the house music duo, Rhythm Masters. He often collaborates with Irvine Welsh on various music projects and have recorded 2 albums together. They are now taking the project live to the stage with many festival dates booked in for 2020.

About this location

Built in 1883, this building was originally a seaman’s mission which provided accommodation for sailors whose ships were in the Leith port, historically one of Scotland’s most important ports over the centuries. Over time, the building became known as a “house of ill repute,” but in 1994 it was bought and renovated by Malmaison, marking one of the first of many transitions to the Shore area of Leith. This was the first and remains the flagship hotel of this UK-based chain of boutique hotels.