Brand new and beautiful bronze artworks by artist Atsushi Kaga were installed today at Bracken ETNS, Balbriggan. These curious creatures who live amongst the plantlife will be discovered by the school's children tomorrow... A part of The studio that has no roof project, Atsushi's neon work will be installed this week too, completing his commssion for the school. #thestudiothathasnoroof #atsushikaga #brackenetns
Tinkerbell Marian - this work was inspired by school principal Marian.
Hopping, fun launch last night of Dublin's Culture Connects: The National Neighbourhood project at The Mansion House. Very exciting to be working (as project manager) with CoisCéim Dance Theatre; visual artist James Ó hAodha; communities in Sandymount, Irishtown, Ringsend and Pearse Street; The Hugh Lane Gallery and The National Gallery; on 'Light Waves' - one of 5 different Dublin City Council community-based art projects across Dublin. Watch this space for more on forthcoming artistic happenings...
A glimpse of Atsushi Kaga's neon artwork for The studio that has no roof project at Bracken Educate Together national school in Balbriggan, county Dublin. This and other work are due for installation in the garden in mid September.
So delighted to be working in the role of Project Manager for Dublin City Council's community-based art project The National Neighbourhood (South-East area) project with Iseult Byrne and partners Dublin City Arts Office, The Hugh Lane Gallery, The National Gallery and Dublin City Libraries. Here we are on the number 1 bus - our vehicle for local research on Wednesday morning...
Click here for full text 'Disperse' by Sue Rainsford. In this text, commissioned for Waves, Sue comments on methods of formal experimentation in writing and on the act of writing as a way of engaging with public life, amongst other things. The text, aimed at a teenage audience, also reflects the themes of the Waves programme - the connection between young people, contemporary arts and the political.
Text published on graphic poster by Distinctive Repetition. Image copyright Distinctive Repetition.
Sue Rainsford was invited to write a piece of text for a graphic poster that accompanied documentation film of artist-led workshops during the Waves programme. This clip was filmed at the Waves public screening and celebratory event at Draiocht on 12/06/16.
Take a look at the brand new and wonderful film by Jenny Brady documenting the Waves project...
Sean discussed with students the conversations and debate public art sometimes prompted.
He presented images of a range of artists including postmodern architecture group SITE
'If Godzilla came to Dublin what would he pick first?'
Sean gave the students the task of developing proposals for pieces of public art. He encouraged them to embrace a sense of 'devilment' in their proposals.
Students used a combination of drawing, clay and mixed media construction to build a model of their proposed piece of public art.
Student works on her proposal for an artwork commenting on a 'nosy neighbourhood'
This planet had rich continents drawn closer together - to symbolise that wealthy countries worked together, and left out poorer ones.
A giant dead pigeon, to be put in the park - accompanied by a plaque saying 'who killed the pigeon' - the reflective surface pointed the question back at the viewer
A flying car. School principal visited to hear the class's ideas
Sean Lynch’s workshops at Fingal Community College, Swords, involved considering how public art ‘works’ in terms of the spaces we communally share and how we encounter these artworks in our contemporary world. Looking at the many different types of artistic methodologies that have emerged since 1916, Sean took the students on a brief (virtual) tour of artworks by artists such as SITE, Paul Gregg, Joseph Beuys, John Burke, Francis Alys, Marta Minujin, Paddy Bloomer and Nicholas Keogh, as well as his own work. He used these works to present students with ideas around ‘how art behaves’ in our public world, and how art sometimes gets into situations where there is 'a bit of devilment involved’. Sean highlighted the conversations and debate that are sometimes provoked by such artworks.
Asking the group to embrace this sense of ‘devilment’ he gave them each the task of developing a proposal for a piece of public art. He asked them to think about everyday objects and how they would change if they were made into pieces of public art. He asked them to think of the strangest place they knew and what piece of public art they would put there - prompting them to think about the role of ‘place’ in the making of a public artwork.
Using a combination of drawing, clay and construction the students each constructed a model that they used to present their idea to the rest of the class. The ideas presented were a strong and diverse combination of the surreal, socially aware, humorous and touching.
This Thursday 12th May at 11am in Draíocht art centre, Jenny Brady's film on the Waves project will be screened for the first time. This film documents the dynamic artistic enquiry of students from Fingal Community College, Swords and Hartstown Community School, Dublin 15; facilitated by artists Clodagh Emoe, Sean Lynch, Ruth Lyons and Eoghan Ryan.
Also included is a reading by writer Sue Rainsford of her new text 'disperse' - commissioned for the Waves project.
All welcome! Please confirm your attendance by contacting julie.clarke@fingal.ie or telephone 01 890 5960
Draíocht art centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
http://fingalarts.ie/resources/Waves_Invite.pdf
#waves1916
We are relishing seeing Distinctive Repetition's posters this week! This poster will feature writer Sue Rainsford's newly commissioned text. Sue will be reading from this text at film premiere event in Draíocht this Thursday 12th May.
#waves1916
In Eoghan Ryan’s two workshops students were invited to consider the relationship between flags and representation; with a particular focus on personal beliefs, the everyday and the contemporary moment. Involved, in-depth and challenging discussion was combined with collaborative flag-making (and destruction) to allow students to deconstruct possible meanings of flags and to think out and express what was important to them.
In their first creative collaboration students made a number of flags referencing things such as current news items, things of significance to them, symbols that represented them and what they had for breakfast. The flags contained a myriad of expressions, from the mundane to the idealistic. These were discussed, as was the overarching political position expressed on the flags.
Following this, Eoghan invited the students to explore the symbolism of flag destruction by cutting up their flags. They discussed how this felt and how this act would compare to cutting up an official flag. Finally, they collectively created a unique flag that contained symbols created by each of the students. The big abstract ideals of national flags were juxtaposed with the flags created by the group - as things that resonated with meanings distinctive of a given group of people in a given time and place.
Throughout the workshops the students rose to the challenge of enquiring into the relevance of this aspect of material culture to their lives, responding with keen debate and joyful self-expression.
#waves1916
Students discussed representation and flags. Eoghan presented them with alternative Irish flags and asked them to imagine what it would mean if they had of been hoister outside the GPO during the rising.
Considering the Irish tricolour
Students collaboratively created their own flags articulating various things such as things that represented them personally, news of the week, what they had for breakfast etc.
Investigating what it means to destroy a flag, students cut up the flags they had made.
Conversations were opened up on how challenges to national flags can be seen as challenges to the state (image of clip from The Simpsons shown here).
Each student was asked to create one symbol that represented them or something important to them, and add this to the new flag
Their unique flag was erected within the classroom
In last week's workshop Ruth Lyons presented to the students some of her research as an artist interested in landscape, industry and the anthropocene. As part of this, students got to consider the composition of the earth, heard tales of subterranean substances and industry, ancient trading and a 230 million year old sea. Afterwards, they used silicone to make their own individual moulds.
In this second workshop, students used the silicone mould they had previously created to cast in resin contemporary materials of their choice. Mementoes from holidays, bits of paper inscribed with favourite phrases, apple stems used in a game, keys, favourite sweets, coffee beans, collected crystals, caps of favourite drinks, drawing implements and more were selected to be part of commemorative objects. Students presented to the class their choice of materials before they began the process of casting their thoughtful assortment of materials.
#waves1916
In Clodagh Emoe's first workshop students discussed what societal issue they would like to collectively address in the creation of a collaborative artwork. Students shared thoughts on lack of provisions for disaffected youth, abortion laws, poor hospital service, and the rising costs of 'free' education. Using a secret ballot they voted to choose one of these issues to address in the creation of a piece of collaborative artwork. They voted to protest on the state of hospitals.
In the second workshop students demonstrated admirable creativity in preparing and enacting a performance within two hours. To help set the tone, Clodagh showed them clips of comedy skits from The Savage Eye and The Singing Detective. Students and Clodagh used story-boarding, musical composition, choreography, special effects, prop-building and performance to create an impressive drama that also involved a lot of fun. Working collaboratively they successfully expressed their collective dissatisfaction and concern over this societal issue. Videographer Jenny Brady filmed their performance. Finished film coming soon!
#waves1916
In Ruth Lyons' first of two workshops at Fingal Community College in Swords she began by inviting students to look at a selection of natural materials - oil, chalk, limestone and rock salt - all substances that human beings dig up from below the earth for our own uses. She spoke of how these (usually) hidden materials shape our society. She said that until recently, and for a long time, salt was the most precious and traded commodity on the earth. Referring to oil and coffee beans as the first and second most traded materials in our contemporary world she asked the students what they thought these two things might have in common. She then spoke of their mutual relationship to energy and acceleration. Showing them images of the 64km of tunnels of pure rock salt below ground in Antrim and the map of the 230 million year old Zechstein sea where northern Europe now exists, she described how the condensed dead bodies of the creatures from this ancient sea created the current geological seam of salt that stretches from Ireland to Russia. She told them about her current long-term project working with the EUsalt association and eight of the salt mines across Europe who mine the rock salt left over from this ancient sea to create a series of 'salt bowls': each series a different colour due to the differing mineral content of the earth in each location (in Poland white, in England brown...). She showed them images of other artworks including 'The Forgotten Works' from 2012 - a large, minimal black sculpture that loomed from the roof and upper facade of The Project Arts Centre building in Temple Bar, Dublin. This temporary sculpture was made of timber pieces painted with 'bitumen' - the lowest grade of oil, used in building our roads, 'the black matter that fuels the earth'.
Following Ruth's stimulating and expansive talk, she invited the students to consider what material they would like to commemorate. What materials did they use in everyday life, and what materials that we use today might people in 100 years time view as interesting? What material would they like to be part of a personal commemorative object? Could it be cotton, paper or maybe the root of paper - timber? In this first workshop the students made the silicon mould which they would use to cast their material object in next week's workshop...
#waves1916
Clodagh Emoe's first workshop in Hartstown Community school began with a brilliant talk that covered a selected history of the collective in art and politics. It touched on The French Revolution (liberté, égalité, fraternité), The Situationists and their rejection of consumer culture through gesture and action in public space, The Proclamation - its typography and the performance of it being read aloud by Padraig Pearse (or was it Tom Clarke?), the 1965 Selma march and the poetic language used by Martin Luther King in his famous speech. Clodagh also spoke of how she became aware of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s through both music (The Specials' 'Free Nelson Mandela' and United Artists Against Apartheid's 'Sun City') and her own parents refusal to buy from Dunnes Stores as a show of solidarity with the striking workers protesting against the sale of South African produce - and how the actions of these workers touched the imprisoned Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Finally, she spoke about the Guerilla Girls and their artistic actions against the gender inequality of the artworld.
All these edifying stories of creativity and people power provided the platform for the next part of the workshop where the students discussed what societal issue they would like to collectively address. Students shared thoughts on lack of provisions for disaffected youth, abortion laws, poor hospital service, and the rising costs of 'free' education. Using a secret ballot they voted to choose one of these issues to address in the creation of a piece of collaborative artwork in next week's workshop.
#waves1916
Fingal Arts Office and Superprojects are very much looking forward to writer Sue Rainsford's newly commissioned text for Waves. Aimed at a teenage audience, Sue's text will respond to the project's themes and will feature on a specially designed poster by Distinctive Repetition.
More on Sue Rainsford here
More on Waves here
#waves1916
The garden is coming into existence at Bracken Educate Together school in Balbriggan. This is the first part of The studio that has no roof commission. This part of the commission involves architects zero-degree machine's design for a garden that provides support for the activation of creative, social and pedagogical activities with the school children (more on that to come). Collaborator on the project and horticulturalist Niall Maxwell has begun working with his team on the installation of the garden....
In connection with the Waves* programme I am very happy to say that we will also be working with videographer Jenny Brady - on a short documentation film - and designers Distinctive Repetition - on a poster publication.
http://jennifer-brady.com/
http://www.distinctiverepetition.com/
* This March and April 2016, Superprojects and Fingal Arts Office will be working together with artists Clodagh Emoe, Sean Lynch, Ruth Lyons and Eoghan Ryan on Waves. This artist-led workshop programme will take place in two secondary schools in Fingal and will loosely link with the commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising.
#waves1916
Very happy and excited to have had collaborative proposal 'The studio that has no roof' with architects zero-degree machine selected for the Per Cent for Art commission for Bracken Educate Together school in Balbriggan!
A storm in a jar!
This Saturday in Kildare, artist Ruth Lyons invites families and friends to come along and work together to create colourful and watery miniature worlds in glass jars...
From 12.00 – 5.00pm at Kildare County Council Head office, Naas, Kildare; a part of Kildare Arts Office's events for National Play Day.
Suitable for ages 4+
The Pinking on Sea, 2014, Underwater installation, chains, bouys, anchors, Ruth Lyons. Kinsale harbour, Kinsale Arts Festival