The signs all around the sculptures tell me, "Do not touch". "But I must", counters my brain, and I have to keep my hands in check.
Anish Kapoor’s two pieces currently on display at Edinburgh College of Art can suck you right in, make you lean in closer, make you wonder about the temperature of the textured surfaces, and the way the pigment would stick to your hands if you touched them.

They make you wonder about what’s inside. They remind you of the way it feels when something stands out brightly and distinctly in your mind’s eye, or how abrasive and tiring it can feel to go through the same routine a few dozen times too often (exam time, anyone?).
The display is part of the Flashback series of touring exhibitions from the Arts Council Collection. The idea is to showcase internationally renowned British artists whose work was aquired by the Collection at an early stage of their career, and thereby to highlight the Collection’s work – namely, supporting new, promising artists through the purchase of their work.
The exhibition at ECA consists of one such early sculpture, the relativey small-scale but vibrantly coloured White Sand, Red Millet, Many Flowers from 1982, as well as one of Kapoor’s recent works, the imposing Untitled from 2010. The 28 years that lie between the two works have left their traces, and attempting to sum up an artist's career in just two sculptures would be futile.
However, there is common ground as well. Regardless of its huge scale and the incorporation of a moving element, Untitled has the same tactile allure as its predecessor. "I don’t want to make sculptures about form," Kapoor is quoted as saying, "but about belief, or about passion, about experience that is outside of material concern".
It’s easy enough to put that off as a slightly obscure statement, especially if you’ve never been enthusiastic about modern art. But the next time you’re caught in a sudden shower of autum rain and have 15 minutes to spare, I suggest you drop into ECA and give it a try.

Three stars