IT has appeared on the silver screen and has been hailed as the most inspirational mountain by the UK’s greatest mountaineer.
Now the iconic Suilven in Sutherland – which was at the centre of a movie starring Sheila Hancock – has its very own sound artist in residence.
The 2,398-ft high peak in sparsely-populated Assynt is being turned into an inspirational work of art by Glasgow-based musician Alex Mackay.
He has taken up the post created by the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership (CALLP), which was made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in association with the Assynt Foundation.
Sound artist Mr Mackay studied composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating in 2016, and has since worked across a wide range of disciplines, including solo electronic music and film scoring.
He has been commissioned to create a piece of work of artistic value and relevance concerning Suilven and he will be creating a sound work that draws upon the mountain’s “geography and sonic ecology”.
The artist has also been asked to hold open workshops.
“My main tools are a sound recorder and a laptop and the technology is becoming increasingly accessible,” said Mr Mackay, who has climbed Suilven which has already had a big impact on him and his work.
He wrote on his mountain blog: ”The opportunity to come to Suilven, spend time in the area and produce new work in response to it was very attractive for a number of reasons.
“A big one is that for an artist making the kind of work that I make, chances to spend time and work in a relatively remote part of the country are few and far between, and since the sonic exploration of unique environments is a central part of my work, this seemed like a fantastic way to further this aspect of my work.
“Also, the strikingly unique geography of Suilven and the surrounding area of Assynt seemed from the get-go to be full of rich potential for sonic exploration; a unique topography can often result in a unique sonic ecology, giving the area a soundscape unlike anywhere else, and will also guide someone exploring that soundscape to listen from new, differing perspectives.
“All these elements combining convinced me that this would be a great opportunity to not only make something interesting and exciting but also make me think about what I do and how I do it in new ways.”
Mr Mackay has spent the last few months travelling between Glasgow and Assynt to collect recordings as he interprets Suilven through the medium of sound.
The peak has already captured the imaginations of many.
Legendary climber Sir Chris Bonington named it as the mountain that most shaped his life for top travel guide Wanderlust.
The mountain was also immortalised last year in the film Edie, in which Sheila Hancock stars as an octogenarian who makes a life-changing decision to climb its steep, remote slopes.
Sir Chris, 85, who briefly became the oldest known person to summit Mount Everest in April 1985, at the age of 50, placed Suilven at the top of the mountains that shaped his career.
He said it captured everything he loves about climbing.
“Suilven is a long whaleback of a mountain, but when you approach it from the west you just see the end of it – an absolutely perfect peak, with a great sandstone buttress.
“The sandstone peaks here are basically ones that weren’t worn away by the last Ice Age, rising out of this wild rolling landscape of bog and bare granite,” he said.
“I first climbed Suilven back when I was 17 and it is one of the most magical days I have ever had.
“It was my second holiday in Scotland, just after I had discovered climbing, and I went up with a friend.
“We carried our rucksacks, hitch hiked, and bivvied most of the time.
“I remember sleeping in the ruins of Ardvreck Castle.
“It was the only thing with a roof on it for miles – before we set off from Lochinver to climb Suilven.
“We tried following a route, which wasn’t very good, so we ended up climbing a new route.
“The views from the top of Suilven were incredible. To the south there was a big, wide loch, dotted with islands. That day captured everything that I love about climbing and inspired me to keep doing it – the sense of exploration, the beauty of the mountains themselves, as well as the experience of really stretching yourself in the process.”
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