Mark Garry

The third presentation was with Irish artist Mark Garry, and was titled ‘Managing contemporary art projects in a number of contexts, as both a curator and artist’.

Firstly he showed a group show he had participated in, in the Hugh Lane gallery called ‘Frequency’. He explained that at this time he was hugely interested in the work created in theminimalist movement and also the idea of biomimicry. A particular piece Garry mentioned was that of his ‘Origami Swan’. He raised the point that on first glance the swan appears to be made and should be paper, however on further inspection the viewer realizes that it is in fact made from stainless steel. It is here that the biomimicry can be seen in reverse and as he explained himself,’ It questions how the use of different materials have been used for the wrong reasons and because of it the world is now fundamentally fucked up’.

The next piece shown was ‘Logic and its associates’, consists of two music boxes placed on two wooden cutouts which represent a human head and the heart. When the music boxes are wound by the viewer they play a pattern of rhythms taken from the average male brain (which represents the human nervous system) and the average male heart (which represents the human heart beat). In a sense the artist is making an attempt at being romantic by pairing the head and heart and using music which can be played in harmony to almost represent love. He then went on to explain the elements involved in making the pieces for this exhibition which included, designing and manufacturing three new sculptural works, consultation, instrument making internship and negotiation of space.

Next he moved on to Public art commissions and that when new roads or public construction are happening, a small percentage of its budget is put towards making artwork for that space. He started by talking about his piece, ‘Sending letters to the sea’. This public work was based in the Fingal area and at the time the artist was interested in Ireland’s Christian status. He then began to look at the connections between music and religion and how it influenced and shaped the various forms of music we hear today. The idea behind the title for the piece was that by sending letters to the sea, it mirrored the way in which faith works. The letters that are sent might be returned but then again might not, just like the faith that can be seen in religions.

The last piece I want to mention is another public artwork titled ‘Wind Harps’.The artist said that when he first viewed the area he thought it was perfect as it was so in the work in he made he didn’t want to take from it. He eventually created wind harps which are activated by nature and within time the harps will once again be concealed by reeds so they will fit back into the surrounding nature.

The presentation was very interesting as it showed public artworks from an artist’s perspective and let arise the questions and answers of how to work in group shows.

Aurelian Froment

The second presentation was by French artist, Aurélien Froment. Based originally in Paris he now lives and works out of Dublin. The first piece mentioned in the presentation was a piece titled ‘A la fin’. This piece was made while he was still an art student. The piece involved the artist positioning himself outside a movie theater and handing out cards printed with different movie endings to people going to view a film. By doing so Froment raises the question that an ending is inevitable however there is still a question of when it will happen and what exactly will happen. This piece stemmed from his time working in a movie theater and greatly reflected on a point he mentioned that I found most interesting which was, “The job that you do as an artist greatly influences the work you do as an artist”. For me this point can be clearly seen throughout work Froment makes and also in the materials he used to make it.

Froment then went on to show ‘Pulmo Marina’. This piece consists of an egg-yolk jellyfish drifting against a stark blue background while all the time a voiceover is played in the background. The video itself has an almost hypnotic quality about it in its use of bright colours, slow trance like movement of the jellyfish and also the relaxing hum of the voiceover as it explains the creature. Froment also explained that the screen on which the short film is being viewed mirrors the way in which the viewer sees the jellyfish in its aquarium state and plays with the idea of the viewer, whose view would ultimately change by viewing the fish in its aquarium state with a group atmosphere as opposed to the private experience they would have by viewing it on a screen.

The last piece I want to mention is a piece titled ‘The Second Gift’. This piece features Friedrich Froebel’s second gift, an educational object, and is filmed while slowly rotating. While the film is rotating there is also narration from Norman Brosterman, a toy collector who researches Froebel’s objects, Tiffeni Goesel a kindergarten teacher, and Scott Bultman, a former toy manufacturer. The film looks at ways of tracing an object, from what it is made to how it is made, from what it refers in the history of forms to what it allows to project. He then showed how he set the piece up for exhibition and I found most intriguing as he explained how he encountered and tried to overcome problems he faced when displaying this particular work. For the display he had a replica of Froebel’s second gift set up on a table to encourage the viewer to interact with the piece, however as it was in a galley context the viewer merely thought that the way the artist had set the piece up was how he had attended to show it and therefore did not know that interaction was meant. To overcome the problem the artist had to organize certain times at which certain people would in a sense ‘perform’ and interact with the piece to show that is what he wanted.

Overall the presentation was very interesting and it raised questions about my own practice but also helped me to understand and answer them at the same time and his point that ‘Everything I make allows me to make something after, so I am not left with a blank page’ is also something I will be taking into my own practice in the future.

Ruairi O'Cuiv

The first presentation we had was from Dublin City Council Public Arts Commissioner, Ruairi O’Cuiv. This presentation in particular I found most helpful to me and my practice and in this I wanted to make note of the particular points. He started by saying that, ‘if your applying for a public artwork commission, don’t just do it for the sake of it, do it because you feel you have something to give to the brief’. I found this point valuable in relation to my own practice as I always find myself doing things just to satisfy the brief, however after hearing this I found that if I took the time to apply myself and make the brief work for me, I could get more out of it and not let if run out of steam so quickly.

The presentation also allowed me to view different ways, I as an artist could work not only for public at commissions but also in my general practice. Some of the examples I found of particular interest were, artists who work with the participation of other artists, artists who involve members of a locality that they are making the work on and lastly the obvious one, artists who work solely on their own. At the moment working as a lone artist is the general norm in the college environment, but by introducing other artists to the work or by involving people with the specific skill sets or knowledge/understanding of a site could also greatly benefit a work.

He also went into detail about how as an artist you would go about completing a brief. To my surprise the main point was to keep it simple. He gave two examples of how keeping things simple and greatly benefit a proposal. The first example being about an artist who successfully got a commission by basically submitting her proposal on a single sheet of paper. Although only on a single sheet of paper, she outlined and summed up her idea simply but effectively. The second, being about a public artwork proposal board for a local community. On the board they had two members of the locality so as to give them more input in the selection of the piece but when the artists were proposing their ideas, their use of art ‘jargon’ lead the two public members of the panel to feel somewhat inferior and uncomfortable. This again is another point I will be putting into use in my own practice as I feel at the moment I tend to ramble on when trying to explain and get an idea across only to find when I finished that I have complicated it too much and left my audience confused and still none the wiser as to what I am trying to do.  By simplifying my ideas or how I explain them, I could make an idea more accessible to the viewer.

This presentation to me was the most beneficial as it allowed me to understand how the public art world works and also lead me to understand simplifying in some cases might be the better option.

Almost Finished :D

Still in progress. :)

New Piece in progress :)

More painting and drawing for the Sandra Project.