• New artwork from Dalziel + Scullion to be unveiled in Inverness on 29 November 2007

• Associated series of specially commissioned multiples from Moray and Dundee Colleges of Art students 

• Symposium on 30 November with contributions from leading political, ecological and cultural commentators including Ruth Wishart, Environment Minister - Mike Russell MSP, Jay Griffiths, David Abram, John Lister-Kaye and Mark Lynas

Acclaimed artists Dalziel + Scullion, the only UK nominees on the recently announced shortlist for the prestigious 2008 Artes Mundi Award, continue their on-going exploration of man’s relationship with the natural world in MORE THAN US, a public art commission for Scottish Natural Heritage HQ in Inverness, and a symposium on man’s relationship with the environment, bringing together leading ecological, political and artistic commentators.

When we try to pick out anything by itself we find it hitched to everything else in the universe
John Muir

The Scots-born environmentalist and founder of America’s National Parks system, John Muir, describes a universe where every aspect is connected and it is the inter-relationships between actions, species or habitats which form the starting point for MORE THAN US, a series of large-scale photographic images in which the artists take insects, one of the most overlooked, but essential links in the ecological chain, and put them in the spotlight.

Around 65% of all species on the planet are invertebrates. More often than not seen as irritants, viz the Scottish midge, or as carriers of disease; the vital role they play within the food chain - whether as pollinators or as biological pest controllers – is often overlooked. Yet small changes in the insect population can reap potentially fundamental changes in the landscape. Focusing on one species of insect - a subspecies of the day flying Burnet Moth - the artists spent time in the field with researchers from the Butterfly Conservation Trust photographing its natural habitat and environment. The moth in question, the Slender Scotch Burnet moth, survives in only a handful of small colonies off the West cost of Scotland. Its fragile habitat demands the presence of a black volcanic rock that has eroded to face the sun at a 90º angle and from this warmed position the moth then needs three specific food and nectar plants to survive (and from which its body can manufacture a toxic brew of cyanide to deter predators).

The existence of this moth, like other marginal species, is barely registered by anyone other than devoted specialists. Its existence is testament to an evolutionary process of refinement and adaptation that has frequently lived right on the edge of survival. In recent decades we have witnessed the loss of great swathes of species as they become little more than a statistic among the 120 species a year that join the Red List of endangered species, many of which will soon disappear from our lives.

Dalziel + Scullion have digitally processed their raw photographs to create images in which aspects of the background emphasise details in the foreground in an approach evocative of the 19th century wood block prints of Hiroshige, himself an insightful observer of insects and plants. The final work will consist of five related images, which together illuminate the special relationship between the moth and its balanced habitat, and reveal details about its activity within its ecological environment. The work, which will be a permanent installation in the atrium of Great Glen House, is part of Scottish Natural Heritage’s contribution to the Year of Highland Culture 2007 and will be unveiled on 29 November 2007. This event will also act as the opening reception for their symposium: More Than Us: Conversations Between Humanity, the Arts and Ecology.

Dalziel + Scullion have also brought together a temporary exhibition of students’ work influenced by some facet of nature. The exhibition Multiply will feature the work of 14 students from Moray College of Art in Elgin and Duncan of Jordanstone College in Dundee, and will run from mid-October until the end of November at Great Glen House. The students ’ work will be represented in a series of multiples.

For the symposium on Friday 30 November at the Town House in Inverness city centre Dalziel + Scullion have brought together a panel of leading political, ecological and cultural commentators including Ruth Wishart (chair), Mike Russell MSP the Environment Minister in the Scottish Government (opening remarks), Mark Lynas, Jay Griffiths, , John Lister-Kaye and American author David Abram (speaking in Scotland for the first time).

The speakers will address different facets of how humans interact with the earth, exploring ideological and political ideas and new ways to re-engage with the living breathing sensual world whilst contributing to the wider discourse of Art, Culture and the Philosophy of the Environment. To reserve places for the symposium booking is essential as places are limited. Tickets are priced at £35 conc. and £45 full price (includes a special dinner on the evening of 29 and lunch on the 30 November) see www.morethanus.co.uk for details.

The MORE THAN US symposium is being managed by Finefunds, the Huntly based arts consultancy and by Gingko Projects, and it is supported by Scottish Natural Heritage.