Written by: Prof. Dr. Mamoona Khan
Posted on: December 29, 2025 | 
| 中文
Malcolm Mackenzie
The term Global Village and Social Isolation of the inhabitants of that village is modern paradox humans are facing, rapidly increasing with the advent of the modern gadgets. Marshall McLuhan coined the term “Global Village” with the view that prompt communication contracts distances, promoting global consciousness. Interconnecting humans socially, economically, politically and will be making a single global community. On the contrary, it is destroying socialising instinct of humans leading mutely to solitude which is self-imposed too, because there are screens in between, creating deceptive connectivity. In person socialising plays a major role to inculcate positivity, learning tolerance during conflicts and contradictions, producing compassionate individuals and sturdy environs. All engulfed by deceptive addiction of screens where images communicate not humans. A little effort was initiated by two groups of people from Pakistan and Scotland in arranging Meḥfil Ceilidh under the patronage of the British Council, where each member of the project contributed to promote in-person socialising. In other words, organising purposeful physical gatherings, called Meḥfil in Urdu and Ceilidh in Scottish language. A team of Scottish artists visited Pakistan and another team of Pakistani artists visited Scotland. Meeting diverse groups of people, sharing of cultures, discussing norms and traditions, and partaking ideas.
The Bench 3
Role of a sculptor named Malcolm Mackenzie in this respect, appears unique, who, despite having opportunities to promote his creations on the higher plinths of art galleries, prefers to create functional pieces, better used in Meḥfil Ceilidh. Although modern times have changed the course of art, where interpretation of aesthetics is altered, while in the Postmodern era beauty and weirdness are hard to be discriminated. Many norms and traditions of past are challenged. If one tries to locate cause of the change, it touches the peripheries of the two Great Wars that disillusioned the sensitive souls of creative people. Art has always been used as a purposeful tool, to educate public, to point out some issue, to raise a question, or as an aesthetic device; a joy for the eye. But disillusionment among creative people erupted like a volcano, destroying faith on the progress of science, thinking it as something meaningless. They took retreat in the subconscious, or displayed readymades, like Marcel Duchamp’s “Urinal” as a piece of sculpture. With elevation of conceptual art, “leap of imagination” rather the aesthetic product was focused, oscillating the interpretation of art and aesthetics. In the rapidly changing course, another breakthrough occurred with the statement of an American artist Bruce Nauman claiming that whatever an artist does in his studio must be an art, which turns art more into an activity and less of an aesthetic product. Actually, all aimed to represent something disparate to be displayed under novel titles, and it was to satiate the human impulse of vanity and supremacy.
BREATHE
Conversely, in some other pockets of the globe a few artists, though celebrated the liberty of modernism are producing something productive, retaining the former function of art to create something beneficial for humanity. Malcolm Mackenzie, living in the small village Plockton Lochalsh, on the western coast of the Scottish Highlands, is a graduate in Sculpture and Environmental Art from the Glasgow School of Art, bestowed with a first-class Honour’s Degree. Though under the sway of modernism, unlike Classical artists or Michelangelo, not focusing human figure but sculpting to fraternize that is promoting socializing impulse of humans, essentially required for a global community. He is the one who loves to promotes communities not individuals or individualism. Not athirst to create pieces of art for museums to be perceptible to the wider audience generating applause but to work for his people and to raise communal values. Apparently, his sculptures are shaped in the forms of functional objects of common utility but based on deeper realities, a testimony of some hidden psychological truths.
As a repulsion against the hierarchies of life, he produced the Coffee Table, apparently a usual centre-table but inspired by the portrayal of the Babylonian arrogant ruler Nebuchadnezzar-II (630- 561 BCE) by William Blake; the English poet, painter and printmaker. His coloured mono type print, is a testimony to rebuke egotism of Nebu, representing him crawling like a beast, as Bible quotes, that he would eat grass for seven years like an ox. One side of the table is shaped on the curve of crawling body of Nebu, rendered by Blake. The esoteric philosophy of Malcolm keeps universal message. The Coffee Table, was intended to be placed in the centre, with a Meḥfil Ceilidh around it, without hierarchical discriminations to avoid isolation of anyone. Intended to promote equality and thus equity, the main objective to the Meḥfil Ceilidh Project.
Coffee Table
Another social message conveyed by utilising the modern materials, distinct from the traditional ones, Malcolm sculpted “BREATHE”, in the form of a huge billboard. Malcolm is well versed with the contemporary techniques and materials used by artists. Like Bruce Nauman, who used neon-lights and made calligraphy as a sculpture in itself. Further, under the sway of the French artist Georges Bouey (b.1971), who coined the term Social-Sculptures and by taking the stamp of approval from the essay of the American artist Rosalind Kraus (1941), “Sculpture in the Expanded Field” (1979). She argued about the transcended monumentality from traditional to modern sculpture, expanding into broader fields of possibilities, including architecture, landscape and site-specific works. Malcolm produced the one to persuade, guide and educate his fellows, submerged in their mechanical routines, unaware about their polluted surroundings, to stop for a while to breath. It contains two-fold message, to take a halt from busy schedules’ and to think about getting closer to nature to attain freshness. From polluted to serene, devoid of noise or contaminated atmosphere, to find time to break solitude and have a dialogue with nature and with fellows, to be part of a Meḥfil. He calligraphed BREATHE against beautiful imagery of Scottish Highlands, denoting his hometown Plockton at the bank of the Loch Carron. Interestingly, it was displayed on the busiest Fenwick Road of Glasgow, Scotland.
BREATHE
Another unique piece is “The Chair”, apparently seems to be prepared for rock and roll but not a rocking chair. Small pieces of varied shapes of wood placed at different pockets of the chair denote multiple meanings attached with chairs. It can be a throne, an electric chair, a wheel chair etc. it seems as if it encompasses the entire universe. At places it seems to have sculpted- images of huge buildings, space-shuttles, tools, breathing spaces to relax, seems as an insignia of a Global Village and all interconnected into a universal Meḥfil.
The Chair
Another sculpture is a life size Lamp, made up partially of left over unequal and uneven pieces of wood and partially properly shaped vertical pieces used as its stand. Soothingly hazy light emerges from the uneven rough wooden pieces, placed precariously at different levels and directions forming shade of the lamp, create a drowsy atmosphere. Varied sized and shaped pieces are so methodically placed that they look like a unified whole. It again conveys a message of socializing that can convert the earth into a global village. Malcolm gathered those pieces to burn in the wrath but his creative mind converted these into a functional sculpture, denoting a symbol of unity, togetherness and strength.
The Lamp
Some site-specific works by the social sculptor are benches to be placed in the valleys between two mountains, where people can sit and converse, enjoying the company of nature and to BREATHE a fresh. Benches for the common people or passersby are sculpted into novel shapes, some of them have zig-zag shapes or having boat-like backs, denoting meandering passages of valleys and the most convenient means of transportation in the loch that is ships and boats.
All the sculptures narrate about creative impulse of the artist along with the element of skill inculcated in his spirit to create for the community and not as a show-piece to be displayed in a museum, rather an element to be used for socializing of communities. Impulse of pride, to get distinct from fellows is innate in humans that derived them to progress but to satiate it in superlative form led to brutal wars. Analogously, contemporary artists are striving to produce distinct, unique and recognisable to satiate the instinct of vanity, apart from a few who create for the community and Malcolm Mackenzie is one of them
You may also like:
