Dandelion Cubes in Scottish Parliament

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Specially designed ‘Cubes of Perpetual Light’ will come together in the Capital this summer to create a striking music installation featuring programmable light and quadraphonic sound. The unique installation will appear in the iconic surroundings of the Members’ Garden in the Scottish Parliament, from August 11 – 28 and be seen during the Festival of Politics, August 11-13 and Edinburgh International Culture Summit August 26-28. A second installation will be installed during Edinburgh International Book Festival, 13–29 August.

The installation forms part of Dandelion, a major creative programme demonstrating the power of collective action through an ambitious ‘grow your own’ initiative that aims to reach hundreds of thousands of people throughout Scotland and further afield this summer. Commissioned by EventScotland and funded by the Scottish Government, Dandelion is Scotland’s contribution to UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK.

At the centre of Dandelion, is a meeting of art and science through the creation of hundreds of unique miniature ‘growing cubes’, called the ‘Cubes of Perpetual Light’. The 1m x 1m cubes are designed to foster accelerated plant growing and have been developed to grow hundreds of seedlings under LED light, combining design craft, traditional horticultural expertise and technological innovation.

The Cubes aren’t just miniature growing laboratories however, they’re also the inspiration for new music which people are being invited to experience at festivals and venues across Scotland this summer, now arriving in Edinburgh. The special installations feature 12 cubes and immersive lighting integrated with stunning quadraphonic speaker systems designed to best showcase the new music compositions playing ‘from’ the cubes. This is the only opportunity to hear these unique compositions in their entirety.

For those unable to visit the cube installations in Edinburgh, they will also be visiting Inverness Botanic Gardens, 15–29 August, and on display at V&A Dundee until 30 August. This activity forms part of a summer-long programme of art, music, food and science for the local community to enjoy.

Leading musicians from Scotland and beyond have created 13 new music commissions for the Cubes of Perpetual Light, all inspired by themes of nature and sustainability. The aim of the commissions, which can only be heard at the installations, is to encourage listeners to think more deeply about how, where and why plants grow. Each new music piece is commissioned by Dandelion with additional support for international work from British Council Scotland. The Edinburgh installation includes 13 tracks of new music from artists.