Coming up at West Cork Arts Centre in association with Skibbereen Arts Festival 2014

West Cork Arts Centre, in association with Skibbereen Arts Festival

is pleased to present:-

sight: sound: site

West Cork Arts Centre | Opening Friday 25 July | 6.00pm | Free

An exhibition of lens-based and sonic artworks responding to the West Cork landscape. The exhibition continues until Saturday 9 August and comprises:-

Topia is an interactive gestural instrument, in which its sonic content is derived from the soundscape of West Cork. Using manipulations of some of West Cork’s most impressive soundscapes, the participant has the ability to navigate a sound landscape developed as a result of the dynamic acoustic environment of the region. Skibbereen native Liam Cialis and Emmet O’Donnell, originally from Wicklow, are recent graduates of the University of Limerick. They will be performing with Topia at the opening of the exhibition.

Solargraphy is a lensless photographic process that allows for extremely long exposures. Each pinhole camera is exposed, in-situ, for a duration ranging from months to years, recording the transit of the sun from east to west. The exhibition includes a selection of solargraphic images created by Michael Stephens, who worked in collaboration with local artist Sheelagh Broderick as part of a larger project. Included are images shot on Sherkin Island and also a series created by installing pin-hole cameras in various positions facing the new West Cork Arts Centre site during the early days of the build. 

Materials is a film by David Ian Bickley, produced through a Project Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. Based on the idea of aspiritual line drawn across the Irish landscape, this piece mirrors a symbolic journey. Materials uses a number of cutting-edge cinematic techniques and devices to "play" with time and space, producing a powerful and emotive destabilising effect upon the viewer. The film is made up of seven segments, each backed by an evocative ambient score also produced by David in conjunction with a number of leading figures from the modern electronic music scene including producers Tom Green (The Orb, Another Fine Day) and Dare Mason (Noctorum). 

Bleak Paradise is a documentary film by Helen Selka which looks at Long Island, also known as Inis Fada, which is situated in Roaring Water Bay just off the south coast of Ireland, close to the town of Schull, West Cork. It is one of the seven  inhabited islands of West Cork. Many of the islanders are connected to a way of life that goes back centuries and Bleak Paradise looks at some of the day-to-day concerns, activities and memories of these individuals, most of whom were born there. Long Island contributes to West Cork’s rich cultural heritage, not only through these residents, but also through its returning holidaymakers who feel closely connected to the unique landscape and natural beauty of its situation.

Bleak Paradise was made with financial assistance from Cork County Council and Leader / Comhar na nOileán Teo

Fathom

Harvest Films | 2013 | 21 mins

“What did we do? Sometimes we’d sit. More times we’d sit and think.”

Dick O’Driscoll, Last Principal Keeper, Fastnet Lighthouse, 1982-1991

Fathom was filmed on the Fastnet Lighthouse in 2012. The film is an experimental documentary which blends original footage with archive film to create a meditative work on isolation and thinking and to invoke in the viewer the idea that we are, in an important sense, the places that we inhabit.

“My sense is that as we go forward into the so-called ‘information age’, paradoxically, we recognise less and less because we value experience less and less. By the time I was in my teens, I was aware that there was less silence in the world, less empty space. I developed a nostalgic yearning for those empty, silent spaces I had never experienced but which I knew existed.” Roni Horn, Contemporary Artists, 2000

The exhibition opens on Friday 25 July at 6.00pm with a performance by Liam Cialis and Emmet O'Donnell and continues until Saturday 9 August.

Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm. Closed for lunch on Saturday from 1.00 to 2.00pm.

                       

Bealtaine - Retrospective

If you didn't get the chance to enjoy the fine work at our Bealtaine exhibition, here's a few snaps to give you a taste of just how truly wonderful an exhibition it was.

Bealtaine is an annual festival celebrating creativity as we age. In this year's show we had work from over 100 participants on the many older people's programmes we coordinate throughout West Cork. The creation of this work was facilitated by our amazing artists' team who work here at the Centre as well as in hospitals and day-care centres throughout the region. 

Below are some images of the amazing work :)

The following are images taken at the launch of out Bealtaine exhibition. Images by Charles Coombes.

Surge on Sherkin Island this weekend - 17 and 18 May 2014

Rita O’Driscoll 

Rita O’Driscoll’s work takes a critical view of social, political and cultural issues. Her current work looks at how the human condition allows us to ignore unpleasant aspects of society and allows indifference to thrive. A fishing net, made in a children’s institution, features prominently as a metaphor for the entrapment and striping of identity. Rita’s work is in multi-media and installation. Mundane materials and the process through which she can manipulate these materials, adapting to place and concerns, fascinates her. 

Barbara Hopkins Reen - the event of a thread

Barbara’s work is strongly rooted in memory and is primarily concerned with an exploration of identity, both singular and collective. She  explores the possibility of visually representing something that is abstract, giving a form to the invisible and in the process creating a personal memory palace. 

Rob Monaghan - Skin

I am an interdisciplinary artist whose current art practice focuses on the concept of the unsaid within family. My work sets imagery, materials and soundscapes in constant metaphorical motion using figure and place. Referencing the element of water as a metaphor for the family support system I aim to create a narrative of strength and growth whilst simultaneously touching on the vulnerabilities that exist within our fragile lives.                                                                        

Fran Wolf - Shrine

SHRINE fig. referring to the veneration offered to a person, object, saint or deity, v. enshrine in one’s heart or thoughts… (Oxford English Dictionary)

Through painting and printmaking, installation and photography, this body of work seeks to honour the hope, desperation, humility and joy of people of any faith – and none, who visit or make a shrine.

Tim Davis - Landes

My work comments on situations that are sometimes evident in reality but more often are imaginary and not necessarily experienced.

Tara O’Donoghue - In a polytunnel far far away…

“Colour is a power, which directly influences the soul.”

Wassily Kandinsky

Sue Crellin McCarthy - WITNESS

...to see, hear or know by presence and perception...

‘Witness’ continues the documentation of Sue Crellin-McCarthy’s ongoing enquiry into ‘being’.  Life & Death, Physical & Metaphysical, Inner & Outer Self; the ethereal elements of existence.

In an attempt to communicate the intangible, the artist uses her own growing alphabet of metaphoric symbols, setting them in time and space to evoke and communicate meaning that resonates beyond the limitation of words. The resulting works are then used as descriptive clues in a concluding installation work.

Nina Sanctuary - Drawing a Ferry Crossing – Baltimore to Sherkin

Island

Nina recorded the moment by moment of the ferry crossing 

between Baltimore and Sherkin Island by drawing the lines and 

the marks she saw as the ferry moved inexorably between the two 

points.

Nicola Kelly - the carriage held but just ourselves

One must pay dearly for immortality;

one has to die several times while still alive

Friedrich Nietzsche

My work is concerned with the immortality that everyman can now achieve through the indefinite preservation of digital imagery. Like the ceramic shards of antiquity that depicted the deeds of gods and heroes, today’s mundane, trivial and often deeply embarrassing images have democratized and perhaps debased the concept of immortality for all of mankind. 

Mona O'Driscoll - Hypoxia

Her recent work examines the ecology of the ocean and the hidden pollution within it.

Hypoxia (Dead Zones) are areas of the world’s oceans that are depleted of oxygen due to human activities. These Dead Zones are mainly caused by excessive nutrient pollutions entering the seas, which in turn depletes the oxygen and kills marine life.

Mona is working with a variety of mediums, drawings, paintings, instillations and photography, using bubbles as a metaphor to highlight the fragility of the ocean. 

Etaoin Melville

My project deals with life and death, in a positive light-hearted way. I am interested in how when someone close to you dies it makes you look at life differently and change your perspective. It reminds you how short life is and how lucky we are to be here and to live a more positive, loving life. The project represents the journey of life, looking at how life initiates new chapters and how free will and personal determination shape the given circumstances. I am exploring the duality of identity from within and without.

Finola Cooney - the pipes are calling

Finola Cooney works mainly through the mediums of painting, photography and print. This collection of photographs is inspired by the words of Isamu Noguchi and the beauty to be found in the mundane and everyday objects protruding from the landscape of West Cork.

Mary Finn - Reflections on the Gaze

Mary Finn is an artist who is interested in all areas of the politics of vision. The multi-layer effect and tampering with images in her work represents the many layers of how images are sometimes constructed to manipulate our lives.

Mary Jordan - FAILED STATE, Bankers Bailed Out, People Bailing Out

Bankers and bondholders pumped finance into an elite Irish bubble, which burst in 2008.  The government has chosen to pay back these unsecured moneylenders with resources drained from society, resulting in catastrophic social impacts.  One quantifiable result is the “Fourth Wave” of emigration, collapsing communities in rural areas.

The central piece of the exhibition commemorates the 516 people who emigrated on 17th and 18th May 2013, inspired by the Twin-Headed Bollard.

Edwin Cridland - Seeing With the Eye’s Mind

By making reference to the extensive neural processes by which we interpret visual data generated by photoreceptors on the retina by reference to stored information, these works attempt to suggest the great extent to which perception, of any sort, relies on memory and creative imagination. The patchwork appearance of the images refers to the bricolage which underpins the fragile framework of our understanding.

Christine McAuliffe - The Raw Truth

Christine McAuliffe’s present body of work is executed on steel and it depicts a forest which was home to a character named Tilly, a person who plays a major role in her work. Tilly was described as being both “vulgar” and as “hard as steel”, hence the reason for art on steel. This lady lived and spoke the truth which was as “raw” as she herself. Her memory has awakened an awareness of the reality of life presented to those who lived close to the forest.  The phenomena of light and movement is also a concern in Christine's art work and the aim is to capture the essence or emotional significance of this place which was known for it’s beauty, ugliness and harshness.

Caoimhe Pendred

Imagery from stories we were told as children resonates deep within our psyches. Once you scrape off Disney’s saccharine coating, you find the dark and organic result of centuries of storytelling, with deep roots in a time when brides were bartered, children abandoned, and real beasts roamed in the woods. Working over a diverse array of media my work is concerned with the bewitching and transgressive nature of Fairy Tale.

"I believe in the truth of fairytales more than I believe in the truth in the newspaper." Lotte Reiniger

Tonys, Oscars or whatever you're having yourself...

As always, our guys and gals at Youth Theatre did us proud! Their production of 'Fragments' premiered last Friday and here are a few stills to give you an idea of what an excellent job they did... 

Project Assistant Louise Buckingham with Director Karen Minahan

Pencils at the ready!!!!

Now that Easter is behind us, time to take up a new pursuit?

Life Drawing with Ian Humphreys

28 April - 27 May

                                            

Life Drawing at West Cork Arts Centre offers participants the opportunity to explore this most essential of drawing disciplines. In a studious and supportive atmosphere the group will be facilitated by artist Ian Humphreys.

Ian Humphreys studied at Exeter College of Art, gaining a BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting in 1979. He moved to Ireland in 1999 and now lives and works on Heir Island, West Cork. Ian has exhibited widely both nationally & internationally, including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition & the Hunting Prize, winning 2nd prize in 1998. He has work in countless prestigious private & public collections, including The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, University of Cambridge & Allied Irish Bank.

This is a four week course and participants will have the choice of attending on either Monday evenings from 7.30 to 9.30pm or Tuesday mornings from 11.00am to 1.00pm. Workshops commence on April 28 and 29. They will break for the week of the May bank holiday (May 5 and 6) and conclude on May 26 and 27. The fee for Life Drawing is €45 per person.

A model, easels, drawing boards and refreshments will be provided. For further information, contact 028-22090 or info@westcorkartscentre.com.

This is how you write an artist's statement!

The following is an artists' statement by Senior infants and 1^st class boys from Scoil na mBuachailli in Clonakilty who are exhibiting two excellent felt pieces in our current exhibition, Abecedary

We had lots of ideas after our visit to the Alphabet exhibition in Skibbereen so it took some time to agree on the medium which we chose.

There are 23 boys in our class.  Each boy chose a letter.  The remaining letters were done in groups except for one letter which we left out!  We thought it would be a challenge to spot the missing letter!

Next each child created an image that reminded them of that letter for example; one boy Ethan said “I thought of science and stuff, and then I said what begins with G, in science and that made me think of galaxy!” 

Conor, Ethan and Oliver’s interpretation of E was as follows;  “First of all it started with elephant because we like elephants and then we thought about an egg and what an elephant could do with an egg, he could eat it, and then we thought of Ethan with big eyes eating the egg, then we said we would make the elephant look enormous and excited so we just couldn’t stop thinking of idea’s for E so we kept adding to it! It was fun!”

We took our artwork in stages;

Stage 1- We used paper and 3 crayons to draw our image.

Stage 2- We did cutting and sticking with paper to make the same image,

Stage 3- We used fabric and glue to create our scene and joined all the pieces together.

Stage 4- We used felt and sheep’s wool to create an image, some of us decided we wanted to do a new image using the wool and some of us did the exact same image again but it looked different with the wool!

Stage 5- We sewed them all together to make a felt quilt which we think looks amazing!

Here is another from 2nd class  pupils in Kilgarriffe National School in Clonakilty. Their piece is called Palindromes and is a work in mixed media on cardboard

This is their statement explaining their practice.  

For this art project the topic was the alphabet and we chose to do palindromes. For those of you who don't know what a palindrome is, it is a word or sentence that can be said and spelt forwards and backwards, for example 'race car' is a palindrome, just turn it around in your head and it is still 'race car'. Another example for a sentence is 'A nut for a jar of tuna', turn it around and it is still 'A nut for a jar of tuna'.

For the project we chose to do sentences instead of doing actual words. It took a lot of deliberation but we decided on these sentences: a nut for a jar of tuna, race fast safe car, stack cats, never odd or even, step on no pets, mad at adam, and mr owl ate metal worm. We each chose our favourite sentence. We wrote out our sentence on cardboard and then collaged each letter and the background with two primary and secondary complementary colours. We glued them to the cardboard with this super sticky glue and we then left them to dry overnight. We then sent them off to West Cork Arts Centre to go on the display.