All I Want For Christmas...

Ah Craigslist, a source of all things weird, wonderful and at times, illegal. If you have the room to accommodate a half ton wine rack, a spare $7,000 and the ability to transport it from its Phoenix, AZ location you can't go wrong with this masterpiece. Used transmission parts from auto mobiles and motorcycles were welded together to create a 6 foot high robot/transformer style sculpture which doubles as a wine rack.

The parts were dipped into a solution to neutralize and remove any oil, grime, or corrosive chemicals. The piece was painted gun metal grey and clear coated. It has blue LED lights that have been wired into the body along the leg, torso and the top of the shoulder. 

       

This would make a great addition to my living room...whilst scaring the snot out of any animals/children that venture past my front door! 

Posting can be found here  (keep in mind it's CL and therefore posting may be expired/deleted)

Vermilion

Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori exhibited his latest work 'Goldfish Salvation' in January at the ICN gallery in London, England. Fukahori  has developed a technique which is akin to 3D printing in which he uses layers of casting resin and paint to build a 3D painting. The result is stunningly lifelike pieces that are a cross between painting and sculpture.

Fukahori began using Goldfish as a theme in his work after a period of  'artists block', the little fish have a long history of being loved by people and he found himself inspired by their shimmering scales and graceful movement.

The embedded video below shows Fukahori's technique which involves intricate brush stokes sandwiched between thin layers of resin which he contains in pewter bowls or bamboo vessels. 

To learn more about his work:

http://goldfishing.info/

http://icn-global.com/index.html

All Images: Dominic Alves

Prism

'Plexus No. 3'

My usually robust immune system appears to have short circuited in the past month, leaving me with one cold and one flu in the space of 3 weeks. Actually to call it a flu wouldn't really do it justice, my attempts to stave it off with zinc, vitamins, Neocitran, healthy food and lots of rest has done little to stem the sneezing and sweating. Charming eh? I guess in a way, it has a positive side as I'm currently zonked on my couch wrapped in a blanket and catching up on blog stuff and terrible television (What??! My brain cells can't handle anything intellectual right now). Oh and let's just say that 'The Plexus Series' by Gabriel Dawe looks positively psychedelic when you're taking flu medication!

'Plexus No. 3'

Dawe was born in Mexico City where vibrant color was imprinted on his psyche from an early age. In 2000 he wanted to travel and decided to move to Montreal where he worked as a graphic designer. It was during this time that he began experimenting, creating artwork which led to him to explore textiles, weaving and embroidery. Traditionally in Mexico, these activities were associated with women and generally men were not encouraged to participate.

'Plexus No. 3'

Dawe lived in Canada until 2007 where he gained dual citizenship as a Mexican-Canadian, his art then took him to Texas where he began an MFA in Arts and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas. The Plexus Series consists of large-scale installations made with Gütermann thread "creating environments that deal with notions of social constructions and their relation to evolutionary theory and the self-organizing force of nature."

'Plexus No. 4'

These large scale pieces utilize vibrant color and intricate threading that creates an almost prism like effect when viewed from different angles. Each piece is woven from a structure containing anchor points and can take up to a month to complete, one thread at a time. The video below shows the construction and completion of 'Plexus No. 4'.

Dawe lived in Canada until 2007 where he gained dual citizenship as a Mexican-Canadian, his dedication then took him to Texas where he began an MFA in Arts and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas. His work has been exhibited in Dallas, Houston, Montreal, Toronto and Barcelona.

'Plexus No. 4'

http://www.gabrieldawe.com/index.html

Architectural Anomaly Part 3: Victoria's Way

22 acres of surrealism lie tucked away in the lush countryside of Co Wicklow. A fair distance away from major roads and cities, finding Victoria's Way was not easy. I've been procrastinating about writing this for quite some time, partly because I'm lazy and partly because i wanted to keep it to myself. Armed with a rough idea of the location, it took a while to find after turning off the road to Roundwood. It was worth the search to stumble upon an tranquil yet strange amalgamation of grass, water, trees, bog land, plants, wild flowers and granite sculptures that hordes of tourists have yet to discover.

Exo

Ayala Serfaty was born in Tel Aviv in 1962 and studied Fine Art in the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. She was the recipient of the America- Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship to Middlesex Polytechnic in England where she concluded her BFA. Over time her style and interests became more rooted in design practice and in 1994 Ayala founded 'Aqua Creations' with her photographer husband Albi Serfaty. 'Aqua Creations' was founded with the aim of creating lighting and furniture that melded advanced technology with organic design.

Integument

Derick Melander is an American artist whose work mainly consists of large geometric structures made of clothing. Melander was born in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1964. Over the years he has a vast wealth of experience in numerous fields: an Associate Degree in Communications from Elizabeth Seton College in NY allowed him to study music programming, film making, acting and graphic design.

Upon graduation he moved to Philadelphia where he sang in a band and worked as an assistant to the artist Jerry Goodman for a few years. After moving to NYC in 1987, he taught nursery school and continued playing music. He earned a B.F.A. in 1994 from The School of Visual Arts and continues to make art from his studio.

Sine

I'm slightly in awe of artists -specifically sculptors- who embrace technicality in their work. I've met a few over the years and they appear to have a similar way of working things out: part artist, part mechanical engineer.



One such artist is Reuben Margolin. Based in the Bay area he creates kinetic wave sculptures. He utilizes materials ranging from wood to plastic piping to salvaged objects. Truthfully a still image doesn't do his mesmerizing work justice. His intricate sculptures range in size and he explores elements and aspects of nature such as tidal current or how a drop of liquid behaves as it hits a body of liquid. The video below give a brief glipse at how he creates and his workspace.

http://www.reubenmargolin.com/contact.htm

Fluid

Unfortunately I've been unable to find a lot of information about the designer Charlie Bucket but I'm really impressed with what he has done with some tubes and colored liquid. The above is a prototype for a skirt. Clear plastic tubing which was woven around a loom to get a woven effect and according to Bucket the ultimate goal of the project is to translate this idea into a complete wearable outfit.I love how at 2.15 the piece almost appears to vibrate.Click on the link below to see a large screen version as the clip above doesn't really do it justice.

http://www.casualprofanity.com/

Esoterica

This post has sat patiently in my drafts folder. Every so often i pull it out, peer closely, prod it then sigh and put it back. Why? Because if i were to attempt to explain the 'meaning' of Matthew Barney's art we'd be here all day. You'd have gone cross eyed and I'd have developed cramp in my hands from all the typing. His work is a tricky beast and is difficult to pin down. I was introduced to Cremaster 3 on a rainy night in Dublin by someone who didn't realise the impact Barney's work would have on my perception of art. It blew my mind and i couldn't instantly decipher the meaning of the spectacular imagery I'd just watched.

A few words that spring to mind when watching his work:

* Epic

* Courageous

* Multi-layered

* Controlled

* Ritualistic

* Unsettling

Barney is an American artist who was born in San Francisco in 1967. As a result of his parents divorce he lived with his father in Boise, Idaho where he wrestled and played football on his high school team. His visits to his mother in New York City opened a world of art and museums. The juxtaposition of sports and art informed his work as a sculptor and filmmaker. He enrolled in Yale University as a premed student with the intent of becoming a plastic surgeon. He gradually moved towards art and graduated from Yale in 1989. He then moved to New York.

In my opinion his most epic and i mean EPIC piece of work is The Cremaster Cycle. It's a project consisting of five feature length films and related sculptures, photographs and drawings. It took 8 years to complete (1994-2002) and the films run at about seven hours in length (total). The films were shot and released out of order; he filmed Cremaster 4 in 1994, Cremaster 1 in 1995, Cremaster 5 in 1997, Cremaster 2 in 1999, and finally concluded with Cremaster 3 in 2002. The films occasionally reference one another, but generally each film follows a different set of characters.

In a nutshell (no pun intended), The cremaster is a muscle in the male body that covers the testes and that raises and lower the scrotum and controls testicular contractions in response to external stimuli. The Cremaster Cycle explores the process of creation. Cremaster 1 represents the most “ascended” or undifferentiated state and Cremaster 5 the most “descended” or differentiated. Barney looked beyond biology as a way to explore the creation of form, by using aspects such as mythology, geology and aspects of biography (such as Gary Gilmore or Harry Houdini)

Cremaster Cycle features people such as Aimee Mullins, Norman Mailer, Ursula Andress, Richard Serra, Paul Brady, and uses diverse locations such as The Bronco Stadium in Idaho, The Isle of Man, The Bonneville Salt Flats, The Chrysler Building and The Guggenheim.


The only problem i have with his work is the unavailability of his material to the average person. I've been lucky enough to see all of the cycle thanks to a kind friend. The only part of Cremaster that's available to buy is the third installment, but it's not the full feature. It's 31 minutes extracted from the main piece. I'm a big believer in making art accessible to everyone regardless of circumstance.

You may disagree when i say that he has fed into a certain mentality of art for the 'chosen few'; and massively reduced the number of people who will get to see his work. I understand that it took vast amounts of time, resources, effort and financing to get the piece made but it has made exploring his work a huge challenge. If there was regular or semi regular screenings or exhibitions then this wouldn't be the case. They are rarely shown (either in sequence or even all 5 together) bar the odd exhibition e.g the 2002 Guggenheim show. It makes it extremely difficult to develop more than vague understanding of Cremaster or his work in general. However if you are resourceful you may be able to figure something out.

" They cannot be distributed as DVDs because they originally sold as limited-edition art objects. If a sculpture is in an edition of six, you can't make more of them. It's not right for them to be available to be owned in an unlimited way after they've been sold in a limited way. I have the right to do theatrical distribution of the films, which I've done with 'Cremaster' and 'Drawing Restraint 9.' In Paris, they have now, for the second time, brought back the series. It's certainly a better condition to see it than on a monitor." Barney stated.

The following is an interview with Matthew Barney that helps clarify some of his ideas and methods (Includes Trailer):

The following synopsis has been taken from http://greylodge.org/gpc/?p=383

CREMASTER 1 (1995)

A musical revue performed on the blue Astroturf playing field of Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho-Barney’s hometown. Two Goodyear Blimps float above the arena, each tended by four air hostesses. In the middle of each cabin interior sits a white-clothed table, its top decorated with an abstract centerpiece sculpted from Vaseline and surrounded by clusters of grapes. In one blimp the grapes are green, in the other they are purple. Under both of these otherwise identical tables resides Goodyear (played by Marti Domination). Inhabiting both blimps simultaneously, this doubled creature sets the narrative in motion. After prying an opening in the tablecloth above her head, she plucks grapes from their stems and pulls them down into her cell.

With these grapes, Goodyear produces diagrams that direct the choreographic patterns created by a troupe of dancing girls on the field below. The camera switches back and forth between Goodyear’s drawings and aerial views of the chorus girls moving into formation: their designs shift from parallel lines to the figure of a barbell, from a large circle to an outline of splitting and multiplying cells, and from a horizontally divided field emblem (Barney’s signature motif) to an undifferentiated reproductive system (which marks the first six weeks of fetal development). Gliding in time to the musical score, the chorus girls delineate the contours of a still-androgynous gonadal structure, which echoes the shapes of the two blimps overhead and symbolizes a state of pure potential.

CREMASTER 2 (1999)

A gothic Western that introduces conflict into the system. On the biological level it corresponds to the phase of fetal development during which sexual division begins. In Barney’s abstraction of this process, the system resists partition and tries to remain in the state of equilibrium imagined inCremaster 1. The looping narrative of Cremaster 2 moves from 1977, the year of Gary Gilmore’s execution, to 1893, when Harry Houdini, who may have been Gilmore’s grandfather, performed at the World’sColumbian Exposition. The film is structured around three interrelated themes, the landscape as witness, the story of Gilmore (played by Barney), and the life of bees and describes the potential of moving backward in order to escape one’s destiny.

Both Gilmore’s correlation with the male bee and his kinship to Houdini (played by Norman Mailer, Gilmore’s real-life biographer) are established in the conception scene. Gilmore’s sense of his own doomed role as drone is expressed in the ensuing sequence in a recording studio where DaveLombardo , former drummer of Slayer, is playing a solo to the sound of swarming bees and a man shrouded by bees growls into a telephone. These figures allude to Johnny Cash, who is said to have called Gilmore on the night of his execution in response to the convict’s dying wish.
Barney depicts Gilmore’s murder of a Mormon gas-station attendant in both sculptural and dramatic forms. Inferring that Gilmore killed out of a longing for union with his girlfriend, Nicole Baker, he represents their relationship through two conjoined Mustangs that, coincidentally, they both owned. In the murder sequence, Gilmore shoots his victim in the back of the head. This act sets in motion the trial and verdict that will condemn him to death. Barney stages the judgment of Gilmore in the Mormon Tabernacle. Gilmore refuses to appeal his sentence and opts for execution by firing squad, in a literal interpretation of the Mormon belief that blood must be shed in order for a sinner to obtain salvation. His execution is staged as a prison rodeo in a cast-salt arena in the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

In Barney’s interpretation of the execution, Gilmore was less interested in attaining Mormon redemption than in performing a chronological two-step that would return him to the space of his alleged grandfather, Houdini, with whom he identified the notion of freedom through self-transformation. Seeking escape from his fate, he chose death in an act of ultimate self-will. Gilmore’s metaphoric transportation back to the turn of the century is rendered in a dance sequence featuring the Texas two-step. The film ends in theColumbian Exposition hall, where Houdini is approached by Gilmore’s future grandmother, Baby Fay La Foe, starting anew the circular narrative of Cremaster 2.

CREMASTER 3 (2002)

Set in New York City and narrates the construction of the Chrysler Building. A character itself, the building is host to inner, antagonistic forces at play for access to the process of (spiritual) transcendence. These factions find form in the struggle between Hiram Abiff or the Architect (played by Richard Serra) and the Entered Apprentice (played by Barney), who are both working on the building. They are re-enacting the Masonic myth of Hiram Abiff, purported architect of Solomon’s Temple, who possessed knowledge of the mysteries of the universe. The murder and resurrection of Abiff are re-enacted during Masonic initiation rites. After a prologue steeped in Celtic mythology, the narrative begins under the foundation of the partially constructed Chrysler Building. A female corpse digging her way out of a grave is the undead Gary Gilmore, protagonist of Cremaster 2. Carried out of her tomb by five boys, she is transported to the Chrysler Building’s lobby and deposited in the back seat of a Chrysler Imperial New Yorker. During this scene, the camera cross-cuts to the Apprentice troweling cement over carved fuel-tank caps of five 1967 Chrysler Crown Imperials, each bearing the insignia of a different Cremaster episode.

Packed with cement, these caps will serve as battering rams in a demolition derby about to begin. The Apprentice then scales one of the building’s elevator shafts until reaching a car. Using this cabin as a mold, he pours cement to cast the perfect ashlar, a symmetricallyhewn stone that symbolizes moral rectitude in Masonic ritual. By circumventing the carving process to create the perfect ashlar, the Apprentice has cheated in his rites of passage and has sabotaged the construction of the building.

The ensuing scene in the Chrysler Building’s Cloud Club bar is a slapstick routine between bartender and Apprentice. Almost everything goes wrong, and these humorous mishaps result in the bartender playing his environment like a bagpipe. The accidents are caused by a woman (played by Aimee Mullins) in an adjoining room stuffing potatoes under the foundation of the bar until it is no longer level, a condition that echoes the corrupted state of the tower. The action is interrupted by a scene shift to a racetrack, where the Apprentice is accosted by hit men who break all his teeth in retribution for his deception.

Back in the Cloud Club, he is escorted to a dental office and stripped of his clothes. An apron of flesh obtrudes from his navel, referencing the lambskin aprons worn by Masonic candidates as a symbol for the state of innocence before the Fall. In the dental suite the Apprentice is simultaneously punished and redeemed for his hubris by the Architect whose own hubris also knows no bounds. Returning to his office, and anxious about the tower’s slow progress, the Architect constructs two pillars that allude to the columns,Jachin and Boaz, designed by Abiff for Solomon’s Temple. Meanwhile, the Apprentice escapes from the dental lab and climbs to the top of the tower. The Architect uses his columns as a ladder and climbs through anoculus in the ceiling.

The next scene describes an apotheosis, the Architect becoming one with his design, as the tower itself is transformed into a maypole. At this point in the narrative the film pauses for achoric interlude. The rites of the Masonic fraternity, through allegorical representations of the five-part Cremaster cycle, are staged in the guise of a game in the Guggenheim Museum. Called “The Order” this competition features a fantastical incarnation of the Apprentice as its sole contestant; who must overcome obstacles on each level of the museum’s spiralling rotunda. In one of the final scenes, which returns to the top of the Chrysler Building, the Architect is murdered by the Apprentice, who is then killed by the tower. Both men have been punished for their hubris and the building will remain unfinished. The film ends with a coda that links it toCremaster 4. This is the legend of Fionn MacCumhail, which describes the formation of the Isle of Man, where the next installment of the Cremaster cycle takes place.

CREMASTER 4 (1994)

Adheres most closely to the project’s biological model. This penultimate episode describes the system’s onward rush toward descension despite its resistance to division. The logo for this chapter is the Manx triskelion, three identical armoured legs revolving around a central axis. Set on the Isle of Man, the film absorbs the island’s folklore as well as its more recent incarnation as host to the Tourist Trophy motorcycle race. Myth and machine combine to narrate a story of candidacy, which involves a trial of the will.
The film comprises three main character zones. The Loughton Candidate (played by Barney) is a satyr with two sets of impacted sockets in his head that will eventually grow into the horns of the matureLoughton Ram. Its horns: two arcing upward, two down form a diagram that proposes a condition undifferentiating, with ascension and descension coexisting in equilibrium. The second and third character zones comprise a pair of motorcycle sidecar teams: the Ascending and Descending Hacks. A trio of attendant fairies mirrors the three narrative fields occupied by the Candidate and the two racing teams.

Cremaster 4 begins and ends in a building on the end of Queen’s Pier. The Candidate is being prepared by the fairies for a journey. The motorcycle race starts, and each team of Hacks speeds off in opposite directions. The camera cuts back and forth between the race and the Candidate, who is tap-dancing his way through a slowly eroding floor. As the bikes vie for the title, gelatinous forms, undifferentiated internal sex organs emerge from slots in the riders’ uniforms in a migratory quest for directionality; the organs of the Ascending Hack move upward, while those of the Descending Hack ooze downward.

Back at the pier, the Candidate plunges through the floor into the sea and heads toward the island. At the moment of his fall a transition from the utopian realm of pre genital oneness to that of bifurcation, the Ascending Hack collides with a stone embankment and the Descending Hack pulls off the course for a pit stop, where the fairies service its motorcycle. The Candidate reaches land and begins to burrow his way through a curving underground channel to reach the finish line, where the two Hacks will converge. This conduit leads him to a bluff, where the fairies are frolicking in a game that mirrors the conflict enacted by the principal characters, but with none of the tension. Still in his underground tunnel, the Candidate finally reaches his destination. The Loughton Ram stands at this junction a symbol for the integration of opposites, the urge for unity that fuels this triple race. But before the Candidate and Hacks meet, the screen goes white. The Candidate’s dream of transcending his biology to dwell in the space of pure symmetry is shattered.

In the final sequence at the pier the Hacks are parked on discrete ramps sloping down from the building’s exterior. In the closing image the camera peers through an open, male crotch at the top of the frame toward the end of the pier. A tightly retracted scrotum is pierced with clasps connected to vinyl cords, which trail off to the awaiting Ascending and Descending Hacks, who will drive toward the island to pick up the slack. Full descension is guaranteed.

CREMASTER 5 (1997)

In which total descension is finally attained, is envisioned as a tragic love story set in the romantic dreamscape of late-19th-century Budapest. The film is cast in the shape of a lyric opera. Biological metaphors shift form to inhabit emotional states, longing and despair that become musical leitmotivs in the orchestral score. The opera’s primary characters the Queen of Chain (played by Ursula Andress) and her Diva, Magician, and Giant (all played by Barney) enact collectively the final release promised by the project as a whole.

Cremaster 5 opens with an overture that introduces the opera’s characters and lays out the map of Budapest that the narrative will traverse. The Magician crosses the bridge on horseback. The Queen ascends the staircase of the Hungarian State Opera House with her two ushers. She settles onto her throne in the royal booth, and the ushers arrange a fleet of Jacobin pigeons around her. Pearls float on the surface of the pools in thermal baths, partially concealing the sprites, who inhabit their underwater realms. The curtain rises to an empty theatre, the conductor readies his orchestra, and the opera begins.
As the Queen sings, her Diva appears on the stage, delineates the proscenium arch of the stage by laying ribbons across its floor, and then scales its contours. The Queen’s mind wanders to memories of her beloved Magician preparing for a leap into the waters of the Danube from the bridge. His ritualistic actions recall the famed bridge jumps of Harry Houdini who was born in Budapest in 1874. The Magician is seeking transcendence, but the Queen misunderstands his actions and thinks he is trying to take his own life.

The Queen’s ushers direct her attention to orifices in her throne through which she can see into the Baths below. Her birds plummet through the passages in the throne, trailing long satin ribbons into the bath. Her Giant enters the watery path between the two pools. The sprites cluster around him with a garland woven from the ribbons attached to the birds which they affix to the Giant’s scrotum. In the warm waters of the thermal baths, the cremaster muscle releases and the testicles descend. This climactic moment where the emergence of a fully differentiated state becomes visible when the pigeons soar upward then fly downward with ribbons trailing. The Queen then relives the Magician’s leap into the river and swoons from the horror of her recollection.

At this point the narrative mirrors the path of descension just revealed: having completed his climb, the Diva tumbles to the stage, and the Magician plunges to the bottom of the river. Two water sprites caress his fallen body and insert a black pearl into his mouth. The Queen performs her mournful aria, preparing to join her lover in death. A thin stream of liquid trickles from her mouth into the pools below. On its descent, the stream divides into two droplets that strike the water simultaneously. Two perfect circles resonate outward, filling the surface of the bath with their waves, suggesting, in turn, eternal renewal or the echoes of a system expiring. The Cremaster cycle defers any definitive conclusion."



Complicated huh?! His work is definitely worth exploring and the following links should be a good starting point for anyone attempting to delve deeper.

http://www.cremaster.net/
http://www.cremasterfanatic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cremaster_Cycle
http://www.drawingrestraint.net/
Cremaster Cycle Cheat Sheet: http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~spike/cremaster.html

All Images: Cremaster.net

Ex Tenebris Lux

© Aideen Barry 2009

Aideen Barry is a Visual Artist, working in the media of performance, film, musical composition, drawings and animation. She was awarded funding from the Arts Council of Ireland’s Projects: New Work Award towards the creation of a new work filmed in Zero Gravity whilst on a residency at Kennedy Space Centre, NASA. In September 2008 Barry was invited to partake in the collaboration project ‘Sound design for future films’ initiated by the artists Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S.Davidsson with four other participating artists Pierre Huyghe, Christine Rebet, Kate Gilmore & Klaus Schafler. In 2008 this showed at Moderna Museet, Sweden, and later traveled to The Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio.

Sean Kissane, Head of Exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art selected Barry to represent Ireland at FRA GIL in Barcelona, Spain in May 2008. Barry was the Irish Artist in Residence at the Banff Centre in Canada in 2007. She also undertook a residency for Convoy, in Seydisfjourder, in Iceland, which was funded by The Skaftfell Centre, Iceland and Culture Ireland. She curated Subversion and the Domestic: House Projects, which has been published into a book on the 7-curated projects in Ireland, New York and London. She co-curated a number of exhibitions including TULCA: City of Strangers (Galway) and ‘Terms & Conditions’ with another artist Pauline Cummins at the Mermaid Arts Centre (Bray, Ireland.)

Barry teaches part-time in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, The Galway Film Centre and also has lectured in several art institutions in the west including NUIG Galway, Limerick School of Art and Design, Sligo Institute of Technology and The Burren College of Art on their MFA programme. Barry lives and works in Galway in the West of Ireland. She recently spoke with me about her work and her residency experience at the NASA Kennedy Space Centre.

© Aideen Barry 2009

GOE: Are there any artists in particular that have influenced you?

AB: Lots, and lots and lots....
I don't really know where to begin.

I cant say there is any one main artist. There are certainly a lot of writers and thinkers: Beckett, Foucault, Heirdegger, then sci fi writers like Arthur C. Clarke, Neal Stephenson and of course the gothic horror writers...especially our Irish ones, Sheridan La Fanu and Bram Stoker.

In film there have been so many, I don’t really know where to begin: Lynch, Cronenburg, and Kubrick have had a massive impact on me. Contemporary film makers such as Vivienne Dick, Lars Laumann, and Eija-Liisa Ahtila have been making such interesting works delving into the notion of the third space; both in the making of their film and video works but also how the work is sited between the cinema theatre and the Gallery while also addressing the in-between spaces of our minds, I find this extremely exciting and at this point this has had a major impact on the way I have made film and video works.


What was the 1st piece of art that provoked a strong response in you?

I am not sure exactly what the first one was...
I think, to be honest some of the most important pieces of art I saw as a child were some of the eastern European animations that RTE used to screen on the telly. RTE ( Radio Telefis Eireann) must have got them cheap at the time, and probably didn't realise what gems they were. I remember seeing some of Jan Lenica's films like Ubu and the Great Gidouille (clip) and being blown away.

Also RTE occasionally would show something out of the ordinary, like Calder's Circus (clip), and that had such an amazing impact on me as a child. Calder's ingenuity was mesmerising, and I remember trying to replicate his inventions with elastic bands and bits of wire; to try to make his circus creatures and characters, performing them to myself, building stages out of old shoe boxes...

I grew up in the 80's in Ireland in working class Cork city. We had nothing and in a way that was a blessing as I spent every single minute making something, comic books, paper dress dolls, catapults! You name it, and seeing that kind of stuff on the telly was just awesome to my little brain!

© Aideen Barry 2009

You mentioned in a statement that your current work deals with the notion of the “Uncanny”; and that this work has been informed by a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Most artists that I have known seem to have a slightly obsessive streak or drive about their work that seems to feed the creative process. What drives you to make art?

In 2006 I was diagnosed with a mild form of OCD. This manifests itself with nervous fits, panic attacks and compulsions; I stay up all night cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, organising and re-organising the studio. I don't get enough sleep and I cant stop working. I am not sure exactly why I am the way I am, but I feel quite normal in comparison to most of the neighbours in our housing estate in County Galway. Some times I look out the window on a Sunday and I see the neighbour from number 43 cleaning the inside of the hubcaps of her 08 Lexus hybrid 4x4 monster car and think "Bloody Hell, she is definitely more OCD than me!".

Its crazy what Celtic Tiger Ireland has done to this country. Everyone has been racing around striving for perfection in some way, trying to be better than the family next door, and somehow, there is a slippage, the mania is just beneath this bizarre veneer, and we may have lost something... perhaps our minds! At the moment its Holy Communion Season in our housing estate. For the past 4 days the road has turned into Inflatable land, with bouncy castles in every second garden. Each one trying to out do each other with the size and colour of their inflatable "Bouncy-Manor". We may be on the verge of bankruptcy as a country but by god we are going to have that bouncy castle for the little one on his or her "big day for god".

In a way I think not just every artist has a form of a disorder, I think we all do. Perhaps we are the ones that are saying, " You know, its ok, I'm an artist and I can be mad" in a kind of Van Gogh kinda way, but in reality, we are all a little unhinged.

I find this all rather fascinating....

For me this is the new Gothic. We always seemed to regard the ones with the long black hair, and painted pale faces as the ones to be feared, in terms of "The Goths", but in reality, the Irish Housewife is a far far scarier person, in a Bree Van de kamp ( Desperate Housewives/HBO) kinda way! I mean you only have to look around at the new Ireland with the thousands of cloned housing estates, and the 'stepfordzombiness' that has settled in to what were Irish Villages and market towns up and down the country and wonder, what kind of nightmare have we woken up to in our country?

This is what drives me to make art, I like to hold up a mirror to our reality and say "Is this what we are now? Is this where we should be? And what next horror is around the corner?"

© Aideen Barry 2009

Most inspiring place or space you’ve been?

My Housing Estate. NASA is a close second.


You were awarded funding from the Arts Council of Ireland for a New Work Award towards the creation of new work filmed in Zero Gravity. This was done whilst you were on a residency at the Kennedy Space Centre with NASA. That sounds like a dream come true for most people. Can you tell me about the experience?

Long story: I have always wanted to go into space!

Partly because my baby sitter as a child was my first cousin Breda O'Callaghan-Hay. She was attending UCC at the time studying experimental physics. After she got her doctorate, she went ofF to the states and joined the US Air Core, and started flying fighter jets. It has been her dream to get into the NASA Astronaut Programme. She has actually gotten shortlisted for NASA fifteen times or something like that. So her chances of being the first Irish person in space are extremely high! But I want to beat her.

I made a pitch to the Arts Council of Ireland to Help me Beat my Cousin in the Race for Space. Partially because the training to be an astronaut is an endurance performance in itself, partly I wanted to make some work in zero gravity and purely on a selfish reason, I really want to see space. So they funded me, and in December 2008 myself and my camera man Chris Hurley went off to Kennedy Space Centre to do a residency; and to experience zero gravity in parabolic flights, with other astronaut hopefuls. It was an amazing experience and I am still trying to process everything that happened out there.

© Aideen Barry 2009

What do you do when the going gets tough and creativity isn’t flowing?

I clean.
Seriously.

When viewing your work I get the feeling that it is at times humorous but mixed with hints of dark undertones; and you’ve created some truly beautiful imagery that can be slightly unsettling simultaneously. You mention that “Through playful manipulation of materials, objects and scenarios, a productive dialogue emerges between object and body. I use these notions as a tool in expressing human behaviour in the strange area between amusement, madness and discomfort; creating balance and tension. “. How did you become interested in using optical illusions, endurance performance and the challenges presented to us in our everyday reality in your work?

I think one of the things that enables me to make work, is that I am never at ease, I never feel I am at home and I am rarely comfortable where I am. This causes me to constantly question why that is, why do I not belong and how can I address these feelings.

Perhaps its because I am never really sure if what I am seeing is real or imagined, or that perhaps it is an untruth. There is definitely a humour involved in the work I make and I enjoy incorporating that into the work; but a larger element for me as a person is fear and insecurity. These are like the vowels to my words: my works. They shape where I am going to go next with each project.

In your question about how I began to work in endurance performance, I guess it was like a testing of my self in this reality. I was very much interested in how the body pushes itself beyond its limitations in a ritualistic performance. How after a while you don't feel pain and you don't notice time passing. Again this for me questions what is real and what is perceived to be possible. Though this is only a part of the larger body of my practice.

© Aideen Barry 2009

The optical illusions were also a test of this reality. In the film Levitating 2007 (above) I spent 7 days jumping and doing my domestic chores around the housing estate I lived in at the time. I set up the shot to take a photograph when I was exactly 6 inches of the ground. Then I turned these photographs into an animated film. If you can image that film works at a frame rate of 25 frames or photographs a second, well you can just imagine how many jumps I had to do to create an illusion of levitating above the ground. This was what I now call a Performative film,
made out of an endurance performance work on camera to create an effortless ( looking) illusion of hoovering.

The every day reality is definitely presented in this film, as it is my house, my local supermarket, my neighbourhood where the film was shot; to everyone who watches it, there is a familiarity to this uncanny scene.


Do you find art cathartic?

Em, yes and no.
Yes because I would go mad if I didn't create,
but then sometimes it's hard because you are constantly looking at yourself and questioning every single decision. I would say I have a love/hate relationship with art.

Oh classic, I am the tortured artist...how did that happen?

Can you give an example of how a piece comes to life; can you talk me through your process?

I am not sure exactly because its very different for each work.
I can tell you about these new objects I am making at the moment.
I am interested to see how the contemporary mania will manifest itself in the future. In particular I am interested to see how the Irish House wife will evolve in the future and how the "War on Germs' will manifest.

© Aideen Barry 2009

Having been to NASA and been informed by the materials that are used in creating objects to send into space; such as aluminum and alastics, I have started to create what I call "Weapons of Mass Consumption". These include Spray Grenades, where are cast aluminum grenades but with domestic spray cleaner handles on top (See www.aideenbarry.com for more images).

The objects are extremely seductive, funny and yet terrifying. I try to incorporate a humour and a familiarity into them. Like you can look at them and recognise certain aspects of their structure from your own Cif cleaning product in your kitchen or bathroom.....They are rather funny objects...I do like them!

How would your life change if art was no longer a focus, if you were no longer allowed to create art?

Well I just don't know. The obvious answer is that I just wouldn't be able to function anymore. I would be a vegetable.


What is your ultimate goal as an artist?

To make the best possible work that I can, and to enjoy doing so along the way. To be true to myself and my convictions.

For more information on Aideen's work: www.aideenbarry.com

Parallel

Regular posting to resume shortly. In the meantime, an explosion of colour by Scottish artist Jim Lambie.

http://www.antonkerngallery.com/artist.php?aid=18
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/2005/jimlambie.htm

Organic

Andy Goldsworthy is an artist, photographer and sculptor who creates sculptures from organic found objects such as leaves,snow, rock and twigs. He is also an extremely talented rock balancing artist. Rock Balancing is literally the art of placing a combination of rock/stone in an arrangement which would naturally be impossible.



His work is situated in both rural and urban settings. He considers his creations transient and after creating a piece he photographs it. "My sculpture can last for days or a few seconds — what is important to me is the experience of making. I leave all my work outside and often return to watch it decay. "


His work could be placed under the genre of 'Land Art' , which is an art movement that emerged in the America in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In land art the landscape and the work of art are linked. In most cases the landscape itself is the catalyst of a piece and provides the materials for an artist to work with. Art in this area is usually out in the open and as a result will be changed, shaped, destroyed or eroded by wind, rain, sun and frost.


For some work, he uses his bare hands, teeth, and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials such as twigs, stone, leaves and flowers. He doesn't use glue to hold pieces together, he utalizes ice or mud instead. For his permanent sculptures like "Roof", "Stone River" and "Three Cairns" he has also used machine tools. To create the piece "Roof" (Top image), Goldsworthy worked with a number of dry-stone wallers to make ensure it was structurally sound and would withstand time and nature.

The videos below are excerpts from a film called Andy Goldsworthy's River and Tides. The first and third are a mix. The second shows him speaking and working on a intricate piece that ultimately falls apart. Although his photographic images are beautiful, watching him in action adds a different dimension to his work and brilliantly shows the detail that's involved. It allows you to gain some insight into his inspiration and reasons for creating art, his wonderful lack of pretension and the patience needed. I like his work as it's art that's meant to be enjoyed and not over analysed.

Music : 'K-Hole' by CocoRosie




Music: 'Edward's Hand' by Sebastien Schuller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy

http://www.flickr.com/groups/andygoldsworthy/pool/

Top Image via: http://www.nga.gov

Other Images: copyright © Andy Goldsworthy