I have just booked a flight to Galway and am off to see the show. Next Saturday I will be winging my way to Galway Arts Centre and a meeting with Rosie and Maeve Mulrennan, the gallery curator. I am keen to see the work in situ and also to see what the other island artists have produced for the show.
In the meantime I have been writing some applications for other projects and working on my proposal for a site specific commission in Eastbourne for the Towner Gallery. This is to take place on or near the beach area and will usher in the opening of the gallery in its new architect designed home. There are many different and interesting features of the town that might come into the work – at this stage I am collecting things rather as a hamster stores up its food to use later!
My regular blogging habit established last year has waned a bit in 2008. My last post refers to the work I was making for the show in Galway some seven weeks ago. It is now the end of January and the Galway show, entitled Inishlacken: a place apart, opened last night. The four memorial pieces all ended up on small screens as the longer projection became a shorter work during the editing process and the still image became a freeze frame video. I am happy about this since I think the four pieces will work more successfully as one visual work rather than disjointed elements.
My biggest regret was not being able to go to Ireland for the opening – a sacrifice due to the employed work I have at Norwich School of Art and Design. Nevertheless one consolation was that tonight I heard Rosie on the RTE radio 1 station (thanks to the wonder of live radio and broadband) and I understand the show was also featured on gaelic TV tonight.
The best news of all however is that Rosie has invited me back to Inishlacken this coming May -I can't wait!
Spending much of my time editing video at the moment and panicking about all I have to do before Christmas which frighteningly is now only 21 days away!
The Inishlacken videos will be shown in Galway next year. There are three of them all relating to the island and I am considering showing them on small screens, set into the wall at head height. This way the viewer will have an intimate and personal view of the work. The only piece that I fear may not work as well in this format is Memorial to the Islanders III. This one is long – over an hour long in fact and is a subtle recording of Memorial iiI. It depicts the darkness falling as the candles burn until they extinguish themselves completely by which time the night sky is completely dark. Its a slow burn work and one you might need to return to from time to time so a large projection seems the best way for it to be seen. These different methods of display may prove tricky to pull off.
I have also been mulling over some ideas for my drawings recently and tomorrow am going to experiemnt in my studio.
Until then here are some more images from my Irish work.
Its quiet now. No work to do relating to The Inishlacken Project.
Here are some more images of other artists work in TULCA
I am now back from Galway; I visited the opening of TULCA. The visit was interesting not least because I met so many fascinating people, writers, artists, makers, curators and people working within the arts field. There were about 150 people at the opening, rather more than you might get at most English openings unless you are in London. An opera singer ‘sang’ the show open and there were speeches by curatorial advisors to the project and the Galways arts officer.
I was very pleased with the siting of my work – the curators had placed the neon in the window of the building facing out onto the street. This was the perfect place and reflected totally the notions within which the work was made – one of message vividness to the wider community. (There is more about the neon work on my website www.carolinewright.com if anyone is interested in more info). There were many works in the show and 70 artists in the whole of TULCA – the programme combines seminars, shows, performances, music, social occasions and site specific work around the city. There is more info on www.myspace.com/TULCA
I met one gentleman at the TULCA private view and he revealed that in this blog I do not often explain the connections clearly enough for the reader who does not have access to the information I hold in my head. One case in point is the last posts’ reference to the tea ceremony and my son’s course leader at Kingston, who has written on Japan and the tea ceremony. When I was visited Japan last year on a residency, I made several films about tea drinking and the tea ceremony (these partly inspired my recent mad artists tea party event). The neon work shown for TULCA drew together all the issues I had explored in film, using the four principles of the tea ceremony and the bright neon language of the young. The new generation in Japan are rejecting the tea ceremony tradition, in time it will die out. Hence the possible meeting with my son’s course leader to discuss a common interest in all things Japanese together with the ever present possibility of new ideas and work is something I am looking forward to.
In Galway I met with Rosie and we talked further about the Inishlacken project. The opening date has been set for 31st January 2008 and I was able to meet with the Galway Arts Centre curator, Maeve Mulrennan to talk about my ideas briefly.
So all in all a productive visit especially as I was only there for 24 hours. It was only marred by a terrible flight home with loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks, emergency decent, an unconcious passenger, fire engines and my life passing before me for what seemed like an eternity. Thankfully all was ok apart from one passenger but it has taken me a while to recover.
