Listening

There was great satisfaction today in handing over my interviewee the transcription from our conversation yesterday in the form of a mini book. I came a across a line during our conversation that struck me; “Its so lovely for me to sit here talking to you, that you are interested in listening to me.”

Yesterday, I was looking for ideas for calendar layout designs and I came across a whole world of ephemera.  The calendar we hope to create will deliberately be a transitory object, that it functions as a marker of time and transition but in the process of making it, we hope it will set up relationships that last and an opportunity to listen to new creative voices.

A conversation later this afternoon introduced me to the meaning of locus: a centre or source. It hinged on the importance in finding a locus in the self, being aware of the present moment and functioning within that without allowing past grievance or future worries to cloud the immediate experience.  In terms of ’emotional anatomy’ that we discussed before, it places the mind in the present sensation and centres the whole being to ground the person.  It was a reminder of the potential to create from within without looking outside.  In terms of developing performance, I am interested in how the body is the primary tool and how it responds to internal processes, trying constantly to return to the centre point.

After all this focus on gestures and hands, its funny that it conincided with me noticing for the first time that the logo for the Family Life Centre features a pair of hands.

Company Keeping

On arrival I called in to Taylor’s Jewellers first thing to see the wonderful photo archive there that I’ve heard so much about.  The sounds of the clocks make the most unusual soundscape I have ever heard in a shop. Its well worth the visit just to soak up the cuckoos.

I spent an enjoyable morning listening to anecdotes from the life of a service user who lived through the Big Snow of ’47 and the many changes that have undergone life in the area.  My afternoon flew quickly as I transcribed the recorded conversation and typed up the stories.  Its a fascinating account that I hope the teller will allow me to share when it has been proof read.  I am taking one quote from the exchange that puts very simply and succinctly what the Family Life Centre means to this individual; “I think it’s a great thing for the town of Boyle that people can go in and be counseled and have a bit of craic and have a mug of tea if they want it.”  I love how everything brings us back to the healing powers of tea!

I have been working through the library in the centre to find interesting resources that will give me a further insight into the philosophies and working practice of the facilitators, counsellors and volunteers.  I came across an interesting chapter on re-framing.

It contained this puzzle that challenges the viewer literally to think outside the box:

Here are nine dots arranged in a square matrix. Can you draw four straight lines, without lifting your pencil from the “paper,” through all nine dots? ITs really worhtwhile to spend time working this one out.

Answer here.

Riddle

Having focused on the hand gestures from the snail experiment the previous day, I made another visit to King House this time to do the full tour.  I was looking for more motifs or information using imagery of hand or other designs, that I could maybe use as visual keys in the historical narrative of The Family Life Centre.  I was kindly given permission to photograph the hand detail wherever it was displayed with some research and assistance from the tour director.  The first thing I discovered was that I had remembered it incorrectly – the thumb was placed differently to that of the ‘Pantocrator’. (In the dish pictured below, the fingers of the hand are opened).

There is also a feature of a disc with a crescent moon shape that repeats in the images.

Interestingly, this painting below featured Henry King with his right hand in this gesture.  The family crest would have been designed by his grandson.

So here is a riddle.  What signifigance does this gesture have? The tour director suggested it might be a masonic sign as this family would have held positions as the Grand Masters of one or more Free Masons Lodge.  I still have figure out what the latin might have meant – any translators out there?!

After Amanda Coogan After Alice Maher….

We did an experiment in awareness at break time today by introducing something that was completely incongruous to the environment; snails.

I found two tiny snails and placed them on my arms.  The point for me was to see how that affects my concentration (which was on their movements), what sensations it provokes and what it sparked in the conversation in the room.  I also invited others to join in, which one person did.

Many artists have worked with snails in different ways; Henri Matisse, Alice Maher and Amanda Coogan come immediately to mind.  So why did I spend forty minutes hunting snails in Boyle Pleasure Grounds today (harder to find than you’d think!)…..

I’ve been reading a book I found in the Family Life Centre Library called Emotional Anatomy by Stanley Keleman. It contains detailed diagrams to describe his theory of how emotional response influences our physical form from our first formation at conception to everyday muscle movements that make us the shape we are.

For a snail, my body was a landscape to be traversed; the marks, creases, hairs and bumps were obstacles or pathways.  In watching the snail move, I was connecting with memories, experiences and the aging process that is reflected in the geography of my skin.

In terms of a ‘conversation piece’ I guess the general reactions to the snail were to be expected; “I’m not afraid of snails but I don’t want one crawling on me.”  Much of the initial conversation was focused on what a pest they are in the garden and how to kill them. Culturally, most think of snails as degrading, disgusting and unclean at worst and at best; a good meal, albeit for certain tastes.  They are not generally perceived as having particularly attractive qualities and less associated with femininity; ‘Frogs and snails and puppy dogs tails, thats what little boys are made of'”.  Yet there was a certain (sometimes bewildered) fascination and even concern that they were not being hurt by being on my arms instead of their natural habitat.

For me, by working with a creature like a snail, it felt like a connection to earthiness, season and the day’s weather – linking the present cycle of local nature, natural environment and autumnal feelings of transience and mortality.   Interesting that the spiral form on the snail’s shell is representative of the ‘Golden Mean’, the most perfect form in Sacred Geometry thought to have been used by artists and architects in the creation of masterpieces from ancient times to the present day.  The snail carries this geometric house on its back with the patterns and pockmarks unique to its genetics and experience.  By adjusting my body as the snail travelled balancing its load, I was redefining the corporeal landscape and taking my posture out of its habitual shape to allow its safe, continued passage.  So in balancing us both,  I found my arms and hands in new, deliberate positions like mudras directed by the snail’s arbitrary journey.

Mudra is the name commonly given to symbolic or ritual gestures in Hinduism and Buddhism and evidence of mudras, although called by a different name, is to be found in Christianity. Christ is often painted in the Pantocrator posture.  Interestingly, this gesture is depicted on the family crest of Lord Lorton, for whom this building was made to collect rents from locals.

To return to Keleman’s theory, not only do our emotional lives affect our form but our form encodes the messages we wish to express through living and representing the principals of our lives..

Conversation Pieces

The grey overcast skies sealed the centre in a quiet cloud today. A good day for concentrating on work.  Soft rain accompanied the ringing of the telephone, ticking of the clocks and low conversation. As happens everyday, the breaks at 11am and 3.30pm provide quick respite from the demands of work and allow the staff to exchange how are yous, news, well wishes, laughter and generally support the communal air in the workplace.

The furniture in the drop in room where we take these breaks is somehow fascinating.  Tall hardbacked armchairs with side wings that remind me of the upturned corners of a barristers collar, low slung lounge chairs with enormous arm rests that make you feel like you inadvertently swallowed some of Alice in Wonderlands ‘Shrink Me’ liquid in the tea and two love seats are placed opposite one another like a doubles match.  I like to join the ritual of tea making and biscuit hunting and observing how we then fall into place like chess pieces, rearranging the seating at will to accomodate the numbers, the form and all potential comers.

The conversation goes in all directions interpreting news and personal anecdotes in the context of social and political shifts across the country, around the world and back to ourselves in our own personal universes.  I placed a ‘3-d notice’ on the coffee table a couple of weeks back in an attempt to find a tennis partner. I didn’t find one but it sparked an interesting conversation about love, point scoring, exhibition matches and tea dances.  It occurred to me that maybe it was a kind of ‘conversation piece’.

‘Conversation Pieces’ first emerged as a genre of portrait painting from the 17th Century, usually featuring a group or family in mid-conversation whilst engaged in activities that would convey the shared interests and often achievements of the subjects to the viewer.

Since that time, any unusual object placed in a drawing room to incite curiosity and provoke conversation has become known as a ‘Conversation Piece’.

From a contemporary perspective,  ‘Conversation Pieces’ is also the apt title of a book by Grant Kester (University of San Diego, California, 2004, see extract below) describing an emerging practice of ‘dialogical’ art that moves beyond modern and post-modern tradition. It describes artwork made in collaborative contexts ie. developed with others affected by particular social, political or aesthetic conditions.  The resulting artwork responds to the individual experience through attention to the process of devising and making, often this involves a live or ‘performing’ aspect to invite active participation.  The aesthetic result does not aim to please mainstream perceptions of beauty or conventional taste in style, it aims to communicate and challenge in a way that is relevant to the context in which it was made and the people that contributed to its making.

Today, I’ve been working on my own conversation piece for break time tomorrow.

Goodbye Loved Ireland and You

I’m gradually getting to know more people thanks to a morning of dropping entry forms around the town for the calendar project.  So far the response to the idea is positive so I’m curious to see what will be submitted.

In the afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting with May Moran, author of ‘Executed for Ireland-The Patrick Moran Story’. The title of this post is actually the final line written by Patrick Moran on cards to his family before his death, one which May had originally planned to be the title of her book.  Yesterday I said I was going to try to speed read the rest of the book that I hadn’t got to but in fact, it’s so engrossing I get caught up and so I’m still halfway through.

Chatting to May about the tale and her experience of researching and writing brought the subject to life and I expect to be glued right to the end.

My motive to meet with her comes from a fascination with accounts of escapes, smuggling and subterfuge of all sorts.  Drama, suspense and excitement is a part of it. But I’m really interested in the relationships that are formed in order to successfully fulfill these missions; the networks that develop, the bond of collusion, the mutual trust that is demanded, the idealism contrasted with strategic pragmatism and the care of whatever precious cargo is being protected or transported whether it is information, objects (arms) or human life. Paddy Moran befriended people who became accomplices through shared ideals, common purpose, mutual regard, inter-dependancy or a familial bond that stretched beyond blood ties. So escape is different to running away, it is intrinsically reliant on collaboration of force or people but it is looking for a better destiny.

It is compelling to understand the systems that aim to regulate society yet individuals working together have the potential to subvert those systems and they do it all the time – one man’s black market is another man’s offshore account.  Its a process of invention motivated by a perceived necessity and how it is justified is a question of perspective that tells us more about our culture, values and inequalities than those ‘systems’ ever could because it is the acid test of how successful and ‘fair’ they actually are in terms of self interest and common good.  From another viewpoint, it is seeking an alternative that is more personally fulfilling and recognises the individual situation which is in a sense what I have found to be the ethos behind services provided at The Family Life Centre.

The rate of progress in the invention of tools of communication in such scenarios is particularly intriguing, after all wasn’t research into the development of radar greatly accelerated by the demands of WWII warfare.  It is striking when ‘information’ becomes ‘intelligence’ through its relationship to power.  For me it could be compared to an artistic process; it is creativity in a different form – one dictated by the present circumstance and available materials.  In her book, May describes various creative means of bearing messages by the imprisoned, fugitive and exiled;

a message written inside a shirt collar

letters left on london trains by irish prisoners being transferred in the hope that they would be posted by someone, which they were

morse code between prison cells at curfew

symbolic allusions in song and poetry

public orations on streets, in churches

Think of the extreme difficulty in the faithful transfer of any information across a broad network coloured by differing attitudes, ideals and expectations, like a game of chinese whispers. Then appreciate the organisational achievement of common men and women to interprete, to communicate and to perform in solidarity and in stealth. Whether or not you identify with the cause, the ends is certainly something to behold, not unlike a work of art, the creation of which is often called a means of escape.

And what has May to say about making a work of art such as writing a book: “make it personal, its more interesting.”

Q. How many artists does it take to make an entry form?

A. Just one, but it might take her all day!

So “Day by Day in the Life Calendar Project” is launched finally! Find out more by clicking here. Scroll down that page to download an entry form and get your images and captions in to us! Expect to see copies of the entry form in various locations around Boyle by lunchtime tomorrow.

If you want to know how this idea came about, scroll down to paragraph four on this journal entry form 20th July.

Culture Night: Yesterday at 11am I suggested to the staff of the centre that we host an event to wrap up the end of this residency to coincide with Culture Night. At 2pm I found out about other great events planned for Culture Night in Kings House with the Civic Collection, Boyle Arts Festival and Alter/Native. At 6pm I heard about an Artists Funfair on the same night in Coothall.  At 7pm I discovered an email inviting all artists participating in the Art@Work programme to exhibit in the Old AIB Bank in Roscommon from 23rd-26th September with a special late opening of artworks and performances for Culture Night on the 24th.  This is just an example of how fast word (and ideas) travel in Boyle as if on the wind.  So, in light of all this, we are proposing to host a small event where we digitally project all the images submitted to the ‘Day by Day’ Project in the centre on the 23rd and announce the selection for the calendar.  Then people are welcome to come to Culture Night in Roscommon town where the images and calendar will be on show also. Hope you can join us for some or all of it. I’ll post more info and updates so keep you’re eyes peeled!

So because I’ve been organising this stuff all day and little else, the only creation worth remarking on is the mess I’ve managed to make in this studio. Look out Frances Bacon.

I did hear one lovely phrase today ‘a fragile relief’.  That’s worth mentioning isn’t it.

I am very excited to be interviewing May Moran tomorrow, author of ‘Executed for Ireland-The Patrick Moran story’ so I’m off for an evening of speed reading.

A Day in the Life

First things first, thank you to the amazing snack-cart man on the 7.05am train that gave me a free tea when my purse ran out this morning.  Elixir of the gods and sundry peasants up since the crack of dawn!

After two weeks away, it was great to come back to the Family Life Centre with some fresh ideas on how to get a couple of projects underway. I also caught up on the local news, how the arts festival went and meet some more intriguing people on my ‘supply and information missions’ down the street. And learned about pig racing! Now thats a new one!

We discussed how best to organise the submission of images from the public to display in the centre and agreed that we’d like to select some for inclusion in a calendar.  This would provide some fresh visual material every month in the centre with the possibility of taking copies into the homes and business premises of the local community, a further integration of the values and services within everyday life.  So today was spent drafting posters, a basic application form and finding candidates to sit on the judging panel. These will be proofed and uploaded in the next two days so watch this space!

We are also in the progress of refining an original way to collect ‘Day in the Life’ accounts from members of the community inspired by the remarkable amount of communication tools used in the town of Boyle from that detailed ‘Survey of Roscommon’ book I referred to before to present day blogs, brochures, newsletters and the most effective in any small town ‘word of mouth’.  I was treated to some anecdotes on growing up in the 1930’s and surviving the big snow of 1947 in the morning that made me appreciate the wealth of living history from both the past and present. (The picture on the right is on view at Boyle Train Station).

So more news on how that develops later in the week but for now thanks to the lady in the Post Office for some very clever tips on how to make it work!

It was a day of experiment in all and so I decided to practice a performance piece in the kitchen. Basically, the idea was to make a sculpture: a tower of onions. Obviously cutting into a vast number of onions induces tears and I am curious to see what could be released for me and an audience with tears, or even what is the experience of crying without emotion. Would it tap into emotions, memories and ideas?  So as I cut, people passed through the kitchen interjecting with sad stories, comments and simply sharing time and curiousity. What was so remarkable for me, and maybe it needn’t be so but it was, was the fact that there is no shying away from feeling in this work place.  I’m not used to taking about sadness in my work environment, if anything the very opposite, stiff upper lips and all that.  But in ths centre, crying over onions is accepted with the same warmth and empathy and pragmatism and humour as every other experience. And there is genuine interest in the art of this exchange, in the artistic action and the resulting art work and in what that evokes personally in the observer. There is a great openness to both people and experience and its a privilege to work alongside

One comment described how the Pakistan floods drew tears as she watched the victims homes destroyed under water.

The superfluity of the sugar content renders the flavourity of the tea diabolically obnoxious to taste

This morning I expected a small turn out for our ‘Introduction’ – staff being busy, service users on holidays and every local with an interest in the arts up to their eyes.  So I got a nice surprise when artist Veronica Forsgren dropped in to say good luck. Veronica participated in Art@Work 2009 and will exhibit this year in a group show called ‘Touch’ running from 23rd-30th July at Feelystone as part of Boyle Arts Festival. This blog is starting to read like an art version of a gossip column or something – I can’t help it that so many interesting people keep popping up!

The introduction was very relaxed and everyone present expressed interests in art from all kinds of perspectives.  I showed a photo-essay slideshow that I’d compiled the previous Friday with images and artworks that struck me around the Family Life Centre buildings (featured in the digital sketchbook). I was conscious that there might be different expectations, or none, about what an artist provides within the structure of services provided by the ‘company’. For example, I often work directly with community groups through workshops however that is not in the remit of Art@Work and, in any case, I am interested in looking for new ways to collaborate (or conspire!) in the making of work.  A core interest in my practice is active participation and creative exchange between artist and audience.  So I decided to describe the research and work I did during a previous residency in Ard Bia Berlin (2008) to explain what my artistic interests are, my methods of working and what I try to achieve.

Then I showed some examples of how that experience fed the development of the following year’s work on The Art of Listening project with the National Council for the Blind of Ireland through the Artist in the Community Scheme supported by the Arts Council and managed by Create (The National Development Agency for Collaborative Arts).  This collaborative work included a live event coinciding with Dublin Culture Night and culminating in a exhibition at Mill Studios, images from which can be viewed on my website http://www.siobhanclancy.com. I’m writing this explanation because in fact I intended to record the talk to upload for playback on this site but that went straight out of my head once we started chatting – while trying to remember everything I wanted to say and organise the event, I forgot to document it…its a constant catch 22.

At the end I also proposed an experiment to supplement my own research and draw awareness to the great creative potential to be found within the centre, of which the earlier slideshow was just a small example.  All around Family Life Centre buildings are posters like these;

I was curious about the signifigance that both the messages and the images may or may not have had for people and how people rated them aesthetically.  Yesterday, I had insightful conversation with one individual who showed me a particular image that had a special resonance for her. Ironically, the same day the first note to arrive in my ‘Comment Box’ in the corridor read “Can you do something to get shut of those 70’s posters leading up the stairs, bring us into the 21st Century!!” So I asked everyone at the talk what they thought these posters represented…and we came up with an enormous list.  Then I proposed that we make an open invitation to the centre users and the local public to submit original images that represented these ‘themes’ and see what comes out of it and how we would like to display these personal, 21st century submissions.

So, we have installed the notice pictured here.  Watch this space for a more printer friendly information leaflet because directly after the talk I had to pack up and head back to Dublin to deliver an evening workshop and carry on with other work commitments until the weekend.

So ends the first brief stage of the residency. Thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcome and giving your time and knowledge so generously.  Be back in two weeks.

By the way, just in case you were wondering about those promised scones…………..mmmm!

Thanks G for the title of this journal entry! 😉

Fresh Air and Feelystone

Lovely start to the day cycling to Boyle accompanied by bird song and passing the most content cows I’ve ever seen.  Big contrast to fighting for space in bus lanes with Dublin taxis!

Most of the day was spent speed-researching the history of the Family Life Centre building from its establishment as a rent collection office in the early 19th century by the landlords of Rockingham estate, through its years as home to the Catholic Men’s Club until its present role. It was difficult to find many references to its early days although the staff at Boyle Library and King House were incredibly helpful.

Copies of the 1883 and 1884-1885 Rockingham estate accounts, presumed to the kept at the rent office, are stored in the archives of the library with concise descriptions of grazing fees, gardeners duties, charitable donations and lots more. The ‘Survey of County Roscommon of 1883’ references the building only once that I could find. But it well worth the read for the elaborate descriptions by the very conscientious writer who walked the streets at 4am counting chimneys and storeys of buildings so he couldn’t be distracted from his serious work.

King House boasts an impressively rich painting of Viscount Lorton himself that I was kindly invited to take a look at.  It also houses personally commissioned crockery and furnishings bearing his family coat of arms with the unusual feature of a hand poised in a christlike gesture with two forefingers together and pointing upwards.

There is plenty to read on the era of the building as a Catholic Men’s Club, although much I’m sure that was not recounted between the billiards and card games.

As I was reading about the general history and architectural evolutions in Boyle I noticed an uncanny number of accounts of buildings burning down – someone needs to keep an eye on the matches around this town!

Later in the evening I met with 5 of a group of 6 artists total who have been invited to work in residence at Feelystone. A ‘Stone Sculptors Holiday’ they called it with accomodation, materials and workspaces generously provided by the company to support the work of the artists.  Feelystone invite the public to visit the artist’s studios and see work in progress by Daniel Clahane (Cumbria), Jessica Harrison (Edinburgh), Redmond Herrity (Donegal), Eileen McDonagh (Sligo), Kate Oram (Boyle) and Blessing Sanyanga (Africa/Cork) during the Boyle Arts Festival Wednesday 28th – Friday 30th July.

Football and Festivals

As I headed through the town to the Family Life Centre this morning, the blue and yellow bunting was flying proudly in celebration of Roscommon’s victory over neighbouring rivals Sligo in the Connaught Football Final at the weekend.  Nearly every conversation today started with congratulations or commiserations!

I set up a noticeboard in the entrance hall so visitors and staff can keep up to date with the progress of the residency.  Comments, suggestions and simple hellos always welcome!

I spent some of the day roaming the streets of Boyle, scavenging for art materials, maps and anything to do with Maureen O’Sullivan. I watched Tarzan the Ape Man at the weekend. I’m obsessed.

Back at the centre, I set up a studio space in a store room behind the main building and sent some info on the Artist Introduction to http://www.realboyle.com/, the place to go to find out whats going on in Boyle I’m told.

In the evening, I went to meet one of my hosts Pádraig, who was busy installing work for a group show by a recently established multi-disciplinary collective of local contemporary artists. The exhibition is called Alter Native.

Alter Native will run alongside the Boyle Arts Festival as a compliment to the official programme in some disused retail spaces in Boyle. It will feature art works by Daniel Chester, Carol Anne Connolly, Anna Macleod, Stephen Rennicks, Niall Walsh, Chris Hummel as well as Linda and Pádraig. Open night is Thursday 22nd July at 7pm.

First Day

A quiet beginning to the residency as a lot of the services are on a break for the Summer months.  Hectic schedules between work and studio in Dublin mean the peaceful pace is a welcome relief and a chance to reflect on making work in a new environment.

Community Development Worker Louise Moran greeted me with a warm welcome at the red door of the Family Life Centre and, in between the flurry of phonecalls and emails, introduced me to callers and staff throughout the day.

It was a chance to soak up the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere and visit the various facilities at the Family Life Centre including;

• main building with a comfortable drop-in space where there is always a candle lighting, a library, meeting rooms, an activity space (for youth and playgroups), kitchen and ki-massage room
• counselling and psychotherapy dept with scent of incense faintly in the air kitchen, relaxed waiting room and therapy rooms for individuals and groups
• violence against women unit with a beautiful kitchen and therapy rooms

Kitchens, cups of tea and greeting rituals are a central feature in this communal environment. One of the first stories I was told described a real life miracle.  This is a special place.

Enroute to lunch I met my accomodation hosts Linda Shevlin and Pádraig Cunningham. Pádraig and Linda moved to Tivanagh, Boyle in 2005. Both are noteworthy artists each in their own right and together run an innovative design company called ‘Pure Designs’. They have kindly offered to put me up for my overnight stays in their beautifully renovated schoolhouse, lucky me.

Lunch was at the gorgeous Stone House Cafe, a part of which overhangs the River Boyle. The River rushing to Lough Key reminded me of that underwater lake scene with Maureen O’Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller in the 1932 Tarzan and His Mate – minus the apes, elephants and ivory hunters!

On my return to the centre, I learned about a book launch to be held later in evening of ‘Executed for Ireland-The Patrick Moran Story‘ (2010 Mercier Press voted Book of the Month) by local school teacher May Moran at King House.

There’s a lot of great art being made in Boyle, its inspiring.  I spent most of the day (between introductions) photographing features and artwork in the centre and drafting a poster and presentation for our ‘Artist Introduction’ 10-11am on Wednesday 21st July. All Welcome! 🙂