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bloodied line on bridge of nose (stitches?)

big heavy book on table;

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW IN IRELAND

Key to Artwork Diagram: 

1. Concept (raw commercial intervention)
2. Initial Transaction (unanticipated relations)
3. Economic Filter (seven models of transaction)
4. First Advancement of Transaction (Cork alternative auction)
5. Bipolar Field of Constraint (Liberal Capitalist – Socialist)
6. Second Advancement of Transaction (Belfast alternative auction)
7. Transformation of Capital (exchanges of goods – further relations)
8. Investment of Transformed Capital (constrained models of social transformation)
9. Analysis / Assessment 

The National Sculpture Factory commissioned Art / not art to create a project in tandem with the NSF seminar Do You Speak Art? (or where are you coming from?) exploring the relationship between art and globalisation. In response, Art / not art purchased and auctioned (three times) an exceptional sculpture by Thai artist Pornpraeseart Yamakazi, entitled ‘Want to Be Rich?’ (see below). As part of the seminar on 3 Nov, Art / not art presented the sculpture for auction.  A bid of €500 was accepted for consideration in the ongoing art-transaction. 

         

Now Art / not art have purchased ANOTHER exceptional piece of contemporary art, a painting by Thai artist Mit Ja-In. You are invited to join in deciding its fate. Using contemporary means of communication, cosmopolitan connections, transnational standards of artistic accreditation, modern money transfer systems and freight networks we have purchased and imported from the other side of the world a sculpture by an artist previously unknown to us, all in a matter of weeks. The nature of this intervention, however, has yet to be decided. It all depends on what Art/ not art do next. See www.nationalsculpturefactory.com

The friendly attitude of continental diplomats and businessmen to the emerging Irish Free State, in the form of investment and expert labour, arguably led to the successful founding of the sugar industry in the 1920s. Reubenshafen or Port de Bettavres was the name for the ‘beet port’ behind the sugar factory in Carlow, its name depending on the origin of the speaker (Germany or Belgium).

Reubenshafen Quarter is the only name in the proposed Greencore development on the sugar factory site that refers to sugar, even obliquely, or the site’s previous use. The potential Reubenshafen Quarter is linked to an obscure and little-known history, appropriated by Greencore in order to claim a new corporate identity.

(images courtesy Greencore & First Impressions Ltd). See also issue 3 of The Fold - ‘The Disappeared’, a Workroom Elsewhere project curated by Alison Pilkington and Cora Cummins. Below image: Rabbi Zaiman Alony, a senior member of the Jewish community in Ireland, supervising the packaging of sugar in 1976 in the Carlow factory. For more about internationalism and the Irish sugar industry, see the ‘extras’ section here.

 

Above: Map of world legal systems; Below: World Map of Happiness (created by Adrian White at the University of Leicester).

I’ve been reading up quite a lot lately on pop economics, and am particularly interested in the emotional and irrational side of it, as well as the visual culture it generates. Somewhere along the line I came across this charming-sounding idea, the ‘personal hedgehog concept’ - see graphic. (full blog post is here, apparently is a thought authored by one Jim Collins in a book titled Good to Great)

In addition to Dingle’s impressive ‘wall of democracy’ (a forum for all the newspaper clippings about the name change, plebicite etc, full story here) I noticed this sign in the local Spar. This kind of unstaged, sponataneous talking really impresses me.

It also seems to make many potential artworks seem redundant.

Seán Lynch: Joseph Beuys’ Irish Energies (reconstruction) 2007; peat briquettes, butter; original made in 1974

A number of discussions with fellow artists recently have involved the idea of re-enactment, and why so many artists seem to be so drawn to it as a strategy at present. In Ireland this might include artists like Jesse Jones and the 12 Angry Films project, or Seán Lynch, whose work frequently revists anecdotal, unreliable or surprising histories, or Brendan Earley’s revistations of Modernism. My own interest in re-enactment tends to veer towards the kitsch and an interest in unearthing political threads embedded in such popular cultural productions - this is explored particularly with a body of work being made with Gareth Kennedy. Sources for retelling and re-enactment here have included a Dallas TV script (1987), the film King Kong (1977), and an advertising jingle for Gulf Oil, based in Bantry Bay (1968).

This trend has also being reflected inwards within the art world itself, particularly within performance art, for example Marina Abramovic’s Seven Easy Pieces (2005), which involved the re-enactment of key performance works by other artists. (See Caitlin Jones’ post on the topic at Rhizome here). She suggests that the impulse to re-enact is either an homage or a repetition, but there are perhaps other impulses at work too.

It seems to me that the impulse to re-enact is caught up with a sense of nostalgia, maybe a ‘revolutionary nostalgia’ like that suggested by Walter Benjamin. It seems clear that the artist re-enactment is related though distinct from the Hollywood remake, which is a different impulse altogether. Where Hollywood seeks to remake stories already told, artists seek to re-enact stories that went unrealised. Svetlana Boym points out that the twentieth century began with utopia and ended with nostalgia - they are twin impulses, caught up with a sense of optimism and potential failure.

During the week in Dingle, the visiting artist’s presentations, work habits, cooking, and going over fences was documented by Lanca, a documentary film maker. This flipped on its head the usual position of the visiting artist as a kind of quasi-ethnographer or pseudo anthropologist. Above: Lanca films a rock.

Portion of bread given to Thomas Ash while on Hunger Strike, Dingle Library/ Leabharlann Daingean Uí Chúis

Yesterday’s words were gathered around the town from conversation, observation, questions, emails and books. It’s interesting to observe a picture of the place emerging, and how that’s informed by the words I’m trying to extract. I’m aware that these words are impositions I’m making, more in the spirit of addition than uncovering, and it’s interesting to watch myself doing that. Now that the week is ending, and the presentation is due to happen today, my ability or attempts to think a little bit more through Irish are sadly dissipating.

Previous posts have addressed the topic of nostalgia, and mentioned how different and particular words are present for it in different languages. Almost invariably these words emerge at the formation of a new national state, or come to consciousness after a war or revolution. (See this post) I was interested in the possibility of there being an Irish equivalent after the emergence of the Free State, and I’ve been trying to track it down. Part of this journey of course lies in the extrapolation of what nostalgia is or feels like - longing, sadness, homesickness, sentimentality… and for what - place, time, or something else. It was interesting to see these conversations emerge from the question (asked in Irish) about how to locate this feeling, idea, single word. 

Suggestions made to me and argued over included uaigneas (more like ‘loneliness’); bheith buartha; maoineachas. Most people were unable to locate an exact word, which makes me think perhaps I am looking at the question backwards in terms of ‘untranslatabilty’. Finally I ended up with a series of dictionaries in the library - the most appropriate place really (see photos) - and reached what seems to be the definitive answer: cumha.

Yesterday’s words: tír grátheoir (patriot - literally ‘country-lover’); ag iompú catsúla ar (making eyes at); cuidsúlach (eyecatching); tnúthán (longing); cúlaitheach (retrogressive); barántúil/ údarach/ intaofa (authentic); sochar (profit); inneach na cainte (texture of speech)

Fúadach [elopement]

Daonleathas [democracy]

Cró na Snáthaire [eye of the needle]

Spiléar  [fishing line of hooks] – sp.

? [make a living]

Fiach mhara [shag]; fiach dubh [raven]

Bleach [sound]

Maoineachas [nostalgia?]

Raitleach [hag] – on scannán an lá cheana féin

Raibiléire [hussy] - on scannán an lá cheana féin 

[Texture?]

[Authentic?] 

Thanks to Danny for the guided cliff walk and the words that flowed into the landscape.

For what has taken me to Dingle/ Daingean Uí Chúis this week see here. I’m here with artists Katie Holten, Ben Geoghegan and Andrew Duggan.