Visual Artists' News Sheet - 2010 January February

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet ISSUE 1 2010 January – February Published by Visual Artists Ireland Ealaíontóirí Radharcacha Éire

Work by Leeane Spiers 'Futures Exhibition'. Platform Arts, Belfast.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

2

Introduction

January – February 2010

Contents

Contents

Introduction Happy New Year and welcome to the January / February 2010 edition of the Visual Artists News Sheet.

Although it seems that the arts and cultural sector has faired reasonably well in the Republic of Ireland's

3. Roundup. Recent exhibitions and projects of note.

3. Column. Marie-Louise Blaney. The Model: Dorm Project

2010 budget, there are certainly going to be challenges ahead for all, as we see the broader economy – across

4. Column. Chris Fite-Wassilak. Real Art Top Ten 2009.

all of Ireland and globally – face up to realities of the recession. In light of this, the Visual Artists News Sheet

8. News. The latest developments in the arts sector.

will be running a series of articles that offer details on how artists and art organisations can take positive

10. Regional Profile. Visual Arts Resources & Activity in Co. Waterford

steps in terms of operating in the context of these challenging times. In this issue, in Kick Starting the Core by

13. How is it Made? Everyday Movements. Connolly and Cleary discuss the processes behind the making

Noel Kelly CEO / Director of Visual Artists Ireland, surveys the current situation and argues although we

face difficult circumstances, is also a time of great opportunity.

14. Residency Profile. Simply Seeing. Milada Bacik reports on her recent participation in a residency in

Global political and economic issues are addressed in the publication. Fiona Fullam reports on the ‘First Former West Congress’ (Utrecht 5 – 7 Nov) an event, which aimed to address the consequences of the decline of the western cultural economic and cultural dominance. Viewpoints and art practices in the Middle East are discussed in an interview with Egyptian Curator, broadcaster, editor and Critic Sherif Awad. The Dublin based conference and exhibition event ‘Vital Signs’ (October 2009) – which focused on the subject of arts place in healthcare, is discussed by Vagabond Reviews.

Three residencies are focussed on this edition. Milada Bacik reports on her recent participation in a

of their work Moving Dublin.

Armenia.

15. Residency Profile. Residential Adventure. Cóilín Rush reports on his residency at Kulttuurikauppila,

Northern Finland.

16. Residency Profile. Pride. Isolation and Globalisation. Alan James Burns profiles his artist’s residency at

The National Centre for Contemporary Art St. Petersburg on the Kronstadt programme in Russia.

17. Career Development. Reckoner. George Bolster talks about his installation at Mass MOCA, USA.

residency in Armenia; Cóilín Rush writes his time spent at Kulttuurikauppila, Northern Finland; and Alan

18. Technical. Synthetics & Delicates. Dr Bronwyn Ormsby, Senior Conservation Scientist at The Tate,

James Burns profiles the artist’s residency offered by The National Centre for Contemporary Art in Kronstadt,

Russia.

London offers an overview of the findings of Tate AXA Art Modern Paints Project.

19. Institution Profile. Expanded Studio. David Turner & Fiona Goggin profile Platform, a new studio

In this issue we introduce a new occasional series of articles on the subject of technical and conservation issues, our first article by Synthetics & Delicates by Dr Bronwyn Ormsby offers an overview of the findings of Tate AXA Art Modern Paints Project.

George Bolster writes this issues’ Career Development article – he talks about the key lessons he has learned thus far and focuses on a recent opportunity to show in major contemporary art museum in the states. In our How is it Made? section Connolly and Cleary discuss the processes behind the making of their film work Moving Dublin.

A new artist-led venture, Platform – which is a studio and exhibition space in Belfast, is profiled in this

venture in Belfast.

20. Project Profile. Corners of Reflection. Sarah Lincoln profiles ‘The Preponderance of the Small’ a city-

wide off-site exhibition initiated by the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (25 Sept – 31 Oct 2009)

21. Art in the Public Realm: Roundup. Recent public art commissions, site-specific works, socially

engaged practice and other forms of art outside the gallery.

22. International. Fortifying Dialogue. An interview with Egyptian Curator, broadcaster, editor and Critic

Sherif Awad, who contributed to the Solus Collective’s Irish / Arabian Avant-Garde Film Tour.

edition. Also featured is a report on ‘The Preponderance of the Small’ a citywide off-site exhibition initiated

23. Opportunities. All the lastest grants, awards, commissions ect.

by the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (25 September – 31 October 2009)

28. The Problem Page. Our consierge / curator of agony responds to a selection of queries and

Waterford is the subject of this editions regional profile – The Visual Artists News Sheet is now making

conceptual quibbles – offering in return, nothing less than life-shattering, dilemma-inducing,

its second visits to all the counties and regions of Ireland, following up on the first series of focuses ran since

paradigm-shifting nonsense.

our first issue in September 2003.

All this and more – in this issue there are of course also listings of all the latest opportunities along with news and roundups of recent projects, events and exhibitions.

28. Artoons. The foibles, ironies, and occasional stupidity of the art world – captured with clarity and

economy by Pablo Helguera.

29. Advocacy. Kick Starting the Core. Noel Kelly CEO / Director of Visual Artists Ireland discusses the

situation facing artists and arts institutions in the context of the recession – and argues that now is a

time of great opportunity as well as challenge.

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31. Conference. Arts Value to Health. Vagabond Reviews discuss ‘Vital Signs’ an event, focused on the

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32. Conference. When is Then? Fiona Fullam reports on the ‘First Former West Congress’, held in

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Contributors Marie-Louise Blaney, Chris Fite-Wassilak. Conor Nolan, Margaret Organ, Cordula Simone Hansen, Paul Hallahan, Ger Kennedy, Ben Hennessey, Connolly and Cleary, Milada Bacik, Cóilín Rush, Alan James Burns, George Bolster, David Turner & Fiona Goggin, Sarah Lincoln,Jason Oakley, Sherif Awad, The Consierge Agony, Pablo Helguera, Noel Kelly, Vagabond Reviews , Fiona Fullam.

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Artists

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

3

January – February 2010

COLUMN

Roundup

Marie-Louise Blaney

Roundup

The Model: Dorm Project

VERA KLUTE

The Institute Of Traces

Jim Sanborn, Critical Assembly (detail)

Shane Cullen work from 'The Institute of Traces'

psychological intensity, drawn in part Triskel Arts Centre, Cork has come

from uncompromising themes, but also

together with the ESB to convert the

from the spirit of their age.”

electrical Sub-Station at Caroline Street

The artists featured in the show

Cork, into a gallery space. This new venue

include George Barrett, Aideen Barry,

will serve as the home for the Triskel’s

James Barry, Edmund Burke, William

visual arts programme while renovation

Bradford,

works are being undertaken to the Tobin

Comerford, Gary Coyle, Francis Danby,

Street building. The first show in the space

Michelle

was ‘The Institute Of Traces’ an exhibition

Jonathan Fisher, Mary Fitzgerald, Samuel

of new and selected works by Shane Cullen

Forde, James Forrester, David Godbold,

(31 October – 26 November). As the press

Andreas Gursky, Clare Langan, Robert

release noted the works on show dealt

Longo, Fergus Martin, John Martin, Eoin

with the “dehumanizing threat inherent

Mc Hugh, Theresa Nanigian, Paul Nugent,

in

on

James Arthur O Connor, Hughie O

technology and counter-pointing this

Donoghue, George Petrie, Thomas Roberts,

with references to individual examples of

Nigel Rolfe, Thomas Ruff, Jim Sanborn,

struggle and endurance”. Alongside more

Sean Shanahan, Hiroshi Sugimoto and

recent works, pieces such as The Concern of

Paul Winstanley.

our

increasing

dependence

Cecily Deignan,

the Warsaw Pact (1992) and Factories

Brennan, Willie

Oliver

www.crawfordartgallery.ie

Wexford Arts Centre presented ‘Finish Your Plate’, an exhibition of painting, drawing, animation and kinetic sculpture

by Vera Klute (7 – 28 Nov). The press release noted that “the work is orientated around domestic subjects, as well as anatomical explorations of the body” and that Klute utilised familiar objects and situations to “cycles of human behaviour [and] their equivalent in biological processes of our anatomy.”

Electricity Regulations (1995) were included

Previously show at the venue was

PAT HARRIS

in the exhibition.

Vera Klute work from 'Finish Your Plate'

Doherty,

‘Sea Pictures’, an exhibition of painted

www.triskelart.com

collage works by Hughie O Donoghue was

DORM bedding design by IT Sligo Students

recently on show at Wexford Arts Centre

MARY KELLY To sleep or not to sleep? This is the question that will confront over 100 visitors

(21 Sept – 1 Nov). The press release noted

to The Model, when it opens its doors to the public in April 2010. The Model’s

that the exhibition, titled after Edward

re-opening exhibition DORM will emulate a traditional art fair, like what one

Elgar’s (1857 – 1934) five-song cycle was

might experience at Frieze, or one of the many biennales, which are the current

concerned with “the sea as the site of

fashion in our global art world – except what The Model proposes will be quite

memory, passage and human conflict.” www.veraklute.net www.wexfordartscentre.ie

different. The layout of DORM will mimic this format, but instead of commercial galleries, the booths will be occupied by international and Irish artist collectives.

These groups will range from informal groups of young and independent artists

STEPHEN BRANDES

to more experienced and politically engaged art groups who work collaboratively with international partners. As visual art practice has become more and more subsumed by the economic structures of the global art market, this exhibition Pat Harris – work from 'Persian Flowers'

will present alternative approaches to the mechanisms that govern and control art trade. With something else on offer, The Model will put it to the viewer to assess the value of the work on display. Visitors will encounter a range of art

‘Persian Flowers’, a collection of new

practices, from film and video to drawing and sculpture, all mediated by the

paintings by Pat Harris recently exhibited

artists themselves. There will also be live events encompassing performance,

at Taylor Galleries, Dublin (5 – 21 Nov).

experimental music, lectures and discussion forums.

The press release noted that Harris’s still

Stephen Brandes 'The Perpendicular Memoirs of Albert Sitzflieisch' installation view, The Black Mariah, Cork.

life paintings were “not directly concerned

The Black Mariah, Cork presented Stephen

with the objects he paints but rather the

Brandes’s exhibition ‘The Perpendicular

As part of the DORM project, The Model will engage in an unprecedented

Mary Kelly work from 'New Works, Father & Child'

and highly experimental sleep over, which aims to provide temporary sleeping quarters for up to 100 visitors. These communal sleeping quarters, akin to what

The RHA Gallery, Dublin recently showed

rendering of their aura and the shape of

Mary Kelly’s, ‘New Works – Father & Child’

Memoirs of Albert Sitzfleisch’ (28 Oct – 28

you might find in an institutional dormitory, promises a sleeping experience

the defining space that surrounds them.”

(4 Sept – 20 Dec). The press release

Nov).

with a twist. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, artists and collectives have turned flats and domestic spaces into galleries and attempted to

explained that “in this new body of work,

re-create the white cube by removing furniture, beds and domestic appliances.

the artist was prompted by imagery of the

The Model, itself a white cube, will turn some of its galleries into domestic

mother and child in western art, to create

spaces for sleeping and in doing so will appropriate some of the language used by artists who work in opposition to the traditional art institutions. In recent

from the seventies and contemporary design, the students have come up with a heady mix of both engaging and quirky design solutions - a bed of balloons, a jigsaw puzzle and a card board box or just some of the ideas currently being explored.

In 1968, Marcel Broodthaers’ conceptual museum Musee d’Art Moderne sparked a discourse around the role of the museum and its function as a cultural entity. The museum project he created in Brussels had neither collection nor location, but manifested itself in various places. It is almost 40 years since Broodthaers disrupted traditional art practices, but the spirit of his actions live on. Since The Model’s closure in 2007, it has also manifested itself across different locations and these spaces have proved productive for new ways of working. Although its re-opening marks a return to a permanent site, The Model will not be at a stand still.

Marie-Louise Blaney is Education Curator at The Model, Sligo.

press

release

drawing,

noted

painting,

presents a pictorial journey through Europe as reminisced by the fictional protagonist as he falls from the tallest

relationship.”

building in Lower Saxony.”

www.rhagallery.ie

mariahtheblack.blogspot.com

TERROR & THE SUBLIME

PROJECT ARTS CENTRE

Crawford Art Gallery, Cork is showing

The Project Arts Centre, Dublin recently

‘Terror and the Sublime: Art in an Age of Anxiety’ (20 Nov 2009 – 27 Feb 2010). As

The

“encompassing

photographic collage and posters, Brandes

KEITH WINTER

works that deal with the father and child

months, The Model has been working with The School of Product Design, Sligo Institute of Technology on a brief to develop these quarters. Influenced by art

www.taylorgalleries.ie

presented Clodagh Emoe’s exhibition ‘Cult Keith Winter – work from 'Scopophobia'

the press release notes, the show spans

of Engagement’ (18 Dec 2009 – 30 Jan 2010). As the press release noted, Emoe’s

“dramatic and visionary paintings from

The Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast

the Romantic period, by James Arthur

work “continues her pre-occupation with

exhibited Keith Winter’s ‘Scopophobia’ (5

O’Connor, Francis Danby, and the Cork

mapping the in-between space”

– 21 Nov). The show was described as

artist Samuel Forde juxtaposed with works

investigating “the nature of the city as a

in a variety of media by contemporary

Version Belongs To The Myth’, a group

personality” as well as saluting the work of

artists, including Andreas Gursky, Cecily

show featuring Maria Barnas, Michael

“Piranesi, Malevich and the Constructivists”

Brennan, Nigel Rolfe, Thomas Ruff and

Fortune, Felix Gmelin, Aileen Lambert,

and “tussling with perspective, order and

Clare Langan. Irrespective of the century

Gareth Moore, Pavel Pepperstein and

obedience to gravity.”

Elizabeth Price (23 Oct – 5 Dec).

in which they were born, the work of each of these artists resonates with a

goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Previously

on

show was ‘Every

www.projectartscentre.ie

4

Column

Chris Fite-Wassilak

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

Roundup art figures in a style that that caricatures

RECENT SHOWS AT IMMA

(1) Most Valuable Player. A sporting term used only in USA and South Korea it seems; translates as ‘Player of the Match’ round these parts.

PALLAS PROJECTS

the rich and famous with incisive line and

Real Art Top Ten 2009

As we irately wave away last year’s fuzzy cobwebs, I thought I’d take part in the journalistic tradition of summarizing the highlights of the previous Christian year. Taking a (rather large) leaf out of the book of music critic Greil Marcus, whose ‘Real Life Rock Top Ten’ has appeared in the pages of New West, Village Voice, Artforum, and The Believer for the past 30 years, here’s my view of the year in no particular order: 1. Lindsay Seers’ vertiginous ‘It Has To Be This Way’ at Matt’s Gallery: a tragic story of a missing sister sucked into a realm of academics and psychopaths? Or a clever parable on the intertwining of history, myth, and memory? Neither and both, a dense and rewarding work.

2. Niamh O’Malley’s untitled drawing in the front hallway of her show 'Frame, Glass, Black'. A room with a cloudy sky where the floor should be, right in middle is a long, irregular shape where the top layer of the paper has been ripped off the drawing to expose the white pulp underneath. It is at once Steve Wynn putting his elbow through Picasso’s La Rêve (1932) and the shattering mirror in Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), and a fine preface to her immaculate Bridge film.

3. “Elements of the past and elements of the future, combining to make something not quite as good as either”: Mighty Boosh’s cockney ‘peppermint nightmare’ provided an apt diagnosis of much artwork out there today.

4. I was inadvertently shuffled onto Simon and Tom Bloor’s modified barge, Hey for Lubberland! for a tour of the canals in Birmingham (yes, the ‘Venice of the North’). With a roof built according to geodesic principles, and decked out according to ‘razzle-dazzle’ naval designs of WWI, their tour took in wrecked building sites, overgrown walkways, and abandoned factories. What it felt like was a journey in Tarkovsky’s Zone, half expecting the world to turn to black and white when we finally disembarked.

5. The elusive, unravelling dematerialised narratives of ‘Every Version Belongs to the Myth’ at the Project Arts Centre. Or was it ‘Non- knowledge’…No, maybe it was ‘Black Boxing’…Oh, shit.

6. MVP (1): It’s easy to point to the elephant in the room and shout ‘Recession!’

But it’s only a word, and belief in it only makes it stronger. It was in From Hell (1999) that Alan Moore wrote, “The one place Gods inarguably exist is in our minds where they are real beyond refute, in all their grandeur and monstrosity.” The word has become a living God in itself, but with the drought-to-come of public funding and the resurrection of conservative politics, I’d forecast Mr. R as Art MVP of 2010. For 2009, I’m going to call a Mr. Phil Woolas, Minister of State for the UK’s borders and immigration.

Their new policy of requiring all visiting non-EU artists and performers to have pre-approved sponsored visas - a process that takes at least a month, which makes things difficult for, say, someone performing for one night, giving a lecture, or installing an exhibition. God forbid if they’re an artist from the Axis of Evil. This institutional discouragement has quietly started knocking down all the globe-hopping of the art world, and subtly instigated limitations on what art we will see. As in all immigration matters, expect Ireland to follow suit.

7. Winner of the Rolf Harris Most Fun Exhibition has ended in a three-way tie; Paul McDevitt and Cornelius Quabeck’s ‘Bierstadt’ was a good old- fashioned romp of colour and joyous irreverence. The Richard Wentworth curated ‘Boule to Braid’ was an impossible sprawl of over 50 artists, still managing to feel open and intimate. My favourite bit: Colin Guillemet’s pig-mask-wearing penguin, keeping Vanessa Billy’s plastic sac of water resting on a rock company. Declan Clarke’s Loneliness in West Germany got in on a technicality but still hung in there: though not explicitly ‘fun,’ his playful use of the Goethe building and managing to drag a disused car down an alley for dramatic impact brought the jury round to his side.

8. Biggest dud: It was another Biennale year. So what: the cafeteria won. But of all the blockbusters, what seemed to unite them was the sense that something was missing – Bourriaud’s ‘Altermodern’ attempt to coin another zeitgeist from patchy post-modern effects, Dominique Gonzales- Forrester’s disappointing take on the Tate Turbine Hall, or the ironic lack of thought in the Hayward’s ‘Walking in My Mind.’ No risks, no problems.

9. Magic Moment of the Year: A group of collectors gathered to hear artist X speak about their current show. One of the more eager attendants begins to riff on the qualities of the work, the paintings’ deft turn in subverting nature and representation. “But,” she asks, “it’s ambiguous really, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” the artist responds, “I guess.” (The story you have read is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

10. RIP: Though Dash Snow (b.1981) might have served as the latest public martyr for the caricatured artist’s lifestyle, the year has claimed some of the last century’s most intriguing characters: J.G. Ballard (b.1930), John Updike (b.1932), Merce Cunningham (b.1919), Claude Levi-Strauss (b.1908). It’s also had the tragic, the talented, the unknown, and the plain strange: Nick Waterlow (b.1941), Barry Flanagan (b.1941), Nancy Spero (b.1926), Mickey Carroll (b.1919, the last surviving munchkin from the Wizard of Oz), John Martyn (b.1948), Michael Jackson (b.1958 - d.1984).

January – February 2010

telling movements.”

The previous show was ‘Loops & Sidings’ an exhibition of new paintings by Donald Teskey (11 Nov – 5 Dec). As the press release noted, the works were the product of the artists time spent at the Albers Foundation, Connecticut, were derived from “rudimentary snapshots and snatches of film” which were then “rendered large scale in a limited number Philippe Parreno The Boy From Mars (video still)

Ida Mitrani work from 'Paper Work'

of oil on canvas paintings.” www.rubicongallery.ie

Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin

DUNAMAISE SHOWS

presented ‘Paper Work’, a group exhibition exploring the medium of paper (4 – 19 Dec). Exhibitors included John Beattie, Mark Beatty, Anna Boyle, Gemma Browne, Niall de Buitlear, Karl Burke, Clare Cashman, Aoife Cassidy, Fiona Chambers, Gary Coyle, Mark Cullen, Anita Delaney,

Lynda Benglis work from 'Linda Benglis' at IMMA

Vanessa Donoso López, Brian Fay, Alicia

The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin is currently showing an overview of works by the Algerian-French artist Philippe

Frankovich, Mark Garry, David Godbold, Cora Cummins 'Retreat' publicity / research image.

Helen Horgan, Wendy Judge, Atsushi Kaga, Vera Klute, Nevan Lahart, Áine Macken,

Parreno (4 Nov 2009 – 24 Jan 2010).

Alice Maher, Bea McMahon, Ida Mitrani,

Entitled ‘Philippe Parreno: November’ the

Clive Murphy, Christophe Neumann,

show comprises 15 mixed-media works.

Isobel Nolan, Magnhild Opdøl, Sarah O

The exhibition notes describe how

Brien, Garrett Phelan, Ruth Proctor, Linda

Parreno’s work “develops from different

Quinlan, Gerard Shanahan, Sonia Shiel,

sources ranging across art theory,

Ivan Twohig and Lee Welch.

philosophy, science fiction, popular

Previously on show was, ‘Automatic’

culture and film, and adopting many forms including

installation,

performance,

photography, drawing, sculpture and film.”

Also on show is ‘Lynda Benglis’, a selftitled retrospective, and the first European solo exhibition by the American sculptor (4 Nov 2009 – 24 Jan 2010). The exhibition is described as “highlighting Benglis’s creative output, which has defied prevailing views on the nature and function of art over forty years.” www.imma.ie

LAURINA PAPERINA

(24 Oct – 21 Nov) featuring the work of Alan Phelan 'Ciao, No More' installation view.

Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise recently presented Cora Cummins’s exhibition

Karl Burke, Alicia Frankovich, Candice Jacobs, Gereon Krebber, Ruth Proctor, Linda Quinlan and Berndnaut Smilde. www.pallasprojects.org

‘Retreat’ (28 Nov – 31 Dec). The press release noted that the show explored “the

SURFACE EVENTS

various significances of sites of escape and isolation […] spanning notions of a tactical withdrawal; regrouping and re-gathering resources. […] The exhibition is concerned with the potential of in-between states and the ultimate impossibility of retreating from the flux and cyclical change of the world.”

Previously exhibited was Alan

Anne Hendrick work from ‘The Surface of Events’

Phelan’s series of photography and

Anne Hendrick’s exhibition ‘The Surface

sculpture ‘Ciao, No More’ (23 Oct – 21

of Events’ recently opened at The Talbot

Nov). As the press release outlined, the

Gallery, Dublin (16 Oct – 12 Nov).

exhibition studied the Yugo factory in

Hendrick’s work was described as

Serbia “a car which Slobodan Milosevic

“juxtaposing the past and history with

marketed in the US, hoping to encourage

contemporary and found imagery.” www.talbotgallery.com

Serbs to outwit capitalism.” www.dunamaise.ie

OBSESSIVE/COMPULSIVE

PLANE/SITE Plane/Site Gallery, Dublin presented

Laurina Paperina Barry McGee Digital Print Ed. 2/3 2009 30.5 x 30.5 cm framed

‘16.4.1’, a group exhibition spanning four indoor and outdoor spaces, each focused on a separate theme (4 – 20 Dec). Exhibitors included Mark Beatty, Ella Burke, Claudia Boese, Ruth Doorley, Carol Freeman, Orla Gargan, Nicholas Grey, Elaine Hurley, Kenneth Lambert, Victoria Macarthur, Conor Mahon, Fionnuala Mahon, Elaine McCague, Elaine McHugh, Sharon Murphy

Donald Teskey The Whole Point of No Return Acrylic on Canvas 2007 100 x 120 cm

The Rubicon Gallery, Dublin exhibited Laurina Paperina’s ‘Bad!’ (7 Oct – 7 Nov).

The press release noted that Paperina’s subjects “include a bickering Gilbert and George jumping into the sea and a vulgar Matthew Barney chainsawed by an irritated Bjork … she skewers prominent

Sue Morris – work from 'The Obsessive / Compulisive Drawings'

and Nicky Teegan.

Previously on show at the venue was

Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar exhibited

‘Timeline’, a series of documentary

‘The Obsessive/Compulsive Drawings’, by

photographs by Richard Gilligan studying

Sue Morris (6 – 28 Nov). The show

skateboarding in Ireland (3 – 8 Nov). The

comprised works on paper, papier-mâché

show was described as a “mixture of

objects with collaged/drawn surfaces,

portraiture, action and small everyday

ready-mades, with drawn surfaces, eg.

moments"

tablets of soap and audio works. www.thelinenhall.com

www.mox.ie www.16-4-1-exhibition.com www.richgilligan.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

5

Roundup NIGHTLIGHT

THE BUTLER GALLERY

XAVIER RIBAS

exhibition of paintings and works by

McGuinness, Jennie Moran, Denis Roche,

artists whose practice developed in

Mark Roper, Dominic Thorpe, John

Kilkenny (17 Oct – 16 Dec). The

Tunney, and Ger Wolfe. vitalsigns.artscouncil.ie

Pennefeather, Kathleen Marescaux and

IMOCA, Dublin presented ‘Échantillons:

E.J. Brennan and Tony O Malley.

A Selection of French Contemporary Art’ (15 Oct – 26 Nov). The show was described as providing “a sampling of artists and contemporary art practices in

Irish based artist Jim Ricks recently took

France today.” It aimed to encourage

part in ‘Copystand: an autonomous

“reflection on what is gained from our

manufacturing zone’ at the Frieze Art Fair, London. The project devised by San Francisco based Stephanie Syjuco, was described as “live artwork-counterfeiting event held within a gallery booth space.”

artists (26 Nov – 1 Dec). The exhibition

The other participating artists were Yason Banal, Bernd Behr, Claudia Djabbari and Maria Taniguchi. www.friezeartfair.com

focused on the theme of captured light; the only source of light in the show being the actual artworks. As the gallery

A FOOLS DANCE

Work from Échantillons

COPYSTAND

‘Nightlight’, a group show featuring 18

Cathy

Paul Maye, Danny McCarthy, Seamus

www.butlergallery.com

Bombhouse, Dublin recently hosted

Donovan,

the Butler Gallery recently organised an

Henry, Mildred Anne Butler, George

Mairead Dunne work from 'Nightlight'

Charlotte

Henderson, Helene Hugel, Paul Gregg,

exhibition included works by Paul

Wendy Stephens work from 'Nightlight'

Brett,

ÉCHANTILLONS

To honour Kilkenny’s 400th anniversary,

Xavier Ribas, work from from the series Nomads, 2008.

increasing global interaction and interdependence.” www.imoca.ie

Belfast Exposed and PLACE jointly hosted Xavier Ribas’s new exhibition ‘Habitus’ (8 Oct – 24 Nov). As the gallery

ALEANA EGAN AT TGB&S

noted outlined, the work drew on the artist’s longstanding interest in urban structure,

archaeology

anthropology—“exploring

and changing

notions of centre and periphery within

ALICE MAHER

the urban context.” www.belfastexposed.org

outlined, the works included “a coin operated machine, large photographic

NEW MARVELS

light boxes, one thousand clocks, video works, paper cranes, neon lettering, and

Pauline Goggin work from ‘A Fools Dance’

a performance involving SLR cameras.”

Pauline Goggin’s show ‘A Fools Dance’

www.bombhouse.ie

recently exhibited at The Cork Vision OPG SHOWS

Centre, Cork (3 – 26 Sept). The work was

Alice Maher The Music of Things (2009) Boxed Set of 7 intaglio prints ed. of 25 Alana Egan. Publicity image for 'Last Night;

Michael Wann Once A Dwelling XII

described as exploring the “theme of return” and suggesting “tensions between

Temple Bar Gallery and Studios is

endurance and transparency, time and

currently showing ‘Sunday Night’, an

space.” www.corkvisioncentre.com

exhibition of works by Aleana Egan (13 Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo hosted an

Nov 2009 – 16 Jan 2010). The show

exhibition of drawings by Michael Wann

comprises photography, video, collage

entitled ‘Each Day New Marvels’ (9 – 31

and sculpture presented inside and

Oct). The show included large-scale

outside the gallery. The press release

compositions completed while on

notes that the work “emerges from

residency at the Cill Riallaig Project, Co.

processes defying neat categorisation,

Kerry, and the Ballinglen Arts Foundation,

entailing the application of methods

The Original Print Gallery, Dublin

Co. Mayo, during the summers of 2008

that

exhibited Helen Fay’s ‘Dogs and Other

and 2009.

spontaneous and physical.”

Helen Fay work from 'Dogs and Other Animals'

www.sligoartgallery.com

Animals’. This series of new etchings

SOME BLIND ALLEYS

Ireland (17 Nov – 2 Dec).

Previously shown at Original Print Gallery was ‘Tomorrow is Today’ (29 Oct between ten printmakers and ten graphic

Alice Maher Leda (2009) Hand etched ostrich egg, unique

Chanelle

relationship between artist and nature.”

exhibition materials noted that Maher

Performance

a

“follows the metamorphosis of an image

Belfast

on one sheet of paper, from the first

performance collective Bbeyond and the

drawing to the dirty face of drawing

Naughton Gallery, Belfast (22 – 24 Oct).

number 276.” The show featured a

It featured actuations and performances

soundscape produced in collaboration

by Jerzy Beres, Sandra Johnston, Alastair

with composer Trevor Knight.

Zbigniew Warpechowski. www.naughtongallery.org

The work studied the “threat of public

Walshe’s

by Alice Maher (12 Nov – 23 Dec). The

Swidzinski, Waldermar Tatarczuk and

potentials

of

www.greenonredgallery.com

Millennium

series of new sculptural works by Padraig Robinson was exhibited at Monster Truck Gallery and Studios, Dublin (12 – 24 Nov). The work was described as a “complex of ‘surfaces’ surrounding

DUN LAOGHAIRE PORTRAITS

contemporary

perceptions

and

The County Hall, Dún Laoghaire

representations of identity, mortality

presented Gary Coyle’s exhibition of

and language.”

The Talbot Gallery, Dublin recently presented ‘Peep’, a preview exhibition featuring painting, print, and installation by six artists who are exhibiting in the Dec). The exhibitors were Louise Butler, Fergus Byrne, Hugh Delap, Clare Henderson, Joe Stanley and Mars Wright.

The Crow Gallery, Temple Bar hosted

Oct – 15 Nov). Coyle noted of the series,

Drawing Room’, an exhibition of drawing

VITAL SIGNS

‘Cloudburst’, an exhibition of new

“working from photographs, an image is

by artists Mark Beatty, Michelle

Vital Signs, a programme of arts and

paintings by Helen Mc Nulty (13 – 17

drawn and then erased, drawn and erased

Considine, Ida Mitrani & Julia Pallone

health events, which included an

Oct).

and hopefully over time an image will

(21 Oct – 27 Oct).

exhibition spread across five Dublin venues, a conference in the Royal College of Physicians (14 – 21 Oct). The artists

www.garycoyle.ie

Jan). As the press release stated, “Stitt used painting and text to recall his formative experiences and applied these in a response to the Craigavon area”. www.millenniumcourt.org

gallery throughout 2010 (26 Nov – 19

Previously on show was ‘The

from every walk of life.”

Centre,

Knows This Is Nowhere’ (10 Dec – 23

www.talbotgallery.com

www.monstertruck.ie

Arts

works by Andre Stitt entitled ‘Everybody

drawings, ‘Dún Laoghaire Portraits’ (29

form […] the sitters are of all ages and

Court

Portadown exhibited a new series of Louise Butler work from 'Peep'

‘Fun Friendship and Maybe More’, a

and

ANDRE STITT

www.thejoinery.org

MONSTER TRUCK

sound

www.pssquared.org

CLOUDBURST

www.helenmcnultyart.com

embedded in its ears, which continuously

memory.”

of

As part of Polska Year, ‘Aiming: A

MacLennan, Dr. Mia Lerm Hayes, Jan

‘dummy head’ with microphones

paintings, drawings and prints. Walshe’s

AIMING

between

everyday voices and sounds using a

exhibition

highlighting “an interest in the enigmatic

collaboration

featured a non-stop recording system of

poetic

collection of drawing, print and sculpture

was

nine days (15 – 24 Oct). The installation

and private surveillance, but also the

paintings based on nests and cocoons,

Event’

installation running continuously for

‘Some Blind Alleys’ (15 – 18 Oct), an

work comprised a series of large-scale

Art

www.templebargallery.com

Hollerweger’s ‘24/7’, an electro–acoustic

The Joinery, Dublin recently showed

presented ‘The Music of Things’, a

www.originalprint.com

instinctive,

PEEP

The Green On Red Gallery, Dublin

designers.

sometimes

PS2, Belfast recently presented Florian

recorded the soundscape in the space.

was the Scottish artist’s first solo show in

– 15 Nov), a collaborative exhibition

are

24/7

featured in the exhibition were Marie

CONSCIOUSNESS The Ivy House, Dublin is currently showing ‘Consciousness’ an exhibition of new works by Anthony Cullen (2 Nov 2009 – 1 Feb 2010). The press release noted “in his portraits Cullen is interested in exploring the impact of a subject either connecting or failing to connect with the audience.” www.lugmedia.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

6

January – February 2010

Roundup VANESSA DAWS

TIM STAMPTON

Turner, Stephen Forbes, Michael Bartlett,

126, GALWAY

world means. The participating artists

Erwann Tirilly, Sarah Harvey, David

Ken Fandell’s show ‘Between Me and

were: Ann Sofi Siden, Amanda Coogan,

Hedderman,

Maya

Galway Bay’ was presented at 126

Maryam Jaffri, Dennis McNulty, Kitty

Kulenovic, Neil Douglas, Mike Fitzharris,

Gallery, Galway (6 – 28 Nov). According

Rogers, Elaine Byrne, Guy Ben-Ner,

Sandra Bell and Vanessa Marsh.

to the press release Fandell’s work—

Andrew Dodds, Cleary & Connolly,

created specifically in response to the

Clare Langan and Ken Fandell.

Chris

Stevens,

www.stonegallery.ie

FIONA LARKIN The Context Gallery, Derry showed Fiona Larkin’s ‘End Of The Road

Tim Stampton Walker

(Beginning Of The Sky)’, (13 Nov – 12 Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart exhibited ‘Fair Ladies’, an exhibition of etchings, woodcuts and paintings by Tim Stampton (7 – 28 Nov). The press material

Vannessa Daws 'Volute' installation view.

described

the

show

as

referencing “the Circus Of Life” and Ballina Arts Centre, Co Mayo presented

“observation,

‘Volute’, an exhibition of painting,

predicaments.”

noted that Daws “the viewer can discover

“familiar

www.timstampton.com

sculpture and animation by Vanessa Daws (5 – 22 Dec). The press material

to

Cake Opens

aspects of the work that they can manipulate, manoeuvre or peer into.” www.vanessadaws.com

Dec). Described by the artist as “a series of experiential investigations that the focus of the exhibition was pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart’s landing her plane in Gallagher’s field outside Derry in 1932. www.contextgallery.co.uk

The previous show was ‘FormReform-Transform’, an exhibition by Sarah Dunne (15 – 31 Oct).” www.kenfandell.com www.126.ie

The Oonagh Young Gallery, Dublin recently exhibited ‘Delicias de la Crisis’ (27 Nov – 23 Dec). Described by the exhibition featured drawing, painting

‘Pintar e Não Pintar’, an exhibition of

and print. The show included works by

works by Dermot Browne took place at

Alexander Barry, Jeanette Doyle, Selma

the Galeria Ícone in the Pátio da

Makela, Paul McKinley, Tamsin Snow

Inquisição, Coimbra, Portugal (9 Oct – 5

and Sarah Tynan.

real projected spaces.”

Meaning, Minimum Means’ (5 Nov 2009

galeriaicone.blogspot.com

– 16 Jan 2010). Games was one of the designers. The press release notes, Gordon Cheung work from 'Difference Engine'

designed over 100 posters for the war

PERSONAS TO MATCH

exhibitors were Angela Fitzgerald,

The Burren College of Art, Clare

Brendan Corrigan, Bridget Sullivan,

presented ‘Personas To Match’, a group

Christy O Keefe, Joe O Connor, John O

exhibition of undergraduate works (6 –

Reagan, Johnny Wallace, Keith Bulman,

9 Dec), presented alongside a graduate

Laurence Fitzgerald, Linda Barry, Nora

exhibition entitled ‘Ya Know What I

Kenefick and Patrick O Sullivan.

during and after the war earned him a

founded by artist Carly Mc Nulty. Cake is

reputation as the most direct and

dedicated to the presentation and

efficient of visual communicators.”

support of contemporary visual arts

TRUE MEANING OF ART

‘Secret Garden’, a fundraising exhibition

practice in the region. The venture is

The Market Studios, Dublin presented

for

based in the old band hall at the Curragh

‘There Is No True Meaning Of Art’, an

Denominational School, Dublin was

Camp, an army base and military college.

exhibition

Garry,

exhibited in Mill Street Artist’s Studios,

Cakes inagural project was the exhibition

Deborah Smith and Katarzyna Gajewska

Dublin (14 – 15 Nov). This fundraising

‘Difference Engine’ (27 Nov – 11 Dec

(27 – 29 Nov). The press release noted

exhibition of works on paper included

2009) which featured the work of Mark

the artists’ aim to “leave the viewer with

works by members of The Black Church

Cullen, Gillian Lawler, Wendy Judge,

a sense of ambiguity” and invite

Print Studio alongside works by the

Jessica Foley and Gordon Cheung. As

“interpretation within a contemplative

Griffith Barracks schoolchildren.

the press release outlined the show was

space.”

Kerlin Gallery, Dublin hosted ‘On A Perilous Margin’, an exhibition by Isabel Nolan (27 Nov – 26 Dec). As the press materials noted, “Nolan’s exhibitions present a universe of competing forces where each element is able to hold its own and make its presence felt.”

Previously on show was, ‘The Grey Before Dawn, Part 2’, an exhibition of works by Kathy Prendergast (23 Oct – 21 Nov). www.kerlin.ie

themarketstudios.wordpress.com

of live performance art as part of The Straylight Performance Art Festival (8 –

TRUE ROMANCE

11 Oct). This included the work of by

www.dubilinartmill.com

cakecontemporaryarts@gmail.com www.cakecontemporaryarts.com

www.imma.ie

HEAVEN’S FULL

Nevan Lahart work from 'Heavens Full, and the Fire Escapes are Locked'

Heaven’s Full Gallery, London recently presented ‘Heaven’s Full, And The Fire Escapes Are Locked’ by Nevan Lahart (7 Nov – 5 Dec). The exhibition made use of found objects, sculpture, painting,

how “Lahart has built his reputation on the self-deprecating, irreverent humour of his works.” www.heavensfull.com

BOOKSMART Okay Mountain, Austin, Texas presented ‘Booksmart’ a group exhibition featuring works by Joshua Callaghan, Gareth Long, Neva Elliott, Heman Chong, Anthony Romero, William Hundley, and Erick Michaud (Nov 7 – Dec 12). The gallery notes described ‘Booksmart’ as dealing with artistic outputs that “re-order, deconstruct, or alter the book as a cultural system, either for critique, humour, formal investigation, or all three.” www.okaymountain.com www.nevaelliott.com

Murphy & Kramer Magnhild Opdøl

Galway Arts Centre is currently hosting

KATE BETTS

two exhibitions (3 Dec 2009 – 21 Jan

‘Relatively Long Arms, Grasping Hands’,

2010). Anita Murphy, a Galway based

an on-street showcase of one-off prints

artist presents a collection of photographs

by Kate Betts was recently exhibited in

The Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin

entitled ‘Bathers: 365’ and Dutch artist

The Curiosity Cabinet, Temple Bar and

presented True Romance, an exhibition

Arno Kramer is exhibiting a new body of

The Printmakers Gallery, Dublin (24

of new paintings by Oliver Comerford (5

work entitled ‘Breatherhyme’.

Nov 2009 – 5 Jan 2010).

The LAB, Dublin presented ‘Beginning At The End Of The Tale’, an exhibition of new works by Magnhild Opdøl (3 Nov – 23 Dec). As the press release noted Opdøl’s work comprised “exercises in exploring systems and cycles of life and

www.thelab.ie

www.signalartscentre.ie

The venue also exhibited a weekend

works by emerging artists.

showing ‘The Interaction of Time, Place

awkwardness and mystery.”

Multi-

introverted assumptions of nostalgia”.

the form where creative decisions exist.”

rural Co. Leitrim and contain “an

Mark

Barracks

live performance work alongside new

into that gap between the concept and

works are inspired by the landscape of

featuring

Griffith

the future and the past, challenging

Signal Arts Centre, Bray is currently

2010). As the press release notes, the

Oppenheim and Beverly Semmes.

and the gallery notes drew attention to

ART MILL

established practitioners in the field of

EDEL BARTLEY

paintings by Edel Bartley (19 – 31 Jan

Antony Gormley, Isabel Nolan, Denis

lo-fi mechanics, performance and video

www.burrencollege.ie

philosophical trajectories forking into

death and which allow the viewer peer

and Being’, an exhibition of new

www.iol.ie/~cobharts

Mean’, hosted at the BCA Gallery.

“influenced by the systems and generation, each artist’s work pulls on

included works by Amanda Coogan,

exhibition by ART13, a year-old

new not-for profit arst-led initiave

Isabel Nolan, on a perilous margin, 2009, Installation view

shown at Tallaght Community Arts

High Ground’ (1 Oct – 25 Oct), an

modernistic style, his work before,

technologies of time, space and

Modern Art’s Collection was recently

Sirius Arts Centre, Cork presented ‘The

Cake Contemporary Arts, Kildare is a

KERLIN GALLERY

represented in the Irish Museum of

ART13: THE HIGH GROUND

effort. Using his own distinctively sparse,

www.ncad.ie

works by Irish and international artists

www.oonaghyoung.com

collective based in Youghal, Cork. The

20th century’s most influential graphic

‘Figuring It Out’, an exhibition featuring

Centre (17 Nov – 5 Dec). The show

OONAGH YOUNG GALLERY

PINTAR E NÃO PINTAR

of painting: flat, expressive colour, into

showing ‘Abram Games: Maximum

FIGURING IT OUT

gallery as an “incubator project”, this

situate traditionally ‘modern’ elements

NCAD Gallery, Dublin is currently

War Poster artist during World War II, he

the gallery.”

examine the nature of accidental history”

repeated motifs in this series seek to

“During his time as the Official British

into scrolls that dominate the length of

Nov). As the press release noted “the

MINIMUM MAXIMUM

www.tulca.ie

Galway region—“stitches photographs

STONE GALLERY The Stone Gallery, Dublin closed its 2009 season with a winter exhibition featuring 20 established and emerging Irish and international artists (28 Nov – 24 Dec).

The exhibitors included Christine Bowen, Murielle Celis, Sahoko Blake, Owen Rohu, Tanya Nyegaard, David

Oliver Comerford True Romance II oil on canvas on board, 122 x 183 cm, 2009

Nov – 5 Dec). The works derived from the artist’s archive of photographs—the press release noted how they represented ideas of the “romantic landscape— mediated through photography and film—presenting to us a vernacular sublime.”

The previous show was Paul Nugent’s

series

of

paintings,

‘Remembrance Pt II’ (17 – 31 Oct). kevinkavanaghgallery.ie

www.print.ie

www.galwayartscentre.ie

TULCA 09

DANGEROUS THINGS

Galway City recently hosted TULCA 09,

Exchange Dublin, Temple Bar presented

an annual festival of contemporary

their first gallery event ‘Dangerous

visual art (Nov 6 – 21). This year’s edition

Things’, a collaborative residency with

of the festival, curated by Helen Carey

artists Joseph Noonan Ganley and Sam

was entitled ‘Our Need For Consolation

Keogh (16 – 29 Nov). The press release

Is Impossible To Satiate’ and was

noted “the residency negotiated the

described as aiming to “examine the

artists’ separate practices with an

armatures in which the Human Being

emphasis

tries to articulate what living in the

collaborative work.”

on

high

turnover

of

www.facebook.com/exchangedublin

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

7

January – February 2010

ROUNDUP WE INVENTED HALLOWEEN

show Byrne sought to question attitudes

‘We Invented Halloween’, a video

towards ageing “where old age is

Faramawy, Alannah Byrne, Amanda

installation Michael Fortune was

generally constructed around reference

Dunsmore, Backwater Artists Group,

presented as part of the Darklight

to vulnerability.”

Basement www.westcorkartscentre.com

Festival. The press release describes Fortune’s work as “offering the viewer insight into the immediate environment

Cork.

CECILA BULLO

Exhibitors

include

Project

Space,

Adham

Cork

Printmakers, Danny Holcroft, David Blandy, Glebe House, Juza, Knee Jerk,

AOIFE DESMOND

Molloy Mishkas, Open Shutter, Outlaw

of family life, human relationships and

Studios,

contemporary ritual.”

Iremonger, Stephen McGlynn, The Quiet www.thisisnotashop.com www.darklight.ie

Peter

McMorris,

Sarah

Club, The Space, Tom Campbell and

studying “questions associated with the

Trevor Goring.

analysis, translation and interpretation www.arttrail.ie

MY WORLD IS OVER The LAB, Dublin recently presented Mark Clare’s ‘My World is Over’, an exhibition of video, photography and sculpture (3 Nov – 23 Dec). As the press materials noted Clare’s work “articulates and constructs parallels between the current global economic rupture and historical and political ideologies”. www.markclare.com www.thelab.ie

THE POLISH LANGUAGE

Dublin based artist Aoife Desmond used the residency period at Space Delawab, Belfast to situate her ongoing project ‘Making Journeys Without Maps’ (8 Oct).

The works comprises still and moving image based mappings of ‘drift walks’ linking Ireland, Iceland and the Arctic. delawab.wordpress.com

DEIRDRE GALLAGHER

The Custom House Studios Gallery, Mayo showed ‘Metanoia’, Cecila Bullo’s exhibition of new works (5 Nov – 6 Dec).

The press release noted that the show investigated “the potential of a journey

Get into The Roundup

Alice Lyons The Polish Language

or voyage taken in the hope of healing one’s inner self”. www.customhousestudios.ie

The Higher Bridges Gallery, Enniskillen

■■ To have your exhibition or

recently presented Alice Lyons and Orla

event considered for inclusion

in the round-up section, simply

e-mail text and images to the

editor (jason@visualartists.ie).

Mc Hardy’s film work ‘The Polish

DIS / LOCATE

motion, time-lapse and computer techniques, the poem unfolds onscreen with typography as a key visual element … its style is based on underground

Michael Hanna 9-9 PS2 Tuesday, 03.11

publications in Poland in the 1970s and

PS2 Belfast presented ‘9 to 5 Residency: A

series of one-day residencies / shows held in the venue. The exhibitors were Sarah

McBride,

Michael

Hanna,

Fionnuala Doran, Laura Graham, Kevin Walsh, Anne Marie Taggart, John McKeown/Pia

Munita,

Acitore

Z

Artezione/William Artt, Jane Butler, Aideen Doran, Catherine Roberts, Alissa Kleist and Tonya McMullan.

1980s.” www.alicelyons.ie www.orlamchardy.com

Deirdre Gallagher Moments of Absolute Blue Collograph and Monoprint

Limerick Printmakers Studio and Gallery,

Anita Groener’s drawing installation, ‘Mesh’ (10 Oct – 21 Nov). The press release explained “the artist explores alternative versions of a no-mans land where one may get lost through everyday trajectories.”

Kate Byrne’s ‘Nobody Photographs

Ballymote Enterprise Centre, Sligo

The Night’, an exhibition of monoprints and collographs by Deirdre Gallagher.

Ian Wieczorek work from 'DIS/Locate'

The press release noted the artist’s interest in “the ambiguity of the visible and invisible … where we exist in this world but are on the threshold of the next.” www.limerickprintmakers.com

‘DIS / locate’, an exhibition of small-scale paintings by Ian Wieczorek, was shown in the upstairs gallery at Custom House Studios, Westport (2 October – 1 November). This recent work “engages with the experiential nature of painting,

THREE ROCK ART GROUP

West Cork Arts Centre, Cork presented

FÓIDÍN MEARBHAILL

Limerick recently presented ‘Dark Falls

www.pssquared.org

WEST CORK ARTS CENTRE

media.”

Cecilia Bullo Metanoia 2008 mixed media variable

release noted “using hand-drawn, stop-

Nov). The exhibition format comprised a

using painting practice and digital www.cityarts.ie www.artfirst.co.uk www.oup.com/uk/music/repprom/berkeley

Language’ (30 Oct – 30 Nov). As the press

Daily Changing Use of Space’ (3 – 16

of the musical score into a visual format

Aoife Desmond work from 'Making Journeys Without Maps'

tracing the paths of migrating birds 9 TO 5

Kevin Laycock and Michael Berkeley Collision

No Grants Gallery, Temple Bar presented ‘Naked Ambition’, the first exhibition of Three Rock Art Group (27 Nov – 9 Dec).

Exhibitors included Catherine Brugha,

as work completed by the viewer: how paintings are read, and the relationship

Louise Meade, Reets Mooney, Germaine Morrissey and Peter Walsh.

Me Anymore…’ (29 Aug – 3 Oct) was

www.threerockart.com

previously on show in the space. In this

Mearbhaill – A Field In Transition’ (27 Nov – 18 Dec). As the gallery notes outlined, the show was a collaboration between

an

archaeologist,

horticulturalist, farmer and website designer, and involved planting flax, the creation of a crop drawing and a discovery of roadways through an archaeological survey. www.foidinmeara.com

should include: venue name,

location, dates and a brief

description of the work / event.

Note that ‘hard-copy’ cannot be

accepted due to the volume of

material that needs to be

collated for this section of the

publication. 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,

from a range of artists at all

stages in their careers.

between artist-mediated surface and perceived spatial presence.” www.ianwieczorek.com

Patricia Casey, Susan Dubsky, Camilla Fanning, Bridget Flinn, Jack Gillen,

recently exhibited John Langan’s ‘Fóidín

■■ Your text details / press release

ART TRAIL ‘09 ArtTrail ’09, Cork City’s annual festival of contemporary art, recently took place (13 – 22 Nov). This year ArtTrail featured over 100 artists in events throughout Co.

COLLISION

■■ Priority is given to events taking

St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral, Dublin on

place within Ireland, but do let

behalf of CityArts presented ‘Collision’, a

us know if you are taking part

series of new cross-disciplinary works by

in a significant international

visual artist Kevin Laycock and composer

event.

Michael Berkeley (14 – 21 Nov). The press materials described the show as

Visual Artists Ireland Professional Development Training Workshops 2010 Presentation Skills Communicating your Practice 22 & 23 January 2010. Strule Arts Centre, Omagh.

Technical & Installation Skills for Visual Artists 6 February 2010. VOID, Derry.

Earning Opportunities February 2010. Higher Bridges Gallery The Clinton Centre, Enniskillen.

Working with Public and Private Galleries February 2010 Ards Arts Centre Conway Square, Newtownards.

Cross Generational & Reminiscence Work March 2010. Belfast Exposed, Belfast.

Money Matters for Artists with Patricia Clyne-Kelly 15 February . Visual Artists Ireland, Dublin.

Evaluation Tools for Artists Working in Collaboration

15 March. Higher Bridges Gallery The Clinton Centre, Enniskillen.

Date: TBC. Belfast Exposed , Belfast.

Peer Critique - Multi-media and Installation with Conor McFeely Peer Critique - All Media Spring 2010. VOID, Derry.

1 February 2010. Visual Artist Ireland, Dublin.

BOOKING To book all other workshops please contact Monica Flynn, VAI Education Officer, Visual Artists Ireland, 37 Nth Great Georges St, Dublin 1 T: 00353 (0)1 8722296 E : monica@visualartists.ie Further details available at http://www.visualartists.ie/Services/sfr_current_prog.html

8

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

NEWS

News BUDGET 2010 AND THE ARTS In December commenting on the Budget announcement Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, noted that the importance of the arts, sport and tourism sectors to the country were “reflected in the commitments contained in the Renewed Programme for Government and the funding secured under Budget 2010 for the Departmentís activities over the course of next year”.

Funding to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism for 2010 is €501m.

Within this, current funding is €369m, while capital expenditure is €132m.

Funding to Arts, Culture and Film is €166m, funding for Sport and Recreation services is €115m and funding to Tourism Services is €155m. Funding to the Arts Council, the state agency for the arts is €69.15m, a 6% reduction on the 2009 figure of €73.35m. Arts Council current funding is between 2006 and 2007 levels.

Minister Cullen also stated that “at the Global Irish Economic Forum held in Farmleigh in September there was wide acknowledgement of the importance of culture in promoting Ireland abroad and developing a unique brand for the country in new markets …

Internationally, the creative economy is moving centre stage and creativity is seen as a crucial bedrock, underpinning our knowledge economy. I am pleased that significant funding to support the arts is secured for 2010” Culture Ireland and Tourism Ireland have intensified joint planning on cross-promotions in the cultural tourism field. Initiatives for 2010 will include a programme of cultural projects and events for the World Expo in Shanghai from May to October. In January, Culture Ireland will lead its annual performing arts promotional mission to the United States, its priority market, promoting an expanded range of showcases by Irish music, dance and theatre artists / companies. Capital funding for arts infrastructure has been consolidated in the Department and all major arts capital projects will be completed as will regional capital projects to which commitments have been made. Projects for completion in 2010 include Solas Picture House in Galway, the Model Niland in Sligo, Limerick City Art Gallery and Droichead Arts Centre, Dundalk.

Day-to-day funding for the national cultural institutions is maintained at or above 2007 levels and their capital funding is maintained at 2009 levels to ensure continued investment in high quality visitor experiences as part of an integrated cultural tourism drive. The aim for 2010 is to exceed the 3.2m visitor target at the cultural institutions.

Investment in regional and smaller museums like Marsh’s Library, Hunt Museum, Science Gallery, Print Museum, Foynes Flying Boat Museum and the James Joyce Centre will continue. The digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 Census will be completed. It is intended to name the preferred tenderer for the new National Concert Hall project shortly.

Work is ongoing in assessing the GPO

complex as a possible location for the Abbey, the National Theatre.

In 2010 the Department will also create a new National Opera Company.

The Artist Tax Exemption has been maintained with some adjustment only in respect of very high earners to reflect a more equitable apportionment of the tax burden.

Minister Cullen's full response to Budget 2010 with regards to the Arts, Sport and Tourism sector is available here: www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/ publications/release.asp?ID=100729

Arts in Ireland, suggests that both

threats posed to arts funding in Ireland

analysts and policymakers may be

and the role of the arts and culture in

underestimating the economic impact

County Wicklow. www.ncfa.ie

of the arts sector.

The report found that currently Arts Council funding of €76 million to organisations countrywide supports more than 3,000 jobs, generates a turnover of €192 million and returns €54 million in the form of income, VAT and other taxes to the Exchequer. The Gross Added Value of the wider arts sector is calculated at €782 million, with a total expenditure of €1.8 billion, 26,519

Cautious Welcome Visual Artists Ireland acknowledges the large amount of work undertaken by its members, political parties, and other interest groups with lobbying and persuasion that has provided us with a budget that recognises the strong role that the arts have to play in the recovery of the country.

Speaking after Minister’s Cullen's response to the 2010 ROI Budget Noel Kelly, CEO of Visual Artists Ireland, noted that “... it has been a very tough time for all working to support the arts in Ireland. Since the publication of our research in December 2009, we have been in constant contact with our members, semi-state bodies and government parties to try and raise the profile of the visual arts contribution to this country. We are gratified to see that the minister has acknowledged this, and we look forward to the forthcoming months of working in partnership with government, both local and national, semi-state bodies, and the Arts Council to ensure that we undertake the role that we have outlined in our presentations.”

Visual Artists Ireland recognises that although cuts to the Arts Council and Culture Ireland will impact on the arts, it is now a positive challenge that we have to undertake as we move forward.

VAI looks forward to clarification on current areas of concern to visual artists such as taxation on creative works, social welfare entitlements and infrastructure provision.

Noel Kelly concluded his comments by saying “...this is only the beginning.

Like all parts of the Irish economy the visual arts have taken a severe hit over the past months. It is up to us to rebuild, and indeed take this as an opportunity to re-imagine, as we move into the day to day realities of 2010. We thank the Arts Council specifically for their words of courage as we went through these dark days of struggle for culture in Ireland. I look forward to meeting with my colleagues in the visual arts sector in the New Year to look strategically at how we can all continue to work together to create a bright future for every Irish man, woman and child.”

jobs and tax revenue of €352 million. In the creative industries, where Gross Added Value is calculated at €5.5 billion, total employment is 96,000.

The findings of the report were described by Arts Council Chairman Pat Moylan on its publication as “rigorous, evidenced-based and very welcome”.

The author of the report, Dr Alan Gray, said that while he does not believe that the arts should be evaluated solely on economic grounds, the sector is both important and labour intensive while making a significant contribution to Exchequer revenues.

The full report of Assessment of Economic Impact of the Arts in Ireland is now available to download from the Arts Council website at: www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Arts%20Council%20 -%20Economic%20Impact%20-%20Final%20Report. pdf

ARTS CAMPAIGNING A delegation from the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) met with Martin Cullen TD, Minister for the Arts, Sport and Tourism on Wednesday 25

show until 10 January 2010. www.orlaithross.com www.ccoi.ie www.irishartsreview.com

Four is no more In November 2009 Lee Welch director and founder of Four, Dublin announced the end of initiative– “this November sees four turn four. Triumphant as this occasion maybe, it also brings sorrow, for it is with regret that I announce Four’s closure”. Over the past four years Four has presented 35 exhibitions and worked with 91 artists. Welch extended his gratitude to “each of the artists and our faithful audience, for the adventure, joy and generously demonstrated time

that further cuts to arts funding would have on the sector in advance of the impending Budget 2010.

The delegation, comprised Tania Banotti of Theatre Forum, Sarah Glennie of the Irish Film Institute, Gerry Godley of the Improvised Music Company and Fiach Mac Conghail of the Abbey Theatre, called on Minister Cullen to bring the demands of the NCFA to the Cabinet. In support of the NCFA’s campaign, the delegation presented the Minister with a petition signed online by over 10,000 people since its launch on 28 October 2009.

The National Campaign for the Arts is lobbying for the retention of Culture Ireland, the Irish Film Board and the

Artists’

Tax

Exemption,

the

maintenance of existing levels of arts funding for the Arts Council and continued full representation of the arts The Wicklow Campaign for the Arts held a public meeting on 23 November led by Courthouse Arts Centre and Mermaid Arts Centre that highlighted the need for sustained support to artists and venues nationwide.

The meeting was attended by artists, arts workers and advocates, supporters and audience members, as well as media and political figures, who discussed the

www.thisisnotashop.com

THE MODEL STUDIOs

The Model in Sligo has announced a call for applications for its new studio facility which is scheduled to open in spring 2010, following the completion of the €5 million redevelopment of the Model Arts and Niland Centre which began in April this year.

Located in Sligo town, The Model is a multi-disciplinary arts organisation that is led by contemporary visual arts programming. As well as expanding its operations and programme by over a third, the extensive redevelopment programme of Future Model will provide additional facilities and storage space alongside purpose-built artists’ studios.

These eight studio spaces will be available to rent for periods of 12 months for between 12 and 36 months. Fees for the studios will be subsidised and will include 24-hour access plus broadband access as generally at a small additional cost. One studio is residential and all must be viewed. www.modelart.ie

and again, over these past four years”. www.fourdublin.com

November 2009 to discuss the impact

at senior cabinet level.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ARTS The Arts Council recently published a report written by Indecon International Economic Consultants’ Managing Partner, Dr Alan Gray, which suggests that the arts are a major contributor to the Irish economy that can drive both job creation and investment. The report commissioned by the Arts Council, Assessment of Economic Impact of the

EMERGING MAKER Ceramicist Orlaith Ross, a recent graduate of the National College of Art and Design, has been presented with the Crafts Council of Ireland / Irish Arts Review Emerging Maker Award 2009.

Now in its second year, the Crafts Council of Ireland / Irish Arts Review Emerging Maker Award was established to support and assist a new generation of talented and innovative craftspeople in the development of their career and creative craft-based practice. The award is open to newly-trained craftspeople.

As winner of the Crafts Council of Ireland / Irish Arts Review Emerging Maker Award, Ross receives a prize fund of €5,000 and a Profile Feature in the Winter 2009 edition of the Irish Arts Review. Her work is currently included in the ‘Generation Show’ at the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny, where it is on

Marta Fernandez Calvo, Gordon MattaClark, Chequerboard, Kathryn Maguire, Jessica Foley, Aine Ivers, Clive Murphy, Patricia McKenna, Fiona Larkin, Terry Markey and Will St Leger. This was followed by a ‘3rd Annual Christmas (Art) Fair’ (17 – 19).

NOT closing At the end of December 2009 Thisisnotashop closed is gallery at 26 Benburb Street, Dublin 7. Since opening at the beginning of 2006, the venue has held 80 exhibitions / events and featured the over 175 artists grace our space.

In addition to its support of emerging artists we have also held special exhibitions/ events that brought seminal contemporary art influences to Ireland for the first time. These have included the first solo exhibition in Ireland of Gordon Matta-Clark – entitled ‘Food’ in December of 2007 – and in May 2009 an exhibition of Fluxus artist Larry Miller and the first Fluxus Concert to be held in Dublin.

However, Thisisnotashop as an entity is not ceasing to exist. The venture i will continue to create exhibitions in both Ireland and New York City in various independent venues, as well as maintaining their Writing Workshop, which is scheduled to present work at P.S.1 Centre for Contemporary Arts in Queens, NY, in February 2010. The website www.thisisnotashop.com will become the base of their operations – providing information about various exhibitions and events.

Thisisnotashop closed its Benburb Street programme with ‘The Long Goodbye’ (10 – 13 Dec 2009) a group show featuring past collaborators including Wendy Judge, Robert Carr,

GLUCKSMAN FLOOD DAMAGE Following the heavy rains in late November last year, UCC’s Lewis Glucksman Gallery in Cork suffered extensive flood damage to its basement.

The basement area of the gallery houses storage space, a major plant area and kitchens. The art store area of the basement housed a total of 148 artworks, the majority of which were on loan from University College Cork’s Art Collection, with 11 artworks directly on loan from artists. The art in storage at the time of the flooding included works by artists including Hughie O’Donoghue, Louis le Brocquy and Martin Gale.

A recovery operation was initiated as soon as the gallery was alerted, with floodwater being pumped from the basement and ground floor to clear a safe passage to the art store so that gallery staff and a team of conservation experts could access the basement and respond to the damage.

The main exhibition spaces were not affected but the gallery remains closed until further notice. www.glucksman.org

NEW SPACE IN ENNIS In November 2009 it was announced that work is to begin on a project to create a new dedicated exhibition space for the Mid-West with the refurbishment of the old museum at the De Valera Library in Ennis, Co. Clare. The contract for the project was awarded on Tuesday

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

9

January – February 2010

NEWS 17 November, and the venue is being developed by Clare County Council in an attempt to provide suitable gallery space for the county and promote public access to the arts.

It is estimated that the refurbishment and development project will cost in the region of €250,000, with funding being supplied through grant aid from the Arts Council, the Department of the Environment and Clare County Council. The existing building is a protected structure and its historical nature has been taken into account in the design of the new exhibition space, which was developed by the Clare County Council Architectural Services team in conjunction with P. Coleman & Associates, ODM, John Cuddy & Partners and the Clare County Arts Officer. New humidity control and lighting systems and a multifunctional space have been designed specifically to enhance the existing ecclesiastical architectural features of the building and ensure the provision of quality exhibition space to museum standard.

It is anticipated that the new gallery will be completed in May 2010.

SCULPTURE in PARKLANDS AWARD The prestigious Irish Landscape Institute Design Award in the Heritage and Conservation category was presented to Dermot Foley of Dermot Foley Landscape Architects for the firm’s Sculpture in the Parklands Landscape Strategy at a

ceremony at Dublin Castle on 12 November 2009.

The Landscape Strategy for Sculpture in the Parklands will provide an important template for the development of the innovative land and environmental sculpture facility’s programme at Lough Boora Parklands in Co. Offaly. It will also make the landscape accessible to the public. The strategy was described by the Irish Landscape Institute judges as being a ‘sophisticated and imaginative project, which resolves a conflict between its two heritages industry and ecology’. Sculpture in the Parklands has congratulated the team at Dermot Foley Landscape Architects and looks forward to working with them in the future. www.youtube.com/view_play_ list?p=5CD25D5A5F4B9328 www.sculptureintheparklands.com

EMERGING VISUAL ARTIST AWARD Wexford Arts Centre in partnership with the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and the Arts Council has announced that Dublin-based visual artist Niall de Buitléar is the recipient of the fourth annual Emerging Visual Artist Award.

The Emerging Visual Artist Award was developed by Wexford Arts Centre in association with its partner organisations as an initiative to support emerging visual artists in Ireland with an award of €5,000 and a solo exhibition at Wexford Arts Centre. The award aims to recognise and support the

development of committed emerging artists. Niall de Buitléar was chosen by an independent selection panel from over 120 submissions received following a national open competition selection process. De Buitléar will create a new body of work from November 2009 to October 2010, which will be exhibited at Wexford Arts Centre in early 2011.

Niall de Buitléar was born in 1983 in Dublin. He is the current occupant of the Irish Artists’ Residential Studio at the Red Stables in the St Anne’s Park, Dublin and his work is primarily an exploration of sculptural form through accumulative, labour intensive processes. He generally works with pre-processed materials that have some other function or history of prior use. Niall de Buitléar has recently exhibited his work at G126, Galway and The LAB, Dublin. www.nialldebuitlear.com www.wexfordartscentre.ie

VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE The Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, have announced the appointment of Kazuyo Sejima as Director of the Architecture Sector at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition in 2010. Kazuyo Sejima is the first woman to direct the Architecture Sector of the Biennale and will have specific responsibility for curating the 12th International Architecture Exhibition to be held in Venice in the Giardini and Arsenale between 29 August and 21 November 2010. The vernissage will take place on

26, 27 and 28 August 2010.

Kazuyo Sejima was born in Ibaraki, Japan in 1956 and opened her own studio in Tokyo in 1987. In 1995 she founded SANAA with Ryue Nishizawa, which has gone on to design such innovative works of architecture as the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Serpentine Pavilion, London; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, which won the Golden Lion in 2004 for the most significant work of the 9th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia. www.labiennalechannel.org

TAKING THE LEAD COMMISSIONS In mid-November 2009 the Arts Council of Northern Ireland announced that The Nest by Brian Irvine & John McIlduff of Dumbworld had been selected as the Northern Ireland winner of an ‘Artists taking the Lead’ commission. The commission, worth £190,000, has been awarded as one of the major projects for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Irvine & McIlduff’s project was selected by an independent panel including Damian Smyth, Cian Smyth, Paul Seawright, Damien Gorman and Simon McWilliams, from a shortlist of five projects chosen from a total of 67 Northern Ireland entries submitted as a result of an open call announced earlier this year. Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, ‘The NEST’ will gather objects and stories from people across

Northern

Ireland,

filming

their

contributions and constructing a sculptural nest-like landscape in Belfast in 2012. www.artiststakingthelead.org.uk/northernireland

ARTS & HEALTHCARE GUIDELINES The Waterford Healing Arts Trust and the Health Service Executive South (Cork) Arts + Health programme, with financial support from the Arts Council of Ireland, recently published Guidelines for Good Practice for Participatory Arts in Healthcare Contexts which were produced by the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University.

The Guidelines are designed to present clear, concise and user-friendly guidance to those working in the area of participatory arts in healthcare contexts.

They are also intended as an aid to partnerships surrounding arts and health that can bring new challenges to artists, healthcare professionals, clients and those working in the health-related community and voluntary sector.

Developed through consultation with individuals and organisations working in an arts and health context, the Guidelines are now available on request from the Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) and the HSE South (Cork) Arts + Health programme. www.waterfordhealingarts.com www.hse.ie

10

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

Regional Profile

Visual Arts Resources & Activity in Co. Waterford Imagination Works

Brave New City

Ben Hennessy ‘Journey to Lir’. Installation view. Greyfriars Gallery 2008.

Ben Hennessy Red Runner. Waterford Municipal Collection.

Ben Hennessy's studio. 2007.

I’ve been painting in Waterford on and off now for

I’ve got a full-time position as Artistic Director of

nearly 30 years – originally as a student in the art

Red Kettle and now work as a director, writer and

school, which was then part of the old regional

designer. As well as keeping my painting going. For

college – now the Waterford Institute of Technology.

a time I shared a studio with Mayo artist Ger

I had my first one-man show – ‘Fiddiliwinks’ – in

Sweeney (a good mate since our NCAD days). We

1981 in what was then the Municipal library gallery;

exhibited together in 2003 and 2004 – in Waterford,

and if memory serves the only gallery in the city.

Wexford and Castlebar. We were able to get a very

The show was part of an arts festival hosted by the

good rate on an old property until it was turned into

Waterford Arts for All Project, a group formed in

apartments.

1979 – a kind of campaign group with ambitions to

I’ve also got married and have four young

make the arts more accessible. Waterford had at that

children and was able in 2006, with great help from

Greg Hallahan, Kinetic drawing within a black room, July 2009 , mixed media. SOMA Contemporary Art Box (first location, the Mall Waterford City).

time one of the country’s finest collections of Irish

my wife’s brothers, to build a new house with a

work began within days of the green light being given.

At present there are 17 artist studios in four buildings, a music-recording studio, rehearsal spaces for two bands and SOMA, the city’s only artist-run gallery. Most of the buildings were in a bad state of affair, needing a lot of repair and work.

What came was a very busy period where one by one the buildings became workspaces for the resident artists and musicians.

The past six months have seen continued and unwavering support, and a sense of community has grown amongst the local artists and an opportunity has been given to us to see Waterford as somewhere exciting for art and art practice. SOMA Contemporary Art Box in its first home was able to have six shows in three months becoming a social hub for the artistic community. Since September, the gallery has moved to new premises at 6 Lombard Street and is due to re-open this January with a very interesting programme that maybe the galleries in Waterford up until now have stayed away from or found difficult to show, comprising of local, national and international artists. We hope to be able to bring to Waterford a varied and exciting programme of events starting with 'POP WON’T EAT ITSELF', a show of work both from and influenced by skate culture that opens on 21 January, 2010.

Artists in Waterford have been given a chance to see how the public system can work with artists, and help rejuvenating areas of cities while giving the artistic community studios to work in. The positives are great for both sides and the local community, and hopefully we can see more opportunities like this pop up around the country.

art in its municipal collection, but much of it

decent sized studio – near Annestown by the sea.

remained in storage with a small selection more or

My most recent show – just over a year ago now,

less on permanent exhibition at the gallery / library.

actually came about as a kind of barter commission.

One of the main objectives of the Arts for All group

A friend of mine with his own painting contracting

was to try and establish an Art Centre in Waterford,

business sprayed the house for me in exchange for a

as an alternative gallery with studio spaces,

painting. I ended up doing nearly 40 paintings to

workshop spaces and ideally a theatre as well. I sold

arrive at the ‘one’ and approached the City Arts

my first paintings at that exhibition – though they

Officer, Conor Nolan to show these in what is a

should be more properly described as collages, to

relatively new City Gallery – at Greyfriars – a

the then editor of the Irish Times, Douglas Gageby

converted church. There are a few new galleries in

and his wife. So I had a good start.

the city now. Garter Lane has two decent galleries –

In 2006 I moved to Waterford from Kildare, after spending a full summer looking at the Atlantic in Reykjavík, Iceland while on residency. I found I was beginning to change how I’d seen my working environment. I found in Waterford, a similarity to Reykjavik; also being a Viking city and very much rich in musical talent, Waterford had an excitement about it and an affordability, which always attracts creative makers. It had such a strong sense of itself in terms of its music community but at the time I found the art scene somewhat tamer. There were and are still are some galleries of interest and two well run art festivals, but the public never seemed to attach themselves to the art that was being made in the city, or ever get excitement from art like I had seen abroad.

With an art degree being taught in Waterford, how little contemporary art was actually being shown and how weak a relationship students had to the city surprised me. The largest problem that I could see was the lack of professional artist studios within the city, as without studios there can’t be a close artistic community. There were many local artists – and artists like myself who had moved to the city – but not many chances of meeting them or even a sense of community, especially amongst the younger artists.

Fast forward three years and after a failed attempt to secure one building by six artists; Brendan Butler, Jill Bouchier, Jacqueline O’Keefe, David Clooney, Brian O’Sullivan and myself, City arts officer, Conor Nolan was able to secure six buildings that were empty and proficient as studios in May of this year. These were gained when the property section of the City Council seen the positives of allowing empty buildings on their books to be used for an artistic initiative with the understanding the new tenants would bring the buildings back to life. It was set up by the way of a co-op system, with each building working as a separate co-op all under one-umbrella project. The

Paul Hallahan (Artist and Artistic Director of SOMA Contemporary Art Box) www.somacontemporary.com somawaterford@gmail.com

There was a real emphasis on practical work in

one in the theatre building. The Granary Museum

the collage at the time, with some great teachers – a

also has a reasonably good space – Ann O Regan is

lot of them practising artists themselves – Paul

currently showing there – and the newly renovated

Mosse, Angela Morrissey, Tony Ryan and Michael

Theatre Royal has some of the Municipal Collection

Beirne all made impressions on my own way of

on permanent display in its impressive foyer –

making work back then. And I know that Michael

including four of Tony Ryan’s (who passed away just

still teaches there now. That contributed immensely

recently). Conor also has initiated an exciting new

I think to a kind of young creative energy about the

gallery – Soma - in collaboration with a number of

place. Many from the college got involved in the

young artists including Brendan Butler, Paul

Arts for All Project and a lot of stuff came out of it

Hallihan and Lewis Quinn – a young graffiti artist

– Music Moves, dedicated to bringing decent bands

making an impression down here.

to Waterford; The Arts for All Project Theatre

I am, like most working artists, combining a

Company which eventually became Red Kettle

career of painting and other activities – many teach

Theatre Company had a good few Art Students

– I work in the theatre. I have one good friend Dave

(myself included) at it inception; Waterford Youth

Curran who combines sculpting, painting, theatre

Arts and in 1984 – the City Council gave the library

and gardening cooperatives and another Ciaran

building as the new Garter Lane Arts Centre. I had

Lynch who grows trees and paints. Whatever it

been living in Dublin (doing my degree at NCAD)

takes – there is a sense I think too that we are back

and then in Cork for about two years at this stage

in a similar environment to that of the early 1980s

and returned to take up one of the new studio

and a need for that young creative energy to be

spaces at the Arts Centre. I combined working as a

unleashed – and when you think of it the artistic

painter with some theatre design work and that has

activities in the 1980s in Galway, in Dublin’s Temple

remained the way since.

Bar and here in Waterford played no small role in

Things have changed of course. In 1986 I spent a year painting in San Francisco. Then back home I ran ‘Big Colourdee Creative Stuff’ workshops for young children for many years and in recent years

re-energising communities and making stuff happen – imagination works.

Ben Hennessy

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

11

January – February 2010

Regional Profile

Artlinks in Waterford

Imagine Arts Festival and the Hexagon Shows Imagine Arts Festival is a celebration of the arts in

nature of the beast is that, after graduate show,

all its glory, in all its forms, through good times and

students scatter to the four corners of the planet.

bad, in Waterford. Hexagon is an Imagine initiative,

Chasing them up on mobile phones and on travel

showcasing the work of six recent graduates from

emails takes time and commitment. Occasionally

the Department of Visual and Performing Arts in

work selected for a show will be sold during the

WIT. As visual arts co-ordinator, it falls to me and to

summer, (quite rightly, for the artist.) This all makes

Michael Beirne, a fourth year lecturer in the college,

for an interesting agonising time.

to curate the show.

Problems have varied from year to year.

Each year brings its own set of headaches and

Sometimes it can be difficult coming to a mutually

triumphs. Michael and I cast a broad net over

agreeable arrangement with the gallery, simple

Hexagon in June, during the graduate show. We

things like duration of exhibition, time for installing

charge through the exhibition, creating a wish list.

etc. These are all easily ironed out. Other times the

Then we meander through the exhibition, fine

difficulty may lie with an inability to get the artists

tuning our proposed Hexagon selection. As the

dialoguing with each other. This may be because

name suggests, the work of six graduates is selected.

they are literally in different time zones, due to

The six artists are invited to exhibit a selection of

summertime travel, or in some rare cases, there may

their graduate show during Imagine Arts Festival,

have been a falling out during college that the

which runs each year during the October half term.

curators are unaware of.

The benefit to the artists is that they get to show

On the other hand, the joy of helping to pull

their work in an established local gallery, either

together a visual art show that everyone is proud of

Greyfriars Municipal Gallery, or the Theatre Gallery

is a tremendous thing. Seeing the work arrive in the

in Garter Lane Arts Centre. Thus far, after four

gallery space on the day of installation is just plain

Hexagon years, every Hexagon artist has risen to the

fun! Unwrapping the works, hoping to God that

challenge.

none have been damaged, establishing that

Selecting the work is the easy part. We are

everything is intact…exhilarating ! Greyfriars Gallery

bound by certain constraints: size of works, lack of

has Anthony Costine on its staff. Anthony is one of

digital projectors, gallery restrictions etc. and so it’s

the finest and most fastidious exhibition installers

a shame that we cannot always show the more

in the South East. Every show he installs is done so

outré works. The lack of digital projectors, and the

to perfection.

prohibitively expensive hiring fees of same caused

Curating a show of this kind is challenging and

us some headaches in the past. This year we spent a

rewarding. Seeing the work of six artists hanging in

big chunk of our inadequate funding on purchasing

a clear and engaging gallery space, inviting the

one! However, the end result is often that we tend to

public to share in the magic of the work of these

select paintings, drawings and photographs for

artists, and in the magic and joy of the arts in general

Hexagon. This year’s show, Hexagon Three, was,

is not something to be underestimated. I appreciate

with the exception of a few drawings, predominantly

the opportunity I was given, and working with

a photographic exhibition.

Michael Beirne has always been a pleasure.

Ger Kennedy

Selecting graduate students for a show of this

The five Arts Officers involved in ArtLinks and the ArtLinks Director: From left: Rosaleen Molloy (Wexford), Mary Butler (Kilkenny), Sinead Dowling (Carlow), Jenny Sherwin (Wicklow), Cathy Fitzgerald (ArtLinks Director), Margaret Organ (Co. Waterford)

If I was asked what is the most significant

feedback has been that sharing of experiences at

development for visual arts and artists in Co.

various courses and exchange of phone numbers

Waterford over the last few years, I would not name

and email addresses on an informal basis has proved

a gallery, exhibition or even installation of a

one of the most valuable support structures of all.

particular piece of public art, because although

Annually Artlinks has made significant

there have been several noteworthy events and

financial bursaries available to all artists toward

installations which all merit recognition, for me as

various up skilling opportunities. In terms of the

County Arts Officer I would have to say just one

visual arts, the past 12 months saw a pilot mentoring

word – ArtLinks.

programme being put in place for visual artists in

kind, and at this time of the year, creates a very

For those of you who have not come across it

specific set of (not insurmountable) problems. The

before, ArtLinks is a partnership between the Arts

This project was informed by consultation

Offices in five County Councils in Carlow, Kilkenny,

with the arts communities and ArtLinks worked

Wexford Wicklow and ourselves in County

with a leading English Arts Development Agency,

Waterford with assistance from the Arts Council. It

Chrysalis Arts on devising useful and cost effective

started off with the idea of being a support

mentoring programmes. For the initial programme

mechanism for artists of all disciplines to assist

the ArtLinks Arts Officers nominated five visual

Artlinks www.artlinks.ie

them

and

arts practitioners from each of the five partner

networking opportunities and visual artists make

counties for a focused personal mentoring session

Waterford Spraoi Festival The Studios, Carrickpherish, Waterford. T: 051-841808 E: info@spraoi.com www.spraoi.com

up a large part of the ArtLinks membership.

with two professionals providing objective

SOME WATERFORD CONTACTS Conor Nolan, Arts Officer, Waterford City Council, City Hall, The Mall, Waterford City.

T: 051-849922 E: arts@waterfordcity.ie www.waterfordcity.ie Margaret Organ, Arts Officer, Waterford County Council, Civic Offices Davitts Quay, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. T: 058 41416 E: morgan@waterfordcoco.ie www.waterfordcoco.ie SOMA Contemporary Art Box, 6 Lombard Street (The Old Tax Office) Waterford City.

E: somawaterford@gmail.com www.SOMAcontemporary.com Waterford Municipal Art at The Theatre Royal, The Mall, Co. Waterford, Ireland E: admin@theatreroyal.ie http://www.theatreroyal.ie/events/municipal_ art_collection/ Imagine Arts Festival, c/o City Arts Office, The Mall, Waterford E: info@ imagineartsfestival.com http://www.imagineartsfestival.com Waterford Institute of Technology, College Street Campus, Waterford.

Waterford Healing Arts Trust, Waterford Regional Hospital, Dunmore Road, Waterford E: WHAT@hse.ie www.waterfordhealingarts.com Waterford Spraoi Festival, The Studios, Carrickpherish, Waterford, Ireland. T: +353 (0)51-841808 F: +353 (0)51-858023 E: info@spraoi.com www.spraoi.com

Garter Lane Arts Centre & Studios, 22A O’Connell Street, Waterford T: 051 855038 E: info@garterlane.ie www.garterlane.ie

Lismore Castle Arts Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford T: 058 54061 E: administrator@lismorecastlearts.ie www.lismorecastlearts.ie The Old Market House Arts Centre, Lower Main Street, Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

T: 058 48944 E: artscentre@waterfordcoco.ie www.waterfordcoco.ie

with

professional

development

As an individual local authority Arts Office, I

each county.

responses to their work.

would never have been able to develop the range of

We are indebted to those artists who agreed to

services, which ArtLinks has provided over the past

take part and give their feedback, which will inform

three years. We are lucky to have had an ArtLinks

how mentoring moves forward to assist professional

Director in place over that time period in the person

creative practitioners in the different stages of their

of Cathy Fitzgerald, herself a person with a visual

careers.

background, who has resourced all of us as ArtLinks has moved forward.

The ArtLinks website has also been a tremendous resource, visual artists can upload their

In terms of the visual arts, the feedback we

images on www.artlinks.ie, they can flag upcoming

have had from practitioners was wide ranging.

exhibitions, events and news. There is an online

Some artists wanted courses on the business side of

visual arts forum offering the opportunity for

arts, taxation, self assessment guidance and building

members to interact with each other and to network

a business of their art. Others were interested in

and share information about their creative work,

approaching galleries and wanted to best prepare

skills and experiences. ArtLinks is also on Twitter

themselves towards exhibition, or others wanted to

and Facebook. Non-ArtLinks members have been

get a handle on public art commissioning in

complimentary of the general information available

Ireland.

on the website and everyone can sign up for the

The difference previously was that artists had to travel considerable distances to access these

new free weekly email digest and monthly eNewsletter.

types of courses and information and now it was

ArtLinks currently hosts the largest directory

readily available in the South East region and at

of artists in the South East region and it is constantly

highly subsidised rates for members.

growing. An indication of the thirst for this type of

In Co. Waterford and in the partner counties,

service which is practical , accessible and a great

we were fortunate to have the services of those who

resource not alone for visual artists but for all art

have been at the coalface of visual arts in Ireland

forms.

and who were willing and interested in sharing

Margaret Organ,

their knowledge and practice with others. The

County Waterford Arts Officer.

12

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

Regional Profile

The Outsider City

Visual Art at WIT

New SOMA space - interior view

Sculpture project 'Identity' by Julie Dowling, BA Visual Art Year 3, 2009.

SOMA exterior view,.

C. Hansen, Present - Touch Participatory installation at Greyfriars Municipal Gallery, 2008.

SOMA – studio view

Renée Fraher, BA Visual Art Year 3, 2009.

Currently teaching at Waterford Institute of

Factory and Cork Printmakers.

Technology (WIT), my interest in art practice is

This continued involvement and awareness is

mainly academic and educational, although I

important to a relatively small art department,

started out with the intention of becoming an art

which cannot attempt to compete with the critical

practitioner. In 2008, I completed a practice-based

mass of staff, students and audiences available to

PhD in Art, which explored the interdisciplinary

urban art colleges. Instead, its role is that of a

relationships between theoretical archaeology and

regional centre, enabling students, many of whom

contemporary art practice. Through my research,

are tied geographically and may have family and

collaborative relationships developed with the

other commitments to pursue visual art as a career.

Umha Aois experimental bronze casting project, as

Many of WIT’s graduates continue their

well as artists and archaeologists in Ireland and the

studies to postgraduate level, either locally, or in

UK. These resulted in opportunities to speak at

Cork, Dublin and the UK. However, it is encouraging

archaeological conferences mainly in the UK, while

to see past students pursuing their practice locally

the final show and PhD viva took place at UCD as

and contributing to Waterford’s cultural scene as

part of the 6th World Archaeology Congress.

well. The annual ‘Hexagon’ show at Garter Lane

This involvement in interdisciplinary research has somewhat inevitably led to teaching art from a

Arts Centre, comprising recent graduates’ works, testifies to the potential of our students.

theoretical point of view, through what is often

In recent years, postgraduate activity in Visual

called ‘contextual studies’ – cultural theory and art

Art at WIT has increased and changed in quality,

history. Due to this teaching activity, exhibitions

now ranging from MA to PhD level, encouraging

have taken a back seat. The most recent solo show

graduates from the BA programmes to continue

incorporated some of the research from my PhD

their studies locally and to contribute to the culture

project and took place in Waterford’s Greyfriars

of the Institute. Being located in a larger institution

Municipal Gallery in 2008. My main role at the

brings challenges for Fine Art students – their use of

moment is to help facilitate students’ development

space and resources often being seen as inefficient -,

as critically aware art practitioners, and especially

but also opportunities for collaborations with other

in the case of postgraduate students, to enable them

disciplines. For example, a current MA project

to establish themselves as practising artists.

explores ‘visuality’ and representation in science

At WIT, this is possible due to the special effort

and art, being met with interest by colleagues from

of studio lecturers to maintain contacts with art

the Science department. It could be argued that in

organisations outside of the college itself. For

times when art practice is having to defend itself

example, the opening of the Visual Art degree show

against financial pressures and questions of

has recently developed into something of an awards

usefulness, collaborations such as these are a vital

ceremony, where students are recognised for their

survival strategy. This is especially the case in

achievements. Prizes are sponsored by local and

regional settings where critical mass of people and

regional organisations to encourage students to

resources is not easily achieved.

continue their practice. Such ‘incentives’ include residencies at Garter Lane Studios in Waterford City, memberships of the National Sculpture

Cordula Hansen

Being designated a city, and thus being the country’s smallest city is not necessarily a disadvantage. Being the ‘poorer’ cousins, ‘from outside the pale’ or being perceived at best as a ‘feeder’ city and worst as a ‘drain’ may also not be too bad. In fact, for all intents and purposes, being an outsider has many, many advantages. Primarily, as an outsider, one can observe with impartiality, one can move quickly, one can incorporate new ideas and approaches unencumbered by traditional bias, and lastly, but not least, one is not viewed as a real threat.

So what has all this got to do with art?

Everything. This city has managed to avoid the clamber to be the ‘latest model’ and has gone about doing its own thing quietly. It’s a place artists can live and work in without paying excessive rent. And by being the country’s smallest, and by that definition poorest city, artists have had the facility of necessity imposed upon them pushing them to exist and often indeed thrive on the fringes. Some would say this has set them up in excellent stead for the recession (that possibly never left the city in the first place).

While we don’t have university status or certain hospital care units (or even a great transport service) we also don’t happen to have acres of low rise semi-finished or empty offices, or water purity problems, bungalow blight, or a bloated service economy. The national trend of over capacity in retail and office is less in Waterford than elsewhere.

But, perhaps, and more to our advantage, the over capacity is in the centre of our city. While this may seem bad for the coffers (rates), and maybe seem unsightly at first glance, it is in fact a boon for the new and different-thinking artists who are beginning to emerge and congregate in this outsider’s city.

The ironic thing about these new artists is that many of them were in college during the boom times (some are still in college) during which the Arts Council achieved record funding and grants from central and local government were at their height. Following on from this you would think that a hands-out approach would have been inculcated; the opposite (in Waterford anyway) appears to be the case.

While the odd grant is fine, this new wave of arts approach is based on partnerships, working, thinking, building and sharing and yes, leading to sustainability. All of these are concepts the City Council, through its manager, the offices of Community and Enterprise, the Library and the Arts Office believes in. At the moment we are

working with 30 artists of all disciplines who have either come to us since May 09 or tagged along with a project. We were able to leverage seven buildings from Council stocks and create, with the artists, a mixture of individual studios, rehearsal rooms, recording facilities and a new contemporary art gallery.

This close working relationship with the artists has also helped cultivate new, creative and ‘bluesky’ approaches to city progress. One such idea could be for a package tailored for commercial empty spaces. Possibly to try to induce landlords into allowing their premises be utilised for arts practice for periods of six months at a time. We would hope that after this period the landlord would either be in a position to commercially rent the premises or perhaps agree to more artistic approaches. Either way, the artist, the landlord and the city can profit.

While it could be argued Garter Lane, Spraoi, Waterford Youth Arts etc did this all before and in similar recessions – the difference this time is that it is being driven largely by singular artists – outsiders that have come in from the cold and proposed to us a partnership on a sweat-equity basis. The result is fewer derelict buildings, less vandalism, increase in footfall and artists living and working in our ‘outsider’ city. While this paints a good picture it must also be said that the artists in question have had to work hard for their studios; six months on and two buildings (seven artists studios) are still waiting to be hooked up to the national grid.

Waterford was late coming into the Celtic Tiger economy. In fact it barely touched the tail-end of investment. Being last in meant being first out and bizarrely, because of a tradition of the area being largely economically ignored, Waterford (city & county) is positioned well to ease its way through the latest recession with less of a headache then many of its over ambitious cousins.

And if you are looking for proof of intention – just take the popular music that has managed to associate itself with this new art movement. The best bands in the country at the moment are not from Dublin but from a small backwater city with few proper gig venues – roll out Katie Kim, Percolator, O’ Emperor, Deaf Animal Orchestra, Kytte and Black Robots. And roll on SOMA Gallery, Hive studios, Lombard Studios, Number 4 and Lombard Live & Rehearsal at number 5.

For the inside track… check out the outsiders.

Conor Nolan, Arts Officer Waterford City.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

13

January – February 2010

HOW IS IT MADE?

Connolly and Cleary Moving Dublin. Research / Production images.

Connolly and Cleary Moving Dublin. Research / Production images.

Connolly and Cleary Moving Dublin. Research / Production images.

Everyday Movements Connolly and Cleary discuss the processes behind the making of their work Moving Dublin.

Wayne Frost, who did the sound mastering, managed to reduce it, and then (cleverly) added more wind behind to give it company, reconstructing the windy soundscape that the shotgun microphone had filtered out.

The second challenge we faced was how to film from moving car.

A whole section of our project was concerned with driving in the city (we called it Hard-Drive) associating sound and video recordings inside and outside the bubble of the car interior. We had to overcome the handicap that neither of us drive (we are both militantly against the car’s dominance of the surface of the planet and of human life, and the most basic way to express this is not to drive one of them). But how could we ignore the car if we were studying everyday movement in Connolly and Cleary Moving Dublin. Research / Production images.

Connolly and Cleary Moving Dublin. Research / Production images.

Dublin?

We began working with Cóilín Rush, a Dublin artist who was

In the beginning it was called City Loops. Several years ago when we

A steadycam is not a camera; it is a harness the cameraman wears

doing a post-graduate course in NCAD at the time. Not only did Cóilín

began, the project was about urban walks, very influenced (like a lot of

to mechanically isolate the movement of the camera from his own

drive a car, he also had a few ideas about how to film driving sequences.

our work then) by Guy Debord’s idea of la derive. We planned to film a

bodily movements. Instead of the shaky image you get from a shoulder

We had asked our professional cameraman in Paris about it, but he

series of ambling walks in and around the area where we live in Paris,

mounted camera, the steadycam gives a very smooth shot, even when

talked about gyroscopes and stabilisers, and specialists cameras they

all starting and finishing at our home on Boulevard Barbès. These City

the operator is moving quickly over an uneven surface.

attach to Formula One cars. In other words, way out of our budget.

Loops would all have a common point with our Boulevard Project; a

We were using a HDV camera (a lot lighter than the television

Cóilín’s low-tech solutions were more in our range. Using suction

series of films entirely shot from our fifth floor apartment. In the end,

camera usually mounted on steadycams to film along the touchline at

clamps (for carrying panes of glass) he set up a camera-mount on the

the one walk we did film, (a 16 minute experimental work called BPM)

sports events), but filming with a steadycam was physically gruelling

bonnet of his car. With a wide-angle lens on our HDV camera we were

became an integral part of the Boulevard Project.

nevertheless, especially at the beginning. The posture and the weight

able to film a car’s-eye vision of the city, revealing the violent world of

City Loops re-emerged in 2006, when we were awarded a residency

put a lot of pressure on my lower back. I was working with it for a

hurtling metal objects and hard asphalt outside the cosy bubble of the

in South Dublin County’s In Context 3 scheme. We were no longer

month before I felt comfortable, and you could see it in the quality of

car interior. Meanwhile, inside the bubble, Cóilín helped us set up a

perched above the Boulevard Barbès, where the whole world will

what I was shooting.

crazy looking contraption using several tripods and a couple of dozen

eventually pass by you if you wait long enough. We were working in

But eventually the steadycam became like an extension of my

nylon cable ties, to focus the camera on the side-mirror and the city

Dublin’s vast sprawling suburbs, a context that was entirely new to us.

own body. I looked a little like Robocop when I was wearing it, which I

rushing by beyond. He also recorded hours of sound for us, dominated

As our ideas came into focus, we opted for a more prosaic title: Moving

must say, I liked, although it was not ideal for filming everyday life, as

by non-stop radio broadcasts from every frequency of Dublin’s vast

Dublin. It was to be about the edgeless city, expanding like a juggernaut

I drew a lot of attention to myself (on the other hand, it also made me

radio culture.

to the north, west and south of the capital. It was to be about the

to feel safe in ‘tough’ neighbourhoods).

We are still working on Luas Carol, the final piece from the

thousands of moving bodies, crossing each other, running parallel to

The apparatus does not resist wind very well. But even when

Moving Dublin series. It is an experimental film and we are making

each other, against each other, creating an infinite number of possible

heavy winds forced me to hold on to the camera column with both

with two sound artists, Jean Philippe Renoult and Dinah Bird. The base

encounters. But of course, in the end, when we finally began working

hands, it was still considerably better than shooting from the shoulder.

material is a long series of dolly shots of the city, filmed on the Luas Red

in the real context of South Dublin County, it was all about people.

It was more difficult to work out how to get a good sound recording in

Line throughout our two-year residency. We thought the Luas would

When we first drove around South Dublin County in November

such a windy environment; Tallaght has this wind that whistles down

provide an excellent platform, moving smoothly through the city. But

2006, it was difficult to imagine how we could make a dent in such an

from the mountains and can freeze the…. off you. The only real solution

it was not as smooth as we had hoped. We had to dampen vibrations

environment: a filigree of winding roads; row upon row of houses and

(we were told) was to have a soundman with a shotgun microphone in

coming through the metal framework and compensate for the jerky

gardens; a patchwork of empty green spaces; the inaccessible mountains

a windjammer capsule mounted on a boom… Right! Unfortunately, I’m

starts and stops that the tram often makes. Once again, after several

on the horizon… and nobody anywhere to be seen in the streets. And

no sound technician, and I was already stretching myself pretty thin

experiments with more sophisticated techniques, we ended up finding

yet, in the end, it all happened quite easily. Thanks to Olivia Fitzsimons,

over all the technology I had to master. On top the steadycam, it was all

a simple low-tech solution: staying seated with the camera cradled in

who helped us develop a project with a community group in West

getting a bit too Robocop for me. And anyway, we really didn’t want to

my lap, the rubber lens hood held tight against the window of the

Tallaght – eventually to become From Brookfield to Dublin Castle.

be dragging a soundman around the suburbs with us (let alone pay for

tram.

Thanks also to Fiona Galvin, who introduced us to the art class from

him).

It was our first time shooting, editing and producing films in HD,

Collinstown Park Community School, with whom we made The

In the end we invested in a good short-range shotgun microphone.

and the most difficult part of that process was the last: Blu-ray

Observer Effect. And thanks to Anne’s Aunty Jo – Josephine Corrigan

‘Short-range shot-gun’ means that it records sound immediately in

authoring. By 2007, there were affordable Blu-ray burners for PC and

– a teacher at St Mary’s National School in Tallaght, who helped us set

front of it, and cuts down (but not out) peripheral sound. We encased

Mac on the market, but with very slow write speeds. The only

up a project with a class of 11 year olds, which became Life of Saint

it in a dougle, which is a fluffy windjammer (named after the dog from

authoring software that was available for Mac was very buggy, crashing

Mary. All these pieces, works in their own right, were intermediate

the Magic Roundabout). The dougle was (we were told) a less efficient

regularly, for no apparent reason, and the compression process was

steps on the way to making Moving Dublin.

solution than the windjammer capsule. But it looked cute, it worked,

impossibly long. The blank Blu-ray discs that were available weren’t

and it ended up becoming a sort of mascot for the project. It appears in

always reliable either – readable on some players, but not on others. In

our tools for movement – how to film walking sequences. We took

most of the walking-talking sequences of the Moving Dublin film,

other words, it was like burning DVDs back in 1995. But when we

advice from a professional cameraman we know in Paris, who advised

unselfconsciously held in Anne’s right hand like candy floss, recording

made our first HD projection of the work, and saw the crystal clarity of

us on buying a steadycam, and then, very kindly, trained me to use it

to a small digital recorder in her left palm. Some of the wind did get

the video and the intensity of the colour, it was definitely worth it.

To film everyday movement in this new context, we had to adapt

one weekend in winter 2006.

through, especially when we were recording by the sea (Vico Road and Sandymount Strand). When it did get through, it didn’t sound like

Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly

wind so much as someone sandpapering the microphone head. But

www.connolly-cleary.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

14

January – February 2010

RESIDENCY PROFILE Matenadaran, the library of illuminated manuscripts, which was a joy, a treasure house of rich colour, fine detail, design and preservation, and the Botanic Garden – which was startling. I visited not knowing anything about it and wandered through the wilderness, wondering what had happened. At one stage I came across a colossal futurist glasshouse, like a spaceship, with plants grown huge and wild, pushing through the glass and climbing out through the roof, like triffids.

Mkrtich told me later his grandfather had worked there for 27 years, finally without pay, trying to keep things together. Recently ACSL had tried to get permission to use the place for installations or land art but without success.

Other artists arrived while I was there – Dorothea Nold from Germany – via Magikistan (3) – and Katie Saunders from Australia. This was another great benefit of the residency – to mix with artists from abroad, talk, share varied experiences, get advice. Katie, like me, was starting out after returning to college to study art. Dorothea, though younger, was a veteran en route to Pakistan and a residency in China.

She was fascinated by my account of the glasshouse, and took footage of it to use in later work.

Katie’s advice to me was, “travel around as much as you can, absorbing experience – it helps you to benefit from the residency”. So I enjoyed Mkrtich’s hospitality in showing us around ­– to Echmiadzin, the holiest site in Armenia; to vast Lake Sevan; to Geghard monastery, carved out of rock with perfect acoustics, where hearing sharakan chanted was like being back in time. There was also the annual Yerevan festival on 11th October, celebrating 2791 years of the city.

Visually, Armenia leaves a huge impression. Strong colours; the strong dry light; the vivid fruit and vegetables grown and sold everywhere; the rich colours of people’s clothes and their striking dark features and hair. Carpets covering walls and floors with strong geometric patterns woven in rich colours. The arid landscape, with Mount Ararat rising like a vast dream image above the mist.

Interior of one of the urban studio spaces available to artists during the residency

The art scene in Armenia is – predictably for a country with such

Simply Seeing

a cultural heritage – rich and varied, with a strong emphasis on

Milada Bacik reports on her recent participation in a residency in Armenia.

Armenian emblem for life) in their work. A lot of intricate patterning

drawing from traditional themes or techniques. Even contemporary artists like Mkrtich use traditional symbols such as pomegranates (an is used, the origins of which can be seen in the extraordinary Children’s

There’s a quote that I came across while in art college, that made a lot

tradition, is due to the high value Armenians place on culture. Often

of sense to me – “can we not think of the aim of life as being simply to

quite literally – as in cases of manuscripts saved by fleeing refugees.

Art Museum, where many Armenian artists trained as children. One of the most interesting contemporary institutions is NPAK (4), a huge

see?” (1). After graduating in 2009, I wanted to see more, absorb more,

More recently, as a republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia’s cultural life

gallery space near the main market, which hosts exhibitions and

and try to incorporate it into my work. Also, through college I had been

was relatively favoured. The National Gallery held one of the most

performances: one current exhibition was ‘Soviet Party’, a painting

following theories of universal forms of organisation (metapatterns)

important collections in the USSR, it and the Opera House are still the

and wanted to travel and look at patterning in different

most prominent buildings in town, along with the many theatres and

show where the artist’s statement shone with the work. The big Armenian art event is the Gyumri Biennale, next held in 2010 (5).

environments.

cultural institutions dating from the Soviet era and before, including

So during the summer of 2009 I applied (through www.resartis.

the massive Chess Society HQ.

Just before I left, Verena Kyselka, from Germany, had been working with Mkrtich on an exhibition incorporating footage of

org) for residencies in places of interest, and an opportunity in Armenia

Despite all this, I arrived not really knowing what to expect and

Armenians talking about the genocide (6). Unfortunately I missed the

came up. The organisation, Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory (ACSL) , was founded by Armenian artists Mkrtich Tonoyan and Susanna

found a curious mix of elements of European and Mediterranean

exhibition opening, but got to see the work and discuss it while

(2)

culture overlaid with Soviet influence. Yerevan, where I was based, is

helping her with English subtitles for the interviews.

Gyulamiryan who felt that because of Armenia’s mono-ethnic and

the capital city and was a bit like an Irish Seville might be – a mixture

mono-cultural nature, their art scene needed an international

of the haphazard and gracious. But everywhere there are tree-filled

dimension and connections.

parks and cafes, in places it’s almost like one giant park full of sofas.

ACSL have forged strong links with artists in many countries, including Ireland: Ian Joyce, artistic director of Cló in Donegal (7), is on the Board of ACSL, and Mkrtich, a recipient of the Trasnú Exchange

ACSL exists to enable dynamic cross-cultural exchange and to

Leisure time was taken seriously and catered for, on the ‘bread and

Scholarship 2009, recently exhibited in ‘Faoi sholas an tSléibhe’. Cló

foster and nurture international art activity. In practical terms, ACSL

circuses’ principle no doubt, but it certainly made for an attractive city

have been involved in art events in the Caucasus region for many

provides opportunities for international artists to live and work in

environment. When I commented on the trees everywhere, unlike

years, and run programs and residencies building and developing

Armenia, for anything from two weeks to a year, facilitating particular

urban Ireland, I was told mournfully that there had been many more

important connections with Ireland. Similarly, the effort ACSL put

projects or requirements depending on the artist’s needs. I had planned

but they had been cut down during the “difficult times” (euphemism

into organising residencies and looking after visiting artists is a

a longer stay but it became two weeks in October due to work and an

for earthquake, armed conflict, economic breakdown, the throes of

testament to their commitment to Armenian art, and is paying in

exhibition opportunity in Dublin. Finances also limited the trip, as

independence) since the break-up of the USSR. Similarly, culture being

terms of growing the international dimension.

when I applied there was no funding left from the Arts Council. I

low down the list of priorities for the emergent independent state, the

Post-residency, I am grateful for such a rich experience, stored

hadn’t done a residency before, so I was excited, hoping the upcoming

Yerevan Botanic Garden, once one of the most important in the USSR,

away in my mind and in my notes and books, and I can see elements of

show would be a real impetus for work in Armenia, and also that the

was now run down and overgrown – with a lot of the land and trees

what I experienced come into my work. Interestingly so far it isn’t

residency would focus my mind for the show.

appropriated for other uses.

necessarily the elements I thought I would use, but some other, more random ones: there is much there to draw on though, and to build on

Armenia is a very old country; its lineage can be traced back to

The paradox of cultural life during Soviet rule was fascinating. I

Noah, and was one the first places in the world to adopt Christianity as

heard several times about how the USSR was a ‘golden age’ for artists,

the state religion. This, along with the unique Armenian alphabet

with great education and training opportunities. Artists had status,

(created originally for religious translation, and also as a number

holiday homes, good wages and pensions, and they were encouraged to

Milada Bacik

system), gave rise to a rich tradition of illuminated manuscripts. The

travel. I visited the Artists’ Union in Yerevan, now a shadow of the

www.miladabacik.com

latter particularly interested me, as my work currently tries to link

institution it was back in the good times. Back then, though, treatment

metapatterns with human forms and symbols, drawing on traditional

was harsh if you produced the wrong sort of political art – and travel

Milada Bacik’s work is currently on show at Café Noto, Thomas Street,

languages of pattern.

was limited to communist regimes. Curiously, in relation to the status

Dublin 8 (5 Dec 2009 – 22 Feb 2010)

Armenia also has a very distinctive cultural identity and artistic

of dissident artists, I was told that artists who had conformed were not

heritage, strengthened by centuries of religious isolation and successive

thought less of: everyone understood the pressures of the system and

occupiers and persecutors. The survival of the liturgical song tradition

many Armenians believed in communism.

of sharakan; of the numerous stone khatchkars, similar to Irish high

I learned all this during my first week, while orienting myself,

crosses; and the incredible Cilician illuminated manuscript collection,

making preliminary investigations in the studio space built by Mkrtich,

not to mention the distinctive and sophisticated woven design

and visiting places for research. Two real highlights were the

with future trips away.

Notes 1. From John Gray, Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals. Granta Books 2003 2. www.acsl.org.am 3. www.aussenwelt.net 4. www.accea.info 5. www.gyumribiennial.org 6. Territory of Intimacy – see www.acsl.org.am/ 7. www.clo.ie

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

15

January – February 2010

RESIDENCY profile As the night progressed the numbers whittled until it was myself and some other artists enjoying leftovers under the midnight sun. A member of the centre, Sanna Koivisto, has an adjoining property housing a beautiful wood-burning sauna. The women took to the sauna first as the men insisted on having the hotter portion of the episode and so it was when our turn arrived we sojourned to the heat and whipped ourselves with branches culled from surrounding trees.

At intervals we ran to the riverbank for submergences taken by public jetty. It was an idyllic scene and only the language barrier tempered its excellence. Amongst the men were Tapani and his two sons who hid my underwear in an effort to amuse me. I communicated my mock displeasure in the usual non-verbal ways.

Tapani is a wood sculptor who cuts figures of schoolboys with unfeasibly large penises. These are strangely serene pieces chopped raw by axe and hatchet. Later that evening he presented me with a beautiful book of his work. The rest of my stay in Finland followed this format – sauna followed by generosities of hosting parties.

An immediate example followed the next day, when Gerlinde took me to Oulu to meet friends she had made during her stay. We had a picnic in one of the parks; and later I was inducted into their Tikka Hall of Fame. This group used a Finnish summer game called Tikka, as an excuse congregate during the brighter months. Their zeal for this outdoor version of darts knew almost no bounds. The enthusiasm seemed steeped in irony – but on closer inspection it appeared simultaneously sincere.

The group had created a backdrop of administration to validate

Kultuurikauppila 3am. photo: Cóilín Rush

Residential Adventure Cóilín Rush reports on his residency AT KulTtuurikaupPila, Northern FinlanD

their hobby – which included tournaments, trophies and even a commemorative calendar. I was presented with my own board and 10 darts by Annti Matta and Sirpa Dahlstrom, with whom I spent the rest of the weekend.

I installed the Tikka board in my studio. Although Tikka is an outdoor sport, my studio was big enough to facilitate it. I imagined I would train to become good enough to figure in the Tikka fixtures, which would stretch across the summer. But this did not occur in the way I imagined. I remain one of the most unnatural Tikka players the world has ever seen. My fascination with the game did endure though – and with the board as a constant reminder I devoted much of my waking life to the contemplation of Tikka’s mysteries. The bulk of video work I made in Finland is entirely given over to Tikka and I even embarked on a journey to Sweden to spread the word about the sport!

Artists Residencies cannot be qualified by the calibre of their facilities alone. And Kulttuurikauppila is not to be found wanting in this regard – but it is also important to recognise that a residential stay is facilitated by the curator or manager in charge. In my case I was

Tikka1000. photo: Cóilín Rush

Taidekeskus. photo: Cóilín Rush

When applying for residencies, I rarely employ a strategy, instead I

In my haste to pack I had neglected to bring reading material and

approach a target with enough zeal to ensure success. I’m a fan of the

so in Riga I watched the same beer commercial on a screen for about

Japanese marketing technique of product bombardment. I make as

an hour before boarding the connecting plane. Helsinki proved a far

many applications as possible in the hope that one will succeed.

more amusing airport, which at the time was resplendent with ‘life

And it was in exactly this way that I came across the Kulttuurikauppila residency in Northern Finland (1). I had googled the

size’ Moomin characters (who knows what size a Moomin really is?). It

phrase “international artists residencies” after running out of

turned out to be a rural type of setup with a sparing amount of

suggestions made by VAI e-bulletins. Google yielded results – and I

decoration. Leena awaited me at arrivals and waved through the

applied to three of the top 20 using arbitrary criteria for elimination.

Perspex as I queued for my bags.

wasn’t long before it was time to fly onward to Oulu Airport, which

None amongst them had anything to do with my likelihood of success

As we drove to the residency Leena informed me of the group

and for this reason I was suspicious when they replied to the affirmative.

involved in creating the Arts Centre. It was an inspiring story of a small

I was consumed with the thought that they must be a sloppy operation

group of artists in a rural municipality who lobbied to have a facility

to accept me on the basis of my own application.

built on the site of their studios. The centre now services community

My next thought was that they assumed there was something in

groups and attracts a high calibre of exhibitor. Two such candidates,

it for them. Further investigations proved my initial misgivings

Tapani Kokko and Virpi Kanto were opening that evening and with

unfounded. With the exception of the website’s colour scheme they

this in mind I decided to rest before proceedings began.

seemed very professional. They accepted only three candidates per

The residence itself is a modern apartment with kitchen and

annum; and of those usually one was a college professor or some

dining area – all made exceptional by an unending wash of Arctic

similarly respectable type. It says a lot about my application technique

light. In the computer area a desktop and router supply hi-speed

that I neglected to check any of this out before applying and I quickly

internet and amongst the furniture, a couch and wall sized bookcase

became concerned that they would discover I was an impostor.

provide separation from the bedroom. The bedroom comes with a flat

The timing of the proposed stay was fortuitous. I was finishing

screen TV. Being a self avowed television addict, I moved it to the

my MA in the middle of June and it was around this time that the

computer area for fear I would go all ‘Howard Hughes’. The studio is a

Curator, Leena Vuotovesi thought it would be a good idea for me to

large space with a printing press and a lengthy wall full of tool filled

arrive. It turned out I had to take down my show, move out of my

wardrobes.

house and board the plane, all on the same day. This workload came

At this point the bed was occupying my attentions and so it did

with the fallout from too much partying and I struggled throughout

until I was awoken by a knock telling me the opening was underway.

the day. By the time I was packing for the plane I was suffering from

In the courtyard everyone gathered to hear a speech and imbibe in

nervous exhaustion. The plane seemed to have a calming effect on me

wine while a previous resident, Gerlinde Misenbrooke, gave a reading

and I assumed the role of the nonchalant young man, unperturbed by

from Kaleva, a Saga-like novel that serves as one of the first examples

queues and security.

of written Finnish.

chaperoned by Leena, a young woman of my own age. I was often away on various excursions, but when I was to be found at my residence, Leena would seek out my company for a coffee. For the Finns, all occasions call for coffee and far from being an inconvenience, this was something I looked forward to and sought out in the absence of its request.

The exhibition I had in the Oulu Museum of Art was not the result of my own application. It was facilitated by Leena’s relationship with this institution. It was this relationship, which influenced the manner in which I was treated while exhibiting – which was very well.

Interestingly, while I wouldn’t say I was alienated by the level of professionalism I encountered when working with this institution – I had only previously witnessed this as something being lavished on other artists who’s work I was being employed to install. It was nice to be on the receiving end of the museum apparatus for a change!

At the opening many speeches where given over to talk of this being the first collaboration between the museum and the residency.

And the hope is that there might be further collusions. For most artists a show of this kind is a worthy addition to the CV – and for those lucky enough to be invited, any suggestion of it should be forcefully pursued.

My stay was enjoyable and when I think of it I remember it as a kind of adventure. At every point, idea’s for work were either indulged or encouraged – and this included an awful lot that I haven’t had time to account for. This brief report barely covers the outcomes of the first two days of my residency – and in the end I stayed for four months. I can thoroughly recommend this residency to any artist who is seeking to broaden the realm of their experience.

Cóilín Rush Notes (1) My participation in the Kulttuurikauppila residency was supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and details regarding Kulttuurikauppila’s application procedure can be found at: www. kulttuurikauppila.fi.

16

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

RESIDENCY PROFILE

An Exhibition opening in an artist's studio

The residency building in winter.

Alan James Lambert. Rule of the Grandfathers. Still 2009.

Video footage shoot while on residence in Kronstadt. .

A marine school training yard, near to the resident building.

Pride, Isolation and Globalisation Alan James Burns profiles his artist’s residency on the Kronstadt programme of The National Centre for Contemporary Art St. Petersburg in RUSSIA. The National Centre For Contemporary Art (NCCA) is an organisation aimed at the development of contemporary Russian art within a global context. Formed in 1992 when contemporary art was establishing and locating itself in post Soviet Russia, NCCA has been “essential in the processes of the reorganisation of the artistic life in Russia” (1) since the end of communist rule.

In April 2009, after seeing an advertisement in the Visual Artists News Sheet’s ‘Opportunities’ section, I applied for a residency at The Cyland Media Arts Laboratory Residency programme. This is a programme run by the National Centre for Contemporary Art Russia – St. Petersburg Branch (NCCA-SPB), in cooperation with St. Petersburg Arts Project Fund, New York. I was accepted for a six-week period, on the basis of a proposal for a video piece to work and research at the facilities media lab. During the course of the residency, I corresponded with NCCA-SPB through artist selector / curator Vika Ilyushkina, who also works as an independent curator and artist.

As I don’t speak Russian, communication was a constant challenge throughout my residency. For example, it actually transpired that my application had only been fully reviewed on the day of my arrival in St. Petersburg; and that I had been accepted solely on my DVD reel and for the words social, video and economic written within the application cover letter. Moreover, while I was accepted as a resident artist for the NCCA Kronstadt Residency Programme, it was not in fact associated with the Cyland Media Arts Laboratory. I was informed that this was due to recent staff changes, but normally the media lab was intended to be available to artists, especially during their annual ‘Cyberfest’ – an international festival of cybernetic art.

The NCCA Kronstadt residency hosts artists working in all mediums, and supports the creation and exhibition of projects.

Applications via open call are accepted on an ongoing basis. Resident artists are supplied with accommodation, use of a shared personal computer and a small open area to work. Due to the miscommunication, I was granted only limited and supervised use to equipment from the Cyland Media Arts Laboratory facilities. My transport and daily expenses were covered by an Arts Council of Ireland travel and training award. I was also supported by a Cavan County Council Arts Office bursary during the time of my residency.

Kronstadt is a town located on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland. It is connected to St. Petersburg by means of a road across the top of a 25 km dam. Historically, Kronstadt is a military town – having once been a major Soviet Naval base. The 108 sq metre residency premises is located in the centre of Kronstadt and can accommodate two residency artists and two full time residential artists – Mikhael A. Crest Arxenekrohen and Darja Prawda who manage and maintain the building. Arxenekrohen and Prawda are both self-thought artists who operate an exhibition space from their St. Petersburg city centre apartment.

Military personal on the streets o Kronstadt.

A derelict Naval cathedral in the Center of Kronstadt.

Kronstadt is classified as part the UNSCEO historic centre designation of the ‘St. Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments’ site. Kronstadt was founded by Peter the Great, who took the Island from the Swedes in 1703. The 1921 Kronstadt Rebellion played an important role in the Russian revolution. And the town is also home of Alexander Popov, who invented the first radio receiver in Kronstadt – which was later tested and used within the Russian navy.

Until 1996 Kronstadt was a closed town. It was the seat of the Russian Admiralty Board and the base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Today the town is open to all visitors – but is still a military town, with many of the armed forces accommodation buildings, shops and schools located throughout the area.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the systems that maintained and supported the splendour of the town, have dissolved and it has fallen into decline and disrepair, with high unemployment. Many derelict buildings lie dormant, including enormous naval storehouses, vast dry docks, concert bowls and an exquisite naval cathedral.

Kronstadt in many ways can be seen as a microcosm of the world in its state of 21st century flux and uncertainty, where issues of pride, isolation, opportunities and the impact of globalisation are at stake (2).

During communist times non-conventional art was driven underground. The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed nonconventional art organisations and schools to develop and evolve,

including NCCA. St. Petersburg is cited as the cultural capital of Russia; but Moscow is the centre of Russia’s contemporary art practice for its vast amount and quality of schools, galleries and festivals including the growth of the Moscow Biennale.

From participating in art events and talking to local artists and critics, I learned that St. Petersburg has a small and young, but nonetheless exciting contemporary art community. However the city’s governing body is somewhat conservative and not supportive of contemporary art. It was also explained to me through conversations at exhibitions, that due to both a hangover of the old Stalinist policy of ‘no criticism’ along with the high copyright taxes on the printing of images, there are very few Russian visual art magazines and journals – and St. Petersburg’s only contemporary art magazine recently shut down.

As training and governmental funding is accessible to those who practice traditional fine arts, most artists work within many mediums from conventional painting and sculpture to video and performance with a clear distinction between each discipline. In conversations with Ilyushkina I learned that artists often produce a number of conservatively styled drawings and paintings at the start of the year in order to receive government subsidy to support their contemporary art practice.

Many exciting responses and artist-led initiatives exist in St. Petersburg. Exhibitions and events are regularly held in studios, abandoned buildings and the living rooms of high profile Russian artists and curators. Many old soviet buildings including cinemas and halls have been turned into temporary art venues and centres. The Loft Project (3) is a multifunctional space that consolidates a number of commercial contemporary art galleries, clothes boutiques, a wine bar, a hostel and a vegetarian restaurant all under one roof to facilitate itself.

Although NCCA is a government-funded body I was informed that it had little recognition within governmental contexts; and therefore they have been repeatedly refused authorisation to grant visas or permits for visiting or residency artists. As a consequence, artists have to utilise 30-day tourist visas – in Ireland these can be obtained from the Russian consulate office in Dublin 4 (4).

I decided to temporarily leave St. Petersburg during my stay and obtain a second tourist visa in Helsinki for the remaining two weeks – so that I could avail of the full six-week residency that had been offered to me. The Russian consulate offices in Finland however, had changed their rules and regulations days before my departure to Helsinki. It would now only allow citizens of EU member states (except Ireland and England), to be issued a tourist visa within Finland.

The new changes came with the adaptation of the Schengen agreement, which Ireland and the United Kingdom opted not to sign, as it would have ramifications for the Common Travel Area agreements between the two countries.

Due to visa and communication problems, together with the residency building catching fire, leaving it uninhabitable for my last week, my residency experience was somewhat stressful and dramatic at times. However, aside from these problems, the culture and social environment of Kronstadt, with its young contemporary art community and the kindness of the Russian people, Ilyushkina and NCCA, created an inspirational experience.

In relation to my work, over the course of the residency, I explored a range of issues in relation to military conscription. Dedovshchina, a form of ‘hazing’ tradition (5), is a significant concern for the Russian Armed forces. Many young men attempt to evade military service by simulating mental illness. I developed a number of video works under the titled Rule of the Grandfathers – the literal translation of Dedovshchina. As part of this work I juxtaposed footage of a young ex-marine shaving his own head with young people using outdoor gymnasium equipment on Kotlin Island.

Overall, I found the local environment and history of Kronstadt town very inspiring – along with the post-soviet context in general. It is an ideal setting and context for an artist’s residency programme.

Despite the few speed bumps I encountered I would recommend this residency to any artist seeking to explore and experience a range of social, political and cultural issues in their work.

Alan James Burns Notes 1. www.ncca.ru 2. www.kronstadt2004.org 3. www.loftprojectetagi.ru 4. To obtain a Russian visa, without travelling in a tour group, you need a Tourist Voucher and a Tourist Acceptance Certificate, which are both issued by a Russian Travel Agency. As there is no such agency in Ireland, this must be done online. These documents need to be presented along with a completed online application form, found at www.ireland.mid.ru, to the Russian Consulate office. Once in Russia it is necessary to register with a travel agent in the city where you are staying, and in every subsequent city that you stay in. This law is also obligatory for Russian citizens when visiting other cities within Russia.

5. 'Hazing' is at term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

17

career DEVELOPMENT

Reckoner George Bolster talks about constructing his Installation Reckoner at Mass MoCA.

George Bolster. Reckoner. Installation view. Mass MoCA.

George Bolster. Reckoner. Installation view. Mass MoCA.

George Bolster. Reckoner. Installation view. Mass MoCA.

A great deal of change has occurred in the way people practice as artists, since I first left college. One of the most pronounced ways is in how artists actively lead their early career themselves. Sometimes this is through formalized artist-led spaces such as Transmission in Glasgow and Pallas Heights in Dublin – which lead the way in introducing new artists, as well as more ad-hoc artist-led / curated projects. I have led a number of these such as 'Urban Gothic' (1) or 'Multiplicity' (2) and have featured in the artist-led projects of others, such as 'Darkness Visible' (3). These temporary groupings can often be reciprocal. In a way it is inevitable generations of artists tend to identify with each other then form allegiances, be they aesthetic or social, as a form of support. Being an artist can be immensely isolating, so becoming part of a community encourages discourse, reflexivity and exchange.

Upon graduating with a BA from Chelsea College of Art and later an MA from Central Saint Martins my first sensation was bewilderment.

Some fortunate graduates were invited to work with galleries direct from college. The others had to create their own opportunities. For me open submission exhibitions were a key way of getting work shown initially. There are a number of these in Ireland such as the Claremorris Open, EV+A and Tulca. It is really crucial to enter these (even if you don’t get selected) because you are exposing the work to professional curators. They might not select you for the show you have applied for, but may remember the work for another project for which your work is more suited. I was struck by artists’ work when I was selecting Tulca last year, some of which might be suitable for another project. Curators talk to each other, ask each other for advice and recommendations. So while it can feel like there is no point to entering these competitions, there is.

The best advice I could give someone starting out is what not to do. One of the biggest mistakes one can make (and I have made it plenty of times) is to not be clear about what you want to make / or have made. Knowing in your head does not mean communicating that knowledge to another person. Putting a chunk of art theory or

George Bolster. Reckoner. Installation view. Mass MoCA.

mangled half-hearted explanation of your work does not do you any favours, be clear and concise, rather than confuse or baffle.

Another key way of introducing your work to others is to curate exhibitions. This creates new networks and develops existing ones as additional artists are added into the mix. To reach out to others is very important otherwise things can be, and will remain very insular. So be brave and ask those you don’t know to work with you. Soon you realise you have created your own community, which banishes in some measure the post college void and soon others will approach you.

Two years ago I visited Shellburne Thurber, an artist friend in Boston. Wanting to show me the beauty of the Berkshires and knowing that I was going to show there in a year’s time she suggested a drive out to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, or Mass MoCA. Like many exhibitions, my inclusion in this exhibition came through a series of occurrences. Firstly, I entered an open submission for a drawing exhibition in NY; this was where the curator who was part of the adjudication panel saw my work initially. I had no knowledge of this and was unsuccessful. By accident a few years later, an artist whom I had worked with who passed on my contact details in a discussion about my work. The curator contacted me asking what my fantasy project would be. Through a series of conversations outlining my aims, this project became one of the cornerstones of the exhibition 'These Days: Elegies for Modern Times'.

They didn’t expect me to arrive for another few months for a site visit, so I called ahead to see if they would like to meet at that point instead. The curator agreed to meet and showed us around the museum. Shellburne thought it hilarious that I seemed to know so little about the scale of the Museum and was looking forward to my reaction. When arriving at Mass MoCA, it is easy to confuse mass as an abbreviation for massive instead of Massachusetts. There are some 36 separate warehouse buildings that house a variety of functions. We were shown around the exhibition ‘Eastern Standard: Western Artists in China’. During the tour I first saw the gigantic room allocated for my installation. It was difficult to appreciate the scale as it was near

dark for the screening of a film piece by British artist Catherine Yass.

We were then shown around the in progress installation of the career retrospective of Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings for which an entire building had been renovated and dedicated. As someone who makes drawings, it was just amazing to see the 100 wall pieces in various stages of completion, being made by the drawing team assembled by the LeWitt Foundation. It had a scale and commitment that made me realise my proposed installation Reckoner was now actually going to happen in a real place not just the fictional vague one in my head.

Artists get so used to hearing “you can’t do that” or “the budget won’t stretch that far” when someone says “yes, do exactly what you want”, it is a terrible shock.

Planning for Reckoner began almost three years before I actually installed the piece itself; making, began seven months beforehand. The most important asset in the initial stages of the project was having studied technical drawing at school. It allowed the team at the museum to know exactly what I meant to make as I was based 3,500 miles away in California at the time. As soon as they had the drawings of the installation, they made a scale model of it and figured out how it fitting into the existing much larger room in the museum. We then worked together to change the entrances and exits to comply with building codes and disability access.

Awareness of deadlines and accountability are high priorities when making an installation piece on this scale. It was even more important to have as much of the technical specifications worked out before even entering the museum, as mine was only one of four new commissions being included in the exhibition. The realisation of the project meant managing and making simultaneously: at Mass MoCA there was a curator, fabricator, two technicians, in my studio in California I recruited an assistant and four interns. Not working alone, as I have always done, was quite difficult. Being detail oriented became hugely important. Every single facet and potential problem had to be factored in. Having curated a number of artist led group exhibitions, I had become adept at planning. Through these projects I was able to see both the artist and curator’s point of view in the realisation of a show.

It helped me hugely in time management for the installation. Not being responsible for fundraising for the piece to be made was a wonderful change. The museum did everything and were delighted that Culture Ireland came on board. Writing funding proposals is something that until then had been impossible to avoid.

This was a very complex piece made from a range of components.

Firstly, came the construction of the shell for the room then a sink like structure under the room for recycling the water from the tears of the drawn Saints. After the antiquing of the mirrors at an external glass merchant, the construction of magnetic walls with iron filings, the suspension of a completely drawn-on wooden waterproof ceiling; and hanging a Narwhal sculpture from it by ribbon – there was just the matter of installing a concealed sound system to play the Radiohead track Reckoner. All these elements were untried technical feats to be dealt with. Working with a large team was at points really daunting.

Especially when everyone is tired and you start to feel you might be completely obsessive. I have to say that I learned so much from the team at Mass MoCA who were fascinating, unfazed, friendly and amazingly skilled individuals.

My idea of the completely immersive environment happened exactly as I had envisioned it. The audience entered the room to see a Narwhal reflected into infinity. Each progressive reflection being further distorted by the antiqued glass. They then looked upwards prompted either by being hit by tears or by their eyes following the ribbons upwards, through this involuntary action, they saw the highly wrought figures of saints drawn amongst clouds on the ceiling. The Radiohead song Reckoner played in an infinite loop, whilst the audience was imperfectly reflected over and over in the mirrors.

As part of the commission, I gave a talk to the Museum Trustees before the opening in April. I left for California to begin work on my first commercial solo exhibition for Chung King Project in Los Angeles. I am looking forward to seeing the piece again next month having had some distance from it. Once work is on show it is hard to gauge how people have reacted to it. I have since moved to New York and often I run into people who have seen the piece. Everyone calls it the crying ceiling. They are sometimes religious and mostly not, though all seem to find it encompassing in some way.

George Bolster

Notes 1. ‘Urban Gothic’ (travelling) Cafe Gallery Projects at Dilston Grove, London, UK 2006; Quartair: Contemporary Art Initiatives, The Hague, Netherlands 2008 and Broadstone Studios, Dublin 2007.

2. ‘Multiplicity’ (travelling) Fota House, Co, Cork 2004; Context Gallery, Derry 2005; Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon 2006 and Market House Gallery, Co. Monaghan 2006.

3. ‘Darkness Visible’ (travelling) Galway Arts Centre, Galway City 2008 and Limerick City Gallery in conjunction with Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick City 2009.

18

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

technical stabilise the emulsion before the paint is made; and are also often added by paint manufacturers to help disperse pigments in the acrylic medium. Surfactants are detergent-like materials that can move through paint and emerge on the surface of works, where they can form a grey-white film – often subtly obscuring images and dulling vibrant colours, as well as attracting soiling.

This ‘migration’ process is known to paint manufacturers and some artists may be aware of a change in the surface of their acrylic paints within a few months of completing a work. Some may have even been advised to gently wipe the surface of their works with a lightly damp cloth to remove this layer ­– a valid potential action for an artist if it is done with care, and after seeking advice from paint manufacturers. From a conservation point of view however, the challenge arises from the fact that these surfactants form part of the Alexander Liberman’s Andromeda (1962) during surface cleaning. The darker areas have been cleaned and the lighter areas have soiling and surfactant on the surface. Image: Tate 2008 © The Alexander Liberman Trust

Simulated surface cleaning treatment of model acrylic paint samples as part of the Tate AXA Art Modern Paints Project. © Tate 2006.

Synthetics & Delicates Dr Bronwyn Ormsby, Senior Conservation Scientist at THE Tate, LONDON, offers an overview of the findings of Tate AXA Art Modern Paints Project.

removal; all of which are generally considered advantageous.

In addition to exploring the surface of paint films, the TAAMPP

further much-needed research into this now widely used medium.

also involved a study into the possibility of varnishing or coating

Acrylic emulsion paints and primers have been extensively used

acrylic emulsion works of art with a view to protecting them from

by artists, accounting for over 50% of paint sales over the last 30 years

soiling and other surface damage. For this, a group of commercial and

– and in the US acrylic’s outsell oil paint by a factor of 10. Acrylic

conservation varnishes were tested after being accelerated light aged

emulsion primers are also the most common medium for ready-

(approximately equivalent to 100 ­­–150 years in museum conditions).

primed canvases. The need to explore conservation issues surrounding

Thus far the results have indicated that there are risks associated with

these paints has become more pressing, as early acrylic works – some

varnishing – including that some of the varnishes adversely affected

nearly now 50 years old – are now beginning to require conservation.

the appearance of the paint films. As well as this, there are questions as

Despite the frequent occurrence of works utilising acrylic paint in art

to how removable these layers may remain over the medium to long-

collections, conservators have previously had access to relatively little

term.

information on how these paints might alter with age, or how they

At this point none of the coatings tested can be recommended as

may be affected by conservation treatments such as surface cleaning.

Grade A conservation materials, hence further research is required. For

As a relatively new painting medium (when compared to egg and

now, as outlined in the Caring for Acrylics guide – it is suggested that

oils), understanding how acrylic emulsion paints may survive into the

artists and collectors engage the services of a local professionally

future, has become an important focus of conservation research since

trained conservator for advice on how best to care for acrylic emulsion

the early 2000s. Some artists have used acrylic emulsion paints since

paintings (and other equally vulnerable paint surfaces such as

their introduction in the late 1950s in the US and the early 1960s in the

unvarnished oil paintings). This includes advice on dusting – which

UK; while other have tried and rejected them for various reasons.

Dr. Bronwyn Ormsby, Senior Conservation Scientist at Tate, testing the surface of John Hoyland’s 25.4.69 (1969). Image: Tate, 2009 © John Hoyland

paint surface, with the added awareness that acrylic emulsion paint films tend to stick to other surfaces, including other paintings!

British artist John Hoyland recently spoke to Dr Ormsby, Tate’s Senior

Another factor to consider is how to best handle these often large

Conservation Scientist about the robustness of acrylic emulsion paints

and unframed paintings safely. Basic guidelines would include: always

­– touching upon several aspects of the research undertaken by the Tate

makings sure that the intended movement path around the work of art

team: “Acrylic won’t crack unless rolled or folded under extreme

is clear; that the work can be safely lifted; and that cotton or vinyl

circumstances; it can, when very hot, stick to another acrylic surface

gloves are worn when handling – in order to avoid dirt and fingerprint

but can safely be rolled or unrolled at room temperature even when

transfer, which can prove difficult to remove. Tate recommends the use

used thickly. Acrylic will not crack or yellow like oil paint, no linseed

of transit frames for safe handling and storage of large-scale acrylic

oil is needed. It is thinned by water alone. Acrylic is a new medium as

works. Other useful suggestions regarding ensuring safe environmental

oil once was - all that’s lacking is the smell of linseed oil in the studio. I

conditions and transport techniques and so on, can be found in the Tate

feel very strongly that the understanding of acrylic paint and research

AXA Art publication Caring for Acrylics: Modern and Contemporary Paintings (3).

The research carried out at Tate and elsewhere on the whole offers

Professional quality acrylic emulsion artists’ paints have been

good news. It has been proven that artist-quality acrylic paint films are

shown to be the most flexible of the artists’ paint types available today,

generally physically robust, colourfast and can fare very well over time,

including oils, which as John Hoyland suggests, means they have less

if they are cared for correctly. However, conservators have to consider

tendency to crack as oil and alkyd-based paints can. The down-side to

the properties and qualities of acrylic paints from a very different

this flexibility however is that dried paint films are relatively soft and

perspective, as they are facing the challenge of removing soiling and

that the surfaces of acrylic paintings are therefore vulnerable to

other marks from the paint films of artworks that are now nearly 50

damage from materials coming into contact with the paint surface and

years old.

to increased soiling through the natural process of dirt accumulation over time (just like in the home!).

Specific concerns included assessing any associated changes to the

saturation and vibrancy of the colours were noted as a consequence of

help to preserve modern masterpieces and provide the springboard for

important activity.”

collection, dating from 1962 to 1973, were also used as case studies.

changes in gloss (usually a small increase) and an increase in the

kind undertaken anywhere in the world. The research findings will

into the preservation of acrylic works of art should be an ongoing and

Much of the focus of the TAAMPP has involved exploring the surfaces of contemporary paints. A group of works of art from Tate’s

are not affected by the removal of this surface layer. However small

emulsion based paints. The project, instigated in 2006 and sponsored by an AXA Art Research Grant (2), is the first major in-depth study of its

One particularly highly skilled user of these paints, well-known

surface soiling.

appears that the properties of the bulk paint film – such as flexibility,

information for both artists and about the properties of acrylic-

ability to be diluted with water.

or indirectly, as part of a treatment designed to remove unwanted

surfactant removal as part of a surface cleaning treatment. Thus far, it

of the Tate AXA Art Modern Paints Project (TAAMPP) is providing vital

low toxicity, versatility, stability and possibly most importantly, their

whether to remove them ­– either directly, to improve colour saturation;

appearance and properties of acrylic paint films resulting from

Completed in late 2009 and based at the Tate, London (1), the findings

Nonetheless, these paints remain extremely popular today due to their

original paint material, therefore presenting an ethical dilemma about

Conservators aim to achieve their treatment goals with the least intervention possible – ideally not altering any of the fundamental

In the worst case, accumulated soiling layers can become

properties of the materials encountered in the work of art, while at the

embedded into these relatively soft paint films, causing permanent,

same time removing unwanted marks and surface dirt. This has proven

unwanted visual change to the paint surface and work of art. One of the

particularly challenging with respect to one of the ingredients in

main recommendations for owners and artists’ storing their works of

acrylic emulsion paints – substances called ‘surfactant’. These

art is to avoid having any storage, packing or other materials touch the

substances are added by acrylic emulsion media manufacturer’s to

will help keep accumulated soiling, and the need to carry out treatments such as surface cleaning to a minimum.

Overall this research has both informed and inspired debate within the conservation and collections care professions, and the project results have directly contributed to the establishment of best conservation and preservation practice. The Tate AXA Art Modern Paints Project, has provided a much needed platform for ongoing scientific-based conservation research into the properties, conservation and preservation of what is an ever increasing number of works of art made with acrylic emulsion paints. Moreover the TAAMPP project has produced information that, although primarily aimed at conservators, collectors and collections care managers, is also very relevant to practising artists who use – or are considering using – acrylic emulsion paints.

Dr Bronwyn Ormsby, Senior Conservation Scientist at Tate For more information see the Tate AXA Art Modern Paint Project webpage: http://www.tate. org.uk/research/tateresearch/majorprojects/conservation_modernpaints.htm and the AXA Art UK website: http://www.axa-art.co.uk Notes (1) Of the TAAMPP, Tate’s director Sir Nicholas Serota, stated, “Tate has led much of the research into this area over the past decade, and since 2006, our partnership with AXA Art has enabled this crucial research to progress.”

(2) Dr Ulrich Guntram, Global CEO of AXA Art Insurance, added “With 50% of AXA Art’s private and corporate clients across the world collecting modern works, we saw this research to be of huge value to the global collecting community. We are delighted that the Tate team has brought this issue to the fore and provoked thought and discussion in this field, as an authority on the protection and restoration of acrylics. As the world’s only art-led insurer, AXA Art is committed to developing conservation solutions and protecting valued artworks for future generations.”

(3). This booklet available as a download at: http://www.tate.org.uk/research /tateresearch/ majorprojects/conservation_modernpaints.htm

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

19

Institution profile

Expanded Studio

organisation. Charitable status covers the building rates and allows for greater opportunities to organise and run art-based events in Belfast.

We had no idea how to do this or what we needed to make it happen.

David Turner & Fiona Goggin profile Platform ARTs, a new studio venture in Belfast.

After taking advice we formed ourselves into a committee, Amberlea Neely, Francesca Biondi and Gareth Martin joined three of the original members (David Turner, Chris McCambridge and Fiona Goggin). NICVA was recruited to write our memorandum and articles of association and started working towards forming the company and securing the building.

The Company was established in May 2009. Our primary aims are to actively promote the creation, presentation and access to contemporary art practice through Studio, Exhibition, Education and Outreach programmes.

Platform Arts is committed to: Providing affordable, high quality studio spaces to artists Showcasing the work of emerging contemporary artists – local, national and international Developing more opportunities for artists and arts professionals at the beginning of their careers.

Establishing a site recognised as an arena for emerging practice Forming a creative hub that plays a role within an extended network of like-minded organisations across Ireland and the UK Widening access to contemporary art and to harnessing art as a vehicle for further education and learning.

Our studios were quickly filled and our waiting list is ever growing. Our 13 artists moved in at the start of May – Kenny Mathieson, Fiona Ni Mhaolir, Catherine Roberts, Rachael Campbell Palmer, Chris McCambridge, Miguel Martin, Ann Quail, Mairead Dunne, Gareth Martin, Stephen Dorethy, Fiona Goggin, David Turner and Jenny Keane ; with a wide and diverse range of practices.

It was never in our original plan to run a gallery space, but due to

'Futures Exhibition' installation view, Platform Dublin.

the inherent qualities of light, space and structure in our top floor we felt it would be a wasted opportunity not to make a go of things. We had experience in organising arts events but never a gallery space so our learning continued. We looked to the example of similar organisations in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and England for inspiration and direction. What we found was not necessarily a new ideal but one that seemed to encompass all our original aspirations: the artist led space. Platform deals with each artist and each show on an individual basis and tries to accommodate and promote the artists in their development to the best of our ability.

Our maiden show was in June 2009. It was the end of year presentation by the MFA students of the University of Ulster and proved to be a poignant reminder of why we decided to set up Platform, and also of how far we had all come since our graduation. It was also Work by Leeane Spiers 'Futures Exhibition'. Platform, Belfast.

Belfast Platform For The Arts Ltd was officially registered as a

Studio Space. Platform, Belfast.

of Platform Arts as it stands today.

company in 2009, however we have been working together for the past

We soon found ourselves inundated with inquiries about studio

two years as Platform Arts. The learning curve – from idea to realisation

space as other young artists found themselves in the same position we

in forming our studio group and gallery into a company – was a steep

had a year previous. We found ourselves in the position of offering

one.

advice to graduates on how to acquire a place of work. It was this duty The term ‘studio group’ does not do justice to what we do and our

of advocacy to fellow graduates that made us realise the importance of

achievements. There are 13 full time resident artists with Platform Arts

studio groups and support networks. It was this realisation that gave

and over 80 exhibiting artists to date, not to mention education

Platform Arts its core objectives and framework to work within.

programmes and workshops in the first six months. Platform started

What happened next was a mixture of pure luck, the recession,

as a small venture established by graduates of the University of Ulster’s

guts and the steep learning curve. Rent increases in Lombard Street and

Masters of Fine Art Degree, but grew due to the demand from other

the lack of space to expand gave us the motivation to move premises.

artists seeking studio space.

The recession had just begun to show its severity and at the same time

Original members David Turner and Chris McCambridge found

vacant rates in Belfast city centre had risen from zero to half rates. This

studio space impossible to come by and were faced with waiting lists

was to force landlords to fill up vacant buildings and suddenly the

and a severe lack of available studios in Belfast. What quickly became

artist collective became a lucrative proposition.

apparent was the extraordinary amount of vacant space above retail

One afternoon an estate agent rang, whom I had been talking to a

units in the city centre. In our minds, as the space was not being used

year earlier. He had made a note of when our lease was up and

it should be rentable at a very reasonable rate. However, as many artists

wondered if we had resigned or were we looking for a new space. I

will have experienced, some landlords can be far from reasonable and

agreed we would look at a space on 1 Queen Street, Belfast. It was two

are often quite reluctant to deal with artists. The lack of understanding

floors totalling 7,000 square feet over a Pound Stretcher. The first floor

to what an art practice involves and what a studio group entails,

was split into 14 large rooms and the top floor was a single opened

proving the key factor in this hesitance.

plan space over 3,000 square feet. It was a natural gallery with lots of

Eventually we found two small rooms on 11 Lombard Street

light and lots of space.

above shop units. These two rooms were no larger that 12-foot square

After much discussion and fraught negotiation we managed to

but they where dry and warm with high ceilings and large Georgian

agree the building for a very low rate over a number of years. The

windows that streamed in light. A year passed very quickly and Fiona

landlord was to provide the building to us as ‘sponsorship in kind’ in

Goggin and Rachael Campbell Palmer; also MFA graduates, got

return that the rates, upkeep and insurance be taken care of. We soon

involved and we were now a collective. We soon had to come to grips

realised that rates would be very expensive and the only option open

with a quarterly rent, rates, electricity, and insurance. For four graduates

to us was to form a ‘not for profit limited company with charitable

this proved challenging but it was a pivotal step in the establishment

status.’ Such status gives protection to the individuals running an

the foundations of a close relationship between Platform and the MFA. Since then we have been proud to host – 'Platform Audio' (an experimental sound installation by John Mahon and Andria Poiarkoff); ‘Singing in the Round’ (experimental vocal workshop with Caroline Pugh and Rachel Austin); ‘East meets West Via Belfast’ (A performance event by BBeyond involving internationally acclaimed artist from Burma, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan, Germany and Ireland both north and south.); ‘Platform One’ (our first annual members show), Workshops with Alastair MacLennan (involving the participation and presentation of over 10 artists) and Platform Futures (our first annual graduate show). We have also set up a graduate residency, begun taking students and young artists on work experience, and started planning our educational programmes and outreach.

Platform Arts has also been given its second building. This exciting venture is the old RUC building on Queen Street. This historic building home to the RUC for over 50 years and a fever hospital before that, will be the focal point of an on going curatorial endeavour of live art, performance, installation and much more for 2010 onwards.

The lynch pin to our organisation are the members – those involved who offer their time, their talents, their enthusiasm and their ongoing support. Our vision is clear, an artist run space, a hive of productivity and the show casing of contemporary art practices, and with the momentum increasing every day it seems more and more attainable.

We are currently accepting proposals for our 2010 programming of Platform and our Station projects. Please contact platformarts@live. co.uk for further details. We would like to thank everyone who continues to support Platform Arts and look forward to seeing you all in 2010.

David Turner and Fiona Goggin

20

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

project PROFILE

Corners of Reflection Sarah Lincoln profiles ‘The Preponderance of the Small’ a city-wide off-site exhibition initiated by the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (25 September – 31 October 2009)

Maggie Madden.Untitled drawing. Multicore telephone wire.

Gillian Lawler, Untitled. Oil on canvas.

The familiar rhythms, repetitions and perseverance associated with manoeuvring ones-self around a city were mirrored in many of the artworks in the Douglas Hyde Gallery’s off-site project, ‘Preponderance of the Small’. Throughout the month of October 21 artworks were placed in 21 different spaces in and around Trinity College. Moving between each of these works involved traversing diverse spaces including a record shop, a tennis court and a freemason’s hall. A map and guide, published to help orientate the viewer conceptually and geographically around the show, was available from the Douglas Hyde Gallery and at various exhibition points along the route. Accessing each of the artworks took a long time and placed unapologetic demands on its audience. Part of the strength of this show was the extent to which each of the artworks were embedded in their respective sites. Certain artworks seemed at ease with their surroundings, others resisted their sites. What prevailed was the sense that as much consideration had gone into the selection of the spaces used as the artworks. The spirit of quiet perseverance evident in the artworks was all the braver against the exhibition’s backdrop of a frenetically paced city centre.

A lot of the works in the exhibition were connected formally through the foregrounding of repetitive gestures within them. Mark Beatty and John Jones each constructed their art-pieces by making repeated marks on paper. This sense of gradually building to a whole through the persistent laying of small, individual marks, was evident in other works, such as Margaret O’Brien’s 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,…., here, multiple dress-maker’s pins were carefully positioned to mirror a faintly patterned textile beneath. Elaine Reynold’s film, For a rainy day recorded a woman being steadily rained upon while carrying bucket after bucket of water from a lake, methodically emptying her load into a mucky hole close to where the water had come from. The importance of repetition in Reynold’s piece is immediately evident. Additionally, the installation of the artwork in a second hand shop helps to deepen the implications of the film. The audience is lead, through the work’s placement, to compare the flow and return of water in the film to the flow of goods taking place within the Oxfam charity shop.

Paul Hickey’s Weave # 4, comprised solely of multiple Dulux paint colour swatches, woven in long strips between the mesh of the tennis court fence in the grounds of Trinity College, was representative of the thoughtful and inventive use of ordinary materials evident throughout the exhibition. The positioning of multiple small cement birds in the grounds of the Rose Garden in Trinity College by Nina Tanis was another example of the use of simple materials resulting in an artwork’s insistence that introspection and quiet reflection can

Liam O’ Callaghan.If I falter, if you falter, you will hold me, I will hold you. Pencil erasers and shelf.

emerge from the ordinary. In both Tanis and Hickey’s work there is a sense of the artwork extending out of and relating back to the architecture in which both pieces are placed. In the case of Hickey, the steady dividing lines between the colour swatches echo the dividing lines of the tennis court. Tanis’s cement birds are arranged on the grass in decorative linear patterns, extending out from an ornamental pillar.

This juxtaposition, invited a comparison between the gradiose pillar extending upwards and the humble insistence of the cement birds extending outwards at ground level.

The locations at which works were situated throughout the exhibition continued to enrich the ideas inherent in them. Tristan Hutchinson’s deceptively simple film Commution consisted of a looped projection of an out-of-focus shot of commuters shuddering in unison as their train comes to a stop. The effect of this quietly powerful work was open-ended as the figures movement could be interpreted as having taken place due to the receipt of some kind of communal benediction, or a repeated wake up call. Projecting this work on a shiny wide-screen television in the window of an electronics shop at one of the busiest junctions in the country made the introspective nature of this work all the deeper. Certain sites operated by pushing against the grain of the works positioned within them. Gillian Lawler’s abstract painting, Untitled chimed in certain regards with its lofty surroundings in a Freemason’s Hall. Both the site and the artwork reflected the potency of abstract symbolism. That this painting, executed by a woman, was hung alongside portraits of various patriarchs associated with the Molesworth Freemasons Hall appeared as a subversive gesture on behalf of the curators within such an unambiguously gendered space.

I met with three of the six curators (1) of the exhibition and they explained to me that they were aiming for the show to have a quietly optimistic spirit. They agreed that there are provocations in the show – but not harsh ones. Barry White, one of the curators, emphasized that any over-arching theme associated with the exhibition was secondary in relation to the individual attitudes, or stances embodied by each of the artists exhibiting. Nonetheless, he felt that what could group these practices together is ‘a certain kind of humility’ evident in their work. He felt that there was also an energy in many of the pieces, which touched on a modest aspirations ‘toward some new, or altered way of living. It was felt that the vehicle for this change be related to perseverance and hard graft, rather than any sudden sharp shocks.

This tone of gentle alchemy relates back to the title of the exhibition, which is derived from the Chinese I Ching, or Book of Changes.

Part of the rationale for organising off-site projects is to diversify the Douglas Hyde’s audience. The structure of the exhibition was left purposefully loose. You could enter the art-trail by accident ­­– happening upon it while buying a suit – or you could move in an ordered sequence through the show. The decision to have six curators was equally an attempt to loosen, or blur the boundaries around conventional exhibition making. The curators I met explained that this structure was initially set-up as an attempt to dissolve curatorial authorship around the exhibition. They explained that the spaces and artists chosen were arrived at over a long period of time and through multiple discussions together. In keeping with the spirit of renewal and change inherent in the show, it was decided that work be selected from younger artists working in Ireland. The decision to select a particular artwork was based more upon a familiarity with an artist’s practice rather than on a single work. Though the Douglas Hyde,

Paul Hickey.Weave # 4. Dulux paint swatches.

Margaret O’ Brien. 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 ... Sculptural installation.

through its Gallery 3 (2) initiative, has had multiple off-site projects, this exhibition involved an enormous amount of co-operation between it and the custodians of all the multiple sites used. From a logistical point of view the exhibition was demanding. However, the curators were keen to emphasise just how open and hospitable each of the venues were towards them.

The curators explained that certain unintended associations developed as a result of the sequence in which they organised elements along the art-trail. Liam O’Callaghan’s If I falter, if you falter, you will hold me, I will hold you is a sculptural work made up of used pencil erasers. When proceeding sequentially through the trail, the next artwork you encounter after O’Callaghan’s is John Jones Untitled Graph Drawing No. 8, made up entirely of methodically placed pencil marks on paper. The use of materials in these two artworks, which were positioned sequentially next to each other, resonates together poetically. Another unintended development was how performative the installation of Hanna Breslin’s waiting for the happiness… became.

Installing the piece involved methodically sticking tiny adhesive paper discs in circles onto the ground and walls of the Arts Block in Trinity College. Each of these discs of paper contained words, and so sentences, such as “don’t walk all over me” were painstakingly composed. The installation of this piece coincided with Trinity’s Fresher’s Week and resulted in a sharp juxtaposition between the methodical work of installing this work with the bustling activity of first year students registering for college. The performative aspect of the work continued, as the words became slowly destroyed, being worn and carried-away by the soles of shoes.

In the melting pot of the city centre the curators of ‘Preponderance of the Small’ repeatedly sought out corners, which offered the possibility for reflection. In the choice of artworks, which related so closely to the everyday in their materials and propositions, the audience were met with a confident curatorial voice, which suggested time and again that the mundane and repetitive can serve as a potent catalyst. As an audience member visiting each of the 21 sites, you slowly had the sense that each of the understated works were culminating and growing richer as each artwork made suggestions about the next. A vital element in realising this aspect of the show was the time taken to journey through it.

Sarah Lincoln Notes 1. The six curators were: Sara Baume, Mark Beatty, Mary Jo Gilligan, Michael Hill, Sheena Malone and Barry White.

2. Gallery 3 does not refer to an actual space; it exists temporary, embodying everything from film screenings and musical performances to talks and publications.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

21

January – February 2010

Art in the public realm: ROUNDUP

Art in Public: Roundup

Recent public art commissions, site-specific works, socially engaged practice and other forms of art outside the gallery.

AISLING ELLIS

JOHN KINDNESS

the artist and local residents’ groups of all ages representing both sides of the community living in the estate.

Inspired by the birds after which the roads in the Clooney estate are named, the commissioned works consist of three steel sculptures entitled Birds in Flight, The Nest and Feathers, and one mosaic installation incorporating bronze casts of on the wall of the community centre. As part of the £44,500 ‘Flocking through the Streets’ project territorial markings have also been removed from the area.

Description:. The commission comprises four 25ft Steel figurines placed on elevated sites along the N52 By-Pass. Each figurine holds a symbol of the world of learning and sanctity that are representative of the monastic settlements of Durrow and Clonmacnoise. One holds a book, one holds a chalice, one a staff and one throws aloft a flock of birds or souls.

The Magpies Nest

www.artscouncil-ni.org

John Kindness. Herakles and the Stympalian Birds. The Source Arts Centre & Library, Thurles, Co Tipperary.

Aileen Lambert

Herakles and the Stympalian Birds, by John Kindness was sited in September at The Source Arts Centre & Library, Thurles, Co Tipperary. The work, comprising oil and enamel painted zinc panels, that also incorporate gold leaf, was devised as a response to the materials and forms of this new building designed by McCullough Mulvin Architects. The imagery of the piece was derived from 6th century B.C. Greek Vase painting – specifically depictions of Herakles and the Stympalian Birds.

Aisling Elli. The Kiss. Library and Information Resource Centre at The Institute of Technology, Tralee.

As Time Flies

Aisling Ellis’s new work The Kiss was recently commissioned under the Percent for Art Scheme for the Library and Information Resource Centre at The Institute of Technology, Tralee. The wall sculpture is one of many art pieces chosen to be displayed in the Library and Information Resource Centre at the Institute of Technology. The piece was inspired by Gustav Klimt's painting The Kiss. The work is constructed from several circle and rectangle forms cut from embossed and flat sheets of aluminium.

Each aluminium piece was then hand stitched together using wire, to create the image of a man and woman kissing.

Mike Kavanagh’s Grandfatherfrom 'The Magpies Nest'. Copyright The National Library of Ireland & The National Photographic Archive.

Aileen Lambert. Untitled. Performance and sound work. Marquand Chapel, School of Divinities, Yale University, Connecticut, USA.

ALTER/NATIVE PROJECT

James Hayes As time flies... Gurranabraher Road, Cork City

Linda Shevlin, Padraig Cunningham and Carol Anne Connolly 'Alter/native Project'. Boyle, Co. Roscommon.

'Alter/native Project' was initiated by artists Linda Shevlin, Padraig Cunningham and Carol Anne Connolly as a response to the need to utilise some of the increasing number of vacant retail units around the town of Boyle, Co. Roscommon. ‘Alter/native Project’ was described as “a venture whose concerns are embedded in the notion of community. ‘Alter/ native Project’ was devised to complement Boyle Arts Festival exhibition – showing artists whose works would not be encountered in the context of the traditional festival.

The work was funded through sponsorship raised from local businesses. The participants were Karl Burke, Carol Anne Connolly, Padraig Cunningham, Angie Duignan, Johnny Fitzsimons, Alice Lyons and Orla Mc Hardy, Anna Macleod and Ann Marie Menzies.

Artist: James Hayes Title: As time flies...(for BF & JGB) Materials: Stainless steel, mirror polished 316 stainless steel sheets and computer controlled fibre LED optical lighting.

Dimensions : 10 mtrs x 5mtrs x 2mtrs(approx) Commissioner: Cork City Council, Management Commitee Gurranabraher Community Development Centre.

Location: Gurranabraher Road, Cork City Commission type: Shortlist Sited: 01/09/09 Budget: €50,000 Project partners: Gurranabraher Youth Development Centre, RAPID, POBAL, A&A Engineering, Dublin, MPP Engineers, Cork, Fibre LED Ltd, Dublin and Cork City Council.

Description: The work consists of four diamond shaped kites with flowing tails which spiral upwards as the kites take flight from the roof of the building.

At night the kites emanate light due to a sophisticated computer controlled Fibre LED lighting system, which cycles through spectrums of colour. Cross shaped slits in the kites separate the panels and allow for airflow from high winds as well as generating striking multicoloured cross like symbols after dark.

CLOONEY ESTATE Four new pieces of permanent public art by Susan Hunter commissioned as part of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s £3.8milion Re-imaging Communities Programme have been unveiled for the Clooney Estate, Derry. The launch of the pieces marks the culmination of two years’ work involving

Artist: Aileen Lambert Title: Untitled Medium: Performance and sound work Location: Marquand Chapel, School of Divinities, Yale University, Connecticut, USA Commissioner: Yale University School of Divinities, with support from the Arts Council’s Commissions Scheme Commission type: Direct invitation Description: Prof Siobhan Garrigan of Yale School of Divinities invited Aileen to develop new work for the community and context of the Marquand Chapel, on the Yale Campus.

Prior to travelling Lambert visited a number of holy wells in her locality in County Wexford, collecting an amount of water from each. During her period of residence in Yale, the artist presented a performance on each of five mornings before and after the service, whereby she stood stationary in the Chapel entrance with hands cupped, full of water from one of five wells.

In addition Lambert developed a group performance with the congregation of approximately 120. A soundwork played in the foyer while the artist led the congregation in a vocal work featuring two notes sung on inhaled and exhaled breath.

Saints and Scholars Artist: Maurice Harron Title: Saints and Scholars Location: Tullamore Co. Offaly - Northern side of the Tullamore N52 By-Pass.

Commissioner: Offaly County Council Arts Office and NRA Per Cent for Art Scheme Advertised: 16th June 2008 – August 2008 Selection Process: August – October 2008 Dates: November 2008 – October 2009 Budget: €85,000 Commission Type: Primarily Open Competition for proposals, then shortlisted candidates prepared submission and maquette.

Project Partners: Offaly County Council and National Roads Authority

Artist: Michael Fortune Title: The Magpies Nest Location: National Library of Ireland, and website www.themagpiesnest.ie Commissioner: Bealtaine Festival Commission Type: Direct Invitation.

Timeframe: Project began in March 2008. Finished in July. Website currently online.

Main Partners: Education and Outreach Department in The National Library of Ireland, Bealtaine and the six participants involved.

Budget: €5,500 Description: Three projects arose out of the collaboration. The first project, undertaken by Fintan Murphy and Phyllis Lawlor, focused on the arrival of magpies into Ireland through County Wexford in the 1680’s and the impact they have had on folk belief throughout the island of Ireland ever since. The second project, by Mick Clancy and Terry Fortune explored the background to fragments of pottery, which for over a hundred years continue to wash up on a local beach called Moran’s Bay. The third project undertaken by Oliver Doyle and Mike Kavanagh re-visited the famous Coolgreany Eviction photographs taken in 1887 from the perspective of one of their descendants.

Material selected from the archives was presented in three exhibition cases at the National Library of Ireland May – June 2009. www.themagpiesnest.ie www.michaelfortune.ie

YOUR WORK HERE ! If you have recently been involved in a public commission, percent for art project, socially engaged project or any other form of ‘art outside the gallery’ we would like you to send us images and a short text (no more than around 300 words) in the following format – Artists name; Title of work; Commissioning body; Date advertised; Date sited / carried out; Budget (NB artwork / site work); Commission type (eg direct invitation, open competition, limited competition, did you have to prepare a submission at a short-listing stage?); Who were the main partners for the project? (eg did you work with a local authority arts officer, community representatives, architects, engineers, project managers); Brief description of the work

22

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

International

Mohammed Hammad Call Centre Video. 18 minutes. 2006, Arabic with English subtitles

Karim Fanous Clean Hands, Dirty Soap, 25 minutes. 2007

Dina Gamaleldeen The Body

Karim Fanous Clean Hands, Dirty Soap, 25 minutes. 2007

Fortifying Dialogue An interview with Eygptian Curator, broadcaster, editor and Critic Sherif Awad, who contributed to the Solus Collective’s Irish / Arabian Avant-Garde Film Tour.

Jason Oakley: ow did your connection to the Solus Irish / Arabian Avant-Garde Film Tour (1) come about?

Sherif Awad: I was introduced to Alan Lambert of the Solus Collective through a mutual friend – Egyptian novelist Mahmoud Kassem.

Mahmoud and myself were working in Alexandria Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries last year. I asked Alan to put us into contact with Irish film companies and to nominate Irish features for the festival. When Alan attended the festival, I showed him some of the other selections I was curating inside and outside of Egypt – film and video, experimental narratives and documentary shorts. We kept in contact; and he invited me to present a selection of works in Dublin, to complement Solus’s presentation of Irish films at Alexandria Bibliotheca.

JO: Could you talk me through some of the works you selected for this screening?

SA: They are short narrative films from Egypt and the Middle East, funded independently by the filmmakers themselves – who are either film or art students. They are shot in what might be described as an 'urban underground' style. The topics are those not tackled in mainstream theatrical releases. They reflect contemporary turmoil, generational conflict and other social issues. My criteria is to always select films with a strong visual texture, creative narratives and of a topical nature. I’m always conscious when touring with these films, that I have responsibility to present a realistic image of my society. I also like to shed some light on promising new filmmakers.

Call Centre, by Mohammed Hammad is a short narrative about a middleclass veiled Egyptian girl who works in a call centre in an urban neighbourhood. To overcome her sexual oppression, she starts to eavesdrop on the customers’ calls. It is a modern take on voyeurism, a new Peeping Tom, about hidden secrets and people who don’t practice what they preach. The oppression of a male character is explored in the award-winning Clean Hands, Dirty Soap by Karim Fanous – in which a young handsome musician has to accept to work as a toilet cleaner in a luxury nightclub, because his talents have not been recognized. Through his eyes we see the contrast between this reality and living at home with a sick mother, and the dream world he is part of at night. Dina Gamaleldeen’s The Body reflects on beauty and femininity in her short documentary debut, which explores the ups and downs of contemporary dancers in Cairo. It is really a departure from the urban noir-ish approach of the other films.

JO: How did the Irish audiences respond to the screenings?

SA: In European cities closer to Egypt, I usually get more of an audience from Arab origins. But in Dublin, they were mostly Dublin-based with only one journalist who used to based in Egypt and another young half Irish / half Egyptian artist whom I known in Cairo. And of course, because of the lack of coverage of Egyptian and Arab film and art in Ireland, the films prompted a lot of interesting questions from the audiences about Middle Eastern society, creativity and politics.

JO: Are you doing any other similar events elsewhere in Europe?

SA: Yes, I am travelling to Turin, Italy and Orebro, Sweden. I also hope set up an Arab video channel as part of the next Loop Video Art Festival in Barcelona. I am also coordinating the 25th edition of Alexandria Biennial for Mediterranean countries this December. I hope to return to Dublin, with not only with a film show but also an exhibition.

JO: Could you tell me a bit more about your background and involvement in Egyptian contemporary art and film?

SA: Since 1993 I’ve been the communications manager in Egypt for United International Pictures, Fox and Warner. Around that time I also started to work as a programmer for the Cairo and Alexandria Film Festivals. I’ve contributed to many magazines, and I am the art and film editor for Egypt Today Magazine – which is the leading English language monthly magazine in Egypt. I handle three other publications – The Ticket Entertainment Magazine, Scope CD Magazine and Contemporary Practices. I currently present film focuses in both the Cervantes and Italian Cultural Centres in Cairo. In addition I am the film and video curator of contemporary art gallery called Darb 1718, which opened in the middle of Fustat in old Cairo in 2008. I write teleplays for film / art TV shows on satellite channels that broadcasting in the Middle East. This includes the weekly program Cinemascope on Dream TV. In print and on TV I have covered international film festivals like Berlin, Cannes, Istanbul, Taormina, Rome, Dubai, Oran and Tribeca; and art events such as the Guangzhou Triennial, along with the Cairo and Sharjah Biennials.

JO: Could you briefly outline some key elements of the contemporary Egyptian Art Scene?

SA: The roots of the Egyptian contemporary art go back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the westerners who came and began teaching visual art in local schools and colleges. Most of the western movements including impressionism, realism and their evolutions were absorbed, until the ‘Egyptianization’ of creativity became an aim among artists and scholars alike. From the late 60s until the 80s, Egyptian artists started to take other directions, exploring themes of more personal self-discovery. By the 1980s and 1990s a new generations of artist practices began to reflect freer and more diverse paths – informed by information technology, globalization and mobility – along with an interest in collaborative projects, especially amongst younger artists. Practices like video art, performance, photography and installation also came to prominence. Younger artists also started to have more exposure to what is happening in the West, Also and also in Africa.

But the art scene is still in its inception. There is a lack of sponsors and only a relatively small number of professionally run contemporary private art galleries and spaces. Darb 1718 and The Townhouse Gallery are two such important venues – which offer artists residencies. The

support from public venues of contemporary art is quite limited. A multiplicity of art institutions and exhibition halls need to be established. It is a challenge for artists to devote themselves solely to their practice – there are very few teaching opportunities for example.

And private funding often comes with strings attached – agendas and conditions, favouring certain mediums or themes specific prizes, contests and grants. On the other hand, the public spaces run by the minister of Culture are modernizing their management structures and are beginning to stage collaborative and curatorial exhibitions, examples including the recent editions of the Cairo and Alexandria Biennials.

And we still in need more art publications – as the current ones only cover certain events and certain artists in favour of others. And overall, we need stronger Arab language publishing. Bidoun for example is published in NYC; while Canvas and Contemporary Practices. Produced in Dubai, are written in English.

JO:Do you find the notion of Middle Eastern Art helpful or frustrating?

SO: It is a useful enough categorizing term – it can encourage curatorial work and the support of the art of coming from this vast, colourful and invigorating region. Of course, particular artists in particular areas and Diasporas all have their own preoccupations, themes and visual languages that need to be considered. It is important to note that ‘Middle Eastern Art’ also observes and reflects on the ‘European’ cultural scene and issues.

JO: Have you encountered stereotypes or preconceptions around notions of Middle Eastern Art in your travels?

SA: Throughout my experiences in Europe and the United States, stereotyping is eternal – not by the layman but also amongst curators and other art professionals. I try to challenge these rigid blocks of thought and ideas through my writings, screening and art shows.

Ladies in veils, harems, bearded men with four wives, terrorists, and anti-feminism are few of the ideas that need to be thoroughly challenged.

JO: Have there been any recent European exhibitions of Middle Eastern Contemporary Art that you have thought were particularly good?

SO: Two come to mind. The first being 'The Present out of the Past Millennia – Contemporary Art from Egypt' held at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2007), which featured thirteen Egyptian artists, who all took a very contemporary approach through a range of media exploring contrasting contexts of the occident and the orient. The second was 'Exile' at the Art Centre SilkeBorg Bad, Denmark (2009) where the theme was explored in philosophical and political terms were interpreted by 35 international artists including Egyptians and Arabs.

JO: Do you think it is a significant time for the visibility contemporary art and culture from the region?

SA: Particularly in Egypt there are positive changes in art management through the Sector of Fine Art – an initiative of the Minister of the Culture associated with the organization of the Cairo and Alexandria Biennials. The Sector of Fine Art comprises a project assigning artists to curate a range of public spaces. The large-scale exhibition 'Salon Elshabab' (Youth Salon) offers an important platform to art students and emerging artists. Palace of Art, a huge public venue, directed by the painter Mohamed Talaat is one of the most important spaces in Egypt.

It has featured some key exhibitions considering contemporary issues such as, 'What Happens Now?' (2007) and the upcoming 'Why Not? 'Curated by Talaat. Recently some important new private spaces have been founded like Darb 1718; and the soon to be opened Bayan, set up

by Alexandrian artist Wael Shawky in his home city. In United Arab Emirates, the art fairs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are fast becoming important meeting points for curators and scholars. In terms of sales, we now must wait and see the fate of the economy in Dubai.

Generally, since 9/11 the interest in Arab art and culture has been exponentially elevated. Westerners have started to open their hearts and minds in order to try understand more about the heritage of ‘the other side of the world’. I think the Arab image has started to change.

Even in American action films we are seeing the moderate dramatization of Arab characters. Art and film offer platform for a dialogue between continents – it’s a great responsibility; artists and curator I hope will continue and fortify this dialogue into the future.

Notes 1. www.soluscollective.org

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

23

January – February 2010

Opportunities W11 1LR, England

formed artwork, in and of itself.

resident artist receives a stipend

Resident artists have usually

Telephone

It will explore the gallery as a

of €700 per month. Send a short

successfully completed their

0044 20 77928588

culturally

and

biography/CV with a clear

(art) studies and have already

Email

symbolically loaded site, and

indication of the focus of the

worked independently as artists

info@themuseat269.com

query the process whereby

residency

of

for three to five years prior to

Website

cultural material acquires a

publications,

exhibitions,

their application. Residents are

www.themuseat269.com

given object status when it is

performances, compositions and

provided with their own studio

Deadline

validated, received and consumed

related aspects of practice, as

and a work budget. There are

30 January 2010

within a white cube. The

well as experience of other

several large project spaces

curatorial agenda and outline of

residencies and any familiarity

available for experimentation,

Illumini

the 4 exhibition components are

with

and

collaborations and presentations.

enter the Live2011.com Grand

Applications are invited from

available

language by post or email to

Information on applying for the

Prix media art competition.

artists of all disciplines at any

contacting:

Sheila Pratschke, Director, at:

next residency, starting in

There are 6 different categories

stage of their career working

Email

Address

January 2011, is available from:

that are open for submissions:

with illumination. If your work

e.tan@kingston.ac.uk

Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5, rue

Email

TotalKunst, an artist-run gallery

Open,

Media,

glows or lights up in any way,

Website

des Irlandais, 75005 Paris

application@rijksakademie.nl

in the heart of Edinburgh, is

Digital Turku 2011, Culture 2.0,

Illunini wants to hear from you

www.stanleypickergallery.org

Email

Website

Artistic Game, and Event Awards.

for ‘Crypt-mas 2010’, a site-

Deadline

spratschke

w w w. r i j k s a k a d e m i e . n l /

ongoing gallery project ‘Suitcase

There is a combined total value

specific alternative Christmas

various until 12 March 2010

centreculturelirlandais.com

residency/uk_rs_residency.htm

Series’ that plays with notions of

of prizes worth more than

that will take place inside the

Website

Deadline

€140,000. Entry instructions and

subterranean labyrinth of an

www.centreculturelirlandais.

1 February 2010

interpretation and interaction.

additional

on

underground church crypt in

The work consists of instructions

submissions for each category is

December 2010. There is a £5

Deadline

EMPAC

sent to the gallery for altering or

available at:

submission fee. No commission

29 January 2010

New media artists, scholars and

Website

charged. Make cheques payable

Cow House Studios

space, which the gallery will

www.live2011.com

to Illumini or pay via Paypal

Applications available for 2010

Community Engagement

for

undertake, set up and interpret

Deadline

using Illumini's email address.

Residency Cow House Studios

Draíocht in association with

programme at The Experimental

according to the parameters set

30 June 2010

For further details on how to

are

accepting

Fingal County Council’s Arts

Media and Performing Arts

submit

for

applications for the 2010 Artist

Office invites applications for a

Centre (EMPAC) in Tryo. EMPAC

consideration go online or

in Residence Programme. Three

new 15-month Community

is

contact:

10-week residencies are awarded

Engagement

Programme

research and artistic production

mediums and engaged in current

Email

annually. Two of the residencies

2010/2011, due to commence on

at the intersection of technology,

contemporary

illumini@hotmail.co.uk

are open to both Irish and

1 March 2010. There are two

media and the time-based arts

Opportunities Exhibitions International INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

Suitcase Series

inviting

proposals

distance,

space,

for

the

location,

otherwise using the gallery

Participative

information

by you. Documentation of this process will be created and sent

Supercollider

to the artist. All publicity for the

Artists

exhibition is covered. All kinds of proposals in all media are

working

across

all

practice

and

your

work

charged

online

or

by

REsidencies RES

and

French

details

culture

com

currently

researchers are invited to apply the

ongoing

dedicated

to

residency

advancing

welcome; particularly work that

debate are invited to submit

Website

international artists, and one

strands

residency

(media arts, video, music, dance,

involves audience participation.

proposals

www.illuminievent.co.uk

residency, in collaboration with

programme; the artist’s own

theatre, etc.). As EMPAC is part of

Deadline

Wexford Arts Centre, awards an

personal development and a

a

15 January 2010

exhibition to an international

specific community engagement

university

For more information, please

for

opportunities

exhibition as

part

of

to

this

technological

research

residencies

are

send an email under the heading

Supercollider Contemporary Art

‘Suitcase Series’ to:

Projects’

artist following their residency.

project in the area of Youth Arts.

research-focused and goals may

Email

programme of events and shows.

Sculpture-Permutations

Cow House Studios provide

The selected artist will be invited

turn out to be artistic or technical

Proposals

a

The 3rd edition of Sculpture-

accommodation, and 24-hour

to create, develop and nurture a

dead

Website

maximum of 10 jpegs of your

Permutations, an interactive

access to the studio facilities that

working relationship through

residents the logistical support

www.theforest.org.uk/totalkunst

work (72dpi, max. height or

project that enables the creation

include 2,400 sqft open plan

their artistic practice with a

of experts in audio, video and

width of 1,000 pixels) along with

of sculptures that can be

space with a wood shop,

specific

stage technologies, as well as

an up to date CV, a short

combined with each other, is

darkroom and computer lab.

people’s group within the

critical

statement about your work and a

currently calling for submissions.

Individual spaces measure 18

community of the greater Dublin

interdisciplinary curatorial team.

brief proposal of how you intend

Each artist participates in the

sqm with natural light. Successful

15 area. The residency will result

Application forms are available

to use the space (max. 1,000

project with a sculpture which

applicants are responsible for

in a solo exhibition of the artist’s

online.

interested in different ways of

words). Send proposals to

can be disassembled into three

travel and material expenses,

personal work and a concluding

Address

installing work are invited to

Address

pieces. The combination of

and are required to contribute

exhibition or event for the Youth

EMPAC, 110 8th street, EMPAC

submit work for consideration to

supercollider contemporary art

separate works is possible as

€60 per week for food and

Arts project to be held during the

Building,

consumable costs. The 2010

period of Spréacha, Fingal’s

America

mk@m-kop.org.uk

Deadline Ongoing Cecil Street Project Artists working in any media

upcoming must

2010

include

children’s/young

ends.

EMPAC

discourse

Troy,

offers

with

NY

an

12180,

Project’s

projects, c/o 10 Riversway,

their interfaces are congruent

Installation Project. The project

Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 8PD,

with two predefined silhouettes.

Programme

14

annual international children’s

Email

is based in an old church building

England

The aim is to create a framework

September to 22 November. For

festival, in April 2011. For more

empac_air@rpi.edu

Email

for

information on the application

information on this opportunity

Website

supercollider_projects@

sculptors of the most varied

process go online to:

and to obtain an application

www.empac.rpi.edu/residencies

spaces include an old red

hotmail.com

backgrounds. Information for

Website

form please contact Niamh Ryan

Deadline

telephone box, a shop interior,

Website

participants can be found and

www.cowhousestudios.com

at:

Ongoing

shop display windows and

www.supercolliderhq.org.uk

downloaded on the website.

Deadline

Telephone

balconies.

Deadline

Website

28 February 2010

01 8098026

Kunslerhaeuser

31 January 2010

www.sculpture-permutations.

The

Cecil

Street

in Carlisle that contains a mock Victorian street. Installation

Contact

Jennifer

collaboration

between

runs

from

Email

Kunslerhaeuser Worpswede in

with a proposal for your

com

Centre Culturel

niamh@draiocht.ie

Germany calls for fine artists and

installation at:

The Muse at 269

Deadline

The Centre Culturel Irlandais in

Deadline

sound artists who speak German

Email

Artists are invited to apply for

10 March 2010

Paris, France is currently inviting

15 January 2010

or English to apply for its 2010

jennifer@cecilstreet.co.uk

spring/summer 2010 exhibition

Brooks at The Cecil Street Project

artist in residence programme.

applications from Irish artists for

opportunities at The Muse at 269

7.9 Cubic Metres

a number of artistic residencies

Rijksakademie Residency

The centre offers professional

in London. To apply for an

7.9 Cubic Metres is a free-

at the Irish College in Paris from

The

an

artists and scholars a place to

Deadline

exhibition at The Muse at 269

standing structure within the

September 2010 to July 2011.

international artists’ platform

develop their work and interact

1 February 2010

please send CV, contact details

Stanley

in

The residency programme gives

for developing talent on an

with their peers with residencies

(including phone number), artist

Kingston upon Thames, London.

participants the opportunity to

international level. It focuses on

of up to 6 months. A stipend of

Turku 2011

statement and 10 to 15 images of

7.9 Cubic Metres operates as an

spend time living and working

facilitating

research

and

€1,400 per month is provided,

Turku in the south-west of

your work (as jpeg attachments

autonomous gallery within the

in

production

for

emerging

along with accommodation,

or on disk) to:

public gallery, and submissions

practitioners in all art forms,

professional artists from all over

studio and printmaking facilities.

Address

are invited from artists for a

within the limits of the facilities

the world and every year approx.

Families

and Turku 2011 invites artists

Spring Calendar @ The Muse at

series of 12 themed exhibitions.

available in the Centre. The

25 new artists are selected for

language course available. €20

and new media professionals to

269, 269 Portobello Road, London

The 7.9 Cubic Meters space and

residency bursary covers travel

yearlong residencies running

application

its archive will become a fully-

and accommodation, and each

from January to December.

Application forms are available

Website www.cecilstreet.org.uk

Finland has been named the 2011 European Capital of Culture

Picker

Gallery

Paris

and

is

open

to

Rijksakademie

is

welcome. fee

German applies.

24

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

Opportunities on request from:

Address

Email

Deadline

Deadline

Stadtmühle Willisau

Address

Elisabeth Hajek, Koordination

info@meltdowns.co.uk

1 February 2010

15 January 2010

Stadtmühle Willisau is a cultural

quartier21, Museumsplatz 1,

Website

attn. Mr. Bernd Milla, Bergstrasse

A-1070 Wien, Austria

www.meltdowns.co.uk

Anderson Ranch

Blast Theory

that aims to provide artists from

1, 27726 Worpswede, Germany

Email

Deadline

The Anderson Ranch Artists’

Blast Theory, located in a

different countries and different

Email

ehajek@mqw.at

15 January 2010

Residency

in

Victorian icehouse overlooking

disciplines with accommodation

ausschreibung2010@

Website

Snowmass Village, Colorado is

Shoreham Harbour in Brighton,

and work space that will allow

artistresidency.net

www.quartier21.mqw.at/Artist-

Curious-Thinker

designed to foster creative,

is

for

them to experiment and develop

Website

in-Residence

The

Curious-Thinker-in-

intellectual and personal growth

applications

20

new work. Residencies can run

w w w. k u e n s t l e r h a e u s e r -

Deadline

Residence Programme run by the

for emerging and established

Wellington

Residency

for between 3 and 6 months and

worpswede.de

Ongoing

Society for Curious Thought is

visual artists. Residents are

Programme for the period 2009

are open to artists working with

Kunstlerhauser

Worpswede,

centre in Willisau, Switzerland

Programme

currently

calling for

the

Road

open to artists, writers, scientists,

chosen on the basis of artistic

to 2011. Expressions of interest

photography,

Cove Park

musicians and theologians. The

merit by an independent jury of

are invited from individuals

drawing, painting and media art.

In 2010 Cove Park will offer one

residency provides each resident

established working artists are

working in the following fields:

To apply, contact Stadtmühle

3-month Scottish Arts Council

with the space and freedom to

invited to live and work at

pervasive and location based

Willisau at:

Residence

(SAC) Visual Arts Residency that

think, create and invent over 3

Anderson Ranch for an approx.

gaming and interactive media;

Address

ongoing

will run from 3 May to 30 July

weeks in a compact, self

10-week residency period. While

mobile and portable devices in

Müligass

residency programme open to

2010.

and

contained wooden cabin with

in residence, all artists will share

cultural and artistic practice;

CH-6130 Willisau, Switzerland

visual artists of any discipline

international artists are welcome

internet access and small library

in an established community of

games

Telephone

who wish to engage with the

to apply. The residency provides

just outside the quiet village of

interaction,

interdisciplinary and live art

0041 9725900

built landscape of the salt flats of

the time and support for an artist

Whaplode Drove in Lincolnshire.

development

intense

practice. Residencies last for

0041 3710585

California/Nevada/Utah.

The

to focus exclusively on their own

Applications should include a

production of work. Applications

between 3 to 12 weeks and are

Email

CLUI (Center for Land Use

practice and ideas. Residents will

short essay, series of photographs,

are now being accepted for the

open to artists, curators and

info@stadtmuehle.ch

Interpretation) is a research

be part of a changing group of up

short film or animation, your CV

Fall 2010 (12 October to 20

researchers. A bursary scheme is

Website

organisation

in

to 10 artists on site in any one

and the names of two referees.

December 2010) and Spring 2011

also available to offset costs.

www.stadtmuehle.ch

and

week and they will be provided

Send applications as Word

(1 February to 13 April 2011)

Further details and application

Deadline Ongoing

Deadline Ongoing Wendover The

Wendover

Programme

exploring,

is

an

involved examining

understanding

land

Both

Scottish

conceptual and

design

and

theory;

printmaking,

7/Postfach

3260,

and

with a fee of £5,200, a research/

documents to:

residencies. Applications may be

forms are available from:

landscape issues. Based in a

materials allowance of £750, self-

Email

submitted online at:

Address

remote area of California, the

catering accommodation, private

info

Website

Blast

residency programme provides

studio and access to a workshop,

thesocietyforcuriousthought.

www.andersonranch.org

Wellington

artists with accommodation in a

library and IT/computer facilities.

com

Deadline

BN41 1DN Brighton, England

accepted for residencies at Art

self-contained, vintage travel

The artist will also be invited to

Website

1 February 2010

Telephone

Centre Slovenia, located in an

trailer, a $250 per week allowance

take part in Cove Park's public

www.

0044 1273413455

abandoned

plus partial support for travel to

programme. Applications should

thesocietyforcuriousthought.

UNIDEE

Website

guardhouse near the Slovenian-

and from the residency and for

be sent by post to:

com

UNIDEE (Università delle Idee)

www.blasttheory.co.uk

Hungarian border surrounded

project materials, as well as an

Address

Deadline

is a research centre located in a

Deadline

by forests and fields. The art

exhibition opportunity at the

Visual Arts Residency (SAC)

18 March 2010

former 19th century woollen

31 January 2010

centre provides residential and

Wendover

Exhibit

Theory,

Unit

Road,

5,

20

Portslade,

Art Center Slovenia Applications are currently being

Ex-YU

military

Hall.

2010, Cove Park, Peaton Hill,

Residencies run for 3 to 8 weeks,

Cove, Argyll and Bute, Scotland

Roman Witt

seeks to explore the relationship

Blue Sky Project

with drawing, painting, film,

and residents should arrange

G84 0PE

The mission of the Roman Witt

between Art and Society and

Blue Sky Project, a programme of

multimedia, photography and

access to a car or other motor

Email

Residency Programme at the

fosters the role of artists and

Involvement Advocacy, is an

performance art. The centre has

vehicle during their stay. To

information@covepark.org

University of Michigan School

creative

innovative

summer

arts

a dark room, foundry and

apply, submit a 1-page essay

Website

of Art & Design is to support the

activators of a responsible social

community

and

residency

ceramics oven. Artists interested

explaining why you want to

www.covepark.org

production of new work by

change in society. Applications

programme in Dayton, Ohio that

in individual residencies should

participate in the Wendover

Deadline

awarding one residency per

are now being accepted for

is committed to producing

contact Art Center Slovenia for

Residence Programme and what

29 January 2010

academic year to a visiting artist/

UNIDEE 2010 which will take

significant work by linking

further information at:

designer who will work at the

place from 15 June to 15 October

young people aged 14 to 18 from

Address

you plan to do when you get

mill in Biella, Piedmont that

practitioners

as

work space for artists working

there, along with name, address,

Meltdowns Residency

school to develop a work in

2010. The programme is open to

the local community with

Art Center Slovenia, Sredisce 47,

phone number, and the proposed

Meltdowns in Ramsgate, Kent is

collaboration with students and

all creative professionals and

professional artists from around

9207 Prosenjakovci, Slovenia

dates for your residency, to:

currently inviting applications

faculty. A centrepiece of the

culminates in an open studio

the world to pursue projects

Telephone

Address

for the Meltdowns Residency

residency is the open studio that

day, UNIDEE in Progress, in

proposed by participating artists.

00386 2 5449108

Wendover Residence Program

2010 which will run for 6 weeks

is part of the school’s main

which the participants show

Proposed projects must be

00386 31 250378

Application, CLUI, 9331 Venice

from 12 July to 22 August 2010.

gallery where the resident can

works-in-progress that have been

achievable within 8 weeks and

Email

Boulevard, Culver City, California

A bursary of £1,000 will

out work in a public domain.

developed during the four month

within

info@artcenter-slovenia.org

90232, America

hopefully be provided for the

The Witt Residency is open to

residency. Partial and total grants

(excluding

Email

duration and a series of contact

both established and emerging

are available to cover some or all

expenses), and should engage

www.artcenter-slovenia.org/

clui@clui.org

meetings with a member of

artists/designers and applicants

of the €12,000 fee. Residents are

others in its articulation and

index2.htm

Website

Meltdowns

also

must be interested in generating

provided

private

production. Applications forms

Deadline

www.clui.org

available. The artist will have

creative partnerships across

accommodation and board, as

are available to download or on

Ongoing

Deadline

full use of the project space and a

disciplines. Residents receive an

well as access to studio space,

request from:

Ongoing

laptop with a wireless internet

honorarium of $20,000 for up to

seminars, excursions, tours and

Address

Lokaal 01

connection.

expected

twelve weeks in residence served

activities at Cittadellarte –

Benkendorf, Blue Sky Project,

Lokaal 01 consists out of two

Quartier 21

outcome from the artist is a body

over an academic year as well as

Fondazione Pistoletto. For more

Box 10506, Dayton, OHIO 45402,

spaces, one located in Antwerp

Visual artists are invited to apply

of work or research. This

housing, studio space, and up to

information

America

(Lokaal 01 project space) and one

for

opportunity is for a practicing

$5,000 funding support for

procedures contact:

Telephone

in Breda in The Netherlands.

in

artist within 5 years of graduation

project materials. For application

Address

001 9377325123

Lokaal 01 aims to stimulate

Quartier

residency

21’s

ongoing

programme

MuseumsQuartier

Wien

staff

The

will

with

on

application

a

$1,000 final

budget

exhibition

Website

in

(BA or MA) or similar experience.

information contact:

UNIDEE, Via Serralunga 27,

Email

experimentation in the arts and

Austria. Five live/studios are

Funding is TBC so please check

Address

13900 Biella, Italy

peter@blueskydayton.org

offers artists the opportunity to

available to international artists

the Meltdowns website or

Witt Residency Application,

Telephone

Website

develop and present projects.

and resident artists also receive a

contact them before applying.

University of Michigan School

0039 15 28400

www.blueskydayton.org

Artists can apply with project

€1,050 stipend per month.

Address

of Art & Design, Chrisstina

Email

Deadline

proposal that use the 60 m2

Residencies can last for between

Studio 2, St Lawrence Industrial

Hamilton, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd.,

fondazionepistoletto@

23 January 2009

space of Lokaal 01 as a starting

2 and 6 months. Application

Estate, Manston Road, Ramsgate

Ann Arbor, MI 48109, America

cittadellarte.it

point. For more information on

forms are available online or on

CT11 0QZ

Website

Website

the applications process contact:

request from:

Telephone

http://rhizome.org/announce/

http://unidee.cittadellarte.it

Address

0044 1843 580083

view/54258

Provinciestraat

287,

2018

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

25

January – February 2010

Opportunities Antwerpen, Belgium

Website

human rights-related issue in, or

Deadline

Deadline

available for 3, 6 or 12 months.

Telephone

www.atlanticcenterforthearts.

related to, Ireland. Applications

15 January 2009

4pm, 15 January 2010

Applicants

0031 76 5141928

org

are now open. Full details of the

Email

Deadline

competition and application

John Moores

Frances Browne Schools

curatorial practice, contemporary

breda@lokaal01.org

5 February 2010 (postmark)

packs can be accessed on the

Call for entries for the John

Donegal County Council Public

arts or visual art production.

ICCL Awards website.

Moores Contemporary Painting

Art

to

Applications should include a

Website

should

experience

Programme

wishes

in

have

art

history,

www.lokaal01.nl

Herhúsid

Website

Prize 2010. Artists living in the

commission

interactive,

CV, letter of interest (including

Deadline

Herhúsid is a newly renovated

www.humanrightsfilmawards.

UK are invited to submit recent

participatory, performance or

an outline of scholarly interest, if

Ongoing

live/work

org

work for this competition which

time-based arts event for children

relevant), preferred dates, and a

facility in Siglufjörður, the

Deadline

will be judged this year by a

based upon the themes of Frances

letter of support by a mentor or

31 March 2010

panel including Gary Hume,

Browne, the ‘blind poetess of

supervisor. Additional materials

Goshka Macuga, Ged Quinn, Sir

Stranorlar’,

work,

in the form of published/

artist-in-residence

an

Blue Sky Project

northernmost town in Iceland. It

Blue Sky Project, a programme of

is

Involvement Advocacy, is an

applications from visual artists

National Sculpture Prize

Norman Rosenthal and Alison

‘Granny’s Wonderful Chair’. The

unpublished writing or project

innovative

summer

arts

working with painting, drawing

The Broomhill Art & Sculpture

Watt. Shortlisted works will be

project will include a 10-week

documentation may be sent to

community

and

currently

accepting

and

her

residency

and photography for residencies

Foundation National Sculpture

included in an exhibition at

residency commencing Spring

support

programme in Dayton, Ohio that

of between 2 and 6 weeks for the

Prize is open to new and emerging

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

2010 based in four National

Applications will be reviewed

is committed to producing

period June to August 2010. The

UK based artists currently

from 18 September 2010 to 3

Schools in Ballybofey/Stranorlar

from December 2009. Send

significant work by linking

studio space consists of a 750 sqft

studying or within 10 years of

January 2011. Prizes include a

with one class of schoolchildren

applications to:

young people aged 14 to 18 from

workshop on the ground floor of

graduation from an art-related

first prize of £25,000, four further

aged from 10 to 11 years of age

Address

the local community with

the residency and a furnished

course at a recognised School of

prizes of £2,500 each and the

from each school included in the

Internships, The Model, The

professional artists from around

2-bed studio apartment in the

Art. The judging panel for 2010

visitors’ choice prize of £2,010.

project.

Mall, Sligo

the world to pursue projects

upstairs loft. Residency fee of

includes

An entry fee of £25 applies. For

companies from a range of

Email

proposed by participating artists.

approx. 15.000 ISK applies.

Bradford, Sandy Brown, Giles

more

disciplines (community arts,

reception@modelart.ie

Proposed projects must be

Applications should be sent to:

Penny, Peter Randall Page, Mike

registration go online or contact:

carnival,

Website

achievable within 8 weeks and

Address

Roles, Rinus and Aniet Van de

Telephone

animation, children’s theatre,

www.modelart.ie

within a $1,000 budget (excluding

Norðurgata

Sande. Ten shortlisted sculptures

0044 (0)151 4784121

etc.) who work with children are

Deadline

final exhibition expenses), and

Siglufjörður, Iceland

will be exhibited at Broomhill

Email

invited to make a project

1 February 2010 (postmark)

should engage others in its

Email

Sculpture Park from June 2010 as

jm2010@liverpoolmuseums.

proposal. For the Commission

articulation and production.

herhusid@simnet.is

part of the North Devon Festival

org.uk

Brief, please contact:

Arts & Health

Applications forms are available

Website

and two overall winners will be

Website

Email

The Adelaide and Meath Hospital,

to download or on request from:

www.herhusid.com

announced in September 2010,

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/

declan.sheehan@donegalcoco.ie

Incorporating

Address

Deadline

one chosen by the panel of judges

jm2010

Website

Children’s Hospital (Tallaght),

Benkendorf, Blue Sky Project, Box

1 February 2010

7b

7b,

580

sculptors

Robert

information

and

Artists

and

literature,

arts

film,

applications.

the

National

and the other by the public.

Deadline

www.donegalpublicart.ie

Dublin is seeking artists willing

10506, Dayton, OHIO 45402,

£15,000 prize fund. Register on

19 February 2010

Deadline

to volunteer to facilitate art

America

the website or contact:

11 February 2010

groups for patients. This project

awards Awards

Telephone

Commissions commissions

Address

001 9377325123

Broomhill Art Hotel, Barnstaple,

Email

North Devon, England

would suit artists considering a Schjerfbeck Commission

career in art therapy and/or arts

Belfast Artist’s Panel

The Pro Artibus Foundation, in

in healthcare, artists interested

peter@blueskydayton.org

Reinhardt Award

Website

Belfast City Council has a number

association with The Schjerfbeck

in

Website

Open call for the Alexandra

www.broomhillart.co.uk

of temporary and permanent

Society in Ekenas and City of

community settings and mature,

www.blueskydayton.org

Reinhardt Memorial Award 2010,

Deadline

upcoming opportunities for

Raseborg, invite submissions for

reliable people with some

Deadline

an artist in residence project and

15 January 2010

artists on a variety of scales and

an

to

experience of illness or disability

23 January 2009

public art commission with The

budgets to work on public art

commission a permanent public

and a caring, sensitive personality.

open

competition

gaining

experience

in

Art Room, Oxford. The winning

Abbey Awards 2010

projects across Belfast. Interested

artwork to commemorate the

Applications are invited for a

Atlantic Center

artist will produce a public art

The Abbey Awards offer all-

artists are invited to submit their

time that visual artist Helene

commitment of 2 hours per week

Atlantic Center for the Arts in

work

expenses-paid residencies for

CV, contact details, images of

Schjerfbeck lived and worked in

on a regular basis for a minimum

Florida invites applications for

community and as part of the

emergent

established

previous work (memory stick,

Ekenas in Finland. The selected

of 20 weeks. Induction, ongoing

its

residency

a

painters from the UK at the

slides or print format) and a short

project will be finalised before

support and training sessions

Residence Programme. Since

programme of workshops for

British School in Rome. Emerging

letter of interest or artist’s

2011 and the budget for this

from the hospital’s Arts Officer,

1982, Atlantic Center’s residency

children at The Art Room, Rose

painters are the 9-month Abbey

statement outlining relevant

commission is €30,000. Full

free car parking, refreshments,

programme has provided artists

Hill Primary School, culminating

Scholarship

experience.

details are available online

and the opportunity to develop

from all artistic disciplines with

in a family event hosted with

painters for the 3-month Abbey

details will stay on file until a

from@

your own work in a healthcare

spaces to live, work, and

Modern

The

Fellowship. The awards are open

future call is advertised and

Website

environment (subject to approval

collaborate

3-week

residency will run for 12 weeks

to UK and US nationals or anyone

individuals will be asked to

www.proartibus.fi/english/

of proposal) are offered in return

residencies with masterclasses

from May to August 2010. The

resident in the UK for over five

submit proposals for specific

schjerfbeck_en/

for

by professional artists. Facilities

Award is sponsored by the Max

years. Selected artists will receive

projects as they arise. Previously

Deadline

information contact:

at the studios include a resource

Reinhardt Charitable Trust and is

a monthly stipend of £500 for

selected artists should submit an

15 January 2010

Telephone

library, painting studio, sculpture

worth £10,000. For further details

Scholars and £700 for Fellows.

updated CV and additional visual

studio, music studio, dance

download an application form

Application forms available

material as necessary. If you do

studio, black box theater, writers’

from:

online. Submit no more than

not re-register your details will

studio, digital computer lab and

Website

eight examples of work on either

be removed from the list. Please

accommodation. Radcliffe Bailey

www.theartroom.org.uk

a CD or slides, along with the

note that selection for this

THE Model Seeks Interns

will mentor the residency from

www.alexandrareinhardt.org

names of two referees who will

register does NOT guarantee

The Model in Sligo is currently

17 May to 6 June 2010. $25

Deadline

be contacted if the candidate is

work. Please contact the Tourism,

seeking Curatorial Interns for its

application fee applies, financial

2.30pm, 29 January 2010

short-listed. £20 application fee

Culture and Arts Unit for

2010 visual art programme.

applies. For applications and

selection and project criteria by

2010

Master

Artists-in-

during

within will

Art

the

Rosehill

develop

Oxford.

aid for accepted Associate Artists

and

and

mid-career

Selected

artists’

your

time.

For

more

01 4142076 jobs Jobs

Email hilary.moss@amnch.ie

Funding funding

Internships will support Model

Arts Council Bursary

is available. Applications should

ICCL Film Awards

enquiries contact:

phone or email. Submissions

contemporary art programming,

The deadline for the 2nd Round

be sent to:

Following on from its inaugural

Address

should be posted or delivered to:

collection programming and

of

Address

2009 competition, the Irish

Administrator, Abbey Awards,

Address

development, Model projects,

originally

Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1414

Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)

Upper Ochr Cefn, Rhayader,

Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit,

and the studios programme in

November 2009, is 21 January

Art Center Avenue, New Smyrna

has launched its 2010 Human

Powys LD6 5EY, Wales

Cecil

4-10

the form of administrative

2010. The Arts Council Bursary

Beach, Fl 32168, America

Rights Film Awards. Individual

Email

Linenhall Street, Belfast BT2 8BP

support, exhibition production

Award is designed to support

Email

filmmakers and/or those with a

contact@abbey.org.uk

Telephone

and artist support, as well as

professional

program

strong interest in human rights

Website

0044 (0)2890 918734

research, writing and scholarship

development of their work by

atlanticcenterforthearts.org

are invited to submit an original

www.abbey.org.uk

Email

that overlaps with candidates’

providing visual arts practitioners

culture@belfastcity.gov.uk

areas of research. Internships are

with the time and resources to

short film focusing on a particular

Ward

Building,

Bursary

Awards

scheduled

artists

2009, for

in

5

the

26

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

Opportunities think, research, reflect and

Deadline

Nrth Great Georges St, D1

Website

narration or implication, and

develop their practice. The

29 January 2010

A newly renovated studio space

www.papervisualart.com

structure or a lack of it. History,

in the basement of a Georgian

Deadline

theory and critique are regarded

house on North Great George’s

Ongoing

as being stories about stories.

IAWIS ‘Word & Image’

Soanyway

welcomes

Call for papers for ‘Displaying

award is open to artists at all stages of their career. The maximum

Bursary

Award

available is €15,000 per year per

Studios studios

Street in Dublin 1 is available to

artist, though in a limited

Conferences conferences

rent. Approx. 15 x 13ft, separate

Visual Studies Reader

submissions of stories in any

Word and Image’, an IAWIS

shower room, skylight, windows

Proposals are being accepted for

form, medium and format.

focus conference endorsed by

and doors onto private patio.

inclusion in the Visual Studies

Material to be considered for

ICOM Ireland / ICLM, that will

Tiled floors, microwave, GFCH,

Reader, a collaborative book

inclusion and/or enquiries about

be held at the University of

project

possible submissions should be

Ulster’s Belfast campus from 4 to

number of cases the Arts Council

The Model

will also support applications

The

for multi-annual bursaries of up

announced a call for applications

hot

to €30,000 for a 2 year period or

for its new studio facility which

included in rent. Minimum lease

graduate students from around

sent to:

6 June 2010 with Professor WJT

€45,000 for a 3 year period.

is scheduled to open in spring

6 months. Rent: €450 per month.

the world that is due for

Email

Mitchell as keynote speaker. The

Application forms and guidelines

2010. Future Model will provide

For more information please

publication by Routledge in

submissions@soanyway.org.uk

conference

are available online.

additional facilities and storage

contact Denise on:

2012. Initiated by students at the

Website

together word and image, as

Telephone

space alongside purpose-built

Telephone

School of the Art Institute of

www.soanyway.org.uk

well as literary scholarship, art

01 6180200

artists’ studios. These 8 studio

01 8722285

Chicago, the publication will be

Deadline

history and theory, art practice,

Email

spaces will be available to rent

an anthology of writing on

Ongoing

curatorial practice, museology

awards@artscouncil.ie

for periods of 12 months for

Groundworks Studios

visual studies, art history, visual

Website

between 12 and 36 months. Fees

Ceramic and textile studio

communications,

www.artscouncil.ie

for the studios will be subsidised

spaces are available to rent in

Deadline

and will include 24-hour access

21 January 2010

plus

Model

in

Sligo

has

water

and

electricity

authored

by

post-

visual

aims

to

bring

and visual culture, in order to cut-click

address the interrelationship

anthropology and visuality in

cut-click, an online magazine for

between word & image and

Galway city at Groundworks

general, including science. All

art and design, has an ongoing

display. Questions addressed

Studios.

collective

post-graduate students studying

call for submissions to the

will include: How does the art

generally at a small additional

environment at Groundworks

for an MA, MFA, or PhD, or those

magazine. Please send your

exhibition function as mediator

Step Beyond Fund

cost. One studio is residential.

Studios provides facilities to

who received their PhD in the

images and articles to:

of literature? Which approaches

The Step Beyond Fund supports

For further information contact:

support,

and

last six months are eligible to

Email

to word and image are specific

cross-border movement of artists

Address

constructively assist artists/

contribute texts to the book.

caroline.cutclick@gmail.com

to

and

to

The Model, Unit 6 Cleveragh

designers

Around 100 topics will be

Website

practitioners? How do word and

experience diversity and cross-

Retail Park, Cleveragh, Sligo

themselves

included

www.cut-click.co.uk

image studies theorise, inform

cultural cooperation between all

(temporary address)

internationally. There are a

students will also have an

Deadline

or imply display? For more

European countries, including

Telephone

number of different types of

opportunity to be involved in

9 March 2010

information on submitting

those that are not currently

071 914 1405

studio memberships available.

the editing process. For more

members of the European Union.

Email

For further information contact

information on the project and

i-cabin bookshop

The fund makes a contribution

emer.marron@modelart.ie

the studio at:

how to submit your work please

i-cabin bookshop sells text

the Session Conveners at:

to travel costs, visa costs, and, in

Website

Telephone

visit:

publications

Email

certain cases, accommodation

www.modelart.ie

087 4172029

Website

i-cabin, artist’s publications and

m.lermhayes@ulster.ac.uk karen.brown@ucd.ie

cultural

workers

broadband

access

as

The

promote in

establishing locally

and

and

contributing

curators

museum

paper proposals please go online to the IAWIS website or contact

published

by

costs (through an allowance) of

Deadline

Email

www.visualreader.pbworks.com

second hand art books. i-cabin

those awarded a grant. Proposals

5 February 2010

groundworksstudios@gmail.

Deadline

are currently looking for artist’s

Website

com

30 January 2010

publications for retail through

www.iawis.org

the shop. Artists who are

Deadline 1 March 2009

must be submitted at least 8

or

weeks before the project starts.

Workhouse Studios

For more information contact

Workhouse

Mill Street Studios

ITCH

interested

The Step Beyond Team.

Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford

Two studio spaces are currently

Artists working in any medium

publications through i-cabin

Address

calls for applications from

available to rent at Mill Street

and

should send one copy along with

Printopolis Symposium

Giusy Chierchia & Bertan Selim,

craftspeople

designers

Studios in Dublin 8. For more

themselves in any form or genre

their contact details to:

Printopolis

European Cultural Foundation,

working in all disciplines to join

information and viewings please

are invited to submit work for

Address

Symposium on Printmaking

Jan van Goyenkade 5, NL - 1075

the collective studio, built on

contact Hazel on:

the 5th issue of ITCH Online.

i-cabin, Clarendon Buildings, 25

presented by Open Studio will

HN

the philosophy of design-led,

Telephone

The theme for this issue is ‘?’. Be

Horsell Road, London N5 1XL,

take place in Toronto, Canada

Netherlands

high-end

086 1687044

they rhetorical, theoretical,

England

from 21 to 24 October 2010.

Email

crafted products. Long-term

Email

existential, practical, emotional,

Email

Organisers

stepbeyond@eurocult.org

plans include a museum, retail

info@dublinartmill.com

educational

info@i-cabin.co.uk

submissions of proposals for

Website

premises, cafe and gallery. Initial

Website

questions surround our lives and

Website

papers and demonstrations as

www.eurocult.org/we-support-

rent free period for new members

www.dublinartmill.com

saturate the experience of being

www.i-cabin.co.uk

part of this event. Printopolis

cultural-cooperation/

(depending

numbers

human. How do you mark the

Deadline

will feature issue-based panel

programmes/mobility/apply-

applying) followed by nominal

question? You are free to

Ongoing

discussions/presentations, artist

step-beyond/

rent that will increase as your

Deadline

business progresses. A ‘Start Your

Ongoing

Own Business’ course is available

Amsterdam,

The

Studios

and

and

in

innovatively

on

Publications publications

for all new members, as well as

Paper

writers

expressing

or

mundane,

in

selling

their

interpret this theme in any way

talks

International

are

calling

and

for

printmaking

that you wish with words,

The Millennial Magazine

demonstrations, as well as

sounds

The Millennial Magazine is now

exhibitions. Proposals for papers

Submissions of unpublished

accepting

of

should be based on one of the

and/or

images.

submissions

experimental and innovative

following topics: ‘Print in the

art,

visual

work,

work for the next issue of the

Public Sphere’, ‘The Collector’s

contemporary art. Paper is

animations,

short

films,

independently

published

Impulse’, ‘The Mechanical Veil:

recent work/prototypes (on CD,

currently

reviews,

drawings, paintings and more

quarterly full of articles, reviews,

Printmaking and Technology’

by biomedical science and is

jpeg format, 250-300dpi), and

articles and essays to be included

are all welcome. Full submission

interviews,

humour,

and ‘Print Now See’. Proposed

part of the Wellcome Trust’s

other relevant information by

in

guidelines are available online

photography, artwork, and ideas.

demonstrations must to be

£3.2million Engaging Science

post to Claire McAlister at:

Submissions from artists who

from:

Send your submissions to:

compatible with Open Studio’s

programme. Applicants must be

Address

would like to be considered for

Website

Email

printmaking studio set-up and

based in the UK or the Republic

Workhouse

the ‘focus’ section of the website

www.itch.co.za/submissions

submissions

equipment.

of Ireland and can apply for up

Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford

should send images and a

Deadline

millennialfoundation.net

information

to £30,000 for small to medium-

Telephone

400-word explanation of their

15 January 2010

Website

contact:

sized projects lasting a maximum

085 7741388

work. The focus section of the

www.millennialfoundation.net/

Email

of

0044 7821410968

website will cover artists at the

Soanyway

contribute.html

heather@openstudio.on.ca

information contact:

Email

early stages of their careers, both

Soanyway is an international

Deadline

sara@openstudio.on.ca

Email

claire@workhousestudios.com

works in progress and presented

project

31 January 2010

Website

arts@wellcome.ac.uk

Deadline

works.

pictures and sounds that tell

www.openstudio.on.ca/images_

Website

31 January 2010

submissions to:

stories. The idea of a ‘story’ is

site/printopolis-call-for-papers.

Email

interpreted very openly in

pdf

papervisualart@gmail.com

relation to fact and fiction,

Wellcome Trust Awards

access to studio facilities etc.

Paper visual art journal is a new

photography, graphic design,

The Wellcome Trust Arts Awards

Send a current CV, artist

on-line

sound

is a funding scheme that aims to

statement, 5 to 10 images of

encourage arts projects inspired

three

years.

For

www.wellcome.ac.uk/arts

more

Studios,

the

publication seeking on-line

Please

for

magazine.

send

all

centred

on

words,

For go

more

online

or

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

27

January – February 2010

Opportunities Deadline

workshops, photography and

production, duration and broad

Deadline

run over 3 semesters / 18 months

1 February 2010

film location, fine art exhibitions,

theme of the piece by postal mail

2 February 2010

including a summer break.

students’ end of year shows, live

ONLY.

art

forwarded by email to the address

Outcasting

February/March 2010. For more

showcases, artists meeting and

below.

Moving image artists are invited

information on course content

Cavan Co Co Arts Office

experimental/acoustic

Address

to submit work for Outcasting,

and application process please

Cavan County Council Arts

salons. Interested parties may

SHORTS, Mermaid Arts Centre,

an online moving image gallery

see:

Office invites submissions for the

hire the space from 1 evening or

Main Street, Bray, Co. Wicklow

that is looking for experimental

Website

2010/2011 exhibition programme

a half a day slot up to a month or

Email

work of any genre or format.

www.interface.ulster.ac.uk/ma4/

at its local authority exhibition

longer if requested. Rates are

info@mermaidartscentre.ie

Outcasting

Deadline

venues including Cavan County

flexible and student discounts

Deadline

programming for Season 11

Museum;

Central,

and VAI members’ discounts on

Ongoing

which will run from February to

Bailieborough and Cootehill

solo shows apply. Submissions

March 2010. Work by artists,

Black & White Film

Libraries; and Ramor Theatre.

should include a clear outline of

INTO

filmmakers,

Photography Workshops

Submissions and queries should

the project proposed, the length

INTO is Sound and Music’s

documentary makers will be

Lismore Gallery & Photographic

be addressed to:

of the slot and the time the space

monthly online magazine. Each

considered for screenings of their

Studio in Co. Waterford is offering

Address

needs to be hired for, along with a

month the magazine showcases

work in bi-monthly Seasons that

various courses in Black & White

Cavan County Council Arts

website link or a sample of the

a selection of audio and video

will then be archived on the site.

Film Photography from January

Office, Farnham Centre, Farnham

work proposed.

representing new work in the

To apply, send a URL, a data DVD

to June 2010. Beginner to

Street, Cavan

Email

UK. If you would like to submit

with .mov files of your work by

advanced. Please refer to website

Telephone

lacatedralstudios@yahoo.com

work for consideration, please

post or email your work via www.

for course details or call Mariela

04943 78548

Website

send links to embedded audio

pando.com to:

at:

Email

www.lacatedralstudios.org

and video or send audio and

Address

Telephone

artsoffice@cavancoco.ie

Deadline

video files (up to 50MB), via

Outcasting, c/o Michael Cousin,

086 2327996

Deadline

Ongoing

Yousendit, to:

116 Paget Street, Grangetown,

Website

Email

Cardiff CF11 7LA, Wales

www.LismoreGallery.com

Rape Outcry

shoel.stadlen@soundandmusic.

Email

The Guesthouse

The sexual abuse awareness

org

contact@outcasting.org

Call for visual artists working

exhibition ‘Rape Outcry’ was

Website

Website

with live art (in particular

founded by a South African

www.soundandmusic.org

www.outcasting.org

durational) to participate in a

student in 2007 and organisers

Deadline

Deadline

monthly

event,

are hoping to run a student

Ongoing

15 January 2010

‘Performance Salon at The

awareness event in 2010 in

Guesthouse’, in Cork city. Must

Dublin including art (anything

Projected Weekends

‘17 Days’

artschool uk, a new project that

be available and able to commit

from painting to sculpture) and

The Digital Hub is calling for

Moving image artists are invited

will

to participation and collaboration

creative

submissions for a second site for

to submit digital video, film,

individuals who will be selected

in 6 to 8 events. Please email your

narratives) that relates to sexual

Projected

from

animation and sound art for

to participate in the project

CV, statement, images and an

abuse:

testimony,

November 2009 to April 2010. As

consideration for exhibition

which includes daily seminars,

outline

exhibitions ireland Exhibitions Ireland

Johnston

performances,

fashion music

5pm, 26 January 2010

Friday

writing healing,

(poetry,

Enquiries

may

be

Interviews will be held in

is

currently

animators

and

Ongoing until May 2010

Don’t forget

Other other

artschool uk 2010 Applications are invited for

Weekends

explore

work

by

21

awareness, prevention etc. If you

well as the original screen beside

opportunities as part of ‘17 Days’,

workshops, tutorials, visiting

performance work to:

would like to take part in

OneFiveSeven on Thomas Street,

‘Plus 3 Ferris Wheels’ and Ritual

presentations,

Email

planning, hosting or participating

the new site at the Watling Street

and Repetition’ with the Atrium

groups delivered by a diverse

deirdre_mcp@yahoo.com

in the event please contact Jenna-

wall of the Bank of Ireland on

Gallery at the Gwen Frostic

group of artists, curators, critics

Deadline

Lee or Ingrid at:

James’s Street went live a few

School of Art at Western

and galleries. Phase I ‘The Art

20 January 2010

Email

weeks ago with the screening of

Michigan

School Phase’ will take place in

info@rapeoutcry.co.za

work by Kim Haughton and Lar

submissions to Adriane Little at:

Cell Project Space from 6 to 25

City Artsquad

ingrid.volunteerinafrica@gmail.

Boland. The Digital Hub is still

Address

April 2010, followed by Phase II

City Artsquad will be 20 years old

com

calling for submissions for the

Gwen Frostic School of Art, 1903

‘The Reflection and Publication

in 2010. To celebrate this

Website

remainder of the 2009/2010

W. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI

Phase’. artschool uk will explore

achievement Artsquad is calling

www.rapeoutcry.co.za

series. If you have work that you

49008, America

alternative approaches to art

on all former members to

Deadline

would like to screen in public

Email

teaching and learning within the

contribute to a publication and

Ongoing

(any

adriane.little@wmich.edu

context of developing a long-

considered) please contact:

Website

term experimental art school. An

Email

www.wmuvideo.wordpress.com

invited

exhibit@thedigitalhub.com

Deadline

participants on the basis of work

been involved with City Artsquad

Website

Ongoing

submitted on application. A fee

at any point from 1990 to 2010

www.thedigitalhubexhibit.com

of

your

exhibition

current

that

will

commemorate its participation in community arts. If you have

New newMedia media

subject

or

discipline

University.

Send

panel

and

will

reading

select

Do remember to look at the advertisments in this VAN, also check our web site & subscribe to our e-bulletin for further opportunities.

WATCH OUT While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our information we strongly advise readers to verify all details to their own satisfaction before forwarding art work, slides or monies etc.

of £300 per selected participant is payable in advance. Applications

and would like to contribute to

Mermaid Arts Centre

Deadline

the 20th anniversary celebrations,

SHORTS

30 April 2010

please contact Fiona Clarke,

Mermaid County Wicklow Arts

Programme Coordinator, on:

Centre invites filmmakers and

Stramash Space

Telephone

artists to submit shorts for

Open call from Stramash Space, a

MA Art in Public

London E9 9AP, England

01 4547026

inclusion in its film programme.

new artist-led space in Glasgow,

The MA Art in Public course at

Website

Email

Launching its newly installed

Scotland, for ‘Location Location’,

the University of Ulster’s Belfast

www.artschooluk.org

cityartsquad@hotmail.com

digital projector, Mermaid will

an online exhibition of sound

campus has evolved from current

Deadline

begin to screen shorts in January

works that explore a specific

complex concerns for the role of

1 February 2010 (postmark)

The Back Loft

2010 (on its 8.8 x 3.8m screen) as

place

art and artists in a changing

La Catedral Studios invites

a prelude to the weekly arthouse

Submissions including mpg 4,

society

curators, theatre producers, solo

feature film screening. Shorts

max.

minutes,

practices have been developed in

artists as well as performers and

will also be screened in Mermaid’s

accompanying jpeg and artist

various ‘contested spaces’ for

artist collectives working in all

foyer and as part of Mermaid Arts

statement or biog should be sent

many years. Throughout the

media to submit proposals for its

Centre’s countywide touring

to:

programme students will work

Spring 2010 combined media

programme. To be considered,

Email

with both formal and informal

programme at its multi-purpose

submit your short film on DVD

stramashspace@gmail.com

external partners and be expected

venue, The Back Loft. The space

with a cover note indicating the

Website

to

may be hired for cross-media

title, director’s name, contact

www.stramashspace.org

innovative

events, theatre projects, creative

details, production year, place of

Courses courses

should be sent to:

Thanks

Address

or duration

artschool uk, Po. Box 60487,

environment.

3

where

develop

engaged

self

art

initiated,

practice-based

approaches. The programme is

VAI exchanges with and sources information from: A-N: The Artists’ Information Company; The International Sculpture Centre (New Jersey / USA) and the National Sculpture Factory Cork.

28

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

Problems

PABLO HELGUERA's ARTOONS

The Problem Page

Artoons

Our consierge / curator of agony responds to a selection of queries and conceptual quibbles – offering in return, nothing less than life-shattering, dilemma-inducing, paradigm-shifting nonsense.

The foibles, ironies, and occasional stupidity of the art world – captured with clarity and economy

Biennale Guidance

Gravy Train

Dear Concierge of Agony,

Dear Concierge,

I am considering attending a range of biennale

Listen here – exciting news for the arts sector and

type exhibitions over the next few months. Could

all content providers and cultural service

you give me some pointers on how I might

operatives.

manage the daunting experience of both viewing and forming the right opinions on the many

Haven’t I only gone and secured a massive private

hundreds of complex and multi-referenced

funding deal – in order to run a limited and select

artworks I am set to encounter?

number of workshops on the subject of fundraising. Genius investment or ludicrous folly?

Take heart, it will not be as mentally taxing and socially fraught as you might first imagine.

You know, it may surprise and shock you to hear

First of all prioritise. What is more important

that some are saying “Huh? Why not actually

to you? To see the art or spout art world right-

direct the loverly lolly to professional artists and

think?

arts organisations” – who, they also say have little or no need for my services and are well able to

OK, you want to actually see the work? Hold

fend for themselves in terms of seeking funding.

on a moment while I dust down the files. Ah

Should I start to doubt myself?

yes – this might do. Right, for seeing of the art – fundamentally, it is key that you at all costs

Worry not. I agree with the drift of your

avoid attending these biennale-type events

strategy – money is wasted on artists. In our

during the course of their openings. If you do

current situation shouldn’t we ensure the

find yourself at a mega-show during

future of our fragile economy by cushioning

vernissage, keep upper most in your mind that

and supporting as many middle-men as

it will be futile to imagine there will be any

possible? Is not the best measure of the wealth

serious hope of properly viewing and

and health of a nation, how well-cushioned are

appraising the work. But, naturally by all

it's essential organs of cultural production by

means go and enjoy the various parties – and if

many layers of consultants?

you have to, discussion events.

This is not to say that many people will attempt to see artworks and venture opinions.

Wilderness vs Metropolis

But you must understand the sheer quantity of art world chatter; opinion and appraisal circulating at biennales will make this fraught

Dear Concierge,

with difficulties. A typical piece of banter might conform to this template “Oh wow, you

A couple of years ago I uprooted myself from a

missed a really great show. It was down an

buzzing metropolis and relocated my practice and

alleyway that didn’t have a name. And the

myself to a rural environ. My thinking being that I

exhibition wasn’t even labelled or listed in the

had got tired of overpriced and cramped living

catalogue. And when you got to the space, it

conditions and I yearned for smog free air and

was so clever, because it didn’t look as if there

space to roam and make work. The thing is, the

was any art there”.

more I look around the boggy parish I have decamped to, all I see are increasingly desperate

Overall, the whole experience of attending the

souls like myself – isolated ‘artists of the

opening press days will be rather ego bruising.

wilderness’ with grass growing out of their

It will seem as if by definition, your judgement

nostrils.

and credibility are fatally flawed – as everything you didn’t get to see (because of the

Your worries are groundless.

long queues or your lack of VIP status) will have been deemed to be “totally excellent and

Here in the cities, we artists are enfeebled; and

awesome”; and those shows you were lucky

absolutely incapable of independent thought

enough to be admitted to inevitably be

or action.

disparaged as “merely average / borderline rubbish”.

Rather than grass growing from our noses, there is constant drip of milky cappuccino

Of course if you want to just form the right

foam – a symptom of our endless meetings and

opinions – this is simple. The answer – as it is

studio visits. We can achieve nothing without

to many contemporary conundrums – is

taking part in endlessly tedious dialogue and

outsourcing and delegation. In this case it is

consensus building get-togethers.

absolutely essential to attend to opening days of the biennale and then to simply parrot back home the best of the gossipy tittle-tattle overheard at various parties.

Extracted from Helguera’s Artoons by Pablo Helguera Published by Jorge Pinto Books. Copyright Pablo Helguera.

Available at all good art booksellers in Ireland and worldwide.

Further details from www.pintobooks.com

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

29

Advocacy

Kick Starting the Core Noel Kelly CEO / Director of Visual Artists Ireland discusses the situaTion facing artists and arts institutions in the context of the recession – and argues that now is A time of great opportunity aS well as challenge.

.

Visual artists have never had such a high profile with Irish politicians, as they do today. Very much along the lines of Richard Florida’s well known model of the ‘creative / smart economy’ (1) Ireland has started to market itself as a place where the creative gesture is both valued and encouraged. It is now generally agreed that the cultural and creative sector drives development of infrastructure and innovation; and moreover that culture-based creativity is linked to the ability of people (notably artists), to think imaginatively and metaphorically, to challenge the conventional, and to call on the symbolic and affective to communicate.

Culture-based creativity has the capacity to break conventions – the usual ways of thinking – to enable the development of new visions, ideas or products. The spontaneous, intuitive, singular and human nature of cultural creation enriches society.

With a deadline of September 2009, the Taoiseach’s Innovation Taskforce called for proposals on how we in Ireland can respond to this notion of the creative economy. And certainly the words spoken by politicians and industrialists alike at the Farmleigh forum last September would lead us to believe that our cultural identity is at the core of not only ‘Brand Ireland’ (excuse the term), but also central to the revitalisation and recovery of the national economy.

Ireland’s creativity has been recognised at an EU level, with the appointment of Máire Geoghegan-Quinn to the position of EU commissioner for research and innovation. As the Irish Times noted on Saturday, 28 November “European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has described Irish commissioner Máire GeogheganQuinn’s work as incoming research and innovation commissioner as a core part of his drive to promote recovery in the wider EU economy.

Welcoming Ms Geoghegan- Quinn’s appointment to a “hugely important” portfolio, Taoiseach Brian Cowen noted Mr Barroso’s move to prioritise new sources of growth based on the “knowledge triangle” of research, education and innovation.”

However while this acknowledgment Ireland as a centre of creativity is encouraging, we also need to look in more detail at the underlying situation..

Firstly, as has been seen recently reported, in the EU: The Cultural & Creative sector (2) turned over more than €654 billion in 2003. In comparison, Car manufacturing industry was €271 billion in 2001 and ICT manufacturers was €541 billion in 2003 (EU-15 figures) The sector contributed to 2.6% of EU GDP in 2003. In comparison, Real estate activities accounted for 2.1%. The food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing sector accounted for 1.9%.

The sector’s growth in 1999-2003 was 12.3% higher than the growth of the general economy.

In 2004 5.8 million people worked in the sector, equivalent to 3.1% of total employed popuation in EU25. Total employment in the EU decreased in 2002-2004, employment in the sector increased (+1.85%).(3) In Ireland, the recently released Arts Council Commissioned Economic Impact Report reveals that: “Funding from the Arts Council to organisations around the country of €76 million supports more than 3,000 jobs, generates a turnover of €192 million and sends €54

million directly back to the Exchequer in the form of income, VAT and other taxes.

The economic impact of the wider arts sector is also greater than anticipated, with a Gross Added Value of €782 million, total expenditure of €1.8 billion, 26,519 jobs and tax revenue of €352 million.

The report also demonstrates how the arts play a significant role in the creative industries, where Gross Added Value is calculated at €5.5 billion, and total employment is 96,000.”

We can add that arts jobs are indigenous and spread countrywide.

And individuals working in the arts are creative, flexible and innovative – exactly the people valuable to the ‘smart economy’. Cultural tourism contributes €5.1 billion to the Irish economy; and represents the only part of the tourism sector that has seen growth in recent times. Taking into account economic multipliers, the ‘value added’ dependent on the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was€11.8 billion, or the equivalent of 7.6% of total GNP; with the added fact that employment dependent on the cultural and creative sectors combined in 2008 was 170,000 or 8.7% of total employment in the economy. This represents a return on direct exchequer expenditure of €330m.

These are valuable statistics to have at our disposal as Visual Artist Ireland continues to lobby for the support of individual visual artists. Especially so at this time, when there is at best apathy; and at worst there is a blatant propagation of notions of artists as freeloaders on state resources. The voices that speak against the arts and cultural sectors frame the debate in emotive and misleading ways – for example pitching the argument in terms of a choice between hospital beds and support structures for the creation of cultural works that give Ireland its identity and visual artists a living.

But, let’s move back from all of this, and look at what is at the very core of Visual Artists Ireland – you the individual artist. We have all been privy to many chats, conversations, and discussions over the years looking at how we see ourselves within the wider social and cultural context. In many of these discussions there have been fair points made that unless artists fit into certain models, then society and the art world potentially leaves us behind. In some of these discussions, I have heard many times that artists must be seen as ‘social workers’ in order to have value. I think we have moved on from these types of concerns, but as the opening lines of this article suggest, artists perhaps now have to contend with being seen as economic indicators.

Many times artists have said to me that they reject the use of economic language – they see its usage as an assault on everything that the visual arts truly stand for. Whether or not we agree or disagree with this position is irrelevant at the moment. I believe that a momentous opportunity has arisen that offers visual artists and the cultural sector as a whole the opportunity to both have our voices heard and to bring about change in our society. Therefore, I believe that this is a time when we must set aside our differences and give a united voice that supports the visual arts contribution to Ireland’s recovery.

Visual Artists Ireland, as an artists’ representative body, is the only dedicated voice for the visual arts in Ireland today. There is no equivalent organisation representing visual arts venues, workspaces, museums or galleries working on a day to day basis to ensure that the

creative visual arts are top of political agendas. We do of course acknowledge the work of the National Campaign for the Arts – as they represent a large multitude of all art forms; but as has to be the case with such a broad spectrum of interested parties, their campaign can only focus on what we all have in common. As with other individual organisations within the National Campaign for the Arts, Visual Artists Ireland broadens this by also including what specifically makes the needs of the visual arts different to other art forms.

So, this brings me to what Visual Artists Ireland is actually asking for – and what we need your active and vocal support on. In the visual arts sector we see: highly qualified graduates; internationally recognised talent with a high reputation for creativity; a highly mobile and internationally engaged group of professionals with a motivated and highly independent work ethic. Accompanying this we see that: in the core art form areas there is a dependency on state subsidy, particularly in the early stages of career development; arts organisations with limited budgets and high staffing deficits; a decentralisation due to living and workspace costs and a deficit of affordable quality workspace provision.

Based on these factors, Visual Artists Ireland has put forward a range of proposals to government. These include undertaking a series of initiatives to encourage local government and to state bodies to take advantage of existing ‘community employment’ schemes to create a focused and specialised programme designed for creative and cultural sector graduates and those registered with Social Welfare. This is in keeping with a Keynesian concept of full employment (4) that includes artists as leaders and innovators. As well as this we want to see the broadening of tax incentives to industry that undertake support of visual artists and artist led initiatives. VAI has also called for the creation of cultural districts that are funded through existing structures and broadened out through local tax revenues and private and corporate involvement. We have also argued for the need for the creation of new opportunities for international exposure and dialogue through existing state and semi-state structures – for example in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and Failte Ireland. And overall, Visual Artists Ireland has made the case for the creation of a society wherein the dependence on state subsidy is removed through long term strategic repositioning of the visual arts within the national curricula.

It is important to note that these are medium and long term goals, but we feel that they are absolutely necessary so as to build a society that really supports the individual artist in a meaningful way, and not present our group of people – visual artists – as a begging bowl within society.

By necessity, at the time of going to press the number of words available for this article was limited. But we will elaborate on each of these initiatives in forthcoming editions of the VAN; and also through local area discussion groups that we have started to roll out across the country. In the meantime, we are always happy to talk about these items and you may contact us at the office for further information.

Noel Kelly, Director / CEO Visual Artists Ireland Notes 1. Richard Florida. The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life 2002 2. CORE ARTS FIELD: Visual arts, Performing arts, Heritage. CULTURAL INDUSTRIES: Film and Video, Television and radio, Video games, Music, Books and press. CREATIVE INDUSTRIES AND ACTIVITIES: Design, Architecture, Advertising. RELATED INDUSTRIES: ICT manufacturers, Cultural Tourism 3. The Economy of Culture in Europe Study prepared for the European Commission (Directorate General for Education and Culture) October 2006.

4. John Maynard Keynes. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. 1936.

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

31

Conference

Arts Value to Health Vagabond Reviews discuss ‘Vital Signs’ an event, focused on the subject of arts & health care, which took place IN Dublin FROM 14 – 21 October 2009.

'Vital Signs Conference' Royal College of Physicians.15 October 2009.

Before our immersion in the ‘Vital Signs’ programme Vagabond Reviews had in mind three main forms into which arts practice in health care might be considered. In the first instance art practice, which responds to a specific kind of invitation, usually emanating from the health care setting itself, could be characterised as a request to divert, interrupt, distract or humanise the clinical aesthetic. In short, invitations to make the hospital (experience) less like hospital. In the second instance there are established forms of pedagogical art practice organised and embedded into what can be termed ‘recovery work’. In such cases creative practice becomes integrated into the rehabilitative project, aligned and invested in notions of recovery at the level of individual patients. Thirdly, there are forms of arts practice which set out to critically engage with health care systems as particular arenas of discursive, symbolic and institutional force. In this vein the artist seeks to illuminate, express and legitimise marginal voices, giving form to what Michel Foucault called subjugated knowledge. If there is no obligation for hospitals to automatically consider art a good thing, in this third instance there can be no assumption that the artist will engage with the health setting as a depoliticised zone of purely therapeutic effects.

An Arts Council initiative developed and delivered in association with Create, the ‘Vital Signs’ programme combined diverse elements including exhibition (gallery-based and site specific), performance and a conference that together afforded multiple points of entry into the contemporary field of practice. Vital Signs also generated an impressive level of documentation (1). Addressing the conference held at the Royal College of Physicians on 15 October Michelle Browne, curator of the ‘Vital Signs’ exhibition emphasised how she wanted to profile innovative and challenging practice across art forms within the health care sector. She had a particular interest in collaborative work that engaged with both providers and service users. Those qualities were evident in both exhibition and conference. Drawing on our encounter with ‘Vital Signs’ as an overall programme we have refined and extended our original schema, adding new thematic seams to reflect the multi-layered nature of the programme.

The Phenomenology of Patient Experience. Setting the scene for a focus on patient experience from the outset, the performance-based work of Dominic Thorpe on the opening night of the exhibition at NCAD Gallery entitled Mind-Matter evolved through the artist’s collaboration with Vincent Connelly who suffered from neuropathic pain. Thorpe’s extended performance harnessed voice, the repetitive action of writing the words mind matter and the barely tolerable sound of scraping on glass to bridge a linguistic lacuna around the experience of this condition.

Denis Roche’s A Clinically Useful Artwork? in the foyer of St James’s Hospital seemed to go beyond the notion of a register for patient experience towards transforming it. At the National Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Roche has devised a virtual interface for patients who require long periods of single-room isolation following transplant.

Claims for the positive therapeutic effects of this project are subjected to the rigours of medico-scientific scrutiny via research being undertaken at the School of Nursing at Trinity College. However, the first-hand, unsolicited testimony of a former patient during the conference provided a compelling account of how the project established a vital connectivity between her physical isolation and the world outside.

Recovering Institutional Memory. Connected to forms of institutionalisation, there was a discernable seam of work concerned with recovering lost memory. Memory Dress: Lost Children by Marie Brett in Dr Steeven’s Hospital, was first created in response to the social history of St Finbar’s Hospital in Cork, originally the city’s workhouse.

The sculptural, plaster cast children’s dresses remind us of the hidden stories of children whose lives formed part of that history. Also evoking important memories connected to St Finbar’s Charlotte Donovan’s Memory Dress at the NCAD Gallery presented a beautifully realised series of prints from original dresses made by women of the Ballyphehane ICA. Jennie Moran’s Auxiliary Hospital Equipment: Personal Effects developed in Galway University Hospital’s Unit for stroke patients brought a more contemporary institutional experience into play. Using the familiar iconography of hospital linen Moran captured aspects of conversations and interweaved them with images of fragments of hospital equipment delicately sewn or printed onto pillowcases. The work evoked the fragile relation between identity and memory for those who have experienced stroke, quietly pointing to the effort to preserve both.

Fearless Speaking. Some aspects of life lie beneath the threshold of the spoken. Using video display and audio at the NCAD Gallery Seamus McGuinness’s Lived Lives explores familial experience of loss through suicide. Combining images of textile portraits interspersed with footage of looms in full tilt and audio testimony of the bereaved, McGuinness has successfully created a certain quality of both aesthetic and symbolic restraint that serves to respectfully illuminate both the intensity and the factuality of loss through suicide.

Ecologies of Labour. With a view to redressing the balance of visibility within the health care work force, Cathy Henderson developed a series of portraits of various health care workers entitled Life Blood. Placed alongside the patriarchal portraits of historical figures at Dr Steeven’s Hospital, that juxtaposition acknowledged a multi-skilled and multilevelled workforce. Another form of reciprocity was evident in Paul Maye’s Beyond Appearance in the window of Foley’s pharmacy, Thomas Street. Using the visual trope of radiology the project emerged from an exchange of knowledge between Maye and staff at the Radiology Department at University Hospital Galway. Mark Roper’s Haiku Week at Waterford General Hospital offered both staff and patients the terse linguistic economy of the haiku as a means to comment on hospital life with surprising and poignant results. The strictness of that linguistic economy was matched by an even stricter acoustic economy created by Danny McCarthy in his project at O’Connell Court Cork, for older people with mental health problems. Entitled Hello-Hello, that single word of greeting was used to focus our attention on the individual character and tenor of each of the speaker’s voices.

Humanising the Hospital. A notable cluster of projects set their sites on engaging directly with patients towards exploring ways of creatively humanising the experience of being in hospital. At the conference artists Helene Hugel and Siobhan Clancy presented The Puppet Portal Project, which combines arts and technology to create an inter-hospital hub where children creatively engage with each other as part of an online community. Helene Hugel’s Bedmaker performance in the NCAD gallery demonstrated a highly sophisticated craft around the

construction of narrative with children, taking them on a magical, non digital journey into a more ancient art of material drama. Also creating alternative worlds for children in hospital Paul Gregg’s Subaquatic Dublin brings children at Crumlin Hospital into contact with an underwater version of Dublin housed in a purpose built fish tank. The scaled-down version at St Patrick’s University Hospital for 'Vital Signs' can only hint at the sheer volume and visual impact of the original.

Equally within the vein of humanising care, both exhibition and conference featured performances generated through collaborations with residents of long-stay care settings. Closing the conference Ger Wolfe performed songs from Ó Bhéal guth Béal, developed while writer in-residence with older people in daycare centres in Gaelteacht Mhúscraí Co Chorcaí. Similarly traditional singer John Tunney developed Sing us Another Song with older people at the Kilmaley Daycare Centre Co Clare.

Domesticating the Hospital. We did encounter those anticipated interventions focussed on modifying the clinical aesthetic at the level of design and visual effect. Hillary Moss, Arts Officer Adelaide and Meath Hospital described thoughtful interventions around the use of colour and design for humanising clinical examination. Dara Carroll from MCO Projects for the Mater Hospital Development, provided insights into designs towards creating new permeability’s using a streetscape within the space of the hospital. Architect Gerry Cahill posed a slightly different question: how to make care seem like home in a reflective account of design strategies for transforming a neglected building into a wet hostel where the use of collective garden space counterbalanced private rooms.

Cross-Sectoral Enthusiasms. It is clear that arts and health enjoys broad-based institutional support at the highest levels. However, we are at a relatively early stage in formulating the institutional armature for this area of practice. The arts and health sector still relies on strategic alliances with ‘local champions’ who show enthusiasm from within the care setting itself. Mary Grehan, Director Waterford Healing Arts Trust emphasised the importance of sustainable support and development. During discussions on policy Dr Nazih Eldin, HSE announced clear commitments to the developing a HSE policy on arts and health. Ann O’Connor Arts and Health Advisor, Arts Council also echoed the unsustainability of the champion model alone, emphasising the development of policy is a key focus.

Professional Preoccupations. Training and support for artists working in this arena was a significant preoccupation of the conference.

Presenting the Participatory Arts Practice in Healthcare Contexts, Guidelines for Good Practice (2) Mike White and Mary Robson from the Centre for Medical Humanities University of Durham offered an open, conversational view on the question engaging artists in arts and health. They argued that participation based on a code of professional practice presupposes a coherent professionalised body. Doubtless artists who venture into health care settings do not see themselves as representative of any quasi-professionalised group within the arts.

Discourses of Justification. A prevailing theme within the conference concerned the strategic choices surrounding how art should announce its value in relation to health. Some argued that the intrinsic value of arts in health was self-evident. As a mode of justification this may have limited scope in the current climate. Dr Austin O’Carroll mapped out some of the strategic choices that artists might consider when formulating an epistemological platform. He warned against artists validating practice within the knowledge production systems of the dominant paradigm of peer-reviewed, evidence-based medical science, where value has a duty of proof. It appears that arts in health must define its value within the terms of its own evolving practice.

In Conclusion. Returning to our third strand, it seemed to us that arts practice that critically engaged with health care systems was for the moment confined to subject content that draws on failures of the past.

We are perhaps at point of evolution in the field where the significant problems of our current health system remained something of an elephant in the room, as though the coherence of the system as such was not in question. It may well be that the possibilities for developing that third dimension of critical engagement will serve as a sign of the maturity of the field, its coming of age.

Ailbhe Murphy & Ciaran Smyth (Vagabond Reviews) Notes 1. See http://vitalsigns.artscouncil.ie Create News 7th edition Sept 2009 and Vital Signs Exhibition Catalogue published by Arts Council and Create.

2. Commissioned by the Waterford Healing Arts Trust and the HSE South Cork Arts and Health Programme, the Guidelines can be downloaded at www.waterfordhealingarts.com or www.hse. ie

32

The Visual Artists’ News Sheet

January – February 2010

conference

When is Then?

FIONA FULLAM REPORTS ON 'THE FIRST FORMER WEST CONGRESS', HELD IN UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS, 5 – 7 November 2009.

Sarat Maharaj, Boris Groys and Paul Gilroy. Photo: Guus Schoth.

Okwui Enwezor at the 1st Former West Congress. Photo: Guus Schoth.

The ‘First Former West Congress’ was the inaugural congress of a five-year project entitled Former West, prompted by the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The congress ran over three days and gathered together leading international thinkers, critics and theorists – as well as curators, artists and writers (1) – to consider the theme of the ‘Former West’ and developments in western art and culture since 1989.

Running from 2008 until 2013, the Former West project will comprise research and publishing programmes, a large-scale group exhibition along with further congresses. The project has been initiated by Maria Hlavajova, artistic director BAK (Basis Voor Actuele Kunst), Utrecht, The Netherlands. It is curated by the team of Charles Esche, Maria Hlavajova, and Kathrin Rhomberg. The project is also being supported by a broad team of researchers and institutional partners led by BAK. Maria Hlavajova and Charles Esche defined the project’s frame of reference as “an attempt to rethink the west and its art out of their hegemonic self-narration” (2). They posed a range of key questions.

Which ‘West’ are we talking about? What does ‘formerness’ mean?

Has there really been transition into ‘formerness’ where the west is concerned? Why use art as a platform for this discussion?

As to what ‘formerness’ might mean, it was clear that the concept itself was open to debate. However there was some consensus that it could be argued that the position of the west has entirely changed due to recession, globalisation; threats to environment – along with the rise of tiger economies in Asia. In addition, the idea of ‘former-ness’ could also be read as a slightly playful notion, used to provoke debate.

All of these issues are of course quite topical and various elements of the debates considered at the congress have been looked at elsewhere. For example, the last issue of Printed Project entitled Farewell to Post-Colonialism edited by Sarat Maharaj – one of the keynote speakers at the congress – was devised as “an inquest into the ‘postcolonial optic’ and related curatorial models and conceits in the face of rapidly changing global conditions” (3) ‘What Keeps Mankind Alive?’, the 2009 Istanbul Biennial, curated by the collective What, How & for Whom charted similar territory looking critically at a range of elements of western ideologies – both capitalist and socialist. Likewise the 2001/2002 exhibition ‘The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994’ curated by Okwui Enwezor explored the liberation movements in Africa, revealing a two-way relationship between African and Western art and culture, exposing, as he put it the “connective tissue of mutual influences in which models are borrowed, adapted and changed from neo-Marxism’s to cultural resistances to discourses on representation”. (4) Both Sarat Maharaj’s and Charles Eshce’s presentations to the congress stressed the notion of ‘entanglement’ as a way of describing and understanding our relationship to globalised culture. A key point for Esche, was that this marked a very significant shift in thinking away from binary either / or notions of juxtaposition. In other words it’s a model of global cultural interrelation that stresses that we are with others in the world, rather than beside them. As Esche put it, this type of thinking could be seen as an attempt “to put limits on the claims of the West for itself, its own provincialism”. (5) Another interesting nuance of this concept of entanglement was the notion of ‘quantum entanglement’ – to which it is in part indebted. In quantum physics, the term quantum entanglement refers to a state where two objects or phenomena are linked together in such a way that one cannot be properly described without reference to its counterpart. (6) In terms of the notion of the former

West, the twin reference point is of course 'the east and the rest’ – and in respect to definitions what was or is ‘western’ being defined by its historical and cultural opposite and visa-versa.

Sarat Maharaj further questioned the conceptual framework of the notion of former west, describing the ‘formerness’ as an openended and uncertain concept and condition. Maharaj also stressed that the congress should aspire to more than offering scholarly debates between competing historical interpretations. In addition, he spoke about the interrelationship north and south in addition to the opposition of west and east and spoke of areas that were “below the visa line of the former west” (7). Maharaj also discussed the phenomena normalisierung (normalisation), whereby some countries governments demanding the assimilation of ‘otherness’, specifically so that the state can retain a sense of western-ness.

Paul Gilroy (8) also sought to problematise the concept of the west, which he noted was an historical construction produced by a range of ‘civilisationist discourses’. Gilroy noted that in this discourse, the west differentiated itself from communism and from Islam. He observed specifically how the context of wars can remake and rewrite culture.

A strong theme throughout the congress, was that of the past haunting the present. Indeed, the congress also considered notions time and history in relation to ‘formerness’, in a ‘quantum’ way. Just as in quantum physics there is a theory that at a sub-atomic level particles exist in many times and spaces at once, ‘formerness’ can be understood as temporal condition that exists both in the past and present. Simply put, time has to have passed for a culture to become ‘former’; and then of course this culture exists in the present as something outmoded, anachronistic and out of time.

This was the line of thinking pursued by Stefan Heidenreich, a writer and researcher in Berlin. His specific argument being that as ‘formerness’ implies something completed, gone, terminated and irreversible – questions of whether we are dealing with a break or change were important. However he noted that this was a complex situation – how could one be certain of what had been left behind as it is naturally difficult to find out about that which has ceased to exist.

Heidenreich, also talked of two key ‘denials’ around the concept of the former west. Firstly he noted that ‘former’ suggests a denial of continuity, where as perhaps the west’s slide into ‘formerness’ could be the outcome of deliberate choices and strategies? He also pointed out that the former west is both present and former simultaneously – it is after all still here, but in an altered state. The second denial, he drew attention to was the fact of the global cultural dominance of Western cultural institutions.

He used the rise of the internet to support both these denials, asserting that this particular western cultural export has brought about irreversible global change. Heidenreich cited the use of the internet – specifically search engines like ‘google’ – to relentlessly select, re-select and re-invent material – consequently archives and history may be rewritten or lost. Heidenreich described the net as a “time destroying machine” – one that presumably could spread ‘formerness’ across many cultures. Moreover he argued that the internet culture was eroding the relationship between value and duration, which traditionally would have been seen to have a direct correlation. The whole notion of time, he argued, had been brought into question by the net – and as “we do not have a default form of time”, he asserted, “we have to create it”. (9) Heidenreich’s explorations echoed many of the ideas presented

by Boris Groys, philosopher, art critic, essayist and curator, who likewise questioned the whole notion of time and change, and by extension ‘former-ness’. Groy’s basic line of thinking was that any

understanding or appreciation of history and change, is really a question of perception. In fact, the transition from past to future doesn’t really take place at all. Philosophically speaking, we can only ever exist in the present. Thus while we are in transition, or even looking to the past or the future we are in the inescapable present.

Thus Groys made the analogy that the past is in some ways an inanimate object – that can viewed like an artwork or artefact, that can only ever be examined and assessed from a distance. It is a view that brings to mind Walter Benjamin’s notion of the angel of history, hurtling backwards into the future while watching, dismayed, the debris of the past piling up in front of them (10).

Of course Groys also recognised that the past, just like artworks are constructed in the present. His thinking chimed with Heidenreich’s thoughts on the internet, as a means of producing, of inventing, re-inventing and constructing the past, and therefore rewriting history. Thus the very idea of the ‘former west’, he claimed, was an attempt to reinvent our the west and its history – just in the same way the former east has reinvented or rewritten its own past.

Groy’s also asserted that we could equally see this conference as a re-writing of the past.

In terms of art and artists, Groys referenced Beuys’ notion of art as an everyday activity. This ushered in some further interesting musings on time. Groys argued that the artist shares art with the public on an intimate everyday level and therefore invests his time into a ‘different’ time (that of the viewers).

Art’s role in relation to formerness was explored by Simon Sheikh, a freelance curator and critic. Shiekh discussed the textual elements of exhibition making and curation. Overall his presentation queried the notion of the gap or differences between the importance textual and visual presentations. Shiekh pointed to the fact that there was not only an aesthetic to the artworks and exhibition design, but also art world politics and debates. Exhibitions could thus be considered discursive on many levels – not just in terms of reading the artworks or associated texts. Shiekh thus noted that enquiry into all these aspects of exhibitions were rich historical sources, drawing attention to the ways in which these histories were “written and read, rewritten and re-read” and the ways in which “art can be co-opted”. (11) To some extent the congress called into question the role and work of the artist and asked – what constitutes art and what is an artist? One possible suggestion was that artists and art act as very important cultural filters. It was clear that the congress’s understanding of art, was as a series of practices that could function as a lens through which political, social and cultural change could be both articulated and enacted in order to challenge western cultural dominance. Among the artists presenting were Marion von Osten and Douglas Gordon. The development of various alternative networks and self-organised groups; along with the of role independent curators as cultural free agents, was also scrutinised.

Although the First Former West Congress drew very few conclusions, the event was a valuable exploration in many ways – not least in pointing to the existence of so many possible modes of thinking about 'formerness'. It was plain in fact, as Maria Hlavajova had asserted on the first day, how incredibly complex the task was.

This project is certainly set to raise more questions than it will ever answer, but as it evolves over the next four years it no doubt promises to produce interesting outcomes.

The last word perhaps should go to Boris Groys, who closed his presentation by drawing attention to ongoing processes of re-writing and re-imaging – that the congress itself could be seen as part of.

Groys pithily stated that "the present is an illusion which is constantly rewritten, the past can never end and contemporaneity will never disappear” (12).

Fiona Fullam Notes 1. For a full list of speakers, see http://www.formerwest.org 2. Quoted from the accompanying pamphlet to the 1st Former West Congress, 5 – 7 November 2009 in Utrecht.

3. Sarat Maharaj (editor), Farewell to Post Colonialism, Printed Project, Issue 11, (Dublin, Visual Artists Ireland, May 2009) www.printedproject.ie 4. Irit Rogoff, Hit and Run – Museums and Cultural Difference, Art Journal 61.3 (Fall 2002): 63 – 78, 64.

5. Charles Esche in his talk with Maria Hlavajova, Former West, at the 1st Former West Congress, 5 –7 November 2009 in Utrecht.

6. See Quantum Entanglement and Information, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-entangle/ 7. Sarat Maharaj during his keynote paper Small Change of the Universal at the 1st Former West Congress, 5 – 7 November 2009 in Utrecht.

8. Paul Gilroy, sociologist and writer, presented a keynote paper entitled Postcolonial Critique and the End of the West.

9. Stefan Heidenreich during his conversation with Jorinde Seijdel at the 1st Former West Congress, 5 – 7 November 2009 in Utrecht.

10. Walter Benjamin, The Author as Producer, in A. Arato & Eike Gebhardt (editors), The Essential Frankfurt School Reader, (New York, Urizen Books, 1978), 254 – 269.

11. Simon Sheikh during his keynote paper A Conceptual History of Exhibition-Making at the 1st Former West Congress, 5 – 7 November 2009 in Utrecht.

12. Boris Groys during his keynote paper Aesthetic Democracy at the 1st Former West Congress, 5 – 7 November 2009 in Utrecht.

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