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Huge wallpaper artwork on display in Aberdeen's art deco swimming pool

Marta LeshykBBC Scotland, Aberdeen
News imageBBC The Bon Accord Baths' pool with its surface covered with the artworkBBC
The Bon Accord Baths were opened in 1940 in Aberdeen

Just weeks after being used as a filming set for Netflix series Dept Q, the Bon Accord Baths in Aberdeen is opening its doors to the public to show a large-scale art installation.

'Divers', by Tod Hanson, was painted in the artist's small London studio on rolls of wallpaper - the parts were then assembled and taped to the pool floor.

Locals will be able to visit the art deco venue and see the temporary installation during the first three weekends of September.

The Category B listed baths closed in 2008 due to budget cuts and have occasionally reopened for cultural and community events since Bon Accord Heritage (BAH) took it over in 2020.

It is the second time this year the venue has hosted an art exhibit, after Scottish artist Robert Montgomery displayed one of his poetic light installations in the pool during the Nuart festival in April.

News imageThe artwork on the surface of the pool. Shapes, which look like seaweed start off like fragmented pieces of paper, but they're symmetrical forms that race down the lines in between of the racing lines. As they go they change colour. They start in grey, and then they go green, and then they go deep green, and then at the end, they blossom into yellow and orange colours.
Hanson's artwork covers the pool floor
News imageA woman in blue top and glasses stands in front of the pool with the artwork.
Alison Reid is a retired art teacher who volunteers with the project

The installation is a part of the citywide Doors Open Day initiative.

The exhibition was accompanied by a musical performance from six local groups on Saturday.

Alison Reid, a retired art teacher and BAH trustee, said events like this could "breathe life" into the building.

She said the team felt a bit daunted when the artist contacted them to offer the idea last year.

Hanson typically creates large-scale graphic installations and public artworks, and is possibly best known for his work with Greenpeace in the 1990s.

His imagination was captured by the Bon Accord Baths when he saw it online.

News imageA man in dark t-shirt with navy blue cap. he is standing in front of the pool and is looking at the camera.
Tod Hanson said working on this project was a "challenge"

"I just thought - what an amazing building," he said.

He worked on the artwork remotely from London and used the racing lanes and tiles of the surface of the pool as his grid plan.

They also helped form the meaning of the artwork.

He explained: "I try to look at the racing lanes already in the pool and to think about how we move through life.

"How we move through restraints or how we change and morph through our journey. The patterns change along the track, but also colours change.

"So I suppose it's about journeys, but you could read it as journeys in any form."

News imageThe pool with the art work. It is surrounded by seats.
The exhibition is open on the first three weekends in September