Visual Artists' News Sheet - 2013 January February

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet issue 1 January – February 2013 Published by Visual Artists Ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire

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Image by Michael Holly, 2012

The lab, brought to you by Dublin City Council, presents

miCk wilson

some songs are sung slower Preview on 17th January 2013, 6 – 8pm Exhibition runs 18th January – 9 March

Dublin City Council is also pleased to announce: new artists’ residential studio opportunities at Albert College Park, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 See www.albertcottages.com for details The lab T: Foley Street, Dublin 1 T: 01 222 5455 E: artsoffice@dublincity.ie H: Monday – Friday, 10am – 6pm Saturday 10am – 5pm w: www.thelab.ie

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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

Introduction

Contents

Positivity is one of our editorial watchwords, but our predominantly sunny disposition is tempered with an awareness of the severity of challenges that now face the visual arts sector. While it's too early to comment in detail on the exact effects of various budgetary and policy decisions, it’s certain that over the coming months the ingenuity and perseverance of artists and art workers will be tested more and more.

One of this publication’s enduring concerns is offering accounts of artists and art workers who have developed successful strategies for both remaining creatively productive and making a living. As a window into an artist’s creativity, notebooks are hard to beat and, in this issue, John Gayer discusses ‘The Artist Notebook Project 2012’, recently on show at the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge. Looking at how artists’ radical ideas and ambitions can become manifest in the world, Brenda Moore McCann profiles Michelanglo Pistoletto’s Cittadellarte in Piedmont, Italy that fuses research and practice in the arts and social sciences. Closer to home, Jennie Moran profiles her collaborative art / architecture project with architect Laura Harty, for older people's housing in Naas, Co Kildare, supported by the Arts Council's Art / Architecture scheme. Lisa Fingleton discusses her commitment to “participation, process and partnership” as the fundamental values and ideas that have directed her practice and career path.

Automony and independence are timely issues, as both funders and recipients find themselves under pressure. This is a subject considered in Jonathan Carroll’s report on a discussion entitled Autonomous Practices, Autonomous Objects, Autonomous Institutions. Equally relevant is Claire Powers’s article A Structural Necessity? which considers the increasing dependence of arts organisations on internship programmes.

Looking at what supports remain available to artists, we celebrate the work of the Goethe-Institut in fostering intercultural exchange between Ireland and Germany. Columnist Emily Mark FitzGerald considers the challenges facing the implementation of philanthropic based supports for the arts “…with experienced Irish arts fundraisers in short supply and limited native training opportunities available”.

There can be no doubt that global economics, politics, conflicts, trade and migration effect us all – directly or indirectly; articles on the work of photographer Anthony Haughey and installation / video artist Adrian O’Connell address issues of migration and ‘Fortress Europe’. An interesting comparative take on the commemoration of Ireland’s independence can be drawn from an interview with Zineb Sedira, in which the artist discusses her current RHA exhibition, which focuses on the documentation of Algeria’s War of Independence.

There is, of course, more: thought provoking columns by Treasa O'Brien and Chris Clarke; residency reports from Siobhan Macdonald and Linda Shevlin; a reflection on 21 years of public art commissioning in Donegal by Public Art Manager for Donegal County Council, Terre Duffy; a report on the seminar On Conflict, Memory and Commemoration by Dorothy Hunter; a regional focus on Clare; the Critique section; Opportunities, News and the Roundup.

1. Cover Image. Machteld van Buren, Lady Germany, 2012, collage on paper, 140 x 100cm.

5. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note.

5. Column. Emily Mark Fitzgerald. Philanthropy and the Arts.

6. Column. Chris Clarke. After the Fact.

7. Column. Treasa O'Brien. Knowing Me, Knowing You. 8. News. The latest developments in the visual arts sector.

9. Regional Profile. Visual arts resources and activity in Clare.

13. Policy. A Structural Necessity? Claire Power considers the issue of internships.

14. International Profile. Collective Citadel. Brenda Moore McCann profiles Cittadellarte in Piedmont.

15. Institution Profile. Go Where There is No Path. Mechtild Manus, the new Director of the Goethe-

Institut Ireland talks about intercultural exchange and the Institut’s upcoming programme.

16. Art in the Public Realm: Profile. Home as Universe. Jennie Moran profiles her collaborative art /

architecture project with architect Laura Harty, for older people's housing in Naas, Co Kildare.

17. Debate. Autonomy or Not to Be? Jonathan Carroll reports on ‘Autonomous Practices, Autonomous

Objects, Autonomous Institutions’, a debate held at the NCAD Gallery, Dublin (6 Nov 2012).

18. Residency. Unpredictable Rhythms of the Earth. Siobhan Macdonald reports on her residency at the

historical seismic observatory of Emil Wiechert in Gottingen, Germany.

19. Critique. Reviews of recent exhibitions, events, publications and projects.

23. Project Profile. Fighting Amnesia. Zineb Sedira discusses her exhibition ‘Becoming

Independent’ at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin.

24. Art in the Public Realm: Profile. From Landscape to Artscape. Terre Duffy, Public Art Manager for

Donegal County Council, reflects on 21 years of public art commissioning in the county.

25. Career Development. Participation, Process & Partnership. Lisa Fingleton discusses the fundamental

values and ideas that have directed her career path.

26. How is it Made? Testing the Limits. Art critic Marianne O’Kane Boal talks to Adrian O’Connell, about

the his recent exhibition 'Off Limits' at Platform Arts, Belfast 27. Seminar. Who Speaks on Whose Behalf? Dorothy Hunter reports on the seminar ‘On Conflict,

Memory and Commemoration’, held at Belfast Exposed on 31 Oct 2012.

28. Opportunities. All the latest grants, awards, exhibition calls and commissions.

30. Project Profile. I've Got a Notebook (and I know how to use it). John Gayer discusses the

'Artist Notebook Project 2012', at the McKenna Gallery, Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge.

31. How is it Made? Migration & Transformation. Anthony Haughey discusses 'Citizen', his cross-border

exhibition, shown at Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda and Millennium Court Gallery, Portadown.

33. Art in the Public Realm: Roundup. Public art commissions, site-specific works, socially-engaged

practices and other forms of art outside the gallery.

34. Residency. Roam Home to a Dome. Linda Shevlin reports on her residency at the Organic Centre,

Rossinver, Co Leitrim.

35. Regional Contact. Processes of Change. VAI Northern Ireland Manager Feargal O'Malley discusses

recent public art projects and commissions.

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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

COLUMN

Emily Mark Fitzgerald Philanthropy and the Arts

5

Roundup

Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork. The event, the seventh in an annual series,

Secretly, we thirst for reality

IT NEVER RAINS...

was presented in association with Quiet Music Ensemble and St Anne’s Church.

We leave behind a year marked by seismic changes to arts and cultural provision in Ireland. With proposed – and realised – amalgamations in National Cultural Institutions (NCI), moves to centralise control and diminish the arms’ length principle, and highly public controversies over the coherence of the government’s cultural policy, it seems likely the coming months will bring further volatility and cuts to the sector. Increasingly, organisations have set their sights on growing private arts philanthropy – via individual giving, corporate sponsorship and foundation appeals – as one method of gaining further stability and a heightened degree of selfdetermination.

Such ambitions are matched by the government’s scramble to supplement dwindling public coffers. In October 2012, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht sponsored the seminar Philanthropy and the Arts, where Minister Jimmy Deenihan affirmed that encouraging private philanthropy remains an important dimension of the Department’s arts strategy. Although he sought to reassure organisations that success in fundraising would not negatively impact their state allocations, it seems clear that private philanthropy has been earmarked to lessen dependency on central funding, as well as diversify organisational resources.

Indeed 2012 saw the launch of several new initiatives to grow Irish arts philanthropy and professional development practice – some independent and others centrally managed. 15 arts organisations were selected in June to take part in a training and mentoring programme delivered through a partnership between Business to Arts and the DeVos Institute for Arts Management at the Kennedy Centre, focused on ‘capacity building’ with top management and board members. Meanwhile a separate initiative – the RAISE Project – has been developed by the Arts Council to provide fundraising training for eight organisations via the consultancy 2into3 and Kingsley Aikins of Networking Matters. A major component of this project involves hiring six senior fundraising executives for a two-year period, charged with meeting (or exceeding) each organisation’s philanthropic target of €250,000.

The arts are but one player in the government’s push for private philanthropy across the non-profit sector at large – which includes direct initiatives like the Forum on Philanthropy and Fundraising, and indirect ones like ‘The Gathering’ – and they face challenges both shared with other non-profits and unique to their own circumstances and structure. Some are beyond the sole influence of the arts sector itself: economic instability, a relatively small pool of potential prospects, the absence of an established ‘culture of giving’ amongst high-net-worth individuals and the lack of favourable tax incentives all pose significant challenges to the development of Irish private philanthropy. The notion that individuals should assume a larger share of support to areas like education and the arts has raised valid concerns about dilution of state responsibility and the potential negative consequences of donor influence.

Development techniques imported from other cultural contexts (particularly the US) have often failed to apprehend both infrastructural and psychological barriers to giving in Ireland, with experienced Irish arts fundraisers in short supply and limited native training opportunities available.

Moreover, efforts to improve access to information and new research on the sector have met with recent disappointments. In June, the Irish INKEx initiative – an online database (modeled on US / UK’s Guidestar) providing a public gateway to details of charities’ financial information and performance – collapsed over funding shortfalls. This mirrors the failure by government to enact reporting guidelines contained within the Charities Act, itself finally passed in 2009 after years of glacial development. Similarly, the Centre for Nonprofit Management at Trinity College Dublin, a key independent source for research on the non-profit sector, has had to restrict its activities due to diminished resources. Whilst research reports continue to be generated by other organisations and consultancies, these vary considerably in quality and objectivity. If the distinctly un-glamorous subjects of reporting and sharing information are not substantially addressed, organisations and donors will continue to be stymied by gaps in knowledge, transparency and accountability.

Nevertheless, the renewed focus on promoting arts philanthropy bears great potential for improving management fundamentals with clear benefit for fundraising efforts and beyond. These include articulating a clear case for support, and promoting a broad-based strategy that favours long-term relationship building over more risky, volatile and expensive forms of fundraising like special events (the method unfortunately preferred by many non-profits with less developed fundraising programmes). Coaching boards to be ready and willing to answer the philanthropic call is another needed transformation. While it’s unlikely that Irish organisations will ever move to the US model, where individual financial contribution is an expected pre-requisite of board membership, board members are (or should be) links to a larger network of potential donors and supporters, and encouraged to actively take part in development planning and gift solicitation. Essentially, a shift towards long-term sustainability, planning, and donor cultivation and stewardship – towards endowment and investment over crisis-and-response – will ideally characterise the future of Irish arts fundraising.

Will a vigorous climate of private arts philanthropy ever fully emerge in Ireland?

It’s certainly possible – given the wealth of Irish arts offerings, dynamism of its organisations and practitioners and resources yet untapped – but it will only be achieved through a combination of infrastructural improvements, a substantial shift in the culture of giving, and through the hard work and expanded ability of arts organisations themselves.

‘Sonic Vigil 7’ comprised “a marathon of new and improvised music, sound art, live electronics, installations and more”.

The participating artists included Quiet Music Ensemble, Harry Moore, Katie O’Looney, Karen Power, Jesse Ronneau, Tony Langlois, Paul Hegarty and Anthony Kelly, and Tobias Schmitt.

Cecilia Danell, work from 'Secretly we Thirst for Reality'

The vigil featured Ireland’s unique experimental music group, Quiet Music Ensemble, who gave world premieres of eight new pieces by up-and-coming composers from Ireland, Scotland and the USA: Andrea Bonino, Francis Heery,

Vanessa Donoso Lopez

of emerging artists with a monetary

‘It Never Rains To Everybody’s Taste’, by Vanessa Donoso López, was held at Queen Street Studios gallery, Belfast (1 Nov – 1 Dec). The works in the show explored themes of play and culture, in relation to the concepts of transitional phenomena and objecthood – concepts used by the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. The press release explained that, “through play, Donoso López creates transitional objects while exploring how extreme alterations of context can modify the understanding, content and

award and a solo exhibition at Wexford

perception of transitional phenomena”.

Alexander Hunter, Donal Mac Erlaine, Rachel Ni Chuinn, Robin Parmar, Conal Ryan and Charlie Sdraulig. www.quietmusicensemble.com www.gruenrekorder.de

Cecilia Danell Mutare Animam 2012.

Cecilia Danell was the recipient of the

ALBERT, ERNEST & THE TITANIC

2011 Emerging Visual Artist Award, a partnership initiative between the Arts Council, Wexford County Council and Wexford Arts Centre. The initiative recognises and supports the development

www.queenstreetstudios.net

Arts Centre.

AN ARTIST, THE STUDIO

Danell’s show at Wexford Arts Centre ‘Secretly, we thirst for reality’ (27 Nov – 24 Dec) presented film works, paintings and mixed media pieces

Jamie Murphy Southampton

exploring themes of landscape and the

The Copper House Gallery, Dublin

built environment, paired with an

recently held ‘Albert, Ernest & the Titanic’

interest in the unconscious. As the press

by Jamie Murphy (15 – 27 Nov). The

release noted, the artists interest in

exhibition

psychology,

on

Murphy’s book about the story of

disengagement from the self along with

Abraham ‘Albert’ Mishellany and Ernest

Jung’s theory of archetypes and how

Corbin, the printers onboard the Titanic.

unresolved

Jamie Murphy gave a talk and

was

focused

tensions

manifest

in

behaviour.

featured

images

from

presentation on the making and binding www.wexfordartscentre.ie

of the book, also titled Albert, Ernest & the Titanic.

Breaking the line

www.thecopperhousegallery.com

WHAT YOU ARE I AM TOO

Gerard Garvey, HotStr8actn, 2012

‘Breaking the Line’, Galway-based 126 Gallery’s annual graduate exhibition, featured the work of graduates from

Ryan Moffett, The Elders Say it is Forbidden

The Golden Thread Project Space, Belfast presented the group show ‘What you are,

Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology

I am too’ (1 – 24 Nov). Artists featured in

and Limerick School of Art and Design.

the exhibition included Amy Brooks, Ian

The artists featured in the exhibition

Charlesworth, Annabel Frearson, Davy

include Lotte Bender, Declan Casey,

Mahon and Ryan Moffett. ‘What You Are,

Gerard Garvey and Barry Mc Hugh. The

I Am Too’ explored the subjects of threat,

press release for the show stressed that

vulnerability and anonymity in the

“these

are

context of collective behaviour, social

showcasing their new work to a wider

interaction and the performance and

audience, and in doing so breaking a line

concealment of identity.

emerging

graduates

of demarcation between the institutional and the mainstream”.

As the press release noted, audiences were challenged to “consider our

www.126.ie

simultaneous state of being perceived as potentially dangerous and in danger”.

SONIC VIGIL 7 The sound art event ‘Sonic Vigil 7’, curated by Mick O’Shea and Danny McCarthy, took place on 24 Nov at St

The exhibition was curated by Ben Crothers and Kim McAleese. www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

John Beattie An Artist, The Studio, and all the rest…

The RHA,, Dublin recently exhibited John Beattie’s video installation An Artist, The Studio, and all the rest… (15 Nov – 21 Dec). The show took the form of two HD film projections with sound produced and directed by John Beattie over a period from 2006 – 2012. The films explored the relationship between traditional academic ideas and contemporary approaches to art making. As part of the research for this work, Beattie worked with Thomas Ryan – a past president of the RHA – founding a master / apprentice collaboration. One film is shot in Ryan’s studio and mediates on the craft and methodologies employed by an artist working in the academic vein. For the second film, Beattie quotes Gustav Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio (1854 – 55) and staged a recreation of the work in the RHA’s Great Hall, populating the image with contemporary Irish cultural figures. www.rhagallery.ie

FRACTAL Irish visual artist Camilla Fanning recently joined the FRACTAL tour, to create a video animation piece in collaboration with composer Sebastian Adams for his work Tweet Piece #2. The projects tour started in the CFCP Dublin on 9 Nov and travelled on to Cork, Mayo and Belfast. Adams's composition combined acoustic and digital sound,

6

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

COLUMN

Roundup

Chris Clarke

with overlaid voices, and explored ideas

of sorts. But it is only the bones of a

about the ubiquity of the social network

carpet. It is the provisory, absurd nature,

After the Fact

and its impact. Fanning’s animation

and endless capacity for re-configuration

comprised digital collage of found and

of Marie Lieb’s rugs which provides the

made images referencing popular web

starting point for a floor based sculpture

culture. As the press release noted, “In a

by Isabel Nolan”.

frenetic world bombarded by data our In his opening remarks before the Cork Film Festival’s tribute to Paddy Jolley

musings of a thousand souls… it can get

(November 11, Triskel Christchurch), Festival Director Mick Hannigan commented

noisy”.

Fellowship of the Faithless

www.cmcireland.wordpress.com

that, while a number of writers have discussed Jolley’s work in the context of gallery (including Cork). Claimed by contemporary art criticism, his position as a filmmaker

HIBERNATION

www.isabelnolan.com

mind is colonised by the uninvited

exhibitions, there had been little reflection on his contribution to film festivals

January – February 2013

DUGGAN @ LCGA

tends to be overlooked.

Some of this reticence may be explained by Jolley’s approach to film: the absence of narrative, a fixation on visual detail and the hermetic insularity of his settings. In The Drowning Room (2000), made with the American artist Reynold

Julie Miller disributing her work in Belfast

Reynolds, Jolley shows a domestic space completely submerged in water. However, the inhabitants refuse to respond to their environment, nonchalantly sitting around a dinner table or reading through sheets of paper even as these dissolve in their hands. No reason is given for their complacency, despite the suffocating effect that the film’s scenario and soundtrack has on the viewer. Rather, they continue their everyday activities, oblivious to the flecks of fish entrails that float away from their mouths, or the condiments seeping away from a kitchen sink. Much like Burn

Brian Duggan's installation at Limerick City Gallery

‘They have tried everything to keep us from riding... but in the end we always

(2001), also made with Reynolds, where the scorched and singed interior appears to

win’, a survey of recent works by Brian

be no more than a slight inconvenience, the inhabitants are resigned to the

Duggan, was held at the Limerick City

situation. A man reads the newspaper, casually patting out the flames on his sleeve,

Gallery (11 Oct – 23 Nov). The press

annoyed but never truly fearful. There is only one moment that hints at a wider

release stated “…problems, crisis' and

narrative, when an actor douses both himself and a sleeping woman, ignites and

mistakes, the inherent risks of choosing

immolates them, and then crashes through into the sitting room. Ultimately, his

an activity or choosing inactivity, are an

actions remain obscure, perhaps even to himself.

ongoing focus for his projects”. The

Compared to Reynolds, whose more recent Secrets Trilogy (2008 – 2010) emphasises ideas of sexual voyeurism and experimentation while retaining some of

exhibition featured 23 full-size swings, hung from the wooden rafters of the

the initial ambiguities of these early collaborations, Jolley pursues a more rigorously

gallery, constructed from 300meters of

narrow path: the film serves primarily to explore the site, usually that of a disaster,

rope, that gallery visitors could make use

as it succumbs to the effects of deterioration and decay. Here After (2004, with Inger

of. Alongside this piece, Duggan

Lise Hansen and Rebecca Trost) posits an abandoned apartment that ‘comes to life’

presented two new digital video

of its own volition – mattresses curl and move, wallpaper peels, and an endless

installations and a sculpture of the

barrage of furniture tumbles through the ceiling – while his final work, Freeze

Travertine marble, four different types of

glistening patina of frost on bicycle wheels, tables and doorframes. Jolley is not

porcelain, Kilkenny limestone, steel and

alone in his fixation on the aftermath – one might think of artists such as Clare

spectrum glass.

Langan or even Desperate Optimists as exploring similar terrain – but, within the much as the gallery may choose to show a long-form narrative film but generally

and art”. www.pssquared.org/J.Miller.php www.makingsomethingsmallhappen.wordpress.com

‘Hibernation’, the winter group exhibition at the Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin (8 Nov – 11 Jan), featured both gallery and guest artists, along with a selection of secondary market works. Works in the show dated from the 1960s to the present day and include works on paper, collage, photography, sculpture and painting.

The artists featured included Katherine Boucher Beug, Colin Davidson RUA, Jason Ellis, Sean Hillen, Stephen Lawlor, Hughie O’Donoghue RA, Patrick O’Reilly, Amelia Stein RHA, Donald Teskey RHA, Joseph Walsh, Angela Fewer, Miseon Lee, Ed Miliano, Nest Design, Stephanie Row, John Beech, William Crozier HRHA, Alan Davie, Alex Katz, Patrick Scott HRHA and Michael van Ofen. www.oliversearsgallery.com

WE

MUSEUM OF EVERYDAY ART

Fukushima power plant, made up

(2012), tracks through an icicle-encrusted building in Finland, luxuriating over the

context of cinema (and the film festival is primarily a place of feature filmmaking,

PS2 Belfast presented ‘Fellowship of the Faithless’, an exhibition of artists books

by Julie Miller (5 – 15 Dec). Miller works with the format of pamphets, that often mimic the format of the kind of publications laid of public perusal on back tables in churchs, her titles including A Love of Baking; Good Intentions; A Perfect Gift. The show utilised elements of installation and performance, interior design and ritual. As the press release noted, “orn in Northern Ireland, where Christian beliefs are still fundamentally anchored, Miller investigates how forms of religion shapes society, speech, politics

Alex Katz, Sebastian & Isca

www.gallery.limerick.ie

TRANCE & TRANSFER

allows its audience to drift in and out, at a time of their choosing), the parallel might be with the last 10 minutes of a disaster movie. Perhaps the closest comparison is Jim Ricks, from 'Museum of Everyday Art'

with a latecomer walking into Lars von Trier’s Melancholia just in time to see the meteor strike or Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point and its conclusion of multiple explosions

The exhibition‘Museum of Everyday Art’

(a sequence that Jolley seems to allude to at points in both Seven Days ‘Til Sunday [1998, with Reynolds] and Fall [2008]).

In fact, it is this prioritisation of space over time – or, rather the space as subjected to time – that might explain why contemporary art writers have embraced Jolley. Hannigan mentioned an exhibition he’d previously seen in Portugal, where The Drowning Room was screened on all four walls of the space with an additional overhead projector beaming footage into a basin below; this too seems an appropriate format for Jolley’s work. The immersive, impenetrable enclosure of the film’s setting is not merely replicated in the installation; it is the logic of the film itself. Even the actions of the inhabitants are subjected to the interior’s (and the film’s) suffocating atmosphere. As Nicolas de Oliveira and Nicola Oxley point out, in their 2012 publication Patrick Jolley: All That Falls, “the device of slow-motion, gently animating their catatonic reality, leaves them stranded between an inactive past and an unproductive present.” This inertia is not merely a formal technique, it infects the protagonists of Snakes (2009), where the titular serpents intertwine and move through the clothing of a prone man, and Sitting Room (2012), where a seated individual watches the gradual rise of tepid water until it eventually overwhelms and swallows him. In both cases, they’ve surrendered to the inevitability of the elements, unwilling to react or respond to their respective predicaments. And, like The Drowning Room, one might try to permeate the narrative, to understand how and why this situation has occurred, or why the inhabitants seem so blissfully unconcerned, only to find that all passages are sealed. The viewer is left to submerge himself in the environment and follow the lead of the setting’s occupants. After all, nothing really happens here, or rather, it already has.

by artist / curator Jim Ricks was held at Claire McLaughlin, work from 'Trace & Transfer'

‘Trace & Transfer’ by Claire McLaughlin was shown at The Higher Bridges Gallery, Co Fermanagh (9 – 24 Nov) The press release noted that “themes of the passage of time and memory have long been important in her work". The exhibition was in part inspired by family memorabilia, including letterbooks kept by the artist’s great-grandfather, Richard Herbert, when he owned the landmark Enniskillen pub, Blakes of the Hollow.

Tactic, Cork (28 Nov – 8 Dec). For this project, Ricks curated a selection of

'We', Catalyst Arts publicity image

‘We’, a group show at Catalyst Arts, Belfast (16 Nov – 7 Dec), featured works by local, national and international artists exploring issues surrounding identity through various mediums. The artists featured in the show were: Craig Cox, Kevin Gaffney, Cecilia Giménez, Anthony Luvera, Brian J Morrison and Artur Zmijewski. www.catalystarts.org.uk

objects deemed to be ‘art’ loaned from local people and collected two weeks prior to the opening of the show. As the press release outlined Ricks work was “essentially

a

‘residency’

that

is

collaborative, curatorial, research-based and well… fixated on the everyday conceptions of art, essentially asking the public to define art or answer: ‘What is art to you?’” www.tactic-art.info/museum-of-everyday-art

www.fermanagh.gov.uk

UNMADE

BIOPHOTOLOGIA

Future Perfect

Isabel Nolan’s exhibition of new

‘Biophotologia’ was an exhibition of

Curated by Jim Ricks, ‘Future Perfect’ at

sculptural works, ‘Unmade’, was shown

works by Photographer Pablo Roja, held

the Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane

at the Goethe Institut’s Return Gallery,

at the Conway Institute, UCD as part of

(6 – 16 Dec) was a project that brought

Dublin (15 Nov – 21 Dec). The works

the Dublin City of Science Festival 2012

together works by artists created in

drew

Prinzhorn

(23 – 30 Nov). ‘Biophotologia’ explored

response to a brief addressing the subject

Collection in Heidelberg, Germany. As

the interplay between science and art.

of the future, idealism, the modernist

the press release noted, “In 1894, a

The images in the show aimed to portray

project,

“the imaginative process shared by both

philosophical, aesthetic and historical

inspiration

the

resident of a psychiatric hospital in Heidelberg, Germany tore up her bed clothes. Just two extant photographs document the results of Marie Lieb’s strange actions… by placing the torn textiles onto the floor, she made a carpet

disciplines where the conventional frontiers between them can no longer be detected”. www.biophotologia.com

utopia

from

political,

viewpoints.

The featured artists included: Asylumarchive, Gemma Browne, Fiona Chambers, Carol Anne Connolly, Paul Doherty, Mark Durkan, John Gayer, Raine

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

COLUMN

7 Roundup

Treasa O'Brien

Hozier Byrne, Moze Jacobs, Myra Jago,

discount shops. As the press release

Bartosz Kolata, Eoin Mac Lochlainn,

explained, the artists' brief was to be “as

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Shelly McDonnell, Ian McInerney,

innovative as possible, to push the

Caroline McNally, Lorraine Neeson,

boundaries of their usual practice and

Bláthnaid Ní Mhurchú, Thomas O’Brien,

push the potential of the materials and

Tadhg Ó Cuirrín, Peter O’Kennedy, Ethna

media for their artwork”. The artists

O’Regan, Fergus O’Neill, Lynda Phelan,

included in the show were: Angela Mc

Ben Sloat, Chris Timms, Chanelle

Donagh, Emmet Kierans, Felicity Clear,

Walshe, and Lee Welch.

Aisling Conroy, Emma Hogan, Joby

I recently participated in a conference called ‘The Future State of Ireland’ on cultural responses to the crisis in the Republic of Ireland. I learned there that the state is

www.therealjimricks.com

actually called Eire, that there has not been a crisis and that – although it has been declared a republic on three occasions – it is not one. The conference itself took

Nicky Hooper, Deirdre Hayden, Anne

AS YOU ARE WE

Hendrick, Claire Mc Cluskey, Daria

place outside of the state, in London. I was there to talk about something that does

Privalko, Joe Stanley, Margaret O’Brien,

not exist and how I might film it.

Lucinda Jacobs, Julie Merriman, Michelle

As much as it sounds like a conference inspired by Flann O’Brien, it transpired

Considine, Claire Halpin, Jennette

to be a grounded and inspiring opportunity to examine our past more than our

Donnelly, Beth O’Halloran, Louise Butler,

future with the help of artists, writers, academics and other cultural practitioners,

Mary Noonan, Paul Mac Cormaic. Maree

living inside and outside the island. Organised by Derval Tubridy and Stephanie Feeney – respectively, diasporic scholars of literature and art – it took place in Goldsmiths College in London, over the weekend 17 – 18 November, immediately following 14N, the European Day of Action (that Ireland did not participate in) and coinciding with demonstrations in Ireland marking the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died after being denied an abortion in Galway, and told that Ireland was “a Catholic country”. The conference provided a testing ground for my own film-inprogress, Too Good to Resist, which I presented with writer / researcher Mary Jane O’Leary. The premise (or provocation) of this documentary essay film asks why there are no mass movements of popular resistance in Ireland, as in other countries undergoing similar structural adjustment. Why are we complaining and telling each other to stay positive instead of organising for change? One of our interviewees, Mark Garavan, proposes that this is in the Irish psyche, like the weather: “It’s awful; nothing works, they’re all corrupt, but sure, what can you do about it?!” We presented our film in the context of social documentary made in Ireland since the

Hickey, Blath Ni Mhurchu, Bennie Reilly,

Hensey, Jane Fogarty, Andrew Carson, Cecilia Danell, Eoin Mac Lochlainn,

Louise Rice, Sparing Partners

‘As You Are We’, an exhibition of new glass works and drawings by Louise Rice, was held at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre (16 – 30 Nov). The theme of the show

Cecillia Bullo, Jennifer Cunningham, Kate Murphy, Mary Fitzgerald, Ian-John Coughlan, Madeleine Hellier, Myra Jago & Kate Stitt www.talbotgallery.com

was described as “existence as encounter – with the self, and with others”. The

Last Days of Gravity

project was developed over the course of

Sarah Pierce, ‘Towards a Newer Laocoön’ installation view

a three-part project that included archival materials from the Irish Film Institute’s Irish Film Archives, the NIVAL collection at NCAD, and the latest chapter of her on-going work, The Question Would be the Answer to the Question, Are you happy? As the press release noted, the exhibition “reflects Pierce’s interest in ways of organising, from student government to the civil rights movement”. www.themetropolitancomplex.com www.ncad.ie

the Leitrim County Council-funded artist residency at the Leitrim Sculpture

DOUBLE Wieczorek

Centre. www.leitrimsculpturecentre.ie

RESTLESS SPACES

1940s (especially Peter Lennon’s 1968 Rocky Road to Dublin) and tested our methodology and possible reasons for the fatalism in Ireland on a very engaged and

Enda O’Donoghue, Reno

critical audience.

The visual artists presenting were Kennedy Browne, Anthony Haughey and Liz

Limerick City Gallery of Art, recently

Burns. Kennedy Browne did an impeccable double act, showing a single-screen

showed ‘The Last Days of Gravity’ (30

version of How Capital Moves, and relating the process of making that work; Anthony

Nov – Dec), a solo show by Enda

Haughey presented some of his key relational and photographic works and Liz

O’Donoghue. As the press release noted,

Burns described the collaborative project 'Troubling Ireland', in which the

O’Donoghues imagery is drawn from

'Fragments’, an exhibition by Irish artist

aforementioned artists participated – the project will take the form of an exhibition

photographs sourced from the interet

Ian Wieczorek, was shown in the

and the artists paintings are “the result of

Corridor Gallery of the School of Design,

a process which is highly analytical and

University of Leeds, UK (20 – 31 Nov

methodical and yet inviting of errors,

2012). These recent renderings in oil on

misalignments and glitches”.

canvas of ‘found’ low resolution images

in Limerick City Gallery of Art in late 2013. Luke Gibbons mentioned the prolificacy of apocalyptic and dystopian visions in recent Irish narrative films, and the rise of crime fiction as a genre in literature as cultural phenomena arising from the “bloody financial ritual that no longer makes sense,” aka The Bailout.

Michelle Considine ‘Restless Spaces, Fragile Traces’

Talbot Gallery and Studios, Dublin

Fintan O’Toole announced that Ireland had finally achieved Home Rule, but

recently hosted the exhibition ‘Restless

with Germany rather than Britain. His speech unpicked the history and concept of

Spaces, Fragile Traces’ by Michelle

a republic in Eire and suggested how we might achieve one. His presentation was

Considine (8 Nov – 1 Dec). The press

peppered with poetic insights into the Irish character such as the propensity for pessimistic optimism: if you break your leg, “sure aren’t you lucky you didn’t break the other one”. Shame was also a recurring theme. O’Toole – adding to the group therapy feeling that the conference sometimes had – proposed that we might be suffering from survivor trauma. We are post-famine, post-colonial, post-civil war and now post-Tiger – this could explain why people might not protest: because they feel ashamed. To paraphrase O’Toole, if you bought a piece of decking you feel as guilty as a banker who has squandered millions of other people’s money.

Writer and journalist Elaine Byrne described the pilot project she helped facilitate, 'We The Citizens', which trialed a model of deliberative democracy, in 2011. The resulting outcomes showed that people felt more empowered after the process of consultation and that opinions changed after evidence was presented and discussion was had. Byrne compared the culture of corruption in Ireland to that of

implications of contemporary visual

Between Tides

vernacular.” Wieczorek also recently exhibited the exhibition of paintings

series of work, Considine focuses on the

‘trace’ at the Market Place Arts Centre,

elements, including occurrences such as

Armagh, NI (4 Oct – 2 Nov 2012). www.ianwieczorek.com

the Aurora Borealis, volcanoes, land rifts, mountains, geysers or, simply, the effect

How to?

Be included in The Roundup

of the changing light on the land.

Working in different formats, she strives to create a strong visual dynamic to emphasise the mass of the subject matter.

■■

An element of the surreal is also touched upon in her work, expressing almost otherworldly or romanticised versions of the land and skies”. www.michelleconsidine.com

Linda Ruttelynck, Wanderer

Taylor Galleries, Dublin presented 'Between Tides', an exhibition of new work by Flemish artist Linda Ruttelynck

Fast Moving Consumer Goods

that were only appreciated for their contribution to Irish society once they had left

(22 Nov – 8 Dec). In 2004 Ruttelynck was Arts Foundation at Ballycastle, Co Mayo

The effect of emigration featured in most of the papers at the conference and

and this show featured a series of digital

the closing discussion on the role of the diaspora put focus more directly on London.

prints based on the shoreline of North

As emigration rises, the diaspora have been called upon, with the idea of a diasporic

Mayo. www.taylorgalleries.ie

vote. It seems those that are left are disempowered, fearsome of protest and in denial

there is no more utopia in Ireland: romantic Ireland is either too good or has it too good to call for change.

lily@visualartists.ie

■■

Text details / press release

should include: venue name,

location, dates and a brief

description of the work / event.

■■

Inclusion is not guaranteed,

but we aim to give everyone

a fair chance.

■■

Our criteria is primarily to

ensure that the roundup

section has a good regional

spread and represents a diversity of forms of practice,

of how bad things really are. As a paddy in London, it prompted me to think that live in it without having to live in it – perhaps in Hackney, Sydney or Boston. For

Email text & images to

awarded a fellowship at the Ballinglen

it.

perhaps we might finally found a republic outside of the island, so I could finally

harvested from the internet “explore

release highlighted how, “through a new

an alcoholic in denial, and the broader culture of impunity as akin to enablers of alcoholics, who turn a blind eye. She read a litany of names of Irish exiles and ex-pats

www.gallery.limerick.ie

Ian Wieczorek ,Double-Ian, 50 x 60cm, oil on canvas

Paul MacCormaic Self Portrait Cherub 2012

The following show at Talbot Gallery and Studios, Dublin was ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’ (6 – 22 Dec) . For this exhibition, 40 artists were invited to create a work using stock items from

A Newer Laocoön

‘Towards a Newer Laocoön’, a solo

stages in their careers.

exhibition by Sarah Pierce commissioned

■■

Priority is given to events

by the Irish Film Institute (IFI) in

taking place within Ireland,

collaboration with NCAD Gallery, was

but do let us know if you are

shown at the NCAD Gallery (5 Oct – 7

taking part in a significant

Nov 2012). For the show, Pierce exhibited

international event.

from a range of artists at all

8

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

VAI News

News Writing Award Winner Visual Artists Ireland and Dublin City Arts Office are pleased to announce Joanne Laws as the recipient of the 2012 Annual Visual Art Writing Award. The award was first launched in 2011 and has been devised as a developmental opportunity for writers, as part of Dublin City Council Arts Office and Visual Artists Ireland’s commitment to encouraging and supporting critical dialogue around contemporary visual arts practices.

For the 2012 award, applicants were asked to propose a thematic article looking at how the visual arts might respond to the upcoming ‘decade of commemorations’ taking place in the Republic and Northern Ireland. Joanne’s article is scheduled to appear in the March / April edition of the Visual Artists' News Sheet.

Joanne will receive editorial support and mentoring from VAI and an honorarium from Dublin City Council Arts Office of €800 – comprising a €500 commission to write for the March / April of The Visual Artists News Sheet and a €300 commission to write a short essay as part of the LAB’s 2012 / 2013 programme.

Parallax Art Fair

programming engages audiences in

lery features work from IMMA’s collec-

It has come to the attention of Visual

meaningful ways while fostering the

tion as part of its national programme.

Artists Ireland that some of our members

institution’s relationship to its commu-

This is meeting one of the objectives of

have recently been contacted by the

nity. Each year, over 100 artists and cura-

the Department's ACCESS scheme of

Parallax Art Fair, London, looking to sell

tors are in residence at ISCP and approxi-

bringing the arts to the regions of Ireland.

them a space at their fair in 2013. Our

mately 10,000 individuals attend ISCP’s

I wish this facility and all the arts com-

members were informed that their con-

public programs.

munity here in the Midlands every suc-

tact details had been provided by Visual

Twice a year, in May and November,

cess now and in the future. You certainly

Artists Ireland. VAI would like to con-

ISCP hosts the four-day-long 'Exhibition

have the infrastructure now to foster the

firm that we are not familiar with this art

Open Studios', presenting work by the 35

creative artists of tomorrow”.

fair, have no connection to it and have

ISCP artists and curators in residence,

not provided the organisers of the fair

accompanied by live performances,

with any of our members contact details.

panel discussions and exhibitions.

VAI strongly advises artists to verify all

During 'Exhibition Open Studios', resi-

RBS ENTERPRISING U

details and terms and conditions of

dents present recent projects, work-in-

For Northern Ireland / UK Artists: The

opportunities to their own satisfaction

progress, site-specific installations and

RBS Enterprising U is a nationwide busi-

before forwarding artwork, monies or

their archives to over 2,000 professionals

ness plan competition hosted by Find

documentation, or signing contracts.

and art enthusiasts from New York and

Invest Grow (FIG) and sponsored by the

beyond.

RBS Group. The competition is open to

www.iscp-nyc.org www.brianduggan.net

BLOCK T Gradute award winner

www.athloneartandheritage.ie/luan-gallery

Aine Macken

On 13 Nov 2012, Visual Artists Ireland held its first ‘Show and Tell’ evening.

any student or graduate (of up to five

BLOCK T have announced Jonah King as

years) who has an idea that needs invest-

the winner of this years 2012 Emerging

ment to help kick-start the business. At

Graduate Award. Jonah will receive a free

Show and Tell

Organised by Listings Editor and Membership Assistant, Adrian Colwell, the event was a relaxed informal evening of fast-paced, bite-size presentations by nine Visual Artists Ireland members held at our office.

the final event, up to 10 finalists will

studio for three months and will have

BURREN POSTGRAD DAY

access to all of BLOCK T’s facilities as

BCA will co-ordinate the first Postgraduate

well as its membership benefits. He will

Portfolio Day Ireland at The Lab, Foley

also be invited to take part in LINK

Street, Dublin on Thursday 31 January

Culturefest 2013 where he will have the

2013, with an emphasis on studio based

opportunity to showcase his work as

courses in fine art and residencies for fine

well as take part in our International

artists. This event will provide a platform

Arts & Culture Budget 2013 Minister Deenihan has confirmed that €60.7 million will be allocated for the Arts Council for 2013. This is a cut of 4% from 2012 funding which was €63.24 million. Minister Deenihan has confirmed that this amount will be allocated from current, capital and European Presidency funding. At the time of writing, Visual Artists Ireland is awaiting more clarification on this, especially with regard to the European Presidency funding.

Minister Deenihan commented: “The total allocation to the Arts Council for 2013 will be €60.7 million. This is the maximum possible funding that I can allocate to the Arts Council for next year, and is below the average reduction that I have had to apply across the board in my Department. “Arts Council-supported organisations are a significant source of employment across the country. I anticipate this level of funding will continue to underpin this employment in the arts sector.”

The Film Tax Relief Scheme will be extended to 2020. Minister Deenihan commented: ”This is very good news.

The extension of this scheme will give a great deal of certainty to the Irish audiovisual sector to the end of this decade.

Moving to a tax credit model will be a significant change, but there is an extended lead in period to the new arrangements to enable the sector to adapt.

“This year alone a number of significant productions are filming in Ireland including Vikings, with an spend in Ireland of €25 million, and Ripper Street with a spend of almost €11 million. The extension of the scheme is important for Ireland, for both the jobs that are supported by this sector and our location as a place for film and audiovisual investment.”

Exchange Program. Jonah King (born

for potential postgraduate applicants to

1985, Ireland) recently graduated from

have their portfolios reviewed by faculty

the National College of Art and Design,

from a wide variety of art schools. These

Dublin, with a First Honors BFA in Fine

are advisory interviews at which poten-

Lochlainn, Conor Gallagher, Shane

Art Media. He achieved the highest grade

tial students gain valuable feedback on

Finan, Cian Donnelly, Amanda Coogan,

point average across all faculties in his

their work, and advice on their suitabili-

graduating year. His Visual Culture

ty for postgraduate programmes.

series of innovative exhibitions and pub-

Speaking at the official opening,

www.ahg.gov.ie

lic programs both on- and off-site. ISCP’s

Minister Deenihan said, “It is fitting that

Thesis: Tricksters! Non-Oppositional Dissent

Attendees may be encouraged to

In Contemporary Art was commended. He

apply, but offers are not made on the day

has also studied at Central Saint Martins,

as normal application procedures apply.

London and Emily Carr University of Art

The participating colleges and universi-

and Design in Vancouver.

ties benefit from connecting directly www.kingjonah.com www.blockt.ie

with a large body of highly-motivated potential applicants in a cost effective way. Additionally, we are inviting organi-

DUGGAN FOR ISCP RESIDENCY The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York has selected visual artist Brian Duggan into its program for a minimum of three months during its 2013 / 2014 activities.

sations from across Ireland who provide Residency opportunities for artists, as well as support agencies for artists

have the opportunity to pitch for investment to a room full of high net worth individuals and active investors who are looking to mentor and fund student and recent graduate start-up businesses.

Students and recent graduates are given the chance to win cash prizes from £5,000 to £25,000 to help start their company. Deadline 19 Jul 2013. www.enterprisingu.com

BIG LOTTERY FUND 19 groups across Northern Ireland have been awarded grants totalling £141,000 from the Big Lottery Fund and Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Culture for All programme. This small grants funding programme enables communities to

Amanda Coogan

The members who presented were: Alan Phelan, Ciara McMahon, Eoin Mac

Rory Tangney and Aine Macken. The content of the presentations varied, with some artists giving an overview of their practice while others focused on one project / exhibition. Amanda Coogan chose to use the format of the presentations to create a performance piece.

play a part in Derry~Londonderry City of Culture 2013. Application forms and guidance notes are available to download now at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/northernireland

including VAI and the Arts Council. The event will be open to emerging artists from across Ireland and the UK.

WARHOL AT THE MAC Northern Ireland’s first Andy Warhol

The International Studio and

Ciara McMahon

show is one of the highlights of the fifth

The format of the presentations was

nonprofit, residency-based contempo-

LUAN GALLERY

Artist Rooms tour. Artist Rooms is an

unusual in that each presentation con-

rary art institution for emerging to mid-

On 29 Nov 2012, Jimmy Deenihan TD,

important public collection of interna-

sisted of 10 slides, which advanced auto-

career artists and curators from around

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the

tional contemporary art, shared across

matically after 30 seconds, giving each

the world. Founded in 1994, ISCP has

Gaeltacht officially opened the Luan

the UK through a unique collaboration

speaker an equal amount of time to talk.

hosted over 1,300 artists and curators

Gallery, in Athlone, Co Westmeath. Luan

between the Art Fund, Tate and National

Five minutes in total. It forced each

from more than 55 countries, including

Gallery is the first purpose-built and

Galleries of Scotland. The collection will

speaker to be as concise as possible and

the United States. In 2008, ISCP moved

modern visual gallery to be opened in

travel to 16 venues in 2013, 10 of which

not to spend too long on one subject.

from Manhattan to East Williamsburg,

the country in over three years. It was

are joining the tour for the first time.

Overall, there was a comfortable atmos-

Brooklyn to the former factory of the

designed by Keith Williams Architects,

Artist Rooms exhibitions have already

phere and a very positive response to the

Sackett

Lithography

who also designed the Wexford Opera

been seen by 21 million people, and, by

presentations, with some attendees eager

Company, an 18,000 square-foot build-

House. The refurbishment and exten-

the end of its fifth tour, over 50 venues

to book their place for the next evening.

sion, costing in excess of €3m com-

will have exhibited works from the col-

The Show and Tell evening is part of

menced in 2010 with the assistance of

lection. Warhol will be at The MAC,

a new initiative at VAI where we will

ties to 35 studios, an exhibition gallery

capital funding of €650,000 from the

Belfast from 7 February – 28 April 2013.

host special events for members to take

and a project space. To advance its core

Department of Arts, Heritage and the

part in, giving them the opportunity to

mission of supporting artists in produc-

Gaeltacht’s Access 11 scheme, €1.45m

network and share ideas. Information on

ing and exhibiting a wide range of con-

from the Border Midland and Western

the next members’ event, to take place in

temporary, often experimental, artistic

Regional Assembly and the balance pro-

Jan 2013, will be advertised via our

approaches, ISCP annually presents a

vided by Athlone Town Council.

Ebulletin in due course.

Curatorial Program (ISCP) is a leading

&

Wilhelms

ing constructed in 1901.

This move expanded ISCP's facili-

the inaugural exhibition here at the gal-

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

9

Visual Arts Resources and Activities: Clare Ennistymon Courthouse

Fiona Woods The decision to live and practice rurally has

When I first moved to Clare I did feel isolated

impacted on every aspect of my work, and on the

as an artist, so it was very important to find ways to

kinds of connections that I have needed to make in

associate with and work alongside other artists.

order to sustain and challenge myself as an artist.

Over the years, I have been involved in a number of

When I first moved to north Clare in the 1990s

collective projects, including the development of

there was no public gallery space, so I chose early

the Courthouse Studios in the 1990s, the

on to orient my practice largely towards the public

establishment of the Ground Up Artists’ Collective

domain. Because of where I found myself, it was

in 2005 and most recently as part of Outrider

natural that I should begin to think about rural

Artists (Outriders for short). This is an association

contexts as a particular type of cultural and public sphere. This led me to think at length about the space of art, and the paradoxes and contradictions that come into being when that space is opened up in an unexpected place, and tries to assemble a public.

At that time, the idea of rural situations and communities as sites and audiences for art was not Sarah Lundy, Untitled, 2012

Machteld van Buren, Lady Germany Germany, 2012, collage on paper, 140 x 100 cm

much discussed. There were very few national or international examples to draw on, so those of us

The Courthouse Gallery, which is part of the

an animal has been superimposed. Great Britain is

who were exploring this area, both theoretically

Courthouse Studios and Gallery, is an integral part

portrayed with a number of horses’ heads, which

and through the practice of making or curating,

of the cultural life of Ennistymon and North Clare,

form part of the landscape. The awkward

began to situate our ‘local’ practices within a trans-

an area with a dynamic and burgeoning community

juxtaposition of these figures suggests that the UK

local context, through emails dialogues with one

of artists, poets and musicians.

is not only struggling with its position within the

another. As a result, I have developed strong

The building, a late Georgian Courthouse

EU, but is also divided by internal strife. Germany

working links with projects and organisations in

dating from 1790, was first developed as artist

appears to be a bird of prey – not the traditional

the UK, Australia, Sweden and the US. These links

studios in 1997, with support from the Arts

eagle, but a vulture. The juggling acts which these

Council. It was subsequently redeveloped and

circus animals have to perform to keep themselves

converted to its present form with the aid of Access

going are indicative of how each nation functions.

Funding received from the Department of the Arts

But just how the stunts work is not entirely clear.

and support from Clare County Council. We

Eight poets, four Irish and four Dutch, were

opened the doors in 2007 as the Courthouse Studios

invited to offer an interpretation of these images.

and Gallery, comprising five multidisciplinary

The Irish poets taking part in this project are Jo

artists studios, a sound recording studio, a main art

Slade, Frank Golden, Jessie Lendennie and Patrick

gallery and a smaller upstairs gallery space. The

Chapman. The Dutch poets are Arnoud van

building has been sympathetically converted to its

Adrichem, Martin Reints, Lieke Marsman and Peter

present use by architect John O’Reilly and retains

van Lier. Salmon Poetry, based in Co Clare, will

much of its original fabric as well as its original

publish a booklet of this project in an English

scale and form, which includes interesting

edition. The work will be exhibited both in Ireland

architectural features such as the original Georgian

and the Netherlands.

windows and fanlight.

exhibition by Sarah Lundy (www.sarahellenlundy.

local, national and international artists, focusing

com), ‘=± EQUATION ±=', will run concurrently.

mainly on emerging artists, with the exhibitions

Lundy is a visual artist and curator based in County

changing on a monthly basis. The exhibitions are

Clare. She has exhibited in selected group

largely selected through an annual open call

exhibitions nationally. Her practice mediates

process, and the programme includes some regular

purely formalist concerns and contemporary

annual exhibitions co-organised with local interest

conceptualism. Through the use of moving image,

groups. We also host special events such as music,

assemblage of quotidian objects and ephemeral

performance, poetry readings and lectures from

performance materials, the works endeavour to

the North Clare Historical Society. In this way, the

negotiate provocative arrangement and question

gallery attracts a local, national and even an

autonomy in the face of homogenisation. The

international audience.

aesthetic is post-minimalist with a focus on

This first exhibition of 2013 will be ‘Circus

audience for, rurally-based art projects is relatively tiny in Ireland, but is huge on a global scale. Later this year I will co-curate a screening of artist films

Netherlands (www.machteldvanburen.nl) will

interesting range of work from national and

show eight large collages that illustrate how the

international artists including: paintings by

struggle for survival is being waged in various

Leonard Graham and Daniel McKeon; photography

European countries. This project reflects on the

by Niall Kerrigan, Patrick McHugh and John Cullen;

tensions and uncertainties that exist in the present-

mixed media by Jim Ricks and Andrew Salomene;

day European Union which, although it is presented

and local artists from the FETAC and the New Line

under the banner of a common flag, has always

Studios. An open call for submissions will be sent

been a patchwork of independent nations. The

out at the end of this month for our new programme

current crisis has made it clear that a ‘United States

after July 2013.

Trudi van der Elsen is the Curator / Co-ordinator

prospect than political union.

at Ennistymon Courthouse.

The collages explore this idea. Most of the countries are depicted as an animal: the body consists of a map onto which the realistic head of

www.ennistymoncourthousegallery.blogspot.ie

years ago we began to formalise these get-togethers, describing them as Episodes with performative and public aspects. Each Episode is different: sometimes people gather for food and discussion around a chosen topic; sometimes they take the form of artist and curator residencies hosted by one or more of the Outrider Artists; sometimes an Episode will involve one or more of us travelling to or initiating a national or international event. It’s a very loose structure and is always guided by the principle of friendship. There are no power trips or jockeying for position, which is a very refreshing way of working with other people.

Earlier this year, Outriders received funding from Clare Arts Office for myself and Maria Kerin to travel to a symposium in Lithuania that focused research trip, Outriders will host an international

Economies symposium. I have also been invited by

event in 2013 supported by the European Union

Littoral Arts Trust (UK) to work as an artist

and Clare Arts Office. Serde from Latvia, MoKS

alongside the local community of Sion Mills in Co

from Estonia and Nuno Sacramento from the

Tyrone, looking strategically at a future for the

Scottish Sculpture Workshop will spend a week in

village.

residence at Mrua Studios in Ennistymon, where they will conduct a series of public workshops focusing on sound art, on the politics and practicalities of wild foods and on trans-local exchange.

On another front, I’m also privileged to be working with Hilary Murray, Curator-in-Residence at Rua Red Arts Centre in Tallaght. We are developing ideas for a new work that I will make for exhibition there in 2013, drawing on Hilary’s interest in modularity as an aspect of twenty-firstcentury art practice. Because of where I am based, and the impact that has had on the way that I practice, my work has developed an episodic or modular character, and this will be reflected in the work that I make for Rua Red. Living and working rurally has never been financially rewarding, but it has allowed me to explore aspects of art and publicness that I would not have been exposed to otherwise. I am currently participating in City(Re)Searches, an EU funded project to inquire into the public value of culture in this time of crisis. This project takes place across four cities – Cork, Kaunas, Rotterdam and Derry / Londonderry, where the next four-day research action event will take place in February 2013. This is another opportunity to work alongside artists and thinkers whose work I admire. In that regard, I have certainly been very lucky.

of Europe’ is still a long way off. In the future, further disintegration is perhaps a more likely

support and feedback on our work. A couple of

coincide with the third Australian Creative Rural

relationship to the notion of identity.

Our programme up until July includes an

meeting informally over a number of years for peer

on residencies in remote areas. Arising out of that

eloquent paradoxes of form and function, and their

poetry and images. Machteld van Buren from the

praxis. Seven of us, based in North Clare, had been

for an exhibition at Swan Hill in Victoria, to

In the Red Couch Gallery upstairs, an

The Courthouse Gallery exhibits work by

Europe’, an international collaboration featuring

are essential for me because the interest in, and

that has developed through an idea of friendship as

Fiona Woods is a visual artist based in Clare. Her Fiona Woods, Research Action #1, 2012

practice includes making, writing, curating and teaching. She is an Assistant Lecturer at Limerick School of Art and Design.

10

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

REGIONAL PROFILE: CLARE

The Burren College

Amanda Dunsmore I moved to rural East Count Clare from Belfast’s

Marginalisation,

Springfield road 10 years ago. The two-year

Discrimination, Alone, Cautious, Discrete, Survival,

transitional period provided enjoyable visual

Acceptance, Denial, Rejection, Loss, Recognition,

differences: urban streets for country lanes, a drafty

Awareness, Inclusion, Punched, Kicked, Opposite,

city-centre shared studio, for a kitchen table and a

Married,

laptop. I lost the bicycle and gained the vital

Disenfranchised, Homophobic, Ageing, Rights,

artistic rural equivalent – the car.

Out, Support, Gender, Identity, Integrate, Embrace,

It is a fact that, as artists, we often find ourselves in some unusual places and situations.

The Burren College of Art Gallery Space

Newtown Castle

Parents,

Prejudice,

Safe,

Exclusion,

Holding,

Grief,

True, Authentic, Balance, Accept, Coping, Resilience, Friends, Freedom, Rejection, OPEN."

Last summer, for instance, I spent 10 days

I’m assisting Sean – who I met recently – with

encouraging groups of people from Attnang-

a newly formed advocacy group, whose first

Puchheim – the Austrian equivalent of Limerick

meeting happened in November 2012. Now that I

Junction – to ‘stick their heads in things’ during the

am trying to engage with the older LGBT

Festival of Regions. The series, ‘Head in a Whole Woman’ and the subsequent ‘Others Have Their

community, my artistic process has taken on elements of detective work. Slowly, I am making

Burren College of Art (BCA) is an independent

Joseph Beuys’ expression “everyone is an

Head’, started in June 2008, when I found a deep

progress. One helpful approach I have adopted is to

fine art college offering an alternative art education

artist” summarises his theory of creativity, which

hole in a rural road and, at that time, it seemed that

start every meeting by giving a small gift. I bring

to Irish and international artists. During the

we aim to reflect. The college provides knowledge-

putting my head into it was the best thing to do.

handmade biscuits (they’re delicious, if I say so

academic year, the intimate college community of

transfer courses to fulfil the demand for creative

When selecting a location, I found or dug a hole

myself) to each meeting. OPEN residency business

40 – 50 artists comprises postgraduate students,

education in other university disciplines, including

and put my head in it. I like the simple bizarreness

cards are attached to the top. Word is slowly

undergraduate semester-abroad students and

the Executive MBA and the Hardiman Scholarhip

of this action. The resultant artworks are documents

spreading and, just by being, I am making the

artists-in-residence, while the summer months are

programme of PhDs in all the Colleges of NUI

of performance, and live work was never the

invisible visible.

alive with interdisciplinary summer schools,

Galway. Bringing together medical researchers,

intention. They depict the body discarded, to deal

20 years ago it was illegal to be homosexual in

faculty-led groups and week-long workshops.

mathematicians,

biochemists,

with the reality of the location. The head protected

Ireland and I’m finding that within parts of the

Commitment to the development of the individual

computer scientists, linguistics researchers and

(or decapitated) is engaged in a subterranean

community it is still very much underground. Just

and a strong sense of community is the unifying

humanities scholars in the art studio is enhancing

encounter. The absurdity of the action offers an

being allowed to attend an OUTWEST disco took

force.

our creative community in ways that could hardly

opportunity to investigate a diverse range of

me six weeks of emails. The OUTWEST disco

Providing time, space and inspiration for

have been foreseen a few years ago. These courses

representations. The resulting documents are

(where I met Sean) is a regular opportunity for

artists in the unique Burren landscape was the

in experiential learning are centred on the post-

visual metaphors applicable to contemporary

LGBT individuals to meet and it proved an

college’s founding principle. Students benefit from

Deleuzian idea of ‘creative difference’, considered

social and political issues, but also to more personal

interesting situation to find myself in. I tried to get

generous, individual studio spaces (4 x 4m), a

an alternative to the Modernist concept of

and literal interpretations. The 150 people who

older gay men to talk to me, (encouraging them

student to staff ratio of eight to one, a vibrant

creativity.

took part in the action will never think about

with biscuits) to try and find out if they lived in the

hedges, drains, musical instruments or cement

area. They were supremely patient and curious

mixers in the same way.

about my research. It was great fun but, seven

programme of visiting artists and a faculty of

philosophers,

BCA has been a centre for conferences since it

practicing artists, each with their own national and

opened, with the Burren Spring Conference and

international profile. The reflective art practice

the Brehon Law School having become landmarks

I am currently Artist in Residence with

months into the residency, this was the first chance

encouraged on campus is balanced with regular

of the Irish year. The landscape theory and art

Galway’s Older LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and

I had to meet older LGBTs. For some, this is the only

trips to galleries in Dublin, London and Berlin,

criticism conferences organised with the American

Transgender) community. In my current project,

chance they have to be relaxed and uninhibited in

ensuring students are keep abreast of international

art historian James Elkins led to significant

OPEN, I’m spending a year researching and

public. They had travelled from all over Ireland.

publications and extended the range of the college’s

engaging with the older LGBT people in

Older LGBT people in Irish society are doubly

contemporary art practice.

BCA offers a PhD in Studio Art, MFA in Studio

commitment. Now, the college’s Centre for

neighbouring County Galway. One of the aims of

invisible. They are older and they are LGBT. They

Art and a Post Baccalaureate degree, which are

Audacious Conversations uses the power of the

this residency is to reach out to this group, who

are accustomed to being in hiding. Last month I

accredited by the National University of Ireland,

Burren

creative

have lived through dramatic changes in Irish

spent two unsuccessful days looking for a

Galway and offered in association with the Royal

methodologies to enable significant and difficult

society, and to negotiate an artwork which comes

transgender B&B in Cliften. So it seems, unusually,

College of Art, London and the School of the Art

dialogues to happen in a non-traditional context. A

from the engagement around their lives and

that I’m doing a residency with a group of people

Institute of Chicago, which provide mentors.

series of discussions on climate change will begin

experiences.

that I can’t find.

Founded in 1994 by Michael Hawkes-Greene

location

combined

with

with an international gathering in the college in

The residency was launched in April at the Gort Family Resource Centre. That day I introduced

Amanda Dunsmore is a visual artist based in

The BCA Gallery – a large purpose built space

myself and the residency with an informal

County Clare and is Course Coordinator /

opened in 2004 – hosts student and external shows

performance involving 46 text-based silver

Lecturer in Sculpture and Combined Media at

place remains at the core of the learning experience

throughout the year. The MFA graduate exhibition

balloons. Each balloon depicted one of the

the Limerick School of Art & Design, LIT.

here and is reflected in course offerings that include

in April is the highlight of the college year. The

following words from the Visible Lives report,

an Art and Ecology summer school and new MA

Burren Annual, generously supported by Clare

identifying the experiences and needs of older

and MFA programmes in Art and Ecology coming

County Council Arts Office, takes place between

lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in

on stream in 2013.

August and September each year. With an invited

Ireland: "Pathologised, Criminalised, Stigmatisation,

and myself, this independent college draws on the tradition of reflective learning of the Brehon and Bardic schools of the Sixth Century. Immersion in

February 2013.

BCA is often compared to the legendary Black

curator, the exhibition presents internationally

Mountain College in the US because it offers an

significant artists both to the summer audience of

alternative, artist-led model of art education.

visitors to the Burren and to the incoming students

Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, former Rector of

at the beginning of each academic year. Guest

the Royal College of Art, accurately summed up

curators have included Maoliosa Boyle of Void

our teaching philosophy:

(Derry), Josephine Kelliher of Rubicon Gallery

“Burren College of Art offers teaching and

(Dublin), Jerome O Drisceoil of The Green On Red

learning in the ways they should be offered:

(Dublin), Alice Correira of Gimpel Fils (London)

through structure when you need it, inspiration

and Jon Bewley of Locus+ (Newcastle).

when you don’t and above all through encouraging

Newtown Castle, at the heart of the campus,

students to find their own voices. It is a remarkable

acts as a beacon on the Burren horizon connecting

institution.”

the contemporary Burren College of Art with its

This student-centred approach is enabled by

educational heritage. The college, open year round,

our commitment to maintaining an appropriate

welcomes artists to visit and engage with its

scale and to providing each artist with physical

creative community.

www.headinahole.blogspot.ie www.lit.ie/dunsmore

Attnung-Putnang Choir in Fire Station Drain, all images courtesy of Amanda Dunsmore

and mental space, and time for individual growth.

In an era of rationalisation, soaring student to staff

Mary Hawkes-Green is President of the Burren

ratios and the loss of dedicated studio spaces in

College of Art

public art education, BCA focuses on individual creativity and community spirit.

www.burrencollege.ie Still from 'Others Have Their Heads'

Still from the 'OPEN' launch

Still from 'Head in a Whole Woman'

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

11

REGIONAL PROFILE: CLARE

Inis Artists

Marianne Slevin

InIs Artists, which formed 10 years ago, are a

disabilities and is a qualified trainer, working

group of artists who show together in various

regularly with groups from the Brothers of Charity,

venues around Clare and the rest of the country.

the Dulick Enterprise Centre and HSE Mental

The group comprises 15 artists, all working and

Health Association. As a painter and photographer,

living in the county.

his work examines the patterns of light on fields,

Each artist is encouraged to work in whatever

rock and water particular to the region.

medium they choose and the size of the painting

Beirnie Ballarin was born in the US but

and the subject is a matter of personal choice. We

currently lives in Co Clare. Ballarin is self-taught

have members who work in oil, acrylic, pastel,

and works largely in acrylic and watercolour,

charcoal and a mix of these mediums. The subjects

focusing on the expression of colour.

range from animals to landscapes and also include

Mimi Kern studied art at Tyler School of Fine

some abstracts, portraits and figurative pieces.

Arts in Philadelphia. She works primarily in oils.

Though subjects do vary, most of the group

Her work includes interpretations of the Clare

concentrate on the ever-changing landscape of

landscape both natural and built, while reflecting

Ireland with its soft colours and beckoning vistas.

her interest in the human face and form.

The group is limited to 15 members and

Tom Daly is an artist from Limerick. He creates

includes professional artists, those with other

seascapes, landscapes and still lifes using oils,

careers and retired people, and also accommodates

acrylic and watercolours.

artists with disabilities. Membership is by election

Gerardine O’Leary draws inspiration from the

only, which takes place at our AGM. Aspiring

rugged seascapes and landscapes along the western

members must offer their work for inspection by

seaboard and the islands of West Cork, capturing

the committee at that time. Membership is only

the mood and beauty of local scenes.

available when someone retires from the group.

James Slevin Voyage to Crab Island, 2012

Margaret Ray, formerly the secretary of the

In the short span of its existence, Inis Artists

Limerick Art Society (one the oldest art societies in

have exhibited in many locations including Glór

Ireland), is a prominent seascape and equine artist.

(Ennis), the Heritage Centre (Adare), Friarsgate

She is also a member of the Market Artists Group.

Marianne Slevin, Mycelium Maps, 2011

Marianne Slevin, bamboo installation as part of 'Vulnerable', 2012

Myself and my artist husband James Slevin live

couple of years. The exhibition was called

(Killmallock), libraries in Killarney, Limerick,

Sonia Schorman is originally from Dublin

with our two children in a cottage in Doolin, Co

‘Vulnerable’, and it took up most of our house. I

Tralee, Galway, Cork and several venues nearer

and has lived for 26 years in Wicklow and Clare. A

Clare. 12 years ago, I stayed for several weeks in

was really pleased with the response to the work.

home. Sales have been steady even in this difficult

late-comer to painting, she works largely in oils,

this cottage while I was finishing my Masters in

Hopefully, James will have an exhibition here

economic climate.

focusing on the ever-changing colours of the Irish

European Fine Art. It was such an inspiring place

soon. In his own art practice, he carves wooden

landscape.

The group also travel to exhibit work and this

that I made most of the work for my final MA show

sculptures for specific occasions and does

coming year is already well-filled, with members

Angela Meere has been painting for many

during this time. The rugged landscape drew me

photography, though with a shortage of funds he

exhibiting in Kilmallock, Adare, Clonmel,

years and enjoys working with all mediums, in

here, but finding so much art being made in the

has been focusing more on the latter. James is

Charleville, Mitchelstown and Galway. We also

particular oils and pastels. Ideas for her paintings

local area turned it into a kind of Utopian dream.

originally from London and working in such a

have two permanent exhibitions at the moment –

stem primarily from the Clare coast and

While out walking one day, I stumbled across an

rural place has been challenging, but he has been

one in Skycourt Shopping Centre in Shannon and

countryside.

Art College in the middle of the Burren. Another

inventive and courageous with his practice here in

day, the Courthouse Studios in Ennistymon were

Clare. For example, this summer, he kayaked out to

having their open studios and artist talks.

Crab Island to document the landscape and his

the other at the Elm Park Shopping Centre in

Inis Artists are developing and adapting to

Ennis. Individual members also offer workshops in

today’s economic climate. Our purpose is to bring

certain venues throughout the year.

art into the small towns around Munster and the

When I returned from living in Spain seven

experiences living on a tiny Island of rock by

The following are details of some of our

West. We support ourselves as artists by our group

years later, I brought my family with me. The

himself for a month. Unfortunately, after three

members: Tomás O’Maoldomhnaigh, born in

efforts and always welcome feedback and

culture and creativity we found in North Clare has

days, the coast guards came and took him off the

Limerick, is a professional portrait and landscape

suggestions, especially on new venues where we

held us here for the last five years. A huge number

Island, saying that it was a bird sanctuary. So, after

artist. He has had many solo exhibitions around

might exhibit.

of artists and artists groups are based in Clare,

months of planning and preparation he was back

including Ground Up Artists Collective, Outrider

on dry land feeling somewhat deflated. Since then,

Artists and the Altruism Movement. The

James has done up an old Russian motorcycle with

Courthouse Gallery is a core venue for artists, as is

sidecar so that he and his camera equipment can

the Blue Frog in Ennistymon, where we have both

reach out of the way places to make his art.

Ireland and has illustrated a best selling book, The Book of Clare. His paintings have been sold to the

Sonia Schorman and Tomas

United States, Europe, Africa and Australia. He now

O’Maoldomhnaigh

lives and works as a full time artist and illustrator

www.inisartists.com

in his adopted County Clare.

had exhibitions. In fact, local artists are opening up

Currently, I am working on drawings, large

Alan Shoosmith co-ordinates the Clare Arts

their own galleries and alternative spaces, breaking

unstretched canvases and altered found objects

Office Embrace Programme for people with

the boundaries between art and life. I think it is the

and books. I also make ephemeral art and

best place I have found in the world to make art.

interventions in the local environment. We are

To become recognised and renowned as an

currently doing a collaborative project in the

artist outside of Clare is another story. I am not

community that Clare Arts Office have kindly

saying that it is impossible but it is very difficult.

given us money towards. It is going to be a kind of

What would help artists get recognised here is for

physical Twitter, because, after all, the Internet is

somebody to review their exhibitions and for a

great, but only when the local community is cared

curator to do studio visits. Both James and I,

for too. So, for now, while trying to establish my

alongside many artists here, use the Internet as our

career further, I will pile on the woolly jumpers

primary way of connecting with the rest of the

and remember to buy another couple of hoppers of

world. We use websites, blogs, Google+ and more,

turf next year to avoid hyperthermia and to

though sluggish Internet connection can make

continue my practice in Clare.

this a painfully slow process. Faster connection Members of Inis Artists

and funding towards broadband would be a great

Marianne Slevin is an artist, writer and activist

help.

living in Doolin, Co Clare. She often works

For three seasons we opened our home up as a

directly within the community on self-initiated

gallery, but this proved quite disheartening as we

projects, creating a space for art within everyday

had so few visitors. The few people that did venture

contexts. She is currently showing work in

in, however, made it worth the effort. This year, we

several alternative spaces and group exhibitions

decided to put our energy and time into making art

in Clare.

and occasionally having an exhibition of new work instead of being open all of the time. In October, I had an exhibition examining genderMaureen McMahon, Chickens, oils

Tomas O'Maoldomhnaigh, Gravity Gravity, charcoal

based issues, a theme I have been working on for a

12

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

REgIonAl PRoFIlE: ClARE

January – February 2013

professional development training & events 2013

Clare County Council Arts office

for more information or to register visit: northern ireland http://visualartists.org.uk/services/professionaldevelopment/current republic of ireland http://visualartists.ie/education/register-for-our-events/

IMMA workshop for children at the Burren College of Art

MoKs workshop in Mooste, image by John griznick

since County Clare’s first Arts Development Plan

The award-winning Tulla Stables Studios

in 2000, Clare County Council has aimed to

currently houses six artists. Each artist is facilitated

recognise the role of individual artists and to assist

with their own unit and use of a kiln. Working

them in creating new work, to affirm the creation

with Ennis Town Council and the Ennis Chamber

of work by artists through quality support and

of Commerce, the Arts Office has established EASI

promotion, and to create greater opportunities for

(the Ennis Access to Spaces Initiative) in which

artists and the public to interact.

vacant commercial and retail units are used for

Much has changed since those aims were

cultural activities.

articulated, but over the years the Arts Office of

Aside from these very public methods of

Clare County Council has continued to pursue

support, the Arts Office works on an ongoing basis

them, working with local visual arts groups and

with individual artists to assist them in creating

individual artists to devise sustainable support for

new work or publicising their works. We provide

the visual arts in the county.

assistance towards artist materials, catalogues and

The Arts Office directly programmes three

travel, as well as the provision of artist residencies

small galleries in the county: Scariff Library (East

at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig.

Clare), the Foyer of the County Museum (Ennis)

Training for visual artists has also been provided in

and the new gallery at Cultúrlann Sweeney, Kilkee

the area of website development and photography

(West Clare). In addition, the local authority

of artworks. These events also allow for, and indeed

supports the dynamic Courthouse Gallery and

encourage, networking between artists. The Arts

Studios in Ennistymon through annual financial

Office supports these networks in terms of

assistance and by serving on the gallery selection

disseminating information, exemplified in the

committee. The Burren College of Art is also

recently established South Clare Visual Artists

supported annually to produce an independently

Network.

curated contemporary exhibition known as the

Through the Ground Up commissioning pro-

Burren Annual. In 2012, Maoloisa Daly, Director of

gramme, the Ground Up Artists Collective has

the Void Gallery, Derry curated the ninth Burren

emerged (GUAC). With over a dozen members, and

Annual exhibition by eight Derry artists in the

with their emphasis on contemporary visual arts

beautiful gallery space.

in a rural context, the ethos of the group remains

Engagement with the public is also a key aim

very close to the original ethos of the Ground Up

of the local authority’s visual arts programme. The

commissioning programme (www.groundupar-

Artist in School scheme, which has run over a

tists.com).

10-year period, is currently being reviewed by a

Outrider Artists in North Clare is another

core group of visual artists, who are making

group that the Arts Office works closely with.

recommendations that will assist the scheme to

Artists from MoKs in Estonia and SERDE in Latvia

develop, whilst ensuring that both artists and

will visit this group of artists in North Clare in May

schools have a quality arts experience. In 2012, the

2013 to work with them on the theme ‘The Future

Arts Office supported an exhibition at the Burren

is Domestic’. This visit is taking place as part of the

College of Art devised in conjunction with IMMA,

Arts Council’s participation in the Cultural

which was aimed specifically at children. An

Programme to mark Ireland’s Presidency of the

education programme for local primary schools,

Council of the European Union and is supported

facilitated by IMMA, accompanied the exhibition

by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the

and provided a positive engagement for local

Gaeltacht.

children. The Arts Office is also supporting the

Clare Arts Office is heartened by the quality of

development of outreach programmes from the

artists in the county and their determination to

Limerick School of Art and Design, destined to

develop and in many cases excel at their arts

begin in September in North Clare, which will

practice, despite the current difficult times. These

enable students to pursue third level courses in art

artists are an inspiration to the Arts Office and not

in their local area.

only provide the rationale for ongoing supports

Visual artists are also very involved in our

but provide the impetus to the Arts Office to face

Arts and Health and Arts and Disability

current challenges in a creative, engaging and

Programmes. Long term residencies are in place in

artistic manner that is of benefit to the artists, the

St Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis and in the Raheen Day

public and to us all.

Care Centre in Tuamgraney. Over 25 groups who work with disabled people participate in the

Siobhan Mulcahy is the Arts Officer for Clare

Embrace scheme, in which artists conduct

County Council.

workshops throughout the county for people with disabilities. This culminates in an annual exhibition in Glor, the main gallery in Ennis.

repUblic of ireland repU DuBlIn & MEATH MEATH

norThern ireland norT BElFA FAssT

follow-up session. projects & proposals: eilis lavelle & helen carey Jan (tbc) (Half day, 3 – 4 hours). @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2 8 places. Cost: ˆ 70 / ˆ 35 (VAI Members).

Follow up session intended as an opportunity to meet and hear about each others work development following previous clinic in Nov 2012 with Helen, Eilis and peer group.

projects & proposals: marianne o'Kane boal Feb 2013 (Date & venue tba) 10 places.

Cost: £40 / £20 (VAI Members).

This session will look at the proposal and application process in detail, exploring the strategic skills required to ensure that your submission is seriously considered.

working with public galleries meath: aoife ruane & artist In partnership with Meath County Council Arts Office Tues 12 Feb (9.00 – 21.00) @ Toradh Gallery, Dunshaughlin, Meath 22 places. Cost: Free.

This talk is designed to give artists the confidence and knowledge to build strong relationships with curators and get the most out of their experience when working with public galleries. peer critique studio Visits: Kati Kivinen Wed 13 & Thurs 14 Feb Cost: ˆ 80 / ˆ 45 (VAI Members). 10 places.

An opportunity for artists to have one-to-one feedback on their work from Kati Kivinen, a Helsinkibased art historian and curator. writing the artist's statement and cV: Kerry mccall Thurs 18 April (10.30 – 16.30) 10 places. Cost: ˆ 80 / ˆ 40 (VAI Members) @VAI Dame Court, Dublin 2 gallery installation skills Traditional media: gillian fitzpatrick Spring 2013 (Date tba). gallery installation skills digital media: angela halliday Wed 1 May (10.30 – 16.30) 10 Places. Cost: ˆ 80 / ˆ 40 (VAI Members) @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2 accounts, Taxation & ros with gaby smyth Thurs 6 June 2013 (Half day 3–4 hours) 10 places. Cost: ˆ 80 / ˆ 40 (VAI members) @VAI, Dame Court, Dublin 2 health & safety for Visual artists Spring 2013. Details to be announced art & law ii Spring 2013. Further details to be announced.

The artists as curator Autumn 2013. Details to be announced. preparing proposals Autumn 2013. Details to be announced

community focused arts project planning: conor shields In partnership with Belfast Exposed Fri 15 Feb (10.30 – 13.30) @ Belfast Exposed.

20 places.

Practical session aimed at artists and community activists working collaboratively. facilitation skills for artists working with groups: niamh o'connor In partnership with Belfast Exposed Thurs 7 Feb (10.30 – 4.30) @ Belfast Exposed.

10 places.

Cost: £40 / £20 (VAI / BX members).

Theory and practice of running a community arts workshop. peer critique studio Visits: Kati Kivinen Fri 15 Feb. (10.30 – 16.30) 10 places.

Cost: £40 / £20 (VAI Members).

An opportunity for artists to have one-to-one feedback on their work from Kati Kivinen, a Helsinki based art historian and curator. writing about Your work, cV & statement May 2013.

Details to be announced. presentation skills Spring 2013 Details to be announced. presenting Yourself and Your work Autumn 2013.

Details to be announced. preparing proposals Autumn 2013.

Details to be announced. insurance for Visual artists: o’driscoll o’neill Autumn 2013.

Details to be announced.

The artist as curator Autumn 2013.

Details to be announced.

Upcoming Topics Subject to interest, there will also be sessions on the following topics in either Dublin or Belfast: Project Management for the Visual Arts; Documenting your Work; Artists Agreements & The Artists Charter; Practical Legal; Copyright & Your Work; Legacy Planning.

To express interest in particular training topics please get in touch with us or alternatively register your interest online see our training registration page and click on ‘Tell us about your Professional Development Needs'. www.visualartists.ie/education-2/current-programme/ p Tnership wiTh par hV Vai Visual Artists Ireland works in partnership with a range of organisations at regional level. We welcome approaches and expressions of interest from artist studios, galleries and local authority arts officers who might wish to partner on future events including: workshops, talks, seminars and Visual Artists Ireland information clinics. Partnerships work best where topics and needs are mutually agreed and where programming can continue on an annual basis in response to local needs, contexts and synergies. arTisTs & TUTors panel p Visual Artists Ireland has an ongoing open submission process for artists and arts professionals interested in being part of an available panel of tutors contributing to the VAI Professional Development Training Programme. For details go to our training registration page and click on ‘Register for the PDT Artists Panel’.

Monica Flynn / Professional Development, Visual Artists Ireland, Central Hotel Chambers., 7–9 Dame Court, Dublin 2 T: +353 (0)1 672 9488 E: monica@visualartists.ie www.facebook.com/VAIProfessionalDevelopment www.visualartists.org.uk www.visualartists.ie www.printedproject.com www.thecommonroom.net @VisArtsIreland

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

13

POLICY

A Structural Necessity?

Claire Power considers the increasing reliance of visual arts organisations on interernships, and reports on the findings of and issues aired by a recently-formed discussion group on the subject.

Writing an article on the current debate about internships is daunting, especially when you wear an institutional hat, purport to represent the views of a wider group and acknowledge that most galleries / institutions play a role in the dilemma. There are a broad range of viewpoints on internships and this article is intended to serve as a starting point, to highlight key issues and stimulate further debate. I aim to highlight new initiatives and current debates at a timely point when unpaid internships are becoming more common for a new generation of young arts workers.

In reviewing the literature that has been written on the subject, mainly by UK research and policy bodies, one statement struck a chord with me, as having some truth: “... the deployment of unpaid interns is fast becoming in many cases a structural necessity for companies and organisations. There is a suspicion that interns and volunteers may be de facto masking the collapse of the European cultural sector, hiding the exodus of the public resources from such activities and thus preventing the general public from perceiving the unsustainability of the situation.”1 It’s a polemical statement that offers a strong point of view. Are internships becoming ‘structural’ in the arts? And, if so, what does this mean in the medium term? How we will plan for the future?

Interns are already an established part of the infrastructure. On one hand they prop up the sector, enabling growth and ambition and, on the other, they falsify a situation that may or not be sustainable in the face of reduced public spending. Within this landscape of free labour and economy of exchange, it is vital that both arts organisations and interns are aware of their obligations and rights.

Focus Group As with every big debate, there will be the small, practical steps to achieving change. In September 2012, a small group of people working in the arts came together at Visual Artists Ireland to listen and interrogate some of the key issues and current debates on internships in the arts in Ireland. This group comprised Jim Ricks (artist), Gina O’Kelly (Irish Museums Association), Bernadette Beecher (Visual Artists Ireland) and myself (Temple Bar Gallery + Studios).

At our meeting, a number of important issues were raised, including legal ones, for both the intern and employer. To start with, there is no single definitive, legal description of what an internship means either in Ireland or England. Artquest, a resource body for artists in the UK, ask, “With no legal definition of an internship how can interns and visual arts organisations ensure quality experiences and stay within the law?”2 Gina O’Kelly circulated some literature from the Arts Council of England, demonstrating that there are some clear distinctions on what constitutes an internship. This is set out in a policy document entitled Internships in the Arts: a Guide for Arts Organisations (2011). It differentiates an internship from, for example, voluntary work, a student placement, an apprenticeship, a traineeship, work experience or what is offered within a university or educational strand.3 The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) also differentiates between internships and JobBridge (an Irish government initiative), the employment of close relatives and those who meet the Industrial Training Act requirements. Their guidleines state that all interns have the right to a safe working environment, and to adequate breaks and holidays.

The National Employment Rights Authority defines an employee as “a person of any age who has entered into, or works or has worked under a contract of employment”.4 Thus, the terms of an internship must reflect both the intern’s work experience to date and the nature of the work being carried out.

The concept of internships began with careers that were traditionally deemed desirable or had good earning potential eg law or medicine.5 Ultimately, the attraction of a good internship remains the same. It should offer valuable learning experience, professional development and networking opportunities that will either lead to paid employment or help to further the intern’s career in a tangible way. From the discussion within our small group at VAI, it became clear that there was a lack of awareness among arts organisation and interns as to how these rights apply. Without definitive, industryspecific guidelines, both arts organisations and the interns occupy vulnerable positions.

What can we learn from UK debates & policies?

interns ranging from a recruitment practice that is fair, open and

Over the last decade, the debate on internships in the UK has really

transparent, a written contract and the presence of a line manager to

fired up, as the culture of unpaid internships becomes increasingly

ensure there is adequate insurance cover employers for public

familiar. The “I’ve paid my dues, this is something that everyone has

liability.10 Arts organisations and cultural leaders can also offer

to go through” sentiment remains commonplace, but is becoming

valuable support to interns through regular appraisal and mentoring

problematic as the rise of the unpaid internship coincides with a

in the longer term to help guide them through the early stages of

decade of reduced public spending in the arts.6 This situation proffers

their career.

two questions: How realistic is a career in the arts and creative sector for new graduates in the field? And what future-focus do we need?

Intern Culture

Many of the same ideological positions played out on a large scale in

In May 2012, Artquest published Intern Culture, a literature review of

UK cultural debate were mirrored within our own small focus group.

23 reports, guidelines and policy documents published since 2008. It

These include shared concerns about job replacement, social mobility

offers six principles to follow in order to build high-quality

and barriers to a creative career because of a individual’s ability to pay

internships.11 For the launch of the report, Artquest chaired a debate

expenses like travel costs, the erosion of junior level or trainee

at the Showroom, London during the exhibition, ‘The Grand Domestic

positions within the arts and exploitative internships. The group also

Revolution GOES ON’, on 17 October, encouraging artists, arts

recognised that a cultural shift will not happen overnight and for

professionals and representatives of art organisations to share their

now we would be best placed to advocate for and to consider

experience and their opinions on Intern Culture. The debate makes

collectively with the wider sector, a series of policies or guidelines. It

worthwhile reading and highlights can be found on Twitter with

is vital that employers in the arts sector are fully aware of their legal

#internculture. The discussion raised the pertinent question, “How

obligations in this area and interns are aware of their rights.

can we define, as sector, what we want internships to be?” As representatives of the arts and cultural sector in Ireland, we need to

What is the measure of a good internship?

consider this question too.12

The Arts Council of England Guidelines describe a successful

The Carrot Workers Collective is another interesting point of

internship, as being “mutually beneficial and well-planned… for both

reference in the current debate and occupies an activist position.

individuals interested in a career in the arts and arts organisations”.

They are an open group based in London, concerned with the issue of

Underpinning their thinking is a strategic aim to “make sure that

free labour in the cultural and creative sectors. On their blog (www.

working in the arts is seen as a sustainable, long-term career for

carrotworkers.wordpress.com) they provoke discussion on free labour

people of all backgrounds”. The emphasis on “sustainability” and

and unpaid internships through organised action and platforms such

“long-term” careers being of utmost relevance here, as increasing

as the Cuts Cafe London, stating that the “ability to live in the absence

numbers of new graduates join a highly competitive field of work.

of the wage in the internship sets up a series of expectations around

There is the very valid argument that in recent years unpaid

non-wage labour that infiltrate the entirety of productive relations”.

internships have replaced low paid entry-level positions across the

There is a risk now that internships are becoming structural, so

arts. Dr Emily Mark Fitzgerald, of the University College Dublin

that interns are in fact propping up the gap between the ambitions of

School of Arts History and Cultural Policy, spoke passionately on this

the sector and reduced public spending. The opening provocation –

subject in a short presentation at the Visual Art Workers Forum in

that internships may mask the collapse of the European cultural

2012.

sector and prevent the general public perceiving the unsustainability

Clearly, there is much more to question and to try and resolve.

of the situation – is extreme. There is a strong and resilient arts sector

There has been an increase in the number of arts courses offered in

in Ireland and the show will go on; or at least it has done so far. There

Ireland and universities and educational institutes also face a

are new realities and pressures facing all arts organisations in the face

dilemma. One solution was put forward by the young people of

of reduced public spending. Within this new situation, internships

Ireland in the ‘Being Young and Irish’ report, an on going consultation

and the promise of philanthropy fill a widening gap.

with President Michael D Higgins. It calls for “the creation of a

What unites the arts sector and makes it strong are the dedicated

graduate employment scheme based on relevant skills (not

people involved, and interns are a key part of our current and future

JobBridge)”.7 Currently, what we have in Ireland, operating alongside

workforce. In our small focus group, we concluded that it is time to

JobBridge, is the Employer Job Incentive Scheme (PRSI). This

think about agreeing on shared values in order to define internships

employment initiative programme from the Irish Government

and come up with a set of policy guidelines. In the medium term, the

exempts employers from liability to pay their share of PRSI and is

guidelines will ensure that arts organisations are all fully aware of

open to companies who create new and additional jobs. It would be

their legal obligations in offering internships and will also inform

good to see this initiative taken a few steps further or progression of

potential interns about how to seek out high-quality experiences. For

JobBridge to incentivise longer-term job creation in the creative and

the longer term, it would be advisable to have more joined-up

cultural sector for recent graduates or the newly unemployed.

thinking between government departments for public expenditure,

Perhaps an initiative like the recently announced Arts Council

social protection, jobs and innovation along with cultural policy

of England Creative Employment Programme would be worth

makers to nurture new talent among the future workforce for a

considering by government and policy stakeholders here.8 This

vibrant creative and cultural sector. Let’s start the ball rolling.

scheme is designed to support up to 6,500 paid internships, preapprenticeships and apprenticeships for young people aged 16 – 24

Claire Power is the Development Manager at Temple Bar

and is expected to begin in 2013. Its precise purpose is to help combat

Gallery + Studios.

unpaid internships within arts organisations and to help young people find entry-level positions in the arts and cultural sector. The Arts Council of England guidelines set out the responsibilities employers have when offering an internship. In the ‘Guidelines to Arts Organisations’, the intern is accorded “worker” status.9 The result is that, by this definition, the majority of interns will most likely be classified as a worker for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act. Any individual with worker status is also protected by all other legislation relating to employees, including working time regulations, health and safety laws and rules around statutory sick pay. A six-point checklist for creative and cultural employers taking on interns includes a numbered list of employer responsibilities to

Notes 1. Carrot Workers’ Collective, ‘One Free Labour, Enforced Education and Precarity: an initial reflection’, 2009, carrotworkers.wordpress.com/on-free-labour 2. Artquest / Current Projects / Intern Culture 3. Arts Council of England, Creative and Culture Skills: Internships in the Arts: A Guide for Arts Organisations 4. www.employmentrights.ie 5. Artquest / Current Projects / Intern Culture 6. Carrot Workers’ Collective blog, ‘counter guide to free labour’ 7. The Irish Times 8. www.artscouncil.org.uk, past funding programmes 9. Arts Council of England, Creative and Culture Skills: Internships in the Arts: A Guide for Arts Organisations, 7 10. Ibid, 12 – 13 11. www.artquest.org.uk/articles/view/intern_culture 12. From Intern Culture live debate twitter feed live, Wednesday 17 October 2012

14

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

International profile

Ufficio Moda (Fashion Office), Cittadellarte / Pistoletto Foundation, 2009, image by Enrico Amici

Cittadellarte / Pistoletto Foundation, overview, image by Enrico Amici

Collective Citadel Brenda Moore-McCann profiles the Pistoletto Foundation / Cittadellarte, Piedmont, Italy.

Love Difference, Cittadellarte / Pistoletto Foundation, 2010, image by Enrico Amici

becomes the connective tissue through which each unit operates, all

these with a larger womb-like circle at the centre. Paradise, in this

dedicated to the transformation of society through an interdisciplinary

context it should be emphasised, is a completely secular idea and

network of creative projects, discussions and workshops: dialogue

comes from the ancient Persian word, meaning a ‘protected garden’

My visit to the Pistoletto Foundation / Cittadellarte in the city of

rather than revolution. The term ‘Cittadellarte’ is another metaphor

and referring to external dangers on the outside. The first small circle

Biella in Piedmont, Italy, in August 2012 was stimulated by a long-

for its activities being a composite of the Italian words for ‘citadel’

can be identified as the symbol of the 'First Paradise' at the dawn of

standing interest in the Arte Povera movement founded by a group of

and ‘city’, the former a closed, protective environment, the latter

time when man and nature were integrated with, for example,

Italian artists in the 1960s, of which Michelangelo Pistoletto was a

open, unpredictable and dynamic. Cittadellarte, therefore, takes the

botanical gardens producing herbs to prevent disease. The second

leading figure. This, coupled with reading about the Foundation,

premise that there is no alternative, for the moment, to the dominance

smaller circle, the Second Paradise, represents the current phase of

made a visit irresistible, as it seemed so far removed from the usual

of the capitalist system and ideology worldwide, so the best way of

humanity, when man developed sophisticated technology to such a

institution dedicated to the work and achievements of a single artist.

attempting to transform society is to actively engage with all players.

degree that this artificial paradise has become completely separated

(The Foundation, however, does contain a museum dedicated to

This necessarily requires absorption of diverse opinions, contradiction

from nature. The large central circle represents the planet Earth and

Pistoletto’s seminal works and other Arte Povera artists.) Rather, it

and ambiquity, qualities that are also an inherent part of art and life.

the 'Third Paradise', one yet to be achieved, in which man and nature

appeared to be a communal centre with the declared aim of answering

Pistoletto was not the only artist from the 1960s generation to

become reintegrated. If the aim of transforming societies is to be

the question: How can art and the artist be relevant to contemporary

think in this way. Many artists around the world sought ways to

achieved, there must be a move away from rampant consumerism

society? This is a question that has been explored in diverse ways by

break through the stranglehold of the Modernist dogma of

and individualism, and a shift of emphasis towards the spiritual well-

many artists since the 1960s. I was curious to see how Pistoletto, the

universality, autonomy and the apolitical that informed Western

being of individual societies. Lamark’s theory of change is invoked

driving force behind Cittadellarte, and others, were attempting to

thinking. This inevitably brought the artist away from the isolation

here in which change through macro-adaptation happens in parallel

answer it, particularly in light of the devastating economic and

of the studio and into the public sphere (the polis) where political

with change through micro-adaptation, rather than Darwinian

political crisis affecting Europe and the globalised world.

and historical events became part of art. Allied to this was a renewed

change based on the survival of the fittest.

"The Imagination leads to a universe of possibilities."

Michelangelo Pistoletto

The concepts that inform Cittadellarte came out of Pistoletto’s

relationship with the spectator who now became a participant. The

The ‘Third Paradise / Re-Birth Day’ project takes as its starting

10 years of teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, where his

foundational project of Cittadellarte was UNIDEE (University of

point prophesies, at different times that the world would end on a

brief was to overhaul the educational system. From the beginning of

Ideas), a residency programme in which multidisciplinary groups

particular day. The latest is prophesied for 21 December 2012. This,

his career, he took the view that artistic creation should not be

meet to discuss views on a variety of subjects and propose creative

the date of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, and

limited to a self-referential system but could interact effectively with

projects. In many ways, it could be argued, this was the realisation of

associated with longer daylight hours, has from time immemorial

other sectors of society. The manifesto for this vision was Progetto

Joseph Beuys’ dream of the Free International University for Creativity

been associated with rituals around the rebirth of the world.

Arte / Art Project (1994) when Pistoletto organised “conversations” in

Cittadellarte proposes to create a global artwork beginning on this

multiple workshops on the subject of the artist’s role in society,

and Interdisciplinary Research, which he wanted to situate in Dublin in 1974.1 UNIDEE has partners all over the world including: the

which took place in Munich, Tokyo, London, Milan and Biella. The

Scottish Council; the Arts Council, England; Injuve, Instituto de la

and on the web, in a series of creative activities by artists, individuals

latter, where Pistoletto was born in 1933, became the practical

Juventud, Madrid; Inlaks Foundation, New Delhi; Ermenegildo Zegna

realisation, and laboratory, for the above approach, when he purchased

Group, Biella; Illy, Trieste; Hangar, Barcelona; Saint Foundation, New

and groups inspired by the concept of change and rebirth. To engage in the project see the website www.rebirth-day.org.2 Some of those

a former mill on the River Cervo in 1991. In Medieval times, Biella

York; Sipeas, SRL, Turin.

published on the web will be selected by an international committee to

day, when people are called upon to meet in streets all over the world

was at the centre of the prosperous textile industry of northern Italy.

One of the latest projects in Cittadellarte, which provided the

form part of an exhibition by Pistoletto at the Louvre called ‘Year One-

By 1998, the mill had been converted into the Pistoletto Foundation

title for this article, may be of interest to some Irish artists: ‘The Third

Paradise on Earth’ in the spring of 2013 and will however continue in

/ Cittadellarte, a non-profit organisation supported by the Region of

Paradise / Re-Birth Day’. This project came out of the 2003 Bush / Blair

various forms throughout 2013. This project represents a new form of

Piedmont. The activity of interweaving threads to make fabric

invasion of Iraq – a pre-emptive war. Pistoletto, like many, was

public art on a global scale that attempts to create relationships

became an apt metaphor for the activities of the new institution.

appalled by this action but also by the fact that millions of citizens in

between art, science and technology which have the potential to open

The structure of Cittadellarte was based on Pistoletto’s artistic

democratically elected countries (including the United States, Britain

up new areas of interaction and commitment at ground level across

use of the division of mirrors to multiply reflections to infinity,

and Ireland) who demonstrated against such a war, were ignored. The

society.

coupled with the concept of biological cell division. Both lead to

implications for the ‘voice of the people’, the foundation of democratic

multiplication through division called condivisione in Italian,

principles, were serious. For Pistoletto, this “first global vote” was, in

Brenda Moore-McCann is an art historian / critic, author and

meaning ‘dividing with’ or 'sharing.’ All these concepts are manifested

essence, a plea for a profound change in the lip service paid to

adjunct lecturer at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin

in Cittadellarte through a central cell unit devoted to art, which is

democratic ideals in Western society.

where she teaches a humanities module 'Perception in Medicine and Art' to first and fourth year medical students.

subdivided into a series of other cell units called uffizi (offices) which

Drawing on the symbolic function of art, he developed a new

are accessible to different sectors of society: education, politics,

symbol to address the issue. Taking the mathematical symbol for

economics, spirituality, architecture, fashion, nutrition. Art, therefore,

infinity, composed of two intertwined circles, he made a synthesis of

Notes 1. D Walker, Modern Art in Ireland, 1997, Lilliput Press, Dublin, 108.

2. rebith-day@cittadellarte.it

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

15

Institution profile photographs of the Prinzhorn collection in Heidelberg.

For The Return space, we invited the three curators – Jonathan Carroll, Georgina Jackson and Mark Gary – to develop exhibitions with emerging artists from Germany and Ireland. Often these exhibitions express some relationship or are inspired by the respective country. For instance, Özlem Günyol and Mustafa Kunt looked at the Natural History Museum just across Merrion Square for their piece The Dead Zoo. When The Return was founded in 2002, it made sense to create a space for emerging artists. Meanwhile, there seem to be a number of art spaces with that mission. At the same time, a number of non-profit galleries are struggling to keep up their work. It is too early for me to draw any conclusions but I am not sure whether I would prefer to support young curators across Ireland who want to collaborate with emerging German artists and to help in the development of new art spaces. There are half finished buildings in the city, large empty lots, ghost estates. All these places could become venues for art, performances and temporary landscape architecture. Together with our partners in the art world, we could aspire to live up to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s maxim: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Gerhard Richter, Betty, 1991 offset print on lightweight card, with a layer of nitrocellulose varnish, mounted on plastic, framed and behind glass, 97.1 x 66.2cm. (c) Gerhard Richter 2012

Mechtild Manus, Dublin

Go Where There is No Path Mechtild Manus, the new Director of the Goethe-Institut Ireland, talks to Jason Oakley, VAI’s publication manager, about intercultural exchange, supports for artists and the institut's upcoming visual art programme in relation to ireland’s eu presidency.

Jason Oakley: Can you tell me a little about your background and what attracted you to this position? And what was your knowledge of the visual arts in Ireland prior to taking up the post?

Mechtild Manus: After many years working in North America, I wanted to move back to Europe. I've always loved Ireland and the Irish, since I came here first for a vacation about 10 years ago. From what I read in the papers, I thought that the transformation the country is undergoing must be a superb battleground for the arts. Also, let me be frank about another thing: after eight years in freezing Montréal I was looking forward to mild winters and to doing my daily run all year round instead of switching in winter to swimming indoors.

Honestly, I didn’t know a thing about contemporary Irish art. My whole knowledge of the arts in Ireland was about literature, theatre and dance. That changed at the last Documenta (13) in Kassel this summer when I had a chance to marvel at Gerard Byrne’s stimulating multi-screen installation in the large ballroom of Hotel Hessenland – a fragmented filmic collage featuring a theatrical discussion amongst a bunch of surrealists about sex.

Also, in my first three months in Dublin I explored galleries and museums, spoke to curators, including the curators of The Return, our own gallery, and I had great conversations with people at the National College of Art and Design. Some Irish art struck me as really beautiful, for example Alice Maher’s works at the Glucksman and at IMMA. My own background is more in the performing arts and I am fascinated by the crossover taking place right now between performing and visual arts, something we can see, for example, in the works of Tino Sehgal, a German artist who will come to IMMA in the spring.

JO: My understanding of the mission of the Goethe-Institut in Ireland, is to foster cultural cooperation between Germany and Ireland – and that it’s a ‘two way street’ as it were…

MM: You are absolutely right. Our aim is to work in two ways, to Ireland and to Germany. We always aim at transcultural crossfertilization. When we invite German designer Van Bo Le-Mentzel to NCAD, we want him to bring something back to Germany and to his artistic environment. It is all give and take, inspiring each other. In the visual arts that means that we try to include in a show an opportunity for exchange. This can take the form of an artist’s talk, a workshop or an intervention in a public space.

JO: What kind of contacts and links is the Goethe-Institut interested in forming with the visual arts sector in Ireland?

MM: We don’t look for the isolated single event, for the flash in the pan without any repercussions. Rather, we prefer to build up long-term relationships, develop certain topics that evolve slowly into common themes. It’s like those notebooks we carry around, fill with observations and spill coffee on the pages of, as we read and reread what they have

to say about emerging projects. We also continuously evaluate partners and trends and are eager to open up to new players and venues in the field.

Here is another thing about the Goethe-Institut: directors come and go, but the local staff, in our case the fabulous Barbara Ebert, remain as indispensable sources of information and advise. Also, the visual arts division at the Goethe-Institut’s headquarters in Munich follows the latest developments on the German arts scene and provides us with detailed information. The division draws on the support of an independent advisory body made up of well-known figures from the visual arts scene in Germany.

In order to support a project, the Goethe-Institut must be involved in its planning and development from the initial stages, so that we can actively help to shape its content. By no means can we provide lastminute financial assistance for art projects organised without having consulted us when the project was planned.

JO: What kind of information and support does the GoetheInstitut offer individual Irish professional artists about residencies along with exhibition, educational, networking opportunities etc in Germany?

MM: Anyone who is seeking any form of exchange with Germany should consider the Goethe-Institut as a resource for information, advice and assistance. They can contact us in person. They can also use our library and our digital resources (www.goethe.de/visualarts). On this website you will find information about current trends, art institutions, art schools and curators. We encourage curators and art institutions who want to present artists from Germany to apply for funds at the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA) (www.ifa.de). IFA also offers a wide range of exhibitions that can be presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. A good example for this being the Rosemarie Trockel show at the RHA Gallery.

Finally, artists can apply for residencies at various institutions, for instance at Schloss Solitude (www.akademie-solitude.de). All of these websites have English sections and application forms in English.

However, we will be more than happy to help with any applications.

JO: The Return Gallery at the institute is widely appreciated in Dublin and beyond as a unique space. Could you outline some of the thinking behind this project?

MM: I was absolutely amazed by the crowds of young people who flocked to the opening of Isabel Nolan’s exhibition ‘Unmade’ at The Return. Certainly, Isabel Nolan already has made a name for herself, as has the curator Vaari Claffey, and there were a lot of their students at the opening. But even now, at regular opening times, I see visitors every day in this tiny gallery, looking at the delicate installation inspired by

JO: Could you tell me about some of the major visual arts projects and exhibitions the Goethe-Institut Dublin has lined up for 2013?

And some of the key ways they address the Goethe’s intercultural exchange agenda?

MM: The Irish EU-Presidency as well as 'The Gathering' are unique chances to bring within a couple of months four extraordinary exhibitions of contemporary German and Irish art to Ireland.

The RHA kicks off on 10 January with works on paper by Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke from the collection of the Kunstmuseum in Krefeld. The Crawford Gallery in Cork follows on 12 April, where the exhibition ‘False Optimism’ brings together German and Irish artists who are based in Berlin. They oppose the Berlin art hype with the rather disillusioning but perhaps objectively true title ‘False Optimism’.

Jointly curated by Joep van Liefland of Autocenter and Peter Murray of the Crawford Art Gallery, this large scale exhibition will showcase the work of fourteen artists: four of whom are Irish and have chosen the German capital as their place of residence and creation.

The same day IMMA opens the performance This Situation by German artist Tino Sehgal and a few days later, on 18 April, IMMA launches a significant and unique project: the exhibition ‘I KNOW YOU’ with 27 graduates of the world famous Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. In connection with these exhibitions, NCAD is planning an interdisciplinary symposium exploring the philosophical and political meaning of art institutions today. ‘I KNOW YOU’ is jointly curated by Rachael Thomas, Head of Exhibitions at IMMA, artist Tobias Rehberger, and architect Nikolaus Hirsch, rectors of the Städelschule. With only 190 students, it is one of the smallest yet best known European Art schools. More than 70% of the students and many of the 12 professors come from abroad to this school, which was established through a foundation created by Frankfurt citizen Johann Friedrich Städel in 1817. With ‘I KNOW YOU’, the curators want to highlight Frankfurt as a financial and cultural hub and define capital not only financially but also culturally.

Personally, I find this exhibition most fitting for the Irish EU-Presidency. Europe is more than the European Central Bank in Frankfurt: it is a cultural community. In these dire times more than ever, we have to collaborate in Europe and the exhibition does foster collaboration in a really unique artistic way. The curators invited the participating artists to relate with their work to a partner. This can be a fellow artist, a cook, a broker or even an object. Timothy Furley, for instance, chose the Cologne-based science fiction author Mark von Schlegell. I heard that they are going to give a rock concert together.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of performative events by the artists in the course of the exhibition, which runs until 7 July.

Last but not least, Tino Sehgal will stage – alongside performers from Germany and Ireland – his work This Situation, which recently toured with the support of the Goethe-Institut from Belgrade to Kolkata. The piece will run with German and Irish performers at Earlsfort Terrace from 12 April – 24 May. I am really looking forward to all these exciting events. I am genuinely surprised by the huge interest of Irish art institutions in German contemporary art and I am extremely grateful for the amazing opportunities that these institutions offer the Goethe-Institut. Together, we do not only make art and design from Germany better known in Ireland, but we can foster long lasting collaborations between individual artists, as well as between institutions such as NCAD and Städelschule. www.goethe.de/ins/ie

16

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

Art in the public realm: profile

Jenny Moran Everything that ever happened is here, 2012

Jenny Moran, Time isn’t holding us, time isn’t after us, 2012

Jenny Moran, Despicably Utilitarian, 2012

Home as Universe

domestic heritage to the public, especially after a physically and

Jennie Moran profiles her collaborative art / architecture project with architect Laura Harty, for older people's housing in naas, Co Kildare.

strangers. It seemed to me that the laws of hospitality are pretty much

emotionally demanding relocation. I kept thinking about hospitality during this project. People looking for information are more than

In April 2009, I crossed paths with a woman called Margharita Solon

things. Some things can be transported, others cannot. Like the house

and heard of her plans to set up a new kind of housing for older people

and the way it has influenced the occupant. For instance, a dweller

in Naas, Co Kildare. It was to comprise 53 self-contained apartments in

might have become accustomed to bathing in the late afternoon

and around an empty convent in the centre of the town. Named

because of the type of sunlight that was sent in through their bathroom

McAuley Place, it would house a cultural venue and café, and lie

window at such an hour. This is unlikely to be the case in the next

adjacent to a community centre. All parts would be open to the public.

house. Silence and noise will be different. The distance a person will

Prospective tenants had to be over 65, be able to live independently and

travel into the house before they remove their coat will change. This is

be residing in Naas or thereabouts. I got to thinking about these tenants

where the architect’s focus lay. She wanted to understand and describe

and how 53 homes would soon be closing down and moving into

the setting, which frames, directs and positions the experience of the

another building. This was intended to be their final move: the lifts in

home. The task was to move the immovable. Scale was often mentioned

McAuley Place were designed to accommodate coffins. I felt that this

as a tool.

moment of enormous collective bravery should be marked in some

The movable things were my territory. I concentrated on

way. I thought about all the layers of history within these 53 homes,

possessions and atmosphere. These are some of the devices with which

momentarily accessible in the disruption of the move, like dust raised,

the dweller can influence the home. Possessions are objects used to

soon to be swept away. To me, there was an urgency in collecting some

re-orient ones self. They are how we can resist displacement. ‘These are

of this important history dust.

my place mats. This must be my dining room.’ In the case of McAuley

I visited Margharita Solon and discussed the possibility of creating

Place, the new apartments were usually smaller than the tenant’s

some sort of archive: a way of making the history from the tenants’

previous home. This meant that most tenants had to filter their

previous homes present at McAuley Place. Following this, I approached

possessions somewhat. Items secured their inclusion by being either

architect, Laura Harty – having seen her and a colleague give a

indispensable or of sentimental value. The sentimental objects are

presentation at an Irish Architecture Foundation Pecha Kucha event –

interesting because, when one chooses to leave behind a landmark,

about accommodation for older people from the perspective of two

that place or experience is no longer physically represented and

architects. We went to Naas together and continued our conversation

permission is given to begin forgetting it. A narrative is reconstructed

from there, with a view to developing a project together. We were

or edited slightly.

subsequently awarded funding from the Engaging with Architecture

The word ‘atmosphere’ describes the air surrounding a thing or

Scheme and Kildare Arts Service. This is a relatively new award funded

the tone or feeling of a place. I wondered if there was a connection

by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Arts,

between the two meanings – that the air surrounding a thing (the thing

Heritage and the Gaeltacht, under the Government Policy on

here referring to the dweller) could affect the tone or feeling in a place

Architecture Implementation Programme 2009 – 2015. The scheme

(the place being the home). I thought back to my grandmother’s house

aims to enhance and extend the public’s experience of and engagement

and how it would only function with her in it. Without her it was

with architecture. Laura and I applied as an architect / artist

dreadful, regardless of how many fires were lit, meals cooked or other

collaboration after an initial research period where we identified or

perfectly pleasant people were present. Atmosphere is movable and

respective tasks and roles. Our application focused on the architecture

must travel with the person like a portable, external soul.

of the home.

Next, I decided to consult a scientist. NUI Maynooth microbiologist,

Laura and I were both interested in the idea of the home as

Kevin Kavanagh, received me graciously, furnished me with Petri

primary universe: a place that might shield us from the elements, from

dishes and incubated samples taken from new and old homes so that I

danger and from the public; a potential site for restoration and

could watch spores develop under a microscope. I discovered that the

intimacy, where the body is inclined to stay still; a place where we

air in a home is different when the occupant is present. I also discovered

might accumulate the debris of minor and major excursions, dream

a whole new language that I could use to articulate the idea. This was

about them, awake and asleep. But also a place to leave. A springboard.

also a response to Laura’s suggestion that scale be used to move

For some, the exit is more pleasing than the entrance / re-entrance. A place men come out of.1 In particular, it was the task of transporting the

immovable things. Although I am quite sure she was referring to the

home that interested us both. What happens when you move a

about particles.

act of reproducing something on a smaller scale, it got me thinking

universe from one place to another? One of the first things we

The home is a tricky site. The factors that make it fascinating also

discovered was that the home is made up of movable and immovable

make it very fortress-like. We don’t want to present our private

reversed. Let us say no to who or what turns up.2 We only visited homes when we were invited, and where possible we would be the hosts. Initially, we wrote a letter to each of the prospective tenants, introducing ourselves and the project, which we followed up with an invitation to supper in McAuley Place. We each made a cake and whoever was interested came along. I liked this dynamic and decided to try and maintain it. Shortly after this, the Convent Tea Rooms opened in McAuley Place: the café open to tenants and the public. I decided to work there occasionally to keep up my role as host and also to become familiar to the place and with the place. It also meant nice wide-open potential for informal exchanges in doorways etc.

Everything was recorded and taken to our respective workplaces to be processed. It seemed appropriate that this archive (which is about the home) be comfortably re-housed in a home. So the information gathered is spread across a group of objects, which can function in a domestic setting. There is a series of soap sculptures, Despicably Utilitarian, which references some unremarkable parts of houses that are usually experienced through touch.3 Let the soap clean the hands that do the touching. We have a limited edition series of napkins screen printed with images from our research and have printed our publication on heavy gauge plastic bags. The very thing that renders these bags so undesirable works very well for us. They possess a life of their own and a longevity that suits the long-term dissemination of information very well. The longer they hang around, the better. There are also some cumbersome sculptural responses – a mirrored double pendulum entitled Time isn’t holding us, time isn’t after us and a film of spores growing called Everything that ever happened is here.4 Both of which, I trust, will find their audience.

Whenever an artist brings their practice to a new place, there is an onus to represent that practice as sincerely as possible. It is a shame to sweeten it or water it down. I feel that we stood our ground here and didn’t really add anything that didn’t belong. The main benefit to the McAuley Place tenants was the awareness that we raised about the complex everyday architecture of the home: in particular, the highlighting of an otherwise unmarked historical moment. A group of people spent more than a year frantically pursuing momentary billows of dust from dismantled primary universes. That is, perhaps, interesting to watch.

Jennie Moran is an artist based in Dublin.

Notes 1. Pierre Bourdieu, ‘The World Reversed’, The Logic of Practice, Stanford University Press, 1980, 282. In this case study of the Kabyle house, Bourdieu identifies the different roles of male and female inhabitants within a group of Berbers. It is not the gender analysis, but the energy behind the different attitudes to the home, that I identified with, especially in terms of the ‘movement outwards’ or turning of ones back on the house.

2. Jacques Derrida, De l’hospitalité, Calmann-Lévy, 1997. According to the law of hospitality, unconditional welcome must be offered to the new arrival. However, we were not entitled to such concessions.

3. The term ‘Despicably Utilitarian’ comes from an essay by Jean Sebastian Marcoux entitled 'The Refurbishment of Memory', included in Home Possessions, ed Daniel Miller, Berg, 2001 4. Lyric taken from the Talking Heads song, Once in a Lifetime, 1981

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

17

debate

Autonomy or Not to Be? Jonathan Carroll reports on ‘Autonomous Practices, Autonomous Objects, Autonomous Institutions’ a debate hosted on 6 November 2012 in the conText of SARAH PIERCE'S SHOW ‘Towards a newer Laocoön’, at THE NCAD Gallery, Dublin (4 Oct – 7 Nov 2012).

Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition, rather than asking an artist to set his limits. Artists are expected to fit into fraudulent categories. Some artists imagine they’ve got a hold on this apparatus, which in fact has got a hold of them. As a result, they end up supporting a cultural prison that is out of their control. Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

Museums, like asylums and jails, have wards and cells ­–

Art is autonomous; it’s there for its own human sake, sufficient to its own human self, but this doesn’t seal it off from society or history. What its autonomy does mean is that it serves humanity on its own terms, ie by providing aesthetic value or quality.

Clement Greenberg, Homemade Aesthetics, 1971

We think that if politics is the art of the possible, as the saying goes, then we need political art to open this up, this ‘possible’ or to multiply this possibility. So the appearance of an avant-garde, autonomous artist expressing a deep insight without inquiries, without knowledge of the world, with no connection with science, that is certainly out.

An aesthetics of proof: a conversation between Bruno Latour and Francis Halsall on art and inquiry EPD: Society and Space, 2012.

in other words, neutral rooms called ‘galleries’.

Robert Smithson, Cultural Confinement, Documenta 5 catalogue, 1972 and Artforum, October 1972.

Rather than attempting an exhaustive definition of what autonomy ­might mean in various artworld contexts, I’ve chosen to preface this article with the three quotations posted on the MA Art in the Contemporary World (the hosts for this event) website (www.acw.ie) that were offered for consideration in advance of the discussion ‘Autonomous Practices, Autonomous Objects, Autonomous Institutions’.1 From what are rather subtle and nuanced takes on the ideas of artistic freedom and independence, we can distil a basic understanding of autonomy as simply being the opposite of interference from outside forces – specifically art institutions and curators – as expounded by Robert Smithson. Moreover, as Greenburg and Smithson suggest, total autonomy is something of an impossibility – art making and showing is bound up with economic, social and power relations like all other human activities. Latour invites to us question whether the prospect of autonomous art is entirely desirable, if it suggests the rather outré idea of an isolationist avant-garde.

‘Autonomous Practices, Autonomous Objects, Autonomous Institutions’ was certainly an ambitious event, and one that foregrounded complexity. As the title signalled, the discussion spanned art practices and institutional frameworks, fused with a focus on art objects. In terms of speakers, we heard from a variety of individual and collective viewpoints; and in terms of the discussion’s identity and function, boundaries were interestingly blurred. The talk could be regarded as a performative component of Sarah Pierce’s exhibition ‘Towards a Newer Laocoön’ as well as serving as a more conventional stand-alone seminar hosted in the context of an educational institution for the benefit of both students and an interested public.

Pierce’s show, within which this event was nested, was itself multi-layered and featured several elements, including: archival material from the Irish Film Institute’s archives dating from 1959 – 1979;2 an installation of the actual friezes and sculptures damaged during student protests at the college in 1969, including the iconic Laocoön; related documents from the NIVAL collection at NCAD; and a new work from Pierce, which is part of her ongoing project, The Question Would be the Answer to the Question, Are you happy?

Pierce’s choreographing of this discussion event within the context of her exhibition was consistent with her ongoing concern: presenting work that combines the results of archival research into examples of activism, protest and political organisation with various forms of collective activity initiated by the artist. These actions can take the form of a workshop or discussion, which are sparked by the viewing of some archival materials, including films, from what Pierce calls her ‘personal canon’, which she returns to again and again.3 The relevance of Pierce’s focus on debate and protest is of course very topical, with ongoing handwringing in Ireland about our apparent apathy around issues of recession, austerity and the financial crisis – in comparison to the visible anger shown by the Greeks – as well as the cuts to funding for the arts and re-introduction of student fees. Pierce’s practice manages to maintain a certain critical distance from direct action while provoking – for want of a better way to put it – a sense of guilt or obligation to get out and actually protest in the ‘real’ world.

This is typified in her performance of Any Questions? – a work in which the artist faces an audience and subverts convention by commencing proceedings with the challenge “any questions ?”4 Overall, there is often a more-than-subtle suggestion in Pierce’s work that she wants us to reflect on how complacent we can be about the rights we now have, that were once fought for so dearly.

This event opened conventionally enough, with presentations from invited speakers – thirteen in all, who were restricted to five minutes each to outline their take on either autonomous practices, objects or institutions – before questions could be taken. The participants included: Vaari Claffey, Basic Space, Adrian Duncan, Rebecca O’Dwyer, Paul Ennis, Declan Long, Francis Halsall, Seamus Nolan, Ruth E Lyons, Isabel Nolan, Garrett Phelan and Oonagh Young.

Disappointingly but not really surprisingly, these presentations, by their necessarily brief time-span, left the audience to do the lion’s share of the work to match the accounts of individual art practices, projects and ideas to the specifics of a discussion about autonomy. And at ‘question time’, what followed was the inevitable deathly silence from the audience – all too common in public seminars and discussions ­– while all present waited for anyone to think up a question or observation that could relate to the proceeding contributions.

While the participants offered alternating arguments for and against “autonomy in aesthetic, artistic and cultural practices”, a notable absence from some of the speakers’ presentations was an elaboration on whether they favoured or dis-favoured autonomy out of choice or necessity. The decision to set up a gallery, in the case of Oonagh Young, was a conscious decision to provide something that she noticed was absent in what was on offer elsewhere in the artworld.

Likewise, Adrian Duncan of Paper Visual Art journal, and his collaborators, saw a need for a particular kind of writing on art and providing it (initially) in printed form. But what of the curators?

(Represented here by Vaari Claffey.) Would they rather work within an institution? And how would this really affect what they can or cannot do?

Amongst the artists who spoke, Ruth E Lyons presented an interesting insight into an experiment in autonomy or ‘islandism’ whereby she had initiated an artist’s residency, entitled Aerial Blue on an uninhabited island off the coast of Mayo. The participants of this residency were asked to construct “an island state of mind”.5 Isabel Nolan addressed the art-making process and the issue of the art object’s autonomy. Nolan spoke eloquently about her art practice and pointedly about the power of the art object to limit our capacity to know. The art object can be beyond understanding and, specifically, her own work used objects “not exhausted by metaphor”, nor found objects, but rather constructions infused with her own idiosyncratic meanings. Nolan also admitted a frustration that it seemed all of the panellists and audience members seemed to have a different understanding of the basic concept of autonomy.

Writer and researcher Rebecca O’Dywer began her contribution by saying that the premise of the autonomy of artists and institutions was not even a valid question and that it is was naive to even debate it.

However, one could and must assert the fundamental autonomous character of the art object. O’Dywer reflected that “good art is always autonomous: it sets its own standards and resists consumption ­– otherwise it is simply entertainment, or some breed of ineffective benevolence. By autonomous I mean adhering to some form of selfgoverning principle, by and on its own terms”.6 Nolan and O’Dwyer’s lines of thinking made me reflect on how many artists were historically not autonomous. A basic example would be the work produced by Michelangelo, the famously reluctant painter of the Sistine Chapel. Arguably, his best work was produced despite his preferred interest in sculpture. But I was also thinking about How German is it?, a 2009 Artforum review by Benjamin Buchloh of the

exhibition ‘Art of Two Germanys / Cold War Cultures’ in Artforum International.7 Buchloch noted that “the exhibition confronted its spectators... not only with the famous dialectic that all documents of culture serve at the same times as documents of barbarity, but also with a fundamental contradiction that has bedevilled art historians and their methodologies at least since the rise of social and contextualist art history: Is the work of art primarily an object of history (ie a document) or primarily an object of the relative autonomy of artistic production and reception? And what laws, if any, does it follow first and last?”8 More pointedly, this show included works by those who risked and lost everything to pursue their work in the unapologetic company of “opportunists who gained everything by flattering a repressive state apparatus”.9 Returning my thoughts to the talk, Pierce had cleverly organised the speakers and audience in a circle of chairs within the exhibition space itself. The thinking behind this orchestration of the space and personnel was in line with her ongoing interest in the notion of ‘being student’ – a state of immediacy, urgency, excitement and engagement.

This in itself could be taken as a comment on autonomy, specifically as a strategy to defer or interrupt a notion of autonomy as a kind of fixed outsider position, but rather as an actively and energetically engaged one.

With this particular notion of ‘being student’ in mind, I found that the most critically engaging part of the discussion came from the Basic Space representatives – a group of students who manage an open creative space for NCAD students (www.basicspacedublin.wordpress. com). When provoked by my rather cruel suggestion that they were not the best example of autonomy – existing in a cold warehouse and worried about insurance while not having the responsibilities associated with running a gallery (or ones finances for that matter) ­– managed to defend their position and update us on their present status, where they function as an entity independent of a specific venue. The two students (just graduated the previous evening they tell us) returned us to the fundamentals of how the ‘struggle’ is manifested now, rather than reflecting nostalgically on revolutions past.

I left this event with the hope that the Basic Space group has more ambitions regarding autonomy than just getting raw ‘space’, as its name implies, by maybe taking over a properly-resourced facility like the NCAD gallery. I don’t mean this in a simplistic ‘revolutionary’ way, but in reference to what has been achieved by other art schools; one such example being the Städelschule Frankfurt, which not only runs an internationally renowned exhibition / project space called Portikus but provides a space and covers the costs for current students of the school to exhibit in .10 Jonathan Carroll Notes 1. www.acw.ie/2012/10/autonomous-practices-autonomous-objects-autonomous-institutions 2. The Irish Film Institute (funded by the Per Cent for Art Scheme) commissioned Pierce to make a project working with their archives 3. www.themetropolitancomplex.com 4. Performance by Kevin Atherton, 1979, performed by Sarah Pierce as part of ‘If I Can’t Dance’, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, 2009.

5. www.ruth.ie 6. www.rebeccaodwyer.wordpress.com 7. Artforum International, Summer 2009 XLVII, no10 8 Ibid, 296 9 Ibid, 296 10. The space is at present called Solalanotte, see www.solalanotte.org but has had numerous names according to who is curating the space. It is located on Oppenheimerstr. 34a Frankfurt.See also www. portikus.de

18

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

RESIDENCY

Seisometer and drawings, Seismic Observatory of Emil Wiechert

Smoking technique performed on drawings for The Dock, image by Siobhan McDonald

Abandoned Dakota DC3 aircraft, Iceland, 2011, image by Siobhan McDonald

Big Bang, circa 1920, courtesy of the Seismic Observatory of Emil Wiechert

Unpredictable Rhythms of the Earth SIOBHAN MACDONALD REPORTS ON HER RESIDENCY EXPERIENCES, INCLUDING WORKING AT THE HISTORICAL SEISMIC OBSERVATORY OF EMIL WIECHERT IN GOTTINGEN, GERMANY, DURING AUGUST 2012, AND HOW THIS HAS INFORMED HER ONGOING PRACTICE. “Before electronics, seismographs used to be elaborate constructions of balanced levers, as poised and focused and skeletal as a praying mantis, that translated the relative displacement of a weight and the casing from which it was suspended into the oscillations of a beak-like pen across the moving surface of a roll of smoked paper; thus an earthquake in Chile or China could inscribe itself into the scientific record by displacing grains of soot a world away. Perhaps an artist, decades later, will transpose the fragile roll into a context that licences new interpretations of its obscure earth-script.”

Tim Robinson, writing on Siobhan McDonald’s work on the occasion of her solo exhibition, ‘Seism’

Much of my research over the past three years has been developed in Iceland, where I have studied the diverse volcanic and glacial environments of the southern region. Following a self-initiated residency in Iceland in 2010, I took part in a formal residency at the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SIM), Reykjavik, in 2011, where I spent a month making art in an abandoned aircraft at the foot of a volcano in Iceland. This got me thinking about how to record the ephemeral occurrences of the earth’s rhythms and their fluctuating nature. To satisfy my curiosity on how to understand the deep structure of the earth, I jumped at the chance to do a residency at the Historical Seismic Observatory of Emil Wiechert in Gottingen, Germany, in August 2012. Funded by the Arts Council’s Travel and Training Award, I embarked on the fellowship just weeks before my solo show ‘Seism’ at The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon (7 September – 27 October 2012).

The story of the Historical Seismic Observatory of Emil Wiechert, which is nestled away in an old forest, is an interesting one, and a great example of how a group of tenacious and philanthropic individuals managed to preserve and restore an important observatory, handcrafted instruments and the memory of an exceptional era before computerisation. All of the seismometers on site have been working continuously for more than 100 years. The University of Gottingen decided to abandon this institution and to scrap the historic pieces. In response to this, a small group of citizens and scientists decided to form a federation to buy the place and keep it in operation.

Founded in 2005, the federation is called Wiechert’sche Erdbebenwarte Gottingen. Wolfgang Brunk is an outstanding individual and was my main point of contact in organising the trip. In time I met most of the members of the Federation (Udo Wedeken and Wolfgang Beisert to name but two) who were all gracious hosts. I was the first person to use the instruments in an artistic context and they didn’t know quite what to make of me at first!

My aim was to try and figure out certain earth processes and how

The aliveness of being in the countryside so close to installing my

they influence the geological evolution of our planet, making visible

exhibition enabled me to make the site-specific piece for Gallery 1 at

the invisible based on observations of the physical world as it slices

the Dock. The observatory proved a superb location to contemplate

through millennia. My practice employs an interdisciplinary approach

geological time. It is perched on a lush hilltop called ‘Measurement

and manifests in many forms including painting, drawing, photography

Valley’, where geo-scientists have spent over 100 years trying to figure

and collaborative-based projects. I am interested in the changeable

out the nature of the earth’s movements. There is an inscription over

nature of landmass, historical events and their interconnection to

the door of the vault that reads: “The trembling rock brings knowledge

human experience. This was an exceptional time for me, as I got to

from afar”. I felt this echoed the values of the numerous scholars in

work in what is possibly the oldest observatory in operation in the

their endeavours to understand the phenomenon of the earth’s activity.

world. It was not a residency in the traditional sense of the word, more

Every day I worked on the ground of the forest; this setting allowed me

of a designated time where I was invited to learn certain ancient

to completely utilise the environment, which bore witness to the

techniques.

explosions and inventions of its former years. The work I made for The

I found out about the Historical Seismic Observatory of Emil

Dock comprised tree resin from the surrounding forest and elements of

Wiechert purely by chance at a meeting in 2010 with Tom Blake,

the smoking process, which I tried to push to reveal the full possibilities

Director of the Irish National Seismic Network and seismologist at the

of their nature. I also made a series of pieces exhibited subsequently in

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). Blake introduced me to

November at Taylor Galleries, Dublin.

an immense collection of Jesuit seismograms from the early 1900s,

This residency has given me an opportunity to reflect on my

which had been buried in the Antiquities Department of DIAS on

practice, learn new skills and to integrate recent research with some of

Merrion Square. The surfaces of the drawings are covered in layers of

the new ways in which I find myself working. My current projects seek

soot. I was interested in using this ancient process in a series of

to open a space to take us beyond our immediate surroundings, and to

paintings I was making, which were based on the primordial state of

consider the larger context in which the earth exists. In the early 1900s,

chaos that is contained in the moment of explosion.

the Jesuits in Ireland were documenting vibrations of the earth by

As it turns out, the Historical Seismic Observatory of Emil

hand, and I want to understand what they were really doing in greater

Wiechert is the only remaining place in the world reproducing this

detail. My feeling is that they were uncovering much more than the

virtually forgotten and undocumented practice. Very specific

unpredictable rhythms of the earth, and I am currently working on

techniques, using kerosene, are required to blacken the recording paper

projects with a composer to render these notations into musical scores.

so that a glass prism can scratch out traces of the line and signature of

Alongside this, I have been awarded one of the Artist in Residence

the earthquake. During the residency, this traditional process was

positions at UCD, 2012 – 2013, and throughout this time will be further

passed on to me so I could then develop contemporary artworks. In the

expanding on the projects I began back in Iceland and producing work

short time I was there I tried to grasp at the vital elements of this

for a solo exhibition in 2013.

ancient knowledge. Through this process, I was pulling in so many things: light, fire, the earth and god knows what else. It was not by chance that I became astutely aware, in my drawings, of the tension between randomness and control, between accident and intention.

The seismometer was built by human hands, but the drawings it creates are independent of it, made by the movement of the earth. It seems to me that the scribbled line – a record of the earth’s movement – is also a measure and symbol of the general mutability of nature.

Seismograms are objective scientific data but also function as images of change or catastrophe; they transmit information but, within their patterns and structures, it is as if they represent a mystical notation of the rhythms of the earth’s past, present and imminent future.

Siobhan McDonald predominately works with paint, sound and drawing to explore processes of entropy and geological time. She has recently exhibited at VUE, Taylor Galleries and The Dock. www.siobhanmcdonald.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

Critique Supplement Edition 9 January / February 2013

Una Sealy 'A Piano in the Kitchen and other stories' Draíocht, Co Dublin 23 November 2012 – 23 February 2013 ISBN 978-0-9571721-2-8. In large, bold print, placed prominently on the back cover of the catalogue, this ISBN reinforces the promise made in the title of the exhibition of Una Sealy’s work from the past six years or so. The artist is going to tell us stories.

The notion that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is not new, and in many ways underpins much representational work. In such pieces, the title hints at or even encapsulates the story, and small details within the painting help to round out the narrative.

in her hands – one of Sealy’s more successful depictions of this part of the body. Here again we can ask ourselves questions: Where is she going?

What is she getting away from? Why has she so few possessions to take with her?

But where are the other stories? Of the twentynine pieces on show, at least six can be categorised as portraits. It is true that the titles of some of these pieces (Writer [2010]; Actor [2011]; Critic and Horse [2011]) give the viewer a character, but to construct our story we need a little bit more – an action, a context. In pieces such as Dear Life (2010), Thinking of Home (2010), Other People’s Children (2010), we have characters, certainly, but the background details (the pot of flowers in Thinking of Home, the roll of Sellotape in the fruit bowl in Other People’s Children) are not plot elements, and there is no action. All the people in these works are simply looking – crossly – in the direction of the viewer, giving the paintings a feeling of tableaux.

Any collection of short stories by the same author will probably, intentionally or not, have recurring themes and motifs and, in a number of Sealy’s pieces, the viewer can find these: windows and doors, people inside looking out, the blue railing which appears in Away from Here (2010), Remembering (2012) and Cousins (2011). These recurring elements support the notion that Sealy’s work is autobiographical and suggest that what we have here is a series of snapshots from a family album around which stories can be woven.

Around a quarter of the works are landscapes; ironically, some of these are the most successful pieces in this exhibition. Sealy’s more recent paintings, Up at the Allotments (2012), Beach Walk Evening (2010) and Alley to the Sea (2012) all share a quiet confidence. The palette is muted, strong and harmonious, and the viewer is drawn in by the play of light and shade.

This is not an exhibition of two halves, it’s an exhibition of many pieces. There are stories, portraits, landscapes and nudes. There are paintings which show an artist in supreme control of her palette and her brushwork (Sean [2011]) and pieces which make you question this. The sense of disproportion that is present in all the ‘narrative’ pieces more often than not distracts, and the anatomical inaccuracy can jar.

'A Piano in the Kitchen and other stories' lacks coherence. It does not do what it says on the tin.

The underlying organisational principle, the basis on which the pieces in the exhibition were chosen and are presented, is impossible to discern. This is a pity, as Sealy’s work has the possibility to reach a wide audience and to bring them into a world where representational art goes well beyond mere

Una Sealy, Remembering, 2012, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

representation. A smaller selection of works, more In ‘A Piano in the Kitchen and other stories’,

judiciously chosen and grouped, and more

the clearest example is Neighbours (2011). Here, a

accessible information (titles, prices, etc, beside the

man and a woman sit on either side of a bed. The

works) would go a long way towards achieving

bedlinen is rumpled, they are not looking at each

this.

other. She is wearing a garment which could be a dress or a nightdress, though her hair is still coiffed

Mary Catherine Nolan is an artist and writer

and her studs are still in her ears. He is in jeans and

with a background in linguistics, and is

open-necked shirt, his lower right arm resting

interested in the relationship between these

limply on his lap. There are signs of untidiness:

two forms.

papers on the floor, a mug on the bedside table. All the material is there to allow the viewer tell themselves a story, as they have been led to expect.

Away from Here (2010) shows a woman seated in a chair, a small case beside her. She is looking out Una Sealy, Alley to the Sea, 2012, oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

Una Sealy, End of Days, 2010, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 cm

of a window and the tension in her face is reflected

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CRiTiqUe SUPPLemeNT

January – February 2013

Rachel Gomme 'The Memory of Yarn' R Space, Lisburn 10 November – 22 December 2012

Phil Collins 'This Unfortunate Thing Between Us' Void, Derry 13 November 2012 – 11 January 2013

Knitting is an activity that isn’t fixed to one

subtlety of the first phase is disrupted by the bright

location; it can be done on a train or in a waiting

colours of the second.

room, while watching television or listening to

The process of making work over time is also

music, alone or with a group of friends. It also

made apparent in Knitting a Rothko. As the title

requires patience, especially for the beginner, and

implies, row by row Gomme is creating the image

traditionally it has been passed down from

of a red and black painting by Mark Rothko. A type

generation to generation, predominantly by

of artwork associated with museums and other

women. There are therefore analogies in the

large public spaces is thus recreated in a medium

practice and language of knitting that provide

associated with the domestic sphere. The work is

scope to explore aspects of memory, storytelling

being made over a series of public performances;

and the passage of time. The double meaning of the

after each it is then exhibited in its ‘unfinished’

word ‘yarn’ provides two possible readings of the

state. The work was further expanded in Lisburn

exhibition title, ‘The Memory of Yarn’.

during a performance at the opening of the

Rachel Gomme furnished the R Space gallery

exhibition. While knitted garments are generally

with artwork and documentation that reflect her

small in scale, tailored to the measurements of the

interest in the social and temporal aspects of

human body, Knitting a Rothko is at the more

knitting. She makes what she calls “performance

monumental scale of Rothko’s paintings, which

knitting” – creating works in public spaces at a

are frequently over two metres high. As the work

time when knitting is less visible than it once was,

progresses it will became unwieldy to manage, an

despite a resurgence of interest in recent times.

aspect that will change the performance over time.

The most engaging work in the exhibition is

Meanwhile, the piece on the wall can appear

A Year of Waiting. Over the course of a year, Gomme

without

knitted the work each time she waited for public

unfinished or in the process of being unravelled.

transport. Time spent waiting for trains and buses

contextual

information

as

either

The process of marking time and movement

was measured out in rows of stitches, creating a

evident in A Year of Waiting is also present in Ravel:

visual diary. Each period of waiting is marked by a

Knitting a Row. Gomme walked through one of

different coloured yarn. The long, thin product of

Chester’s historic Rows – elevated covered

this endeavour resembles a scarf stretched to

walkways – knitting a line of yarn into which she

unfeasible proportions. The work is pinned to the

incorporated objects from local shops and passers-

wall and annotated with the times and locations of

by. She therefore created a type of map documenting

each stage of its creation. Nine months into the

the path of her journey, yet the resulting work is

project, the work in progress was stolen; Gomme

less evocative and fails to convey the sense of

decided to remake it over the course of a year, with

performance or the life of the street that might be

the first nine months knitted in muted colours and

expected.

the final three months in vibrant shades. The

Aside from the objects in the gallery, a projection of videos documenting performances provided context for the objects on display. A number of events provided another dimension to the exhibition – the opening performance, knitting workshops and a dance piece choreographed by Gomme for the Age of Stage Seniors Dance Group.

Visitors were welcome to add to a collaborative piece created by the participants of one workshop.

Fashioned from materials ranging from film strip to plastic bags to wire, it was attempt to bring a sense of activity to the gallery. This was consistent with the exploration of the process of knitting, its analogies with the marking of time and its potential as performance, rather than the tradition of producing finely crafted objects.

Logan Sisley is exhibitions Curator at the Hugh Lane Gallery.

Phil Collins, intallation shot from 'TUTBU TV', 2012, image by Paola Bernadelli

the outside world seemed so much brighter after

Lastly, in Experience Three, the winning

watching over two hours of Phil Collins’s current

bidder will have the satisfaction of telling a family

exhibition, ‘This Unfortunate Thing Between Us’,

member how much they hate him / her on their

in Void’s two dimly lit subterranean galleries. Both

deathbed.

spaces have been converted into supremely kitsch

The bidding begins and a winner will be

sitting rooms with miss-matched furniture, near-

revealed on the next broadcast of TUTBU TV,

identical props, flowery carpets and blue / orange

(shown in Gallery Two), which proves to be

or yellow / green walls illuminated by the glow of

simultaneously hilarious and tragic. We see the

video projectors. The lack of daylight lends the

chosen winners – real people who called in and

rooms a nocturnal aura and, inadvertently, time

paid for their chance to appear on TUTBU TV and

stands still here. It permanently feels like 3am, like

to “smash the screen, climb inside, feel something”

everyone has gone to bed and you should be asleep

– participate in their chosen experiences. The anti-

but are uncomfortably awake.

climax and unfulfilled cravings are highlighted by

In this near liminal state you can enter the

the pathetic and un-sensational interrogation

world of TUTBU (This Unfortunate Thing Between

scene, the limp, un-exciting and sexless porn

Us) TV, “the future of teleshopping”, Collins’s brand

experience shot from the waist up and the dead-

new alternative telesales universe performed

pan answer given by the death-bed scene winner

during a two-day period in September 2011 in

who, when enthusiastically asked what it is like to

Berlin and subsequently broadcast live on a German

die, states, “Great. Now I know what to expect”. The

TV network.

objet petit a is never fully obtained; TUTBU TV’s

The videos follow a typical telesales arc – a

The experiences are not shocking and neither

top presenters, pushy sales demonstrations and

is the idea of selling them. The on-screen worlds we

callers phoning in to declare their interest. On sale,

inhabit are obsessed with sharing, discussing and

however, are not goods or objects. No longer

marketing some of our deepest darkest desires and

satisfied with the endless barrage of products,

taboos. ‘This Unfortunate Thing Between Us’

contemporary viewers now want to satisfy their

acutely acknowledges our consumer culture, the

desires by buying ‘real’ experiences.

seduction of escape and alternative realities and

And what do TUTBU TV’s (German) viewers

the promise of a better, more fulfilled existence.

desire to experience most? Interrogation, porn and

Collins seems to relish the superficiality of

death. Viewers pay ˆ 9.99 – with a 20% discount for

telesales and, as in past works such as soy mi madre

students, unwaged and elderly callers – for the

(2008), which used the format of Latin American

opportunity to bid for a place on the next night’s

telenovelas,

broadcast, where three lucky winners can take part

particularities of the format he has adopted /

in the experience of their choice.

hijacked to create a sense of reality that is at once

The projection in Gallery One shows TUTBU TV’s presenters demonstrating the ‘experiences’. To

Rachel Gomme, Knitting a Rothko, 2012

virtual limbo loops on.

slightly dismal theme tune, tacky décor, over-the-

he

utilises

the

nuances

and

believable, but also acknowledges its own artificiality.

sell Experience One they re-enact a Stasi

Kate Bush, in the 2005 publication yeah…you,

interrogation, especially attractive to former East

baby, you, speaks of a trade-off in Collins’s work, an

Germans who miss the feeling of constant

edge of cruelty; while he gives he also takes. This is

government observation, occasional interrogation

not cruelty but merely reflects the reality of a

and general distrust.

commodified society: “…experiences don’t come

Experience Two promises one winner the

cheap… only death is free”. The contestants on

role of their choice in a real Victorian porno.

TUTBU TV participated according to their own

Following

hysterical

free will, lured by the silver screen but also by the

confessions of their own masturbation fantasies,

promise of an experience, of being someone. As

the

unsurprisingly

one of the presenters exclaims, “Everyone knows

unconvincing Austen-esque storyline, is performed.

that to be watched is to possess value”. Phil Collins,

The

intentionally

more than anyone, is aware of the value of the

overshadowed by, and utterly out of sync with, the

spectacle and has managed to seduce us yet again.

porn

the

presenters’

scene,

voiced-over

with plotline

near

its is

full-on shots of graphic sex and the highly detailed

Rachel Gomme, A Year of Waiting, 2012

close-ups of carnal action performed by Captain

Alissa Kleist lives and works in Belfast. She is a

Herington, Lady Jane, Eleanor and Thomas, and

visual artist, Co-Director of Catalyst Arts and a

seems as disconnected from reality as the porn

member of artist collective PRIME.

actors must feel from their ‘lovers’.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet CRiTique SuppLeMeNT

January – February 2013

Jenny Keane 'Abluo and the Lick Drawings' Siamsa Tíre, Kerry 2 November –1 December 2012

'Tangible Seconds' Monster Truck, Dublin 16 Novmber – 12 December 2012

Graduate art shows offer a rewarding experience

slab covered in wallpaper becomes an emblem of

to the patient visitor. Amidst the maze of art

the debris of history, displayed casually as a

college buildings, the visitor is bound to encounter

curiosity.

a number of gems, so inviting a selection of former

Also concerned with the latent potential of

students to re-show their works some months later

simple materials is Rory Mullen’s Decline and Fall Fall,

in a different context seems a sure-fire way to spark

which takes the form of a makeshift room,

interest. Curator Jennie Taylor says that this

employing mostly cardboard to create a bedsit

‘re-show’ feature was important for ‘Tangible

space that viewers are invited to explore. This

Seconds’, and allowed the artists to engage with the

compact space is permeated by a sense of life, from

process in a new way.

the microwave door swinging open to the TV

Monster Truck Gallery somewhat resembles a

screen running a cooking show that features the

compressed college building. With its stairway,

artist himself. Customised drawings and books

nooks and crannies it seems an appropriate context

lend individual character to the room. We feel that

for a show serving as a stepping stone, bridging the

we have invaded a personal space, vacated only

gap between the graduate show and a ‘real world’

momentarily. Out of the materiality of the

gallery. The theme of ‘Tangible Seconds’ is relatively

constructed room surges an emotive response to a

broad – an interrogation into representations of

place and time which may never really have

the past in the present; the disciplines are varied

existed.

and reflect the diverse approaches to the investigation at hand.

Like Jake Bourke, Barbara H Larkin uses technology to reference the past, through the

Jenny Keane, still from Abluo, 2012

Jake Bourke’s Act Three is most easily viewed

evocative media of the slideshow. Larkin adapts

from outside the gallery. Once inside, a crudely

snapshots of found past realities to conjure new,

Beautiful and stylised women dominate Jenny

blood gradually gathering on the glossy bathroom

contextualised scenarios. By layering scenes with

Keane's Siamsa Tíre show, 'Abluo and the Lick

tiles; the two large screens that display these works

traces of others, Larkin questions the veracity of

Drawings'. The environments conjured through

are close to cinematic in scale. Certainly the

from an initial performance and a subsequent

our memories. The layered images allude to the

these works are sanitised and bare with the colour

production of the images is of a high quality, most

installation composed of materials, video and

complexity of the human mind, where diverse

white proliferating throughout many of the pieces.

easily identifiable with cinema, yet the two screens

sounds from that performance, Act Three considers

memories sometimes weave together to form a

On one of the screens, in a video installation called

are positioned at awkward angles to one another

the futility of trying to successfully communicate

tangled past. Larkin’s works are a visual treat and

Abluo, a pale lady's French-manicured hand drapes

and, while both projections appear to be details of

exude a vibrancy and warmth, as well as being

elegantly over the side of a bathtub, while the

the same drama, the audience is uncomfortably

conceptually compelling.

adjoining screen details a gold-plated bathtub foot,

placed to view them side by side. Moreover, there

Oisin Vink’s contribution considers the ability modern

assembled partition turns its back on us, allowing only glimpses of the space enclosed. Emerging

and recreate experience. We cannot fully access this work on a physical level, nor can we fully

sitting atop an expanse of pristine white bathroom

are subtle continuity disturbances between the

left with is a reassemblage of various components,

of

the

tiles. This 'clean' atmosphere does not persist

two screens: the audio is out of synch with the

which contributed to the initial performance. A

developments of time into a small space on flat

beyond a quick glance, as shades of the uncanny

image of the dripping blood, which appears to drip

screens. In this case, three screens envelope the

unfold and reveal themselves in myriad ways

in an inconsistent manner between the two screens;

partition, are testament to the laborious process

viewer, exploring representations of sexuality over

within this work and others on show. Disquieting

sporadic and subtle hand twitches are discernible

associated with this work.

three distinct eras in modern history. This multiple

displays of the gruesome against these 'pure' spaces

from the otherwise moribund woman; the pool of

screen set up immerses the viewer in the work,

underpin and add tension to the works in this

blood on the floor of the bathroom expands and

stretching our attention between projections.

exhibition.

recedes of its own accord, certainly at odds with the

grasp the action from which it evolved. All we are

soundscape and working clothes, hung on the

Aine Belton also explores the notion of capturing a past action through material remnants

technology

to

compress

‘Tangible Seconds’ resonates with a sense of

The Lick Drawings comprise eight large

energy and activity, from the initial aural greeting

drawings on paper, which use spare and sinewy

These breaks with the typically linear

rubber, Belton created a circular drawing on the

of Bourke’s labour-heavy soundscape and Larkin’s

strokes to render in a dispassionate manner the

language of cinema prove the most effective

gallery wall, which was then erased, as far as

briskly clicking projector through to the contained

various expressions of monstrosity embodied by

moments in the exhibition. A specific narrative has

possible, within a timeframe. The rubbings and

vitality of Mullen’s bedsit. Representation of time

female protagonists in horror films. The works’

been stilled within the screens of Abluo, yet the

drawing tools still on the floor attest to the action

passed is considered as a concept embodied by the

individual titles, such as Dracula and Psycho,

understanding persists that this pause is allowing

works themselves, as well as by the time elapsed

reference precisely the source image for the

another sense of the action to emerge. There are

continuity after the opening night, as rubbings

since they were first shown and by this repetitive

respective works. Each of the drawings have had

other troubling yet exciting moments for visitors

continue to drop intermittently to the floor.

cycle of time as they are re-shown in a new

saliva and blood repeatedly worked into them, to

to the show, when occurrences in the space

context.

create severely stressed patches on the surface. As

puncture the fiction of the works on display and

with an air of solemnity and importance. Sitting

audience members, we are confronted by a potent

meld in with the gallery's surroundings. At roughly

Room Henge references archaeological history in

Roisin Russell is a writer based in Dublin. Her

confluence of horrors: the trauma of the image

five-minute intervals, the lights illuminating the

miniature, drawing it into a contemporary context

writing has featured in Paper Visual Art Journal

alongside the presence of actual body fluids within

Lick Drawings fade for a period of time. This

and imbuing the objects with a meaning beyond

and Circa online.

the works. This emotional and literal approach to

intervention suggests that these images are

the images heightens certain implications that

alternative cinematic closures, or openings, yet

surround the generation of these female stereotypes

this interruption also shocks us in a non-rational

in horror films. Keane's particular approach implies

way. Faint blood-coloured marks are decipherable

that the images have the potential to make an

on the wall around the Psycho drawing, while a

impact upon the real and that the fusion of violence

gathering of chewed-up paper on the floor beneath

and passion evident in the screen-grabs are

it charges the atmosphere with a sense of skittish

characteristics that are no less diluted in our 'real

foreboding. Is the licker in the space? And who is

world'. Through these drawings, an attempt is

dimming the lights?

in Undone, Doing, which remains as a vestige of her opening night performance. Using graphite and a

of the performance and in a sense ensure its

Helen O’Dea’s works infuses humble materials

their material form. With Flocked Concrete Slab, a

Barbara H Larkin, Resurrection Double, 2012

stream of liquid entering it.

made to prise open this typified representation of

It is moments such as these that are most

women in the horror genre and in so doing subvert,

vivid in suggesting a disquieting crossover between

or reclaim, this depiction.

the space of the cinematic imaginary with our

By isolating scenes from films, the 'Lick

equally passionate living world. Here, we imagine

Drawings' divorce us from the context of these

a deviant other threatening to overwhelm the

images. Any form of completion or reconciliation

dominant cleanliness and order of the exhibition

which the narrative may offer us is denied. This

– as a tongue begins to subvert an image, or a

same refusal of closure is apparent in the Abluo

lighting change casts unexpected darkness over a

video installation. The action within this work is

series of drawings.

dominated by the pale and manicured woman who appears static, yet provides the audio throughout the entire exhibition, as a steady stream of blood drips loudly from her otherwise-clean hand. The Helen O'Dea, Hanging Rock Rock, 2012

Jake Bourke, Act Three, 2012

Rory Mullen, Decline and Fall

second screen in the installation depicts a pool of

Sarah Lincoln is an artist based in Waterford.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet Critique Supplement

January – February 2013

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ART HANDLING

Engage Art Studios Members 'Latency' Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar 2 – 24 November 2012

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Cecilia Danell, work from the exhibition 'Latency'

COLLECTION AND DELIVERY

As Michaële Cutaya, the curator of ‘Latency’, explained in the press release, “there are different ways to approach the notion of latency, whether as something existing but not yet manifest, lying dormant until suitable circumstances develop, or as the time-lapse between a stimulus and its response. All quite suggestive in regard to the artist’s studio with its fascinating potential.”

Proposing that the members of Engage Art Studios’ publicly respond to the notion of latency – its meaning to them and significance to their practice – Cutaya sought to reveal this hidden component of artistic practice.

Typically, exhibited artworks are evidence of a resolution or at least a temporary solution in an artist’s practice. In this way, most exhibitions are highlight reels of sorts, rather than a day-to-day reflection or an embodiment of studio operations.

In the case of ‘Latency’, the focus was explicitly to disclose each artist's iterative ongoing process and praxis.

The second floor gallery of the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar is spacious yet pleasingly segmented by multiple windows and doorways.

These divisions provided the necessary visual pauses to enable the viewer to better absorb the broad spectrum of works on show – 23 artworks created by 17 artists. Nonetheless, certain shared concerns arose amongst the diverse considerations of latency. If, in the latent, something exists but is not yet manifest, then what does an artist do with this time lapse between stimulus and response?

How does an artist move from one resolved artwork to the next? For some artists in this exhibition, maintaining momentum manifested itself through a process of creating multiples – exploring a single idea in the same form over and over again.

Angela O’Brien, in 36 Steps, displayed a series of small square images depicting architectural components, structures and buildings that were selectively painted over, effaced, sometimes reversed, worked and reworked. Each image was placed to create a grid, a systematic ordering, an assessment of a studio enquiry.

Tadhg O’Cuirrin, with There’s Much in the Window but Nothing in the Room, created a series of three images made from silver reflective window tint and glass. As I approached the work sitting on the window sill, not only could I see myself and the room reflected in the tint, but could look through scratched out, eye-like holes to observe the street below. These objects existed mostly in the latent moment and were only fully realised when the viewer was reflected in the surface and engaged with the work.

Both Tim Acheson and Roisin Coyle with their respective works Untitled (Red Deer, Lough Nahillion, Connemara) and Tanks, presented the multiple through repetitive imagery in their video projections. In Untitled, two bucks are locked in a

stubbornly ferocious fight to gain territory. Again.

Again. Again. They struggle like tortured dancers.

Similarly, with Tanks, the viewer watches several looped seconds of a foggy animation that shows a body ascending an exterior staircase of a tower, the accompanying sound element a haunting metal ting. Both videos’ unrelenting repetitions call to mind the phrase ‘practice makes permanent’ and both convey a sense of frustration in trying to visually articulate an intangible idea existing just beyond reach.

Working to actualise the latent, Cecilia Danell explored a single concept through multiple media.

Hide Hide (no. 1) comprised hundreds of paperclips hooked delicately through white tulle netting draped over a wooden stool. Hide (no.1) tracing is a drawing of this layered chain-mail-like structure, or perhaps the sculpture is the drawing in three dimensions. Regardless, both works embody a graceful obsessiveness indicative of a dedicated studio practice.

In Ruby Wallis’s video projection Turlough Swim 1, the viewer watches a pair of hands hover above and dip below the surface of the water.

During this navigation of the turlough or ‘disappearing lake’, the viewer catches glimpses of surrounding hills on a bright clear day and listens to lapping water layered against raspy yet measured breath escaping, presumably through a snorkel.

For Wallis, latency within artistic practice seems to be an experiential exploration and there is a calmness that is characteristic of being present in the moment.

But what about the moments when there is little to no evidence of development in the studio?

When the next iteration of practice is inaccessible, intangible, locked away in the subconscious, where it cooks like a cake in the oven? It is not ready until its ready. Surely, if the artist has restricted access to this moment, the audience has even less. Maybe individual artist statements, a group statement or an introduction to the curation of this exhibition located on site, would have provided yet more entry points into the complex and varied responses of Engage Studio members’ notions of latency.

In societies that assess worth based on achievement and accomplishment, highly polished final products and neatly packaged concepts, it is critical to acknowledge the moment of vulnerability in practice, the unresolved and the seemingly unproductive moments in the studio. A challenging exhibition, ‘Latency’ was certainly this necessary acknowledgement.

Eileen Hutton is an environmentally-based artist who recently exhibited with Sram Part Project in NYC. She is a member of the Education Committee of Burrenbeo Trust and is an associate lecturer at Peck School of the Arts.

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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

23

project profile

Fighting Amnesia CURATOR CAROLINE HANCOCK TALKS TO ZINEB SEDIRA ABOUT HER UPCOMING EXHIBITION ‘BECOMING INDEPENDENT’ AT THE ROYAL HIBERNIAN ACADEMY, DUBLIN (10 JANuary – 31 MARCH 2013) – for which she has worked collaboratively with ALGERIAN ARTIST Amina Menia – and the development of a residency programme in Algiers.

Zineb Sedira, Image Keepers, 2010, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Kamel Mennou

Caroline Hancock: In 2010 you were the recipient of a prize given in France by SAM Art Projects (www.samartprojects.org), which enabled the production of your work Image Keepers, now on show here in the RHA. Introduce us to this work…

Zineb Sedira: Mohamed Kouaci (1922 – 1996) was the main (if not the only) official photographer for the Temporary Government for the Republic of Algeria (GPRA) and subsequently for the free Algerian state, working for the Ministry of Information. From the late 1950s until the Algerian Independence from French rule in 1962, the GPRA was based in Tunis. To this day, his photographs and negatives are stored in his widow’s flat in Algiers. For posterity, this archive of historical documentary importance and of significant artistic interest urgently needs to be preserved and recorded using scientific preservation and indexing methods.

Kouaci’s work has yet not been the subject of a substantial publication or exhibition in Algeria. The copyright on his images is regularly violated or ignored. I decided to make a multi-screen video installation in order to raise consciousness about this body of work.

Image Keepers is a portrait of his widow Safia Kouaci and the archive, homage to this militant couple and their story, and finally a glimpse at Algerian history through the photographs.

CH: What struck you particularly about Mohamed Kouaci’s work?

ZS: Kouaci photographed all the significant events during the war and the first three decades of the young independent country. His angle is different to that of the French or other Western photographers and his work is still very much unknown despite Safia Kouaci’s efforts.

CH: The notion of ‘keeping’ seems very significant in your work – you have often insisted that you want your works to fight amnesia. Do you think that you have been successful in this?

ZS: My work often revolves around the crucial necessities of memory and transmission in society. The passage of knowledge, stories and history to future generations is in no way fixed. This fragility fascinates me: the truth for one person might be erroneous or mistaken to another. Ageing might tend to distort information. By making Image Keepers, I have partly collected and archived a slice of history. Its absolute exactitude is debatable, of course. I have recorded footage, a trace of Mohamed Kouaci, via Safia Kouaci. Nevertheless, so far the archive is no closer to being professionally preserved. The call is still open.

CH: You worked with the artist Amina Menia on Image Keepers, who interviews Safia Kouaci in the film and also presents works at the RHA. How did you start working together?

ZS: I met Amina Menia in Algiers in 2008 and we instantly became friends. I was drawn to her personality and to her artistic practice, which is also based on memory. Menia is one of the only Algerian artists who works site-specifically; her interests lie primarily in space, urbanism and architecture. Her initial background is not in fine arts but in design. She introduced me to Kouaci’s photographs and then to his widow. We talked about how to help towards the preservation of this family archive. To raise its visibility I proposed to make a video

Zineb Sedira, Image Keepers, 2010, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Kamel Mennou

installation on the subject and asked Amina to collaborate on the shoot and with the research. Since she lives in Algiers and knows the family, she has a deep understanding and direct experience of past and present situations.

CH: You have already exhibited in Dublin in 2006 when Saphir (2006) was shown at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. Can you remind us about this work?

ZS: This was a two-screen projection funded and commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and the Photographer’s Gallery in London. The first character is an Algerian man who walks around the port of Algiers, with no apparent purpose, silently watching the ferries. The second is an older woman, daughter of the pieds noirs or ‘black feet’, a term for European settlers who left Algeria after its independence. She inhabits the Safir Hotel, one of the grand landmarks of French colonial Algiers, built in 1930. Gazing out to sea from its balconies, before withdrawing to the faded grandeur of its lobbies and halls, the woman not only echoes the man’s restless movement but also reinforces a wider sense of languor, inertia and enclosure. Although both characters circle within their own separate but parallel worlds, their paths often appear to intersect but without any denouement or conclusion. The Hotel Safir is linked to the history of the War of Independence, since many negotiations occurred there.

CH: The RHA exhibition occurs during the 100-year commemoration of the Dublin Lock Out, which kicks off a series of events relating to Irish independence. Algeria also marked 50 years of Independence in 2012. What are your views on commemorations and the other processes bound up the notions of ‘becoming independent’?

ZS: The Algerian War of Independence (1954 – 1962), and what followed, severely disrupted the society and economy established by the colonial system. In addition to the physical destruction, the sudden exodus of French settlers deprived the country of most of its managers, civil servants, engineers, teachers, physicians and skilled workers, leaving the new society in a shambles. With such a start, Algeria had little chance to progress healthily – the ‘Black Decade’ – the 1990s and early 2000s – is an example of the ‘bad seed’.

I, personally, have not witnessed any of the commemorations this year, either in London, where I live, in France or in Algeria. But there have been countless articles, events and exhibitions. While Algeria commemorated independence, France was ‘commemorating’ the loss of Algeria and the mass exodus back to France. There are still many unresolved issues and gaping wounds, due to lack of open public debate.

CH: Could you summarise the current Algerian art scene?

ZS: It is still very slow to develop, but it has great potential. The Modern and Contemporary Art Museum (MAMA) in Algiers opened a few years ago in a fantastic restored Neo-Mauresque building in the city centre.1 Due to the lack of local exhibition opportunities and platforms for artists, the contemporary art world is not as developed as it should be. The profession of curator is very rare. Local artists need to leave to exhibit their work or travel to residencies for

Zineb Sedira, Image Keepers installation shot

visibility. The artists from the diaspora still get the most international exposure and the Maghreb (the countries in North Africa) in general has not received as much attention as the Middle East in recent years.

It is also really important that artists and curators come to Algeria.

Only through local and international exchanges will this scene flourish.

CH: Tell me about your self-initiated residency project, the Artists Residency in Algiers (aria)?2 ZS: Having spent a lot of time listening and talking to my friends and colleagues in Algeria, I decided about a year ago to create aria, a private initiative that provides a platform for exchange. The core principle is to invite artists to come to Algeria; they discover the city and contribute to workshops, talks at the School of Fine Arts and so forth. Our most recent guest was Alfredo Jaar. aria is connected to other residencies outside Algiers in places such as London, Florence, Tétouan (Morocco) etc. We are about to curate an online exhibition featuring Algerian artists for ArteEast.

CH: I understand that you are making work for MarseilleProvence 2013, the European Capital of Culture. What other plans do you have for 2013?

ZS: I have concentrated on various activities in and around the port of Marseille (Grand Port Maritime) and am planning two new works.

One of them focuses on Baudelaire’s photographic archive of the port.

He was a ‘boat spotter’, obsessively collecting images of the arrivals and departures of all types of boats. He soon became a ‘collected collector’ and I have interviewed Hélène Detaille, the current keeper of his archive. I am also interested in this city as a bustling commercial hub and, in particular, in the St Louis sugar industry. The raw material originally arrived from India then from Mexico and Brazil. Today it comes from Brazil, Mauritius, Zambia, the West Indies, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guyana, Swaziland and Réunion. This will be a geological, geographic, historic portrait of provenances.

Zineb Sedira lives and works between London, Paris, and Algiers.

Caroline Hancock is an independent curator and writer based in Paris.

The RHA exhibition has been made possible through the support of Petroceltic. Additional support has been received from Institut Francais as a contribution to Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Cultural Programme. www.zinebsedira.com www.carolinehancock.com

Notes 1. www.mama-dz.com 2. www.ariaresidencyalgiers.wordpress.com

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The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

Art in the public realm: Profile

From Landscape to Artscape TERRE DUFFY, PUBLIC ART MANAGER FOR DONEGAL COUNTY COUNCIL, REFLECTS ON 21 YEARS YEARS OF PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONING IN DONEGAL.

Lock Morris, Polestar, 2006, image by Paul McGuckian

Redmoon Chicago and Abigail O'Brien, Oatfield, 2009, image by Paul McGuckian

2012 marks 21years of commissioning public art by Donegal County Council and we are currently presenting a retrospective exhibition in the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (4 December 2012 – 8 February 2013) to celebrate and review this legacy. I have been working as Public Art Manager for Donegal County Council since 2004, which up until recently was a great time for cultural development in the county.

The Public Art Office is part of the Cultural Services Department, which also includes the Regional Cultural Centre, the County Museum, the Archive Service, the Heritage Service and Public Libraries. For three years, when there was a lot of commissioning happening, I was fortunate to have a Public Art Assistant, Declan Sheehan. However, like many other great staff members in the Cultural Services Department, his contract was not renewed due to the public service embargo on recruitment.

Our vision for the council’s public art programme continues to be one of supporting and encouraging original, artistically ambitious and high quality public art, aspiring to international standards of innovation, imagination, excellence, contemporary arts practice and value for money across all art form disciplines. We aim to champion work that impacts, charges, animates and connects with the public or the local community. This can be a challenging brief when working in a public service context.

1991 was the year of Donegal County Council’s first public art commission – a beautiful sculpture of two figures by the late Fred Conlon, sited in a small housing estate in Ballyshannon. In 1995, four years later, the Council established a public art working group – one of the first of its kind in Ireland – which continues to have overall responsibility for the public art programme. In 1999 a public art policy for the county was adopted. In late 2004, after leaving the role of Arts Officer in lovely Leitrim to relocate to the Northwest with my husband and new born little boy, I was delighted to be appointed Public Art Manager and set about managing Donegal County Council’s expanding public art programme, revising policy and developing a co-ordinated public art strategy.

Donegal County Council has become been known for its varied and flexible approach to the commissioning process, for both temporary and permanent projects. Commissions have been drawn

from a range of arts disciplines, including visual arts, the performing arts, community arts, landscape design, architecture, music, pyrotechnics, theatre and literature. New, original artwork, created specifically for the local context, has always been encouraged. The public art website (www.donegalpublicart.ie) won a design award in 2007 and was re-designed this year to coincide with the 21-year celebrations. It is a comprehensive documentation of all commissions to date and has details of our works in progress.

Like ones children, it would be difficult and unfair to pick a favourite. All the projects have been different. Breaking the mould can be challenging but I still believe that a generic or formulaic approach to commissioning will not serve every project; thus a varied and flexible approach to commissioning has always been encouraged and supported. Donegal County Council is particularly regarded for its residency model of commissioning – where commissioned artists spend time in the county and can truly engage with the subject matter and Donegal people. Originality is an essential factor in quality public art and Donegal County Council has been determined to create the necessary environment that supports the most ambitious artistic vision and creative thinking.

‘Lovely Weather: Art and Climate Change’ (2010 – 2013) was one of our most ambitious commissions, both in terms of the complexity of the subject matter and the scale of the commissions.1 This project was delivered in partnership with The Regional Cultural Centre and Leonardo OLATS.2 After a major international competition, five yearlong residencies were awarded, which culminated with a major exhibition, publication and conference. The completion of a 45-minute documentary, entitled Lovely Weather, by the artist Maria Mulhall, is pending.

Commissioning public art does not mean merely providing the public with the most obvious and fixed solution, for this would preclude the possibility of truly innovative art. It involves a process of dialogue and expanding horizons, in the sense that people cannot express a desire for that which they have not yet experienced.

However, the fear of controversory has too often been an inhibiting factor in the commissioning process. The pressure to play it safe, to do what has been done before or not to rock the boat, can seem overwhelming and can impact negatively on the vision and ambition

of a project. Donegal County Council believe that an effective public art work does not patronise or placate its public and the instantly popular option must be balanced against the desire to ‘raise the bar’ and the demands of enduring quality, creativity and professionalism.

Since 2007, Donegal County Council has been delivering public art based on the County Development Board’s philosophy of co-ordination and integration of services for all government departments and state agencies that can avail of the Per Cent for Art scheme. This model of delivery is unique nationally and, although challenging, it tries to provide a strategic inter-agency approach for the delivery of the Per Cent for Art scheme in the county, with the best use of resources and the development of synergies.

An example of this approach in action is Donegal County Council Public Art Office’s delivery of the Percent for Art commission arising from the construction of the N56 Mountain Top to Illistrin Road Realignment Project, on behalf of the National Roads Authority, Donegal, in 2009, for which we devised a brief focussing on the Oatfield Sweet Factory in Letterkenny that was due to celebrate its eightieth anniversary. We were very heartened by the NRA’s openness to commissioning multi-disciplinary temporary works addressing a local context and site, rather than a literal interaction with the roadside.

The artists selected for this project were the Redmoon Theatre Company from Chicago and visual artist and photographer, Abigail O’Brien. Redmoon Theatre worked in residence with a number of local primary schools in Letterkenny; the result was an amazing installation in the Regional Cultural Centre with a supporting education programme, a documentary exhibition at the County Museum and an exquisite photography exhibition and limited edition book by Abigail O’ Brien. Like ‘Lovely Weather’, this project shows the strength of working in partnership with other agencies to create results that are always more than the sum of their individual parts.

So what's next? Change has undoubtly come with the economic downturn, including the loss of a significant number of staff in the cultural services section of Donegal County Council. But change can also be positive. The new reality has encouraged us to look again at our work. We have just launched 'Making Shapes 2, Public Art 2013 – 2017', a document setting out the Council’s public art commissioning strategy and ambitions. We are still committed to the residency model of delivery and also have in the pipeline a number of specific projects addressing subjects such as the Donegal diaspora and Bundoran’s surf culture and industry.

The Public Art Office also has aspirations to embark on its most ambitious project to date. From our research, we are aware that culture, heritage and landscape are the primary reasons for overseas visits to Ireland. Being cognisant of this, and building on our reputation for culture, landscape and contemporary arts and architecture, Donegal County Council’s public art programme is seeking to establish an ambitious flagship cultural tourism project using the working title ‘ArtScape Donegal @ Ards Forest Park’ in partnerhsip with Coillte Teoranta, the Irish Forestry Board.

Set in Ards Forest Park in West Donegal, ‘Artscape’ will be an outdoor interactive gallery showcasing the best of modern and contemporary architectural and landscape interventions, set in Donegal’s most dramatic landscape along the magnificent and comprehensive series of mapped walks and trails already in the park.

We are keen to build on the resource already there to provide an additional flagship cultural tourism resource in Donegal. Through ‘ArtScape Donegal @ Ards Forest Park’, we aim to maximise the economic benefits of culture, whilst still providing the audience with the most amazing work and an opportunity for the artists to respond to and deliver work in a very special county.

At the opening of the ‘21 years of Pubic Art in Donegal’ exhibition, the mayor of Donegal reiterated that Donegal County Council “still values creativity, imagination and expression, still believes that the arts generate growth and tourism, still believes that the arts enhance our reputation and still and, most importantly, believes that the arts enrich our lives”. Hopefully these values will never change.

Terry Duffy is Public Art Manager at Donegal County Council.

She will soon relocate to Istanbul to undertake a PhD on the 'creative economy' with NUI Galway.

Notes 1. www.deonegalpublicart.ie/dpa_lovelyweather 2. www.olats.org

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

25

career development

Participation, Process & Partnership LISA FINGLETON DISCUSSES THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUES AND IDEAS THAT HAVE influenced HER CAREER PATH and practice.

Lisa Fingleton, 'Memory Through Media'

Lisa Fingleton, 'Memory Through Media', images courtesy of the artist

This article explores my professional journey since graduating from the National College of Art and Design in 2005 and reflects, specifically, upon the three essential principles that underpin my work – participation, process and partnership. These concepts have been central to how I have sustained my practice over the years, both creatively and organisationally.

Prior to studying fine art, I had trained and worked as a community and youth worker. From 1994 – 1995, I undertook the Postgraduate Diploma in Community and Youth work at NUI Maynooth, which included a three-month community arts placement in Edinburgh.

Following this, up until 2000, I worked in various youth and community jobs in Ireland and abroad.

My experience of community work is that it is a practice and process very much focused on social change, collective action and participation. While I certainly went to art-college to explore my own creativity, I remained committed to finding ways of bringing about social change through art.

Participation In the first year after I graduated from NCAD, I took part in over 20 group shows in Ireland and abroad. However, I felt I was running from exhibition to exhibition in a bit of a tailspin. While this flattered my ego, I couldn’t block the nagging questions in my head. Who am I doing this for? Who are my audience? Who am I trying to reach?

I loved having my own work professionally presented in the context of the white-walled gallery but felt that there was something absent. I missed working with communities and especially people who don’t traditionally have access to the arts. Maybe it had something do with the fact that I felt very privileged to be the first person in my extended family to have an arts education. Whatever the reason, I was certain that I wanted to share the creative experience with others.

I quickly found myself back working collaboratively in the community context, but this time as an artist and filmmaker. Within months of graduating, I was commissioned by Laois County Council to take part in the 2005 Laois Artist Symposium – I saw the notice for this opportunity on the VAI e-bulletin and submitted a proposal that included a rationale and budget. Five artists, including myself, were selected.

I developed a project that involved interviewing over 90 people about their favourite place in the world. I really enjoyed chatting with people, explaining how the camera worked and letting them see themselves on camera, sometimes for the first time. The screenings seemed to have an extra energy because the people present were not just ‘the audience’ but engaged participants. I gained a lot of confidence from that project and also felt that I became physically stronger from hauling around a relatively big camera and tripod on my back for three weeks.

group and by the end the filming was an integral part of the process.

During 2008, I also got the opportunity to participate in The European Social Documentary Film Programme (ESODOC). Through this six-month programme, I got the chance to work with filmmakers from all over the world, which proved invaluable. A Travel Award from the Arts Council helped towards costs.

In 2010, the Integrated Rural Development Company (IRD), Duhallow, North Cork invited me to facilitate a Leader-funded media project with their SAOI network of active retirement groups in the area.

Most people had no experience, even with still digital cameras, and I was to lead them through the process of making their own films from start to finish.

There were 17 people in the group and I don’t think any of us could have guessed how rewarding that process would be. None of us could have predicted the level of camaraderie and friendship that would develop, nor the wonderful creative output. With co-facilitator Rena Blake, we negotiated everything together with the group.

Participants started by creating short films that were shot in a day and then one longer film that developed over three months. They made five films over the year and a half. We organised a number of screenings as part of Bealtaine, which hundreds of people attended. We shared the films during transnational visits to Finland, Poland and the UK. The Grundvig Programme funded this element of the project.

Even through the project officially ended in May 2012, IRD Duhallow has a dissemination strategy in place. Participants regularly travel to local schools, nursing homes and community projects to screen and discuss the films. To me this is a great example of real and meaningful audience participation. The films are also available on YouTube and have enabled the Duhallow diaspora to comment and engage with the films.

Lisa Fingleton, still from Inspired

Looking back, I can see how many participative projects flowed from there. I became the filmmaker in residence with Kerry, Cork and Limerick County Councils from 2006 – 2007. The position was advertised in Film Ireland and formal interviews were held in Cork. To my knowledge, this was a once-off cross-county collaboration, though I continued to work a lot with the Kerry County Council Arts Office after the first residency.

A small number of projects were pre-scheduled, but I predominantly worked in a self-directed way. I designed programmes and projects in consultation with communities, schools and artists with the support of the arts officers. I found it was a really steep learning curve for me, as I had had no formal film training at the time except what I had picked up from art college. I remember having an awful nightmare the night before I delivered my first workshop – I had forgotten everything I thought I knew and woke up in a cold sweat.

Thankfully it was just a bad dream!

In 2008 and 2009 I developed projects for the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, the Model, the Crawford and the Irish Film Institute, which were all about engaging artists and communities with digital film. For instance, in the 'Changing Face' project, I worked with 60 teenagers in Cork to make their own screen tests, which were exhibited alongside Warhol’s screen tests in the Lewis Glucksman Gallery. I enjoyed the fact that people could really engage with the creative process and create their own artworks / films.

Process Many of the projects up to then were short-term and funding-led. I wanted to work on a longer-term process. From 2007 – 2008 I worked with Ireland’s only lesbian choir, Mná Mná, on a musical / film project called Outside I’m Singing. Initially we had no funding, though Cork City Council did give us a grant later in the process. We quickly realised we couldn’t pay for the use of copyrighted music, so we decided that the choir would write their own musical. This became the central focus of the film. It was an amazing process to witness. Under the expert guidance of musical director Evelyn Quinlan, the choir wrote a musical and had two sell out shows, as well as standing ovations!

The final film was presented as a five-part installation of the same name, at the 2009 Claremorris Open Exhibition. I was delighted to be awarded the Emerging Artist Award that year. I also received the Patronage Award from Laois County Council, which I used to fund the project. The Crawford Gallery, Cork hosted the screening for participants, friends and family, which was of course the most special evening.

This was a very important project for me. I felt it was a very positive experience for everyone involved. In the beginning, many of the women were rightfully dubious about being involved in the filming process. Indeed, I was very wary myself, afraid that it would ruin the intimacy of the group. Everything was negotiated with the

Partnership While participation and process are essential, I also feel that building partnerships is vital. Now, when I am approached to do a project, I always ask myself: who else could we involve in this project? This is important not just for financial reasons but also because in broadens the impact of the project and enables it to reach a bigger audience.

In 2009, I set up a project called the Happy Artist, to support a variety of creative projects in North Kerry. With the assistance of an Arts Council Bursary Award I was able to collaborate with a vast range of groups who otherwise might not have had access to creative opportunities. One animation project involved a partnership between different agencies in Listowel, including: Listowel Writers Week, Xistence youth café, two secondary schools, the local cinema and the arts centre.

In 2011, I was commissioned by Kerry County Council to make a film called Inspired about Kerry artists. This would not have been possible without the additional support of the Leader programme.

Following this, Joe Murphy at St Johns Theatre Listowel agreed to host an evening around the theme of inspiration. Poets, artists and musicians all contributed to a memorable evening. Instead of just being an online video project, it became the focus for real community events.

In summer 2012, I was asked to do a project with Kerry Library supported by Kerry Arts Office. I worked with eight teenagers to create a film called For the Love of Reading with over 20 library users. We worked in partnership with Kerry Film Festival and the film was screened in Siamsa Tire in Tralee.

In prioritising issues of participation, process and partnership across my practice, I feel fortunate in arriving at a place where I often reach across a number of sectors for support: art, community and film.

Where possible, I feel it is really important to collaborate and build bridges between different contexts.

As a final point, I feel it is important to mention that the organisation and funding of these projects has required a great deal of administrative time. For most grant and award opportunities I’ve had to prepare detailed applications. I reckon that each application takes at least one week when it is done properly. It feels a bit like gambling. Do I cancel other things and take the risk that it might pay off? The good thing about doing an application is that it helps to formulate my thinking. It helps to develop ideas that otherwise might never come to fruition and it also gives me the chance to have my work assessed by a panel of experts.

I am currently doing a Masters in Documentary Film in Goldsmiths College, University of London. I look forward to seeing where this will take me in the future.

Lisa Fingleton is an artist and filmmaker based in Kerry. www.lisafingleton.com

26

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

HOW IS IT MADE?

Adrian O'Connell 'Off Limits' installation view, image courtesy of artist

Adrian O'Connell 'Off Limits' installation view (detail), image by Jason Higgins

Testing the Limits ART CRITIC MARIANNE O’KANE BOAL TALKS TO ADRIAN O’CONNELL ABOUT THE CONCEPTUAL AND PRODUCTION PROCESSES INVOLVED IN HIS RECENT EXHIBITION ‘OFF LIMITS’ AT PLATFORM ARTS, BELFAST (19 OCTober – 8 NOVember 2012).

Marianne O’Kane Boal: ‘Off Limits’ gives the impression that a substantial degree of preparatory work was involved in its creation – interviews, negotiating content and permissions, securing objects with associated relevance and incorporating various elements that push the boundaries of art-making. Is this research and development phase fundamental to the final work or merely administrative?

Adrian O’Connell: The research and development phase of ‘OffLimits’ was very important, especially when engaging and working with individual people or organisations that for the most part placed very little importance on art, contemporary or otherwise. The concept I was exploring – human rights and segregation – drew attention to this and was the key to opening up a channel of communication that led to numerous meetings and discussions before any filming took place.

My previous works and exhibitions have played an important role at these meetings, in building trust and establishing my character and artistic intent. The Northern Ireland Centre for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM), in particular, was fully behind the project, and gave it their complete support. Their stamp of approval and personal involvement opened doors to the various ethnic minority groups in the city.

NICEM also provided me with interpreters and a space at their city offices to film the work. The NICEM team and the majority of the participants in the video attended the opening of the exhibition, turning the evening into a multicultural event. Their response to the finished work was fantastic.

MO'KB: None of your work in ‘Off Limits’ touches the floor, only the feet of your audience. Why have you kept this installation in its entirety off the ground? Is the ground further evidence of an area that is ‘off limits’?

AO’C: For me, the viewer, on entering the space, becomes part of the work; having nothing on the floor deters or distracts from the strategically-suspended video screens on the opposite side of the fence that divides the space in half. As one draws closer to view the video, a warning sign placed at eye level alerts you to the fact that the fence is electrified. The intention here is to toy with the viewer’s frame of mind and possibly heighten the experience as you stand at arms length to engage with the video. The participants within the video are both looking at and speaking directly to the viewer.

At first the viewer may be somewhat confused about what is being recited, until what’s been said is heard and understood in their native language. To me, this completes the cycle, making the work whole, just as the pulsating electrical current that runs through the fence has to complete a cycle and wouldn’t work if it were not earthed to the building.

MO'KB: In terms of your art production, the concept and process of making is central to the consequent artwork’s raison de être.

It is almost as is if there is a contemporary revision of Duchamp’s ‘readymade’ in some of your installations. In other words, as Sol LeWitt commented, “The idea is the machine that makes the art”. Would you agree?1 AO’C: Yes I would. Ideally, the objects that I utilise need to have some unique characteristic on their own and when they are combined together in some manner they create a wholly new charged work. At times, my use of the object can be literal, where I’ve used a phone handset or multiple handsets to convey communication, but there is always another layer to the use of these materials: the history or the

aesthetic that comes with the object is a critical contributing factor giving substance to the work.

MO'KB: In ‘Off Limits,’ you have created a sculptural construct, akin to a curtained chamber, composed of 12,000 keys. What is the relevance of this piece to the overall installation?

AO’C: Each is individually cut – the same can be said of people.

Everyone’s identity is individual, regardless of their race, colour or creed. I should say that I had reservations about using the key structure at Platform Arts, as it was initially constructed for a gallery with two adjoining yet separate spaces. I’m referring to my exhibition in Berlin, where the viewer, on entering, would first encounter the key structure with audio in gallery one, before proceeding to see the video installation in the second space.2 Overall, I feel the installation of the work in both Berlin and Belfast delivered a different experience for the viewer but, given that the video component of the work is re-shot for the city that the exhibition inhabits, I think the experience should indeed be different.

MO'KB: Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum’s 1992 installation Untitled, at the Mario Flecha Gallery, London was a minimalist installation, almost exclusively conceived in white, which appeared relatively benign. However, six fine stainless steel wires created a barrier, which “threatened to trip, decapitate... the viewer with one small step.” What is the idea behind the use of electric wires in the gallery space in ‘Off Limits’?3 AO’C: The fencing used in ‘Off Limits’ is one normally used to control livestock. I found this to be of interest, given that all so-called democratic societies are controlled in some form or other, whether one likes to admit it on not.

MO'KB: Which practitioners have inspired your work and influenced your practice – artists, writers, filmmakers, photographers etc?

AO’C: I find that I respond spontaneously and rather intuitively to a diverse range of works and art practices. I try to analyse why I react to a work in a particular way. My appreciation of an artist’s work or, for that matter, an entire way of thinking, is not stable. It changes over time. More than ever, concept is of the utmost importance to me. It provides the substance or content that I require to realise a work.

Inspiration comes in numerous forms and from all walks of life.

Works by artists I am currently interested in usually have a strong conceptual connection regarding the human condition in a wider context. Works by artists like Shirin Neshat, Michal Rovner or Philippe Parreno, to name but a few, have been an influence. Parreno’s June 8, 1968, in particular, comes to mind, where he restages and films the train journey that transported the corpse of Robert Kennedy from New York to Washington DC. The film is an exceptional artwork that runs for several minutes and focuses on the mourners who respectfully look on as the train passes. In the making of the work, Parreno brought on board the same film crew or heads of departments that where involved in another major film work, Zidane: A Twenty-First Century Portrait, by Parreno and Douglas Gordon.

MO'KB: You have been teaching at Dun Laoghaire for a decade now. How has your art practice informed your teaching? And how do you feel teaching has influenced your artwork?

AO’C: To properly answer that question, I think it’s important to

Adrian O'Connell 'Off Limits' installation view, image courtesy of artist

understand that at no point during my own studentship at the University of Ulster did I consider teaching or lecturing as a career path. In fact, for all intents and purposes, I had set plans in motion to move to New York within a year or so of finishing my MFA in 2000.

My brother had a successful construction firm there and, although I had no trade as such, I had a sculptural background and was no stranger to hard graft and labour. However, like all students after finishing college, getting my finances in order to make the move proved more challenging than expected.

The lecturing position in sculpture presented itself at IADT so I applied for the position and the rest is history. To answer your question, from day one on the sculpture floor at IADT until now, I’ve always followed the working methodology that one should practice what one preaches. I feel this approach grounds and informs my teaching and equips me with the necessary understanding when tutoring students. Even the difficulties I’ve encountered or errors made within my studio practice inform my teaching, as lessons can be learned from mistakes made. On the flip side of the question, I have no doubt that the daily discussing and analysing of concepts and technical concerns that surround the development of a student’s progress, influence my practice in that I instinctively analyse everything I do.

MO'KB: Installation can provide insight into a multi-layered theme or experience through its narrative threads, which might be difficult for other art modes to portray. As James Roberts has written, “There is a sense of installation having developed into an archaeology of the present as much as the past. Perhaps it is this attempt to try and understand the richness of the accumulated histories and narratives of the world that characterises the generation of artists working with installation now.” Over the past 15 years, you have frequently used installation to examine social, political and cultural events. Do you feel it is the best method of communicating complex contemporary themes?4 AO’C: Yes, very much so. Installation as a medium has always provided me with a platform to fully explore all aspects of a concept.

I have, of course, experimented with other mediums, but, to my frustration, find that I always revert back to working in installation. I would even go as far as to say that when I work with video my approach is much the same as it is when making an installation. I’m interested in constructing the imagery, utilising the space within the frame, just as I would be when making an installation.

I try and identify specific points of interest, on a critical level that is, which examine the layers within the work to heighten the viewer’s experience. With regard to the concepts I explore, I think it’s important to say that I am very aware of the lines I don’t wish to cross when examining the social, cultural or political. Although at times I question whether one can truly indiscriminately separate the personal from the political, given that the personal in all its complexity is impacted by the political, and that in turn can potentially effect the social discourse.

Adrian O'Connell is an artist and filmmaker. He lectures in Fine Art at IADT Institute of Art Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire.

Marianne O'Kane Boal is an art and architecture critic. She writes regularly for VAN, Irish Arts Review, Living Design, Perspective and Architecture Ireland. She is Curator of the Art Collection at Belfast Harbour. www.adrianoconnell.com Notes 1. Sol le Witt featured on Dataisnature, Tom Moody, 10 April 2007 2. Gate P Gallery, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, 2004 3. Art & Design Profle, no 30, 1993, installation by James Roberts, A Room With a View, 5 4. Ibid, 6

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

27

seminar

Who Speaks on Whose Behalf?

Dorothy Hunter reports on the seminar ‘On Conflict, Memory and Commemoration’, held at Belfast Exposed on 31 October 2012.

Eugenie Dolberg, collaborative artist and photojournalist, making her presentation at 'On Conflict, Memory and Commemoration'

Belfast Exposed recently hosted a day of open discussion at a

saw young people create comical text and image montages that

in collaborative ways’. This workshop focused on the ethical and

seminar entitled ‘On Conflict, Memory and Commemoration’. This

explored participants’ notions of territory and space, which were

practical challenges of a community-based practice, which many of the

series of talks and workshops explored the placement of the artist and

subsequently used as images for Christmas cards sent to politicians.

participants could share experiences of as arts practitioners, curators

photographer within the community and within wider society, and the

Another covered each side of the Flax Street interface with an image of

and funding directors.

nature of work that navigates present and past conflict. Considering

the unseen street it obscures, becoming a façade of an unobstructed

the various ways that work created with or about others can transcend

path but for the telltale 'Road Closed' signs.

One problem discussed was the definition of community with regard to public-facing practice, and whether such a term was more

the documental and spectatorial, the seminar sought to question and

These actions encouraged participants to approach their

harmful than beneficial in this context. Groups working in collaboration

debate how work can be truly reflective and expressive of shared and

surroundings with a sense of play, where photography is used as a

should not be viewed as homogenous, but rather seen as individuals

individual contexts.

means of observation and separation from the everyday. Ambulatorio, a

with their own story. In so doing, people are not given titles that

The day commenced with three case studies of work that both

temporary artwork commissioned as a partnership between Draw

automatically define them as ‘other’.

directly and indirectly address conflict and political past. Paul Seawright

Down the Walls and Oscar Muñoz, similarly used photography as

Another issue debated was that often artists and galleries must

began with his perspective on the growth of sociopolitical photography

spatial installation, finding its completion in the interaction of its

anticipate and satisfy the social impact requirements of funders in

as a responsive medium within Northern Ireland, drawing from his

visitors. In this piece, aerial images of Belfast were encased under safety

ways that are difficult to quantify and sometimes irrelevant to the

experience as both a practising photographer and head of school at

glass and laid on the ground – as each person stepped on this walkway

work’s nature. The balancing of artist, participant and funder intention

Belfast’s art college. Considering why socio-political work by Northern

it broke into pieces, representing the fractured space of its site. Located

proves difficult to resolve; it was suggested that artists must simply

Irish photographers took so long to emerge, Seawright argues that this

between the two barriers of the Flax Street interface, Ambulatorio

consider their involvement with the collaborators after their project

was not a result of the cultural invalidation of photography as an art

opened up a no-man’s-land that had previously been isolated from the

ends, and recognise that beneficial social effects are part of the process,

form. Nor, as is often suggested, was photography disused through the

public, changing its context from separation to an interactive common

but should not necessarily be of direct focus.

inability to tackle such a subject in its immediacy: other artists have

ground.

Often the fluidity required to realise community-based arts

readily explored political issues in alternative visual media. Instead,

The third speaker of the session was Eugenie Dolberg, who spoke

workshops is seen to be at odds with the planning required for funding

Seawright suggests that Northern Irish photography could not establish

from her position as a collaborative artist and photojournalist. With

applications. As Eugenie Dolberg’s workshop emphasised the need to

itself because there was not enough means of supporting a photographic

the rise of conflict causing women’s rights to regress in Iraq, and severe

avoid an excessive checklist, the parallel necessity of keeping funders

community in the country. Photography galleries, journals and festivals

bias in information from governmental and military sources, Eugenie

updated and involved was noted. Whilst funding can impose restrictions

in Belfast constitute the supportive infrastructure found in Northern

sought to give a group of Iraqi women a more direct voice to talk about

on the realisation of projects, it should be recognised that it does not

Ireland today, and their establishment has resulted in the development

their lives. ‘Open Shutters Iraq’ presented the personal stories of nine

necessarily tie the project to a certain course of events, and that

of Belfast’s photography degree courses.

women through written and photographic essays. It was a project that

development through dialogue with participants should always be

Seawright went on to present the work of several graduates of BA

placed precedence on photography as “a language of emotions”.

encouraged.

Hons Photography at University of Ulster. Each photographer

Alongside practical photography workshops, Eugenie encouraged the

Lastly, we heard from Johnny Gailey’s group, reporting back from

demonstrated new approaches to issues implicit in Northern Irish

women to consider what the images evoked, in contrast to press

his workshop, which explored alternatives to mainstream funding.

society and politics, and Seawright was keen to stress the importance

photography, which often diminishes the individual. As a result, these

Johnny spoke of the unique effects of crowd-sourcing, such as early

of the underlying biographical and autobiographical threads that

women share contexts that are otherwise unrepresented by mainstream

audience development, and its gauging of public interest. Although

made each project so potent. The socio-political themes in the work of

media: one participant, for example, explored the resonance of the

not often a method that can generate substantial funds alone, it can be

Aisling Kane, Paddy Kelly and Joanne Mullins finds contemporary

decline of Baghdad’s cultural epicentre, and how it related to the need

instead be used to develop projects, obtain other funding, and begin the

relevance through connections to family and social relationships, and

to hold claim to mental space.

creative process.

removal through space and time. Each body of images displayed the

Eugenie spoke of the emotional written responses within the

The session ended with some additional points of action for those

necessity that the photographer’s subject not be treated as a disparate

project, and the importance of creation in the face of destruction. She

seeking to introduce collaborative practice to projects of their own. As

entity or context, but as a personal proximity to be explored.

also emphasised the need for fluidity in the format and subjects of

a practical step, it was emphasised that the documentation of workshops

Breandán Clarke of North Belfast Interface Network and Peter

community-based projects, working with and around limitations as

and project processes should go beyond physical outcomes: if we value

Richards of Golden Thread Gallery then spoke on collaboration across

they form. As conflict escalated and movement between Iraqi cities

these processes we should keep records for the future.

arts organisations, community groups, artists and individuals. Draw

became more restricted, each woman’s project developed to reflect

Another issue that arose was the need for consideration of absence

Down the Walls is a partnership between North Belfast Interface

their immediate reality, their memories and the repetitive historical

– not just in terms of a lack of public consciousness or media presence

Network, the Lower Shankill Community Association, Ardoyne

patterns they observed.

– but also of those missing from discussions on representation. As the

Women’s Group, Tar Isteach and Golden Thread Gallery. Built over the

Following a Q&A and short break, the seminar recommenced to a

exploration of conflict, memory and commemoration changes over

course of several years, Draw Down the Walls has used visual imaging

more conversational format. After three separate workshops that

time, and as we examine the questions surrounding its dialogical

techniques and a tongue-in-cheek approach to create arts projects for

explored the practical aspects of realising artistic projects, participants

issues, we must remain aware of who is not present to speak for

people based in interface areas, whilst at the same time creating “visual

reconvened to share the discussion’s outcomes and action plans. I

themselves.

pollen” to increase conversation and widen consciousness. One project

attended Anthony Luvera’s workshop, titled ‘Supporting artists working

Dorothy Hunter is an artist and writer based in Belfast.

28

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

Opportunities commissions COMMISSIONS Birdhill Tidy Village Committee invites submissions for a unique visual artwork on the roundabout at Birdhill. While the commissioning body has a broad outlook on proposals, for the purposes of clarity the preferred artwork should have permanency and a strong visual impact. The committee is very open to the scope of the Per Cent for Art scheme; however, due to our limited budget, we would like to commission a permanent visual artwork that will have a lasting meaning to present and future generations of Birdhill people.

We would like artists to consider, in particular, the rural, agricultural nature of the locality.

Budget: €15,000 Deadline 14 January 2012 Email sec@birdhilltidytowns.ie Web www.birdhilltidytowns.ie COMPETITIONS competitions

THE LITTLE MUSEUM The Little Museum of Dublin is running a competition that invites people to say what they love about Dublin. There is a €10,000 prize for the winning entry. The categories accepted will be film, animation, photography, graphic design, the written word, visual arts, music, Twitter.

People can enter from all over the world, and the work will be judged by a panel of experts. The winning entries will be exhibited on billboards all over Dublin, and in the Little Museum of Dublin.

The schedule of the competition is as follows: judging – 27 Jan – 14 Feb, public vote – 15 Feb – 1 Mar, announcement of winners – 2 Mar. Web www.littlemuseum.ie/uniquelydublin.

Sligo / EUROPE Network Sligo Arts Office, Kids’ Own

sions of the work you wish to enter. We will be notifying successful entrants in the next few weeks. All works are for sale (unless stated) after the competition has finished and subject to gallery commission. First prize is €250 cash and €250 of promotion including a full or part solo show, and advertising to promote this. Second prize is a €500 voucher for stone from Mckeon stone quarry. Third prize is a full set of tools from Gibson & Faulds worth around €250.

Publishing Partnership and The

Email dale@tools4stone.net

unique and exciting opportunity

Telephone 0863559988

work with children and young

Web www.gallery52.webs.com

European network alongside

invite applications from artists in County Sligo who wish to participate in a new pilot programme of peer learning and exchange, which is being delivered as part of Ireland’s EU presidency in 2013, called the Practice European Artists’ Network.

The purpose of this programme is to develop and grow practice with children and young people within three localities across Europe. It provides a for three Sligo-based artists who people to be part of a new

Deadline 31 January

Estonian and Hungarian artists.

The focus of this programme will be to share and explore practice, to encourage critical reflec-

NCAD 'ZINES To coincide with the Archizines Exhibition running at the NCAD Gallery, the Irish Architecture Foundation has launched a design competition in partnership with NCAD and sponsored by Plus Print. Teams from art, architecture, graphic design and curating are invited to develop a prototype archizine. Submissions to the competition will be assessed in Jan and the winning prototype will go into production. This inkind sponsorship prize is valued at approximately €1,000. The competition is open to all, for example: architects, designers, urbanists, graduates, students, artists, photographers, curators, editors, writers, etc. Submissions can come from one person or a team of people. The competition brief is now available to download from our website.

Deadline 28 January

tion and understanding, and to work together to create a framework for ongoing dialogue through real and virtual communication with an emphasis on peer learning and exchange.

The project will begin with a two-day meeting on 5 – 6 Feb at the Model, Sligo and will be followed by a series of online and local hub meetings, culminating in a presentation or critical debate showcasing practice and learning throughout the programme in June 2013.

Artists wishing to apply must be available on the 5 and 6 Feb all day. To apply, please send the following to Kids’ Own by email or post.

The expression of interest should include: why you are interested in this programme; areas that you would like to develop within your practice; the benefits of being part of a

Web www.architecturefoundation.ie EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS exhibitions & IRELAND

projects ireland

European network of artists working with children and young people as you see them. Your CV should include: information about your work – specifically the contexts you are currently working in – and your methodology for working with children

SIAMSA TIRE

Telephone 01 661 1000.

Siamsa Tire are this year calling

Deadline 26 January

Programme 2014.

Exhibitions

generally run for

four to six

for submissions for the Gallery

weeks in the three main galleries GALLERY 52 Gallery 52, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath is holding an open competition to help promote up and coming stone sculptors in Ireland. The idea of the sculpture competition is to see what is being done around the country by artists established or otherwise. We are open to all sculptors.

There is no theme so any piece can be submitted, just email pictures, descriptions and dimen-

Model, Sligo, are delighted to

throughout the year. If you wish to be considered for the 2014 programme, please send a hard copy only of your proposal along with costings and a CV, addressed to the Director.

Deadline 5pm 11 January Address Siamsa Tire, Town Park, Tralee, Co Kerry.

and young people. A selection of images to support your application is also welcome.

This project is funded by the Arts Council through its EU Local Partnership Scheme and is delivered by Sligo Arts Service, in partnership

with

Kids’

Own

Publishing Partnership and the Model, Sligo.

Address Kids Own, Carrigeens, Ballinful, Co Sligo Email info@kidsown.ie

BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL Submissions are now being accepted for Belfast Photo Festival’s ‘Open Exhibition’ under the broad theme ‘Spectacle.’ This will form an integral part of the 2013 programme, with a possible tour.

Throughout history, ‘spectacles’ represent visually stimulating and enthralling trappings that continue to capture the attention of mankind, manifesting in many forms both natural and man-made. Our broad definition includes spectacle in otherness, suffering, death, beauty, decay and subjects that are enlivened by the act or process of photography itself, as well as our desire for the visually-enticing image, that moment which excites and exhilarates the viewer.

Recognising that the idea of spectacle sits at the very heart of the identity and history photography, we invite photographers to submit photographic projects that interrogate, challenge and extend notions of visual spectacle.

The second edition of Belfast Photo Festival aims to explore the manner in which photographers have photographed spectacles in their many forms, seizing the opportunity to record their intense visual impact, demonstrating the fundamental relationship between the spectacle, its viewer and photography itself.

‘Open Exhibition’ welcomes entries from professional, student and amateur photographers both nationally and internationally, and we are keen to support all disciplines of photographic practice.

Web www.belfastphotofestival.com Deadline 31 March EXCEL The Excel Gallery is looking for submissions for exhibitions to take place in its gallery space from Apr 2013 – Mar 2014. The gallery welcomes innovative and challenging proposals from established artists and from artists who wish to present a debut exhibition. Group submissions are also welcome. Submissions should include eight slides (or a CD with six images) of recent or previous work, an arts-related CV, an exhibition proposal relating to the artist’s intention for the show.

Submissions should be marked ‘Gallery Submission’ and posted to the below address. A floor plan of the gallery and further details about current exhibitions are available on the website.

Contact Mary Sarsfield, Mary Alice O’Connor

Telephone 062 80520 Deadline 18 January Web www.tipperary-excel.com Address The Excel Gallery, Excel Centre, Mitchell Street, Tipperary Town, Co Tipperary CO N F R E N C E S / L E C T U R E S / courses / training / TALKS

workshops

F E McWILLIAM GALLERY Explore texture, line and abstraction with local artist Joanne Proctor. 16 Jan 7pm – 9pm. Fee: £6. Booking recommended.

Further studies in texture, line and abstraction with local artist Joanne Proctor. 30 Jan 7pm – 9pm. Fee: £6. Booking recommended. Curator and writer Marianne O’Kane Boal will present a lecture on Deborah Brown’s work, focusing on the ‘Abstraction to Figuration’ exhibition of Deborah Brown’s sculptures and paintings at the F E McWilliam Gallery, 22 Feb 7.30pm – 9pm. Fee: £3. Booking is recommended.

Web www.femcwilliam.com Address F E McWilliam Gallery & Studio, 200 Newry Road, Banbridge, County Down, BT32 3NB CATALYST EVENTS In conjunction with the 'O U T | T U O' exhibition (17 Jan – 7 Feb), Catalyst Arts will host a number of free art events. The first three workshops are aimed at providing artists in the early stages of their careers with information and skill-sets that will effectively structure their practice.

Refreshments will be provided. All events are free. Goalsetting Workshop: Tue 22 Jan 12 – 3pm – personal planning, action plans and time management (including a talk from invited guest on the transition from student to artist). Artist Tools: Wed 23 Jan 12 – 4pm – PR and Marketing – professional aspects of being an artist (including a talk from an invited guest on the transportation and record keeping of artwork). Art Relationships: Thur 24 Jan 12pm – 4pm – networking and being active, information on funding and art organisations in Belfast (including a talk from invited guest on the art scene in Belfast).Participatory Performance Art Workshop: Thur 31 Jan 6pm – 7.30pm. (As numbers are limited, please email to reserve a place.) Clodagh Emoe will give a lecture on Psychic Sleep and Collective Thought Thur 7 Feb at 6pm. (As numbers are limited, please email to reserve a place.)

January – February 2013

Email catalystarts@gmail.com THERAPUTIC RENEWAL Work and personal lives, especially at this time of year, can be stressful. People in caring fields often do not prioritise their own mental health and physical wellbeing, leading to burnout or work stress and affecting their personal lives.

This residential weekend in early February has been created with this in mind (1 – 3 Feb, 5pm Fri and 4pm Sun). It is facilitated by a qualified, experienced art therapist and a trained holistic body and meditation specialist in a peaceful organic ecology centre.

The unwind begins on Friday. Saturday will provide time for reflection and relaxation in respectful silence, which will be facilitated in gentle un-pressured ways, using personal art expression, nature-based experiences, body movement, meditation and breathing sessions.

After the final verbal integration sessions on Sunday, participants will take away many practices that will help them maintain their mental health.

Please book by Jan 21. Total cost: €275. €100 deposit.

Telephone 0404 61833 Address An Tairseach, Ecology Centre, Wicklow town ART THERAPY (17 Jan – 7 Mar). This will be the second series of experiential Thur evening workshops in art group therapy to be held in the centre of Dublin. Artistic activities and group dynamics are essential elements of this course. The continuity of the group and the rhythm of activity and rest help an inner process of healing.

Personal discoveries are mirrored in the growth of the whole group.

Email klaus.klier@yahoo.com Telephone 086 373 4662 BRONZE CASTING This three-day course at h2studios (18 – 20 Jan) is suitable for participants at all levels but will particularly suit those interested in small-scale metal working techniques. Over the three days, all aspects of small-scale foundry work will be covered, including modeling / wax work, mould making, bronze casting and finishing techniques. We will also look at alternative mould making materials including inexpensive rubber moulds. This course will include kiln and furnace building techniques and the participants

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

29

opportunities will get hands-on experience in

FUNDING/AWARDS/BURSARIES

making both. The emphasis of

funding / awards / bursaries

this course is small-scale foundry techniques but each participant will also come away with a small

ARTS COUNCIL BURSARYS

bronze piece. Cost: €285, which

The Arts Council provides

includes materials (not kiln and

Bursary Awards in order to assist

furnace) and tea / coffees. Place

individual artists in the develop-

secured by €50 deposit.

ment of their art practice. The

Email

award emphasises the value and

hellehelsner@gmail.com

benefit to an artist’s development

Telephone

that is derived from a focused

0238849223 / 0863256689

period of engagement with their

Web

practice. Guidelines for each

www.h2studioart.com Address Harbour View, Kilbrittain, Co Cork

award are published on the available funding section on the website.

The following awards are available: Visual Arts Bursary

CARMELITE CENTRE This course (5 Feb – 26 Mar. Eight consecutive Tue nights 6.30pm – 9.30pm) is an introduction to working with children through arts and is based on the belief that, when given the right environment, children instinctively know how to create while most adults need to re-learn how to do this.

The training programme is for adults. If you are a parent, youth leader, social or health worker, teacher, child care worker or artist who wants to learn more about how to nurture, foster and develop your own creative potential, this training programme is for you.

The programme costs €500.

Concessions €350 (students, unemployed, part-time workers).

Fee covers training, art materials, tea and coffee.

Telephone 085 1532220 Email Jole@arttoheart.ie Web www.arttoheart.ie

Award, Architecture Bursary Award, Arts Participation Bursary Award, Dance Bursary Award, Film Bursary Award, Literature Bursary Award, Music Bursary Award, Theatre Bursary Award.

Please note that applications will only be accepted through the Arts Council’s online services website. Applicants who have not previously used this system must register in advance of making an application. It is recommended that applicants allow five working days for registration prior to making an application.

Web www.artscouncil.ie Deadline 5.30pm Thur 17 January ALLIANCE FRANCAISE After two successful Alliance Française Photography Award competitions, submissions are being sought again from artists working in Ireland with a particular interest in photography, for a new exhibition in spring 2013 inspired by the multi-use context of the exhibition space, which is also a café. Artists will be short-

Address

listed

Carmelite Centre, Aungier Street,

Advisory Panel at the Alliance

Dublin 2

by

the

Photography

Française and from this shortlist a winner will be selected.

ART THERAPY This series of Saturday art thera-

Submissions should include: five images of proposed artwork for

py workshops to be held in

exhibition submitted on an

Portlaoise are meant as a course

appropriate medium (paper,

to introduce art therapy to a

slides, CDs, DVDs etc), text

wider public. Based on a continu-

description of the proposed art-

DIGITAL BISCUIT As part of their Digital Biscuit event, the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland is launching its first Young Animators Award. Digital Biscuit is a series of 20 programmed talks and technology expositions over three days on the 24 – 26 of Jan 2013, in the Science Gallery, that will bring together global film industry leaders including directors David Yates (Harry Potter) and Pete Doctor (Toy Story).

The rules are: Your animation must be between ten seconds and two minutes long; your animation must incorporate the ‘digital biscuit’ theme in some way – visually, verbally or conceptually. The judges are Jason Tammemagi (COSMO, Monster Animation), Joel Simon (Flickerpix Animations), Steve Woods (National Film School, Head of the SDGI Animation Committee). The winning animation will be premiered at Digital Biscuit to an audience of animators, directors, industry professional and film-loving public. The winner will also receive a day of mentoring at Academy Award Nominated Brown Bag Studios. Animations should be uploaded as a private video to YouTube or Vimeo and the link sent to admin@sdgi.ie with subject line “Animation Award Your Name”.

PR & MARKETING MANAGER Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre wishes to engage a creative and dynamic individual to develop, manage and implement Mermaid’s marketing and communication strategies. They will be answerable to the Artistic Director and work closely with the Box Office Manager and team to secure maximum ticket sales and profile for all events at Mermaid Arts Centre.

critical reflection, theatre text

Applications are now being

development and rehearsed /

invited for the Jon Schueler

invited readings.

Scholarship Visual Artist in

Contact Fionnuala Downes

in late Feb 2013. Post or email

Deadline 18 January

Email admin@mermaidartscentre.ie Telephone 01 272 4300

Interested artists and com-

Residence, with the first residen-

munity groups are invited to sub-

cy taking place in the summer of

mit an application form together

2013. The successful applicant

with any additional material that

will have the opportunity to

supports

application.

research, develop and produce

Applications will be reviewed by

work for three months in the

the studio team and two external

dedicated artist’s studio in a spec-

panelists. Shortlisted applicants

tacular setting overlooking the

will be invited to interview, either

Sound of Sleat, the place which

in Dublin or by telephone / Skype,

so inspired Schueler as an artist

the

applications to: Email

tunity to exhibit the work they produced within Sabhal Mòr and

info@commonground.ie

it is also hoped that a special

Address FAO studio 468, C/o Common

Closing date 6pm 7 January

Ground.

studio exchanges

by each of the artists who have

Web

been awarded the scholarship.

www.commonground.ie

Visit our website for more infor-

l.sisley@yahoo.co.uk or siob-

In late 2013, Studio 468 will celebrate its tenth year as a cultural

han@commonground.ie 5pm 1 February

Dublin area. To mark the begin-

Address

ning of this anniversary it will host a combination of inter-disci-

www.smo.uhi.ac.uk

15 Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8

plinary residencies, starting with a series of shorter research awards

SCHUELER SCHOLARSHIP

in 2013, followed by three long

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National

term residencies through 2014 –

Centre for Gaelic Language,

2015.

Culture and the Arts on Skye, is to become the host of a major new

are: Research Awards of six weeks

visual arts residency. The John

to three months, 2013 – Feb 2014,

Schueler Scholarship is a unique

that have the potential to build

partnership between Sabhal Mòr

the capacity of artists and com-

Ostaig in Scotland and the Jon

munities of interest and / or

Schueler Charitable Trust in New

place; Curious Conversations, a

York and will complement the

series of open talks and roundta-

existing programme at SMO,

CALL FOR FILMMAKER

ble events during 2013 and 2014

which is currently supported by

South Dublin County Council

where past and present Studio

Creative Scotland through their

and Tallaght Community Arts in

468 awardees and others will be

Creative Futures programme.

partnership with the Bluecoat

invited to reflect on and share

The scholarship will be offered

(Liverpool, UK) are seeking a

their experiences; Long Term

each year to a different artist, run-

filmmaker with web skills who is

Awards, which comprise a series

ning from 2013 – 2016. It was

interested in working in the con-

of three longer-term awards of

established to celebrate and

text of arts and disability. With

approximately

nine

remember the life, work and

funding support from the Arts

months, Apr 2014 – Dec 2015.

artistic influence of internation-

Council’s EU Local Partnership

(This open call will be made in

ally renowned artist and abstract

Scheme 2012, South Dublin

autumn 2013.) This is the first

expressionist

County Council Arts Office,

call for applications for the 468 X

Schueler (1916 – 1992), and in

Tallaght Community Arts and

10 Research awards only.

recognition of his special rela-

JOB VACANCIES

Deadline Web

The 468 X 10 award phases

JOB VACANCIES

mation.

7 January

Deadline

resource in Rialto and the wider

Exhibition’ will be mounted at ing a selection of work produced

01 7078766.

Email CELEBRATING 468 X 10

‘Schueler Scholarship Residency the end of the four years featur-

Telephone

RESIDENCIES residencies & andSTUDIO EXCHANGES

At the end of their residency, artists will be offered the oppor-

six

to

painter,

Jon

the Bluecoat in Liverpool are col-

Studio 468 acts as a working

tionship with the landscape and

laborating together on a transna-

space from which to engage

environment of the Sound of

tional arts project involving art-

locally. Resident artists or groups

Sleat.

ists with disabilities from the

are asked to propose, in their

It is open to international,

Blue Room (Liverpool) and Doors

application for the research

Scottish and UK artists working

ous group, they may provide a

work (max 200 words), artist’s CV

first-hand impression how art

and full contact details, up to five

group therapy works. There will

images of previous work. Our

be different themes for each

first award, in 2011, went to

to Elsewhere (Tallaght, Dublin)

award, how they will individual-

workshop. Workshops will be

Roseanne Lynch, followed by

groups. An application form

ly or collectively develop their

held in Jan and Feb, starting 12

Miriam O’Connor in 2012.

must be completed to apply for

arts practice within the local area,

Jan.

Email

this position. The form can be

demonstrating a clear commit-

Email

cultural@alliance-francaise.ie

found on the South Dublin Arts

ment to artistic outcomes in any

klaus.klier@yahoo.com

Address

website. No late applications may

art form. It is an opportunity to

Telephone

1 Kildare Street, Dublin 2

be accepted. Candidates must be

test and develop arts participa-

086 373 4662

Deadline

available for interview on Jan 30

tion, thinking and practice. It

15 January

2013.

may include methods of collabo-

Deadline

rative art making that could

12pm January 16

include, but are not limited to: project research, workshops, discussions, invited / public events,

to the highest level of professional practice in a visual medium and with a particular interest in landscape and the environment.

The scholarship will enable a visual artist to base themselves , for the summer / autumn months, in the Visual Arts Studio, within the Fàs Centre for the Creative and Cultural Industries at SMO, in a culturally rich and multi-disciplinary arts environment.

BEWARE! We strongly advise our readers to verify all details to their own satisfaction before forwarding art work, slides or monies etc.

30

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

Project profile

I've Got a Notebook (and I know how to use it) JOHN GAYER DISCUSSES THE ARTIST NOTEBOOK PROJECT 2012, COMMISSIONED BY AND SHOWN AT THE MCKENNA GALLERY, RIVERBANK ARTS CENTRE, NEWBRIDGE, CO KILDARE (12 – 19 OCTOBER) 2012.

Gráinne Tynan, One Day in Dublin, 2012

Installation view, 'Artists' Notebook Project', Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare., image by Vera McEvoy

Open calls often present tantalising opportunities to artists. Suddenly, they are presented with the possibility of finding a context for their artwork or a prospect so intriguing that it compels them to tackle something they’ve never considered or had the nerve to do. Such was the case with this year’s Artist Notebook Project, mounted by the Kildare County Arts Service. The call, which was issued near the beginning of April, invited artists working in all disciplines and at all levels to fill a standard sized notebook in a creative way. Only the height and width of the volume had to be respected. Otherwise, the book could be filled in any way imaginable. The payment of a modest €5 registration fee ensured that one A5 black hardcover moleskin sketchbook soon arrived via post for each participating artist.

With the deadline almost half a year into the future, more than 100 individuals committed themselves to the project. Faced with 104 pristine blank pages, many of the participants must have had doubts about what they could accomplish and fretted over how their contribution might stack up against the others. For months, the culmination of the project stood as a large question mark, but when the exhibition finally came together in the Riverbank Art Centre’s McKenna Gallery, the results proved to be astonishing. In addition to displaying immense diversity in terms of creativity and content, the submissions also demonstrated a capacity for concentration, commitment and bravery. I was left wanting to know more about the project after visiting the exhibition, so I contacted Lucina Russell, Kildare County Arts Officer, and several artists who contributed to the project.1 While the idea for exhibiting artists’ sketchbooks goes back decades, if not longer, the idea of producing sketchbooks specifically for the purpose of building a collection that can be toured seems a much more recent development. Such works, like the ones donated as part of this project, blend aspects of impromptu sketchbooks with much more carefully devised one-of-a-kind artist books. Aware of this development, the Kildare County Arts Office first launched the Artist Notebook Project in 2011. Not knowing how it would be presented or even if people wanted to participate, they linked the exhibition dates to the second annual Kildare Readers Festival. The registration fee was set at €15 and about 50 people subscribed to the project.

The 2012 presentation followed the reading room format developed for the first exhibition. The notebooks were ordered alphabetically by name and secured to tables with elasticised ribbons.

Outside of several three-dimensional structures, which – due to their fragile nature – need to be housed in vitrines, the submissions remained fully accessible. Viewers could take a seat and examine any number of them in detail.

Russell reports that the response from contributors and viewers was very positive. Contributions came from artists, amateur artists and non-artists with artistic inclinations from Ireland and abroad. Many spoke of how much they had enjoyed the process. For some, completing

the notebook was analogous to conquering stage fright. In several of the notebooks, contributors wrote: “I’ve got this notebook and I don’t know what to do with it”.

One artist proposed that the notebooks pass through a selection process but Russell was wary of curation at this point. People had no idea what awaited them. The breadth of their own ideas surprised them. They found there was a lot to take. People manipulated the paper in various ways, treated the notebooks as diaries, and did collages. From some you get a sense of the maker’s personality. Tendencies among the participants and viewers can also be discovered. The notebooks submitted by some of the writers, for instance, were treated more like scrapbooks and visitors interested in writing tended to be drawn to the more literary works. Russell noted that participants also sometimes forgot what they had included (perhaps they had added something too personal) and then changed things. Passages deleted with Wite-out, for example, can be found among the pages.

How and why people chose to participate and what they got out of the project proved fascinating. In an email, the Australian sculptor Carole Driver, wrote: “…it was good to feel part of a group working away in those marvellous Moleskins”. Though she has often documented organic minutiae for the purpose of developing sculpture, the process of producing a notebook of drawings enabled her to realise that an organic visual language was being extrapolated from the plant forms.

For this experience Driver was grateful. The notebook forms an extension of her Phytomorphs series that will be shown in Alice Springs next year. She also continues to develop the vocabulary initiated through the notebook’s production.2 The day-to-day use of sketchbooks and journals attracted a number of people to the project but, unlike Carole Driver, Joan Stack wasn’t interested in “chronologically filling each page”.3 She is attracted to everyday materials and working in a multi-disciplinary manner and had, at the time of the project’s announcement, been making cardboard boxes for use in photography projects. This mindset soon enabled her to see the notebook as a container. She cut a recess into that modest block of paper and filled it with miniature boxes to create something evoking a ‘box of chocolates’. Vera McEvoy, who also has a close relationship with sketchbooks, recounts the excitement she first experienced and the difficulties that followed. The realisation that the finished book would not remain a personal filing cabinet for her ideas prevented her from working on it for about two months. Then, with her fears somewhat allayed, she decided to continue, aware that she might not hand it in. The panoply of fibre and printed elements in her work includes fold-out fabric panels and pages onto which images have been sewn.4 Paul Quast, on the other hand, an artist who normally avoids sketchbook use, chose to develop a 3D model for the sculpture Colossus Complex out of his copy. Though the model proved invaluable in calculating weight distributions and vital pressure points in order to

Joan Stack, Work in process, 2012

prevent structural failure, problems arose during the fabrication of the large work, which called for numerous modifications in the model. An additional set of adaptations also ensured that the model folds down to fit the notebook’s dimensions. Plans outlining the arduous process of research and development accompanied his submission.5 When questioned about the Artist Notebook Project’s future, Russell notes that it will be on display at the Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, from the 9 Jan – 2 Mar 2013 and that she hopes to line up other venues as well. Though libraries have shown interest in the project, an exhibition would necessitate invigilation, especially when it comes to children. The collection needs to be accessible, but also protected. Some of the works are fragile so finding the right balance is important. While visual artists, writers and film makers took part in the project this year, Russell would also like to get people doing dance, music and architecture to contribute.

I believe this is a good strategy. Not only does it hold lots of potential for diverse creative expression, it will also expand the viewers’ sense of what a book can be. The fact that so many individuals responded to the call suggests the genre is worthy of greater attention.

The idea obviously peaks people’s interest, something coincidentally highlighted by the great response Temple Bar Gallery + Studios’ Art Book Fair received upon its 2011 debut. Lucy McKenna, the Assistant Arts Administrator, believes this may be linked to Ireland’s literary tradition and close relationship to books, an influence that has spilled into the visual arts.6 Though the fair serves art book publishers, it also offers Irish and international artists – many of whom produce small editions of handmade books – the opportunity of finding a market for their work. As such, the two events are highly complementary. Each offers a unique perspective. With regard to the Artist Notebook Project, Russell has been impressed by the dedication and generosity shown by the participants, especially since many found it took much more time and effort than they had expected to complete the notebooks. The artist Paul Woods, who was minding the exhibition on the day of my visit, made another pertinent observation: “This is a very democratic project.”

With this, I could only agree.

John Gayer is a writer and artist based in Dublin. His writing has appeared in Art Papers, Circa, Espace Sculpture, Paper Visual Art Journal and Sculpture Magazine. His artwork has been included in group exhibitions at the Black Mariah, Cork and Visual Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow.

Notes 1. Personal communication with the writer, 6 November 2012 2. Personal communication with the writer, 6 November 2012 3. Personal communication with the writer, 5 November 2012 4. Personal communication with the writer, 13 November 2012 5. Personal communication with the writer, 5 November 2012 6. Personal communication with the writer, 12 November 2012

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

31

HOW IS IT MADE?

Migration & Transformation Anthony haughey discusses 'citizen', his cross-border exhibition , which opens at Highlanes gallery, drogheda in february and millenium court gallery, portadown in april 2013.

Separation fence between North Africa and Europe

Paper boats launched near Mosney Reception Centre

Production still from Progress II, all images courtesy of Anthony Haughey

Walking past the Immigration Centre on Burgh Quay in Dublin recently, I saw a woman coming out of the entrance of the building. As I got nearer I noticed a small object in her hand. It was a perfectly folded paper boat, similar to the origami boats that young children learn to make, except this one was modeled from what looked like an immigration application form. The fragile object in her hand reminded me of the precarious boat journeys made by migrants in desperate attempts to reach Europe. Throughout last summer I received email alerts from migrant support groups monitoring the flow of traffic across the Mediterranean Sea. One of the main migration routes is from Libya in North Africa to Lampedusa: a small Italian island that migrants believe will give them a foothold in Europe. Every summer, hundreds of migrants drown attempting this journey in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats supplied by unscrupulous smugglers. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1,500 people drowned in the Mediterranean in 2011 alone.1 This fleeting encounter outside the Immigration Centre described was the starting point for designing this exhibition. I had been thinking about how to make this for some time: a culmination of research and artist projects from the last few years. Some of the individual works have been documented in a co-authored artist’s book, State, with German artist Susanne Bosch, which was published by Project Arts Centre in 2011. Most of the work has been exhibited widely outside of Ireland as individual works, but I was looking for an opportunity to do a larger solo show. I met with Aoife Ruane, Director of Highlanes Gallery and Jackie Barker, Director of Millennium Court Gallery in early 2011; both were incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about doing this show.

The proximity of Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda to Mosney Reception Centre, where I had previously spent a considerable amount of time working with the residents is significant, as is moving the exhibition across the border, to both situate and displace the central concerns and questions raised by this exhibition.

In the weeks leading up to the opening I am organising an event that will generate a sense of place and community. A group of people will gather on a beach near Mosney Reception Centre, where hundreds of naturalisation application forms will be folded into paper boats and launched into the Irish Sea – an act of solidarity for all migrants who have died attempting to cross the frontiers of Europe. This action will be filmed and later installed in Highlanes Gallery to dialogically connect the various elements of the show, which includes video installation, photographs and wall texts. At the close of the exhibition in Drogheda, there will be a further public action to symbolically cross the border into Northern Ireland leading to the opening of the second part of this exhibition in Millennium Court Gallery, Portadown.

Ireland’s border is usually thought of in terms of nationalist / loyalist polarities. It has been historically marked with signs of conflict and sectarian division; this was the subject of an earlier work, Disputed Territory, in 2006. The border has been well documented and defined

culturally – in literature, art and film – but it is easy to forget that the border is also an international boundary. There are no fences or passport controls, instead a more pervasive and racialised form of surveillance is instrumentalised.

For migrants, Ireland’s border is part of ‘Fortress Europe’ where they are subjected to European immigration policies. Borders and transnational migration has been a major theme of my art practice over the years. I continually return to this ongoing investigation of what Saskia Sassen describes as ‘informal citizenship’, where migrants contest the right to move freely across international borders in search of a better life. The movement of people across continents, seas and oceans is no longer fixed to a specific sense of place; we have moved from the ‘solid’ to the ‘fluid’ phase of modernity.2 Migrants exist in in-between states, attempting to negotiate citizenship with reluctant hosts.

During Ireland’s economic boom I became interested in the country’s rapidly shifting demographic. For me, it was a very exciting time to be in Ireland, observing new and emerging identities and the potential for transcultural dialogues. I became deeply immersed in a series of collaborative projects with migrants who had left their countries of origin in the most urgent of circumstances, to escape violence and poverty.

Millions of displaced migrants live precarious lives on the peripheries of cities, towns and villages; in harbors, derelict buildings or outdoors on hillsides and forests. The fortunate ones, who make it to a safe country, are housed by the state in temporary reception centres such as the former Butlin’s in Mosney, near Drogheda. I know several people who are still living in Mosney after five years. Mudiwa and her daughter have been residents for more than eight years.

Giorgio Agamben describes these temporary spaces as “camps”, located within state boundaries and yet outside. The camp is a “space of exception” within and without national space, where rights afforded to citizens of the state are suspended.3 Compare this to the current era of globalisation where capital and consumer goods flow freely across international boundaries. The freedom afforded to international trading is not extended to people. Jacques Derrida observes how migrants are contained “…by filtering, choosing, and thus by excluding and doing violence. Injustice, a certain injustice, and even a certain perjury, begins right away, from the very threshold of the right to hospitality”.4 I have been interested in Derrida’s notion of hospitality since 2008, when I was working with the Global Migration Research Network – a growing collective of migrants from all over the world. Many arrived in Ireland as asylum seekers and refugees and are in the process of negotiating citizenship. We have collaborated to produce video installations, photographs, texts and performances. These transformative actions set out to dispel myths and reductive stereotyping surrounding transnational migration. Instead, migrants reclaim individual agency and participate as active ‘informal citizens’.

In one of the video pieces, Progress ll, 11 individuals were invited to participate in the production of a dialogical video. Most of the group had

recently migrated to Ireland (North and South) from countries including Brazil, Nigeria, Somalia, Poland and the Czech Republic. The project generated a series of intersubjective encounters between the participants throughout the cultural production process and, later, between the participants and viewer when the video is installed in the gallery space. Following a virtual conversation facilitated through a blog, the participants were invited to perform a series of narratives around a dinner table.5 The constantly moving camera and microphone captures the dialogue. The guests are eloquently dressed, confident and articulate.

One of the guests quotes from Heidegger: “He says that the language is your home.” The individual dialogues explore the in-between spaces and transcultural connections between home and host country. There is talk of loss, misunderstandings and confusion between cultures: the reality of everyday lived experience for migrants in their adopted country. In the completed video the dialogical encounter is extended and Derrida’s notion of hospitality is evoked. As gallery viewers watch the video they slowly realise that they are the subjects of discussion and therefore implicated in the conversation as host-country citizens in relation to the dreams and anxieties of the migrant dinner table guests.

I will also include an earlier performative work, How to be a Model Citizen, first performed in Dublin Civic Offices in 2009. Visitors to the exhibition will be invited to participate and test their knowledge of citizenship in Ireland. What I am interested in here is how power relations can be made visible and momentarily reversed through an act of transgression. A member of the Global Migration Research Network will facilitate this piece.

Finally, a series of photographs produced at the ‘separation barrier’ between North Africa and Europe will frame the exhibition within the geography of ‘Fortress Europe’. Combined with various installation elements, Citizen will explore tensions between local and global migratory cultures.

Anthony Haughey is an artist and lecturer. Recent exhibitions include Belfast Exposed Gallery, Helsinki Photography Biennale, New York Photography Festival, Crawford Art Gallery and the Korea Foundation in Seoul. www.anthonyhaughey.com Notes 1. UNHCR briefing notes "Mediterranean takes record as most deadly stretch of water for refugees and migrants in 2011", 31 January 31, 2011, www.unhcr.org 2. Z Bauman, Identity, 2004, Polity Press, Cambridge 3. G Agamben, (trans, D Heller-Roazen), Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Stanford University Press 4. J Derrida in A Dufourmantelle, (trans, Rachel Bowlby) Of Hospitality, Jacques Derrida and Anne Dufourmantelle, Stanford University Press 5. To read the development stage of participants’ dialogues visit www.interfacefilming.blogspot.com

A networking, learning and social event for artists

Friday June 28th 2013

National College of Art and Design 100 Thomas St, Dublin 8

tickets will be available soon at www.visualartists.ie

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

33

Art in the Public Realm: Roundup

Art in the Public Realm public art commissions, site-specific works, socially-engaged practices, and other various forms of 'art outside the gallery'.

Iascéalaíocht

Asylum Seekers (NICRAS) were asked to participate in a game of their making. After a grid was marked on the road and the net was strung across the gates of the interface, the game commenced. It lasted for two hours. The participants decided the rules and the teams.

Location: Balbriggan, County Dublin

writes, “It is part of a wider ongoing discussion

Unveiled: October 2012

around ideas of sovereignty and nationhood. Was it

Budget: €2500

always like this? Are ordinary people consistently

Project Partners: University Bielefeld, Germany

sold a lie for the benefit of a relatively small group

Description: This exhibition event took place

of people? It has the potential to establish a starting

at the Bielefeld University, Main Hall, Bielefeld,

point for a different discussion on Ireland. Is there

Germany in 29 – 30 October 2012. This work

a place for idealism? Is it a romantic notion? Is

was carried out by the 13 international female

idealism interchangeable with naivety? What

members of the Trailing Spouses Art Collective,

does it mean to be Irish? What is the relationship

which includes Irish-based artist Piia Rossi. The

between the economy and being Irish? While

production explored the positive and negative

the only discussion about Ireland to be heard is

aspects of repeatedly moving to a new country.

about the economy, this exhibition is concerned

The production space was transformed for two

with what is best about being Irish: creativity, self-

days into a domestic living space where visitors

reliance and community.

were able to spend time looking at artworks made

Title: Iascéalaíocht Artist: Ceara Conway Location: Paddy Jack's Pier, Leitir Meallain, Connemara, County Galway Commissioner: Galway County Council Arts Office, TULCA Project Partners: TULCA, Litir Meallain Heritage Centre Date Advertised: August 2011 Unveiled: November 2012 Budget: €6000 Description: On the night of the 17th of November, 10 traditional Curraghs took to the sea off the coast of Litir Meallain in County Galway, each carrying a storyteller or performer and a small crew of listeners. The artist was inspired by Eddie O Conghaile,a local folklorist and priest based in Tir an Fhia in Connemara, who spoke to her about remembering his father night fishing with his friends, telling stories in the boat. Ceara was interested in both the experiential and visual nature of this performance, which should feel magical and fun while imparting local knowledge, story and song in a very memorable setting. Listeners wrapped in blankets and darkness were treated to a variety of carefully selected local, national and international storytellers and performers. The performances were in Irish and English.

The long game

a year in the field

by collective members, talking with them about

Title: A Year in the Field

their experiences being a foreigner in Germany.

Artist: Christine Mackay

We wanted the visitor to feel at home, but also to

Commissioner: Fingal County Council Public

question the nature of home. How can one feel

Arts Office

‘at home’ knowing that it is (once again) only

Unveiled: October 2012

temporary? How does one engage in and find a

Description: Devised as a set of two publications

place in their new temporary community?

and a website, 'A Year in the Field' was developed in response to field work carried out on a wetland site at St Ita’s in Donabate, Co Dublin. Field-work PAD

totem

1. collates responses based on a series of activities

Title: Dig Where You Stand

– walking, collecting, digging, diagramming,

Artist: Sarah Lincoln

recording and talking. Field-work PAD 1. served as

Commissioner: South Tipperary Arts office

the prototype, from which an outline of Field-work

Budget: €17,000

PAD 11. emerged. Field-work PAD 11. functions as a

Project

playful nature study-guide, based on a series of 12

to us.

the dragon family Title: The Dragon Family Artist: Jim Collins Location: Balbriggan, County Dublin Commissioner: St George's National School, Balbriggan Commission Type: Per Cent for Art Date Advertised: February 2012 Unveiled: November 2012 Budget: €33,000 Description: This project made use of the established tradition and history of the school using the mascot / logo of the dragon. Academics /education is reflected in the form of a large open book that becomes the plinth for the dragon sculpture. The book and the dragons were constructed of laser-cut stainless steel with a red powder-coat on the dragons and brass on the lettering. A small dragon peers down from atop the book at the other small dragon on the ground, who looks up as if to say, "How does one get up there?" The message here is that children can rise in education and life through the book and by the

Title: The Long Game home is where the heart is

Location: North Howard Street, Belfast

Tipperary

County

Cashel Arts Festival and Cashel Public Library.

process, the artist engaged with a range of people afield. Over time, a complex habitat revealed itself

South

The Bolton Library in Cashel, Tipperary Excel,

of any ‘field’ system, by any person. Throughout this and community groups from the area and further

Partners:

Museum, The Workmen's Boatclub in Clonmel,

activities designed to prompt creative exploration

book.

Artist: Charlotte Bosanquet

dig where you stand

Description: 'Dig Where You Stand' developed Title: Totem

out of a curatorial residency which was initiated

Artist: Yvonne Cullinan

by South Tipperary Arts Office.

Commissioner: Mayo County Council

began in Spring 2012 with a series of readings /

Commission Type: Per Cent for Art

screening groups in unusual spaces throughout

Project Partners: Clúid Housing Association,

the area, including a boatclub, a lakeside and

Department of Environment, Community and

an ancient library. The ideas generated through

Local Government

these gatherings fed into an exhibition in the

Date Advertised: August 2011

South Tipperary County Museum, Clonmel over

Unveiled: November 2012

the Summer of 2012. The exhibition included

Budget: €13,500

new works by Bridget O' Gorman and Phillipa

Description: Totem is a public artwork resulting

Sutherland, alongside existing works by Susan

from a participatory public art project with the

Hiller and Uriel Orlow. Bridget O' Gorman's work

residents of a Clúid Association housing estate in

was subsequently exhibited during the Cashel Arts

County Mayo. All 15 families residing in the estate

Festival in November 2012.

The project

were involved in the development of the project – participating in interviews, workshops, temporary outdoor interventions, design meetings and

found sound (lost at sea)

installation of the resulting site-specific sculpture.

The artwork is composed of 15 individual units, in stainless steel and resin, each pertaining to a household. Each unit ‘head’ contains a symbol / symbols of an individual household. Grouped together, the 15 units loosely follow the format of a butterfly nest and are also 'rooted' into the ground where they are sited – both design aspects reflecting the residents’ consideration of ‘home’. In essence, the piece is a response to the individual

Title: Found Sound (Lost at Sea)

households, the residents as a community of place,

Artist: Danny McCarthy

and the importance of 'home'.

Location: Cork city centre Unveiled: 11 January 2012

Commissioner: Upper Springfield Road Development Trust

romantic ireland: from the streets

Project Partners: Art Council Northern Ireland

Title: Romantic Ireland: From the Streets

Date Advertised: August 2012

Artist: Romansach Ireland Collective

Budget: €1500

Location: Anglo Irish Bank Headquarters, Nort

Description: 'The Long Game was a social

Wall Quay

engagement project, the result of five weeks of

Unveiled: March 17 2012

workshops culminating at a public event at the

Description:'Romantic Ireland: From The Streets'

North Howard Street interface. Groups of young

was an exhibition of artwork hung at Anglo Irish

people from cross-community projects and the

Title: Home is Where the HeART is

HQ in response to the role of Anglo Irish Bank in the

Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and

Artist: The Trailing Spouses Art Collective

financial crash. Collective member Oliver Phelan

Description: This work was created as a result of the artist’s interest in acoustic ecology and will commemorate the loss of the sound of the foghorn from Irish lighthouses and the Irish coast from 11 January 2011, when they ceased to sound. The installation is the sound of a foghorn, which will sound intermittently throughout the city centre throughout the day. The work was originally presented as part of 'Strange Attractor' exhibition / residency in the Crawford Gallery in 2011.

34

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2013

RESIDENCY

Roam Home to a Dome

LINDA SHEVLIN REPORTS ON HER RESIDENCY AT THE ORGANIC CENTRE, ROSSINVER, CO LEITRIM, FACILITATED AS PART OF SPARK, LEITRIM COUNTY COUNCIL ARTS OFFICE’S NEW ARTIST IN THE WORKPLACE / BUSINESS INITIATIVE.

Linda Shevlin, still from Supernature, 2012

Linda Shevlin Supernature Production Still

Linda Shevlin, dome exterior

Linda Shevlin, Lunar Planting Experiment

Linda Shevlin, Lunar Planting Experiment

Linda Shevlin, Fibonnacci star

I have a confession to make. I’ve always struggled with organising my time and co-ordinating work / family commitments to allow myself to participate on residencies. The last time I got proactive about a residency was in 2010 when my partner Padraig Cunningham and myself were offered one in India. I became pregnant within weeks of the letter of offer arriving and responsibly decided to decline. Strangely enough, since my personal ‘situation’ has arguably become more complicated, I’ve made a concerted effort to re-address this imbalance in my practice.

In July of 2012, Leitrim County Council Arts Office announced a new initiative entitled Spark, a partnership between the County Enterprise Board and Arts Office supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

The press release states that it “aims to introduce artists to new working environments and companies to collaborative and creative work practices”.

Spark is not dissimilar to another extremely successful model of integrating artists within businesses: Art@Work in Co Roscommon. What connects these two residencies is Philip Delamere, former Roscommon Arts Officer, who moved to Leitrim Arts Office in 2010.

Since establishing Art@Work in 2006, Philip has facilitated artists residency within banks, fire stations, hotels, mines, bakeries, cinemas and crèches to name but a few.

I had recently completed the Art@Work residency, which ran concurrently with Spark from August – October, so for a very short period of time I was working full time on my art practice. Spark is almost like an evolution of Art@Work. The duration is longer, the budget is more substantial, the engagement with the business is more pronounced and collaboration is strongly encouraged.1 Initially, the Arts Office and the County Enterprise Board invited expressions of interest from businesses within the county. From these applications, two businesses were selected based on their suitability to the project. They were: the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon and the Organic Centre, Rossinver. After a national call to artists from all art forms, the Arts Office arranged site visits to the two participating businesses for all the artists who expressed an interested in applying.

On the day of the site visits, Philip Delamere spent some time taking us through the application process. This residency differed from anything I’d ever applied for before as my proposed project had to take

on a two-pronged approach. Not only was I applying to work on a project for myself as an artist but I also had to propose a project where I was taking on the role of collaborator, working with the staff and students at the residency location.

Of the two sites we visited, I was drawn to the Organic Centre (www.theorganiccentre.ie). The staff, the location, the reputation and the ethos of the centre made it a very attractive place for me to spend six months of my time. About two weeks after submitting my proposal, I got word that my project had been selected. Jo Holmwood, a theatre maker and writer, was selected to work with the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon.

The Organic Centre in Rossinver is a leader in the field of innovative sustainable organic practices. From the site visit it also became apparent to me that they were interested in harnessing links with scientific practices through their recent application to become a Discover Science Centre. Around the time of writing this proposal, I had come across a book titled Supernature: A Natural History of the Supernatural (1973), written by Lyall Watson, a South African botanist, zoologist, biologist, anthropologist and ethnologist. He authored many 'new age’ books, Supernature being the most popular. Watson tried to make sense of natural and supernatural phenomena in biological terms. He was an eccentric character and, according to his obituary in the Guardian, was responsible for introducing the ‘psychic’ Uri Geller to British TV audiences. He was a radical thinker operating at the margins of accepted science.

Supernature deals with mysterious and inexplicable natural phenomena and was acclaimed for its treatment of exotic and unexpected scientific facts and discoveries. Working with the staff of the Organic Centre, I proposed creating a pseudo-DIY laboratory to recreate these discoveries and experiments, exploring the many and often astounding ways in which nature manifests itself and adapts to its environment. Over the course of the residency, these events and activities will be continuously documented and compiled to create the main fabric of a film installation. The film will borrow from the visual language of the sci-fi genre, portraying a blurring of the lines between reality and fiction, science and nature.

The residency provides an artist’s fee and a materials budget to undertake both strands of the project: the artist’s strand and the collaborator’s strand. I used the collaborator’s materials budget to invest in the construction of a geodesic dome. The dome became an obsession; it infiltrated my work and my reading, and the geodesic domes creator, Buckminster Fuller, seemed to be everywhere. I couldn’t afford to buy one outright, but I sourced one from Polytunnels Ireland, a Galway based company, who were kind enough to ‘loan’ us the dome for a reduced fee for the duration of the project, with a view to the Organic Centre trying to source enough funds to pay the remainder and maintain it as a public, experimental space once my residency had been completed.

The centre occupies a sprawling site with several polytunnels and a custom-built education centre that houses their yearlong FÁS course and all the administrative offices. Our ‘supernature lab’ has been constructed within close proximity to this main building. My studio is located in the old seed shed, a grass roofed timber building with a commanding view of the work being carried out around the centre. This is the space I use for writing, drawing and editing.

As I write this, I am halfway through the residency. The first three months have been spent researching the activities and experiments we’d like to carry out in the lab, constructing the dome and writing the storyboard and shot list for the film. Using Supernature as a starting point, we’ve identified five experiments that are feasible to recreate. Over the next three months, the staff will be assisting me in creating these situations and I’ll be directing their actions to accommodate filming. I’ll be taking this material and representing it as a non-linear multi-screen installation, working with a small crew of four including myself. Peter Martin will be my Director of Photography. He’s a young, self- taught DoP based in Sligo. In my other life, to support my art practice, I work as a production manager for filmmakers, so I’ve made some contacts with young talent in the industry.

One of the great things about this residency is that the fee has enabled me to engage other practitioners who are extremely skilled in their field. In the past I’ve always filmed and edited my own work.

Although I will be taking some of the footage for this installation, the act of engaging someone else to work with me and the availability of time in the quiet environs of the Organic Centre, has made me employ a more traditional, certainly more organised, approach to filmmaking.

I’ve always avoided writing any kind of script, storyboard or shot list for my work. It’s the old cliché of never having enough resources to do these things on your own time, but it’s so true. I think this change in methodology is what I’m really going to take away with me at the end of this residency, recognising how much taking time to mull over ideas can enhance the finished outcome.

The residency is due for completion at the end of January 2013.

The funders have requested that there be some final output, so the completed film will be screened in the dome. I’m confident that the film will also have a legacy beyond the residency and I’m particularly mindful that the work should transfer to a gallery or exhibition situation. Working with the management of the Organic Centre, we’re continuously reviewing and exploring ways in which the dome can remain onsite, and I hope the lab will act as the foundation for future projects there, exploring their relationship to science, design and technology.

Leitrim Arts Office has been a pioneer in providing new and interesting models of cultural production and I think Spark will be an important addition to its expanding repertoire. It’s been an invaluable experience being involved in such a dynamic programme that is only in its infancy and I expect to see great things coming from this programme in the future.

Linda Shevlin is an artist based in Co Roscommon and is a board member of Visual Artists Ireland.

Spark is funded by Leitrim County Enterprise Board and Leitrim Arts Office, supported by the Arts Council of Ireland. Special thanks also to Polytunnels Ireland for providing the geodesic dome. www.lindashevlin.com www.facebook.com/supernatureproject Note 1. I worked with the St John’s Heritage Group in Lecarrow on a project that aimed to re-connect the group with the landscape and archaeological sites they have strived to protect for so many years but rarely get the opportunity to engage with. This was achieved through a number of walks accompanied by the production of a series of maps that illustrate the journeys taken. The residency took place from August – October 2012. Art@Work is a residential programme organised and funded

by Roscommon County Council Arts Office in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland. Artists are awarded the opportunity to spend a set period of time in an organisation in the county making artwork motivated by the environment, staff, materials and working practices of the company.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

35

January – February 2013

35

Forthcoming exhibitions at Droichead Arts Centre

regionAl ConTACT

Processes of Change VAi norThern irelAnd MAnAger, FeArgAl o'MAlley, disCusses soMe reCenT PubliC ArT ProJeCTs And CoMMissions I recently heard Peter Richards and Brendan Clarke

the natural landscape, could be easily adaptable to

speak about their experience of negotiating and

other locations and was more in line with a tourist

commissioning the Oscar Munoz project, Ambula-

board’s visitor experience planning than anything

torio, for the Cultural Olympiad, 2012. The full im-

else! What I will say in its favour is that the artwork

pact of the work commissioned for this event can

seemed to receive a generally positive response

only be fully understood in retrospect. Given that

from everyone in the close vicinity when I visited

several months have now passed and the legacy

and maybe that in itself is what the Cultural Olym-

baton has been handed on, I thought it would be

piad commissions were all about.

iN AssociAtio A Atio N with KildARe ARts oFFice Wednesday 9 January – Saturday 2 March 2013

a good time to reflect on some of the large-scale

I considered Oscar Munez’s Ambulatorio an ex-

works commissioned for the Cultural Olympiad

tension of the Draw Down the Walls project, and

and consider their importance and lasting impact.

the stand out commission from the Culture Olym-

Billed as the largest public art commission

piad. It aimed at real social engagement and was

ever undertaken in this country, Nest was an art

very pertinent to Northern Irish concerns, which

installation comprising over 2000 donated objects

I can’t say was the case for other projects commis-

each labeled with a personal story related to the

sioned. Draw Down the Walls is an ongoing col-

repective object. It culminated in a large musical

laboration between Golden Thread Gallery, North

performance by over 500 performers alongside the

Belfast Interface Network and the Lower Shankill

Ulster Youth Orchestra. The presentation of the ob-

Community Association designed to imagine a

jects took place in a large warehouse called T13, lo-

city without barriers; a long-term project that has

cated in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. I found that

utilised art as a primary engagement tool for com-

the visual manifestation of the installation lived

munity relations.

up to its promise, serving as an unusual census, a

I got the distinct feeling that this project could

smorgasbord of cultural remains. With so much

only have happened through mutual trust built up

on display, however, the experience was akin to

over a number years and through difficult social

browsing a large archeological dig, and any possi-

engagement work with the local community. It

ble suggestion of cultural narrative was lost on me.

was clear that those involved had listened to oppos-

But I can imagine that, in years to come, this docu-

ing views from both sides to come up with a work-

mented and published time capsule could be used

able creative solution. It was a remarkable piece of

as reference material in some way, in the study of

artwork in its own right: a temporary public inter-

post-conflict Northern Ireland and as a portrait of

vention within one of Belfast’s most contentious

the people living in this society.

interfaces at Crumlin Road / Flax Street. During the

The most visited commission, I would surmise,

month of July 2012, it balanced precariously on the

is likely to have been FLAGS by the celebrated Ger-

fault line between failure and success. Most impor-

man artist Hans Peter Kuhn, installed at Port Noffer,

tantly it demonstrated what is possible when you

Giant’s Causeway. FLAGS was co-commissioned by

have the full support of everybody around you and

the London 2012 festival and the Northern Ireland

the local knowledge and support to pull it off.

Tourist Board’s NI 2012 campaign, and presented

The process of change is inevitable and some-

by Third Space Gallery. The first and most nerve-

times slow; it takes an intervention like this, a so-

wrecking question the artist must have asked him-

cially engaged organisation like Golden Thread

self was how to compete with the natural phenom-

Gallery and a committed individual like Brendan

enon of the Giant’s Causeway.

Clarke to draw attention to some of the less pho-

From a distance, the work looked like a se-

togenic aspects of Northern Irish life and demon-

ries of randomly placed Post-it notes, secured to a

strate, by way of example, the importance of taking

large landscape photograph too close to an open

control of your environment and not the other way

window. On closer inspection, I soon realised that

around, in order to shine some light on it.

they were in fact manufactured metal flags, red on feargal@visualartists-ni.org

one side and yellow on the other, rotating freely

KRF1: Artist Notebook Project

in the wind. I felt this work, sited paradoxically in

still life RAPhAel hyNes Opening 6 March

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Corridor, oil on gesso panel, 36 x 24 inches, 2012

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BLAISE SMITH January 17 - March 2

Emmet Place | Cork | Ireland | +353 (0)21 4805042 Admission Free. Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm, Thursday 10am - 8pm.

Closed Sundays & Bank Holidays. Guided Tours: guided visits for groups and schools see

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West Cork Arts Centre, North Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork. t: + 353 28 22090 e: info@westcorkartscentre.com www.westcorkartscentre.com

Arts Council of Northern Ireland Developing the arts in Northern Ireland

Mikala Dwyer Panto Collapsar 1 February - 7 March 2013 A solo exhibition by one of Australia’s most established and influential contemporary artists.

Panto Collapsar includes an array of theatrically staged sculptures, totem-like structures and an extended wall painting.

Rita Duffy Arctic Circus This exhibition continues until Saturday 19 January 2013.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland, MacNeice House, 77 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6AQ. T: +44 (28) 9038 5200. W: www.artscouncil-ni.org. E: info@artscouncil-ni.org

Image: Brendan Jamison, Green JCB bucket with holes. Arts Council Collection

Mikala Dwyer, Open Corner, wall painting, from the exhibition Panto Collapsar Collapsar, 2012

Mark Joyce New Works 15th February—13th April

Hindu Kush, Acrylic on Panel 2012

Holis Frampton Gloria! & Zorns Lemma 15th February—13th April

Copyright the Estate of Hollis Frampton, Courtesy of Marion Faller and Anthology Film Archives

Tues— Fri 10 am / 6pm Saturday 10 am /5pm, Closed Mondays

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Arts & Disability Ireland and Fire Station Artists’ Studios Symposium on supporting visual artists with disabilities through residencies and peer mentoring.

Venue: Glucksman Gallery, Cork Date: Thurs 28th Feb, 2013 Times: 10.30am – 5.30pm Free: lunch and coffee included

Speakers: Patrick Murphy (RHA), Garry Robson (Niet Normaal), Padraic Moore, Maureen Gilbert and Katherine Atkinson Artists presenting: Ruth LeGear, Noëmi Lakmaier, Hugh O’Donnell and Anna Berndtson For more info see adiarts.ie or firestation.ie.

Advanced booking is essential, including access requirements: info@adiarts.ie or +353 1 8509002.

BA (HONOURS) CONTEMPORARY APPLIED ART (CERAMICS, GLASS, TEXTILES) APPLY VIA CAO DEADLINE FEB 1ST 2013 This exciting course at CIT Crawford College of Art and Design is a materials based course with a strong emphasis on developing innovative applications of making skills.

For more information: www.cit.ie/course/CR210 Ceramic Piece (pictured) by Nuala O’Donovan

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Bronze Art, Fine art Foundry

Heron, Alva Gallagher

Black Tulip, Eamonn Ceannt

The eight that soared, David O’Brien

Lough Boura sculpture trail, Elaine Griffin

Accept no compromise in the quality of your work, come work with the specialists.Best quality guaranteed everytime at competitive prices.

For your next project contact: David O’Brien or Ciaran Patterson Unit 3, Gaelic St, Dublin 3, Ireland.

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Head of Department Department of Fine Art Email: ccad.enquiries@cit.ie

Postgraduate Portfolio day Ireland the lab, foley st, dublin 1 Thursday 31st January 2013 12 – 4pm

Final year students, recent graduates and artists interested in returning to postgraduate education or undertaking a residency can meet with faculty, have their portfolio reviewed in person and gain advice on admission to courses.

ParticiPating organisations: Burren College of Art Cardiff College of Art Crawford College of Art & Design Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology GradCAM Huston School of Film & Digital Media, NUI Galway Limerick School of Art & Design National College of Art & Design Royal College of Art, London University of Ulster ParticiPating residencies: Anam Cara Artist’s Retreat Cow House Studios

attendance is free and open to all. www.postgraduateportfoliodayireland.ie

RHA SPRING SEASON

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Basil Blackshaw, The Gawky Cockerel, 1996, oil on canvas, 106 x 90cm, private collection

11 Jan – 24 Feb: 11 Jan – 24 Mar: 11 Jan – 24 Mar: 11 Jan – 24 Feb: 11 Jan – 28 Apr: 11 Jan – 28 Apr: 5 Mar – 28 Apr:

Basil Blackshaw: Blackshaw at 80 Polke & Richter: Works on Paper from the Kunstmuseen Krefeld Zineb Sidera & Amina Menia: Becoming Independent Justin Larkin: Untitled Vivienne Roche RHA: Spirit & Light Anita Groener: State Skin, An Artistic Atlas Admission Free

GALLAGHER GALLERY / 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2 +353 1 661 2558 / info@rhagallery.ie

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