Monday, 28th August.
‘Tradition counts for nothing when it is no longer contested and modified. A culture that is merely preserved is no culture at all.’
-Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? - Mark Fischer
And here we are.
My final contribution to my residency blog series and closing weekend of the tangible treasures that came of my residency, ALLTAR. August has been a bloody sweat box - thoroughly enjoyed. We’ve been blessed with some strong rays for the past month which has been very much welcomed after the heavens opened up over July. The heat, later on at night, has also brought intensely loud yet intimately quiet thunderstorms which have manifested into the soundtrack of my dream state. I’ve mostly been reading and yapping over the course of ALLTAR, meeting lots of lovely people from near and far and lapping up what I have left of my Berlin summer.
One of the books that I read over the course of the exhibition was ‘Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?’ by Mark Fischer, an eighty-odd page essay, where I was shared the quote above and this was an extremely profound read as it struck me in how it related to the fundamentals of my practice and further afield in regards to the current hyper-capitalist landscape of Ireland.
My practice for the past 2.5 years has aimed to encourage a point of interpersonal connection and open dialogue, in particular through the lens of indigenous storytelling and an on going pondering of a species that may or may not exist. This point of continuous connection allows me to embody an interlocutory role both internally, with myself, externally, with others, and somewhere in the middle of these two states, with the figures I create. Myth and folklore provide me with inspiration in their references to metamorphosis and liminal worlds and as mentioned in a previous blog,
‘Folklore, in its most ancient form, was never meant to be transcribed but its purpose was an ongoing dialogue between mouth and ear, where details change every so slightly, and one has the freedom to adapt the told topography from one individual to another.’
In following this purpose, ALLTAR both seemed like a fitting name for the exhibition and as a means for how I attacked the work and the dimension I wanted to curate. ALLTAR, is an Irish (Gaeilge) word, which translates as ‘other side’, ‘afterlife’ or ‘otherworld’. In the true nature of the language, words can hold multiple meanings, both literal and rational juxtaposing with whimsical and emotional, perhaps in ‘alltar’’s case, ‘other side’ being the more functional which then feeds into its further inspections.
I have always enjoyed how words can preserve their multiple translations and amplify the richness of communicating and describing, making ones mundane accounts more theatrical and insightful. A place where I find influence in regards to this, is the work and instagram account of Manchán Magan, an Irish writer and documentary-maker who has fostered books such as ‘Thirty-Two Words for Field’, ‘Listen to the Land Speak ’ and ‘Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Irish Words for Nature.’
For example,
Turaire (tur-ah-ra)
Someone who eats food without sauce, meat or condiment; stiff, humourless person.
(a word with multiple meanings, from a rational behaviour or act to a comical human state or nature.)
Tápholl (taow-full)
Calmness between two changes of falling or ebbing tide. Unsteady water when currents meet and are about to change direction.
(a word that can illustrate a greater narrative specific to location, non-linear natural behaviours and further internal insights.)
Aduantas (ah-do-an-tis)
Strange feeling you get in an unfamiliar place
(a word that captures a feeling for a specific space or state.)
Tonnachadh (ton-ah-kah)
Preparing a corpse for wake, totally exhausted.
(A word that describes a process whilst referencing the toll of the act. Perhaps in the more literal sense, the ‘totally exhausted, could allude to the dead and the eternal sleep.)
Brief interlude with a video of leaves clapping:
Applaude
In the production of ALLTAR, I mostly allowed things to just come and fester as they please, and in doing so built a vaster pluriversal* terrain, a space where reality and surreality blur. The playfulness of the Irish language helps me navigate the means of story-telling and manipulate the balance of humour and sinister undertones.
Due to the lack of initial intention, other than to build a show and simply enjoy the process, I began to be still and listen to internal conversation. Through the louder act of painting and colour contrasting the stillness and break of monochromatic collage, method became a focal point as I built paintings that weren’t as individually narrative heavy, but more of a collective depiction, an interdependent destination. The motif of the gingko served as chapter breaks, a meditative mantra, or maybe even a descriptive Irish word as it assisted the development and richness of the space and show.
ALLTAR has become a collection of some of my favourite works that I have created since I began this body of work 2.5 years ago and I felt it encapsulated a freedom and energy I was starving to return to. It depicts an ancient, contemporary or futuristic heterotopia* that has been left untouched and where the festering nature of hyper-capitalistic society has not yet been able to leave its scar. Within a tableau where humans don’t exist, perhaps these figures protest our demise or equally dance in their apathetic bliss? Perhaps both in their pluriversal nature!
‘Tír-na-n-Óg is the favourite dwelling of the fairies. Some say it is triple - the island of the living, the island of victories, and an underwater land.’ - W.B Yates, Irish Fairy & Folk Tales.
The otherworld is an unfathomable ‘destination’ that contradicts the material world we are physically bound to, where the idea of tangibility and ownership determines what ‘exists’. The door of where to enter has become obscured and the key doesn't fit the lock anymore. Perhaps one could view it as a doorless venue, closer akin to a boundary that is there to cross in however we individually see fitting.
In reflection of my time here as an artist in residence, I hope to continue this review.
What needs to be altered to make the ‘alltar’ more accessible and how can this treasure trove of imagery, tales and symbols be converted, interwoven and collaged to serve our current reality?
A ginormous thank you to Antje, Bernd and all of the Takt team and friends for having and looking after little wee me for the last few months. This experience has been invaluable to me, both personally and in regards to me practice. Thank you to all the lovely new and familiar faces I’ve had the pleasure of meeting along the path and a special thank you to my co-resident and friend for life, Isabel Monti. Thank YOU for listening to my shopping list and sharing the love.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Tschüß & love xxxx
(glossary below)
Recent reads
Glossary
Heterotopia - a concept elaborated by philosopher Michel Foucault to describe certain cultural, institutional and discursive spaces that are somehow 'other': disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory or transforming. Heterotopias are worlds within worlds, mirroring and yet upsetting what is outside.
The Pluriverse - as the Zapatistas describe it, is a world where many worlds fit, which include the totality of the physical, spiritual and liminal dimensions of life.