Earlier this year, Scots actor Mark Bonnar set off on a voyage of discovery around Scotland’s post-war new towns.
His mission? To find out more about the public art which is part of the fabric of all five towns.
In Meet You at the Hippos, Mark, who has starred in Shetland, Guilt, Line of Duty and Doctor Who, meets some of the artists who made the new town art and talks to the people who live in among it all and to those who have studied it closely.
Mark’s interest in the subject stems from the fact his dad, artist Stan Bonnar, made Glenrothes’ famous concrete Hippos, which are to be found dotted around the Fife town.
Stan was an assistant to Glenrothes’ first Town Artist, David Harding, in the late 1960s, before going on to take up a similar role in East Kilbride.
In his first presenting role, Mark takes a trip down memory lane, and a sideways look at how Scotland’s new towns filled up with concrete animals, totem poles, decorated underpasses and mysterious ‘standing stones’.
As he switches between a check-jacketed know-it-all documentary presenter persona, and his true ‘what do I know about presenting an art documentary?’ self, the actor proves an endearing guide.
Stan and Mark Bonnar in Glenrothes with concrete hippos made by Stan in the 1970s (Photo: Objective Media)
Along the way, Mark discovers why these Scottish new towns came to be built, how they enticed people out of overcrowded cities like Glasgow, and uncovers surprising ways in which public art changed the new towns and the new towns changed public art.
From Glenrothes in the east, to Irvine in the west, via East Kilbride, Cumbernauld and Livingston, Mark chats to former Town Artists like David Harding, Malcolm Robertson, Mary Bourne and Denis Barns. He also finds out why Neville Rae, a young artist from Cumbernauld was inspired by the art of Brian Miller, a seminal figure from the early days of his town’s creation.
It all leads Mark to a deeper understanding of his own father’s approach to creating art, while helping him grasp the context and legacy of Scotland’s new towns, the town artists and their work.
Meet You at the Hippos will be shown tonight, Tuesday, November 30, on BBC Scotland, from 10-11pm.
You can hear Mark talking about the show on the Scottish Field podcast HERE.
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