Time…and Again and The Dance of Making | Mary Wycherley | Gallery 1 | Sat 21 July – Sat 11 August | 10.00am – 5.00pm | Free
Time…and Again was shot in 2009 on a farm near Skibbereen and is a precursor and conceptually linked work to The Dance of Making, 2012. The use of slow motion cinematography and the deliberate indeterminate time period of the footage, alter our sense of time and place. The film highlights things past and present and draws attention to changing futures.
The Dance of Making, a three screen film installation, explores the human processes which lie at the heart of living culture. Informed by contemporary dance’s deep awareness of the body, movement and embodiment, this work by Mary Wycherley focuses on the act of creation in traditional handcrafts and activities such as uilleann pipemaking, hand weaving and dry stonewalling.
Mary Wycherley, originally from Skibbereen, is a dance artist based in Limerick. Her artistic research spans choreography, live performance and screendance.
http://www.marywycherley.com/
Yellow | An Art Film by Paddy Cahill and Amanda Coogan | Gallery 2 | Sat 21 July – Sat 11 August | 10.00am – 5.00pm | Free
Buried deep in the market area off Dublin’s Capel Street, almost underground, is the historic Irish abbey, St. Mary’s. Here, in this hallowed space, six women dressed in yellow come, one by one and night after night, to wash and re-wash the long garment they are wearing. The act of repeatedly submerging and scrubbing the cloth becomes an act of cleansing and orgasmic rebirth, their raw knuckles scraping, increasingly violently, against the fabric. The grunts and groans of their efforts become haunting cries echoing throughout the chamber. Their bodies twist and contort, becoming harbingers of an almost talismanic energy; an energy that can be felt like breath on your face, an energy that collectively becomes a triumph of the spirit.
This film of that event has as its premise that to endure is to live and finally to triumph. It engages with the shamanist ritual of healing. Each performance has at its foundation a simple three lined script written by Coogan and demands the performer submit to the masochistic endurance of the actions. These six extraordinary performances filmed in a series of epic takes is an Irish film unlike any other you’ll see this year. The film unfolds over four hours, following the durational nature of the original performances. Paddy Cahill and Amanda Coogan’s film presents concurrently on a single canvas the six performances.
Paddy Cahill is a documentary director, cameraman and editor based in Dublin. As a director his work has been broadcast on RTÉ as well as screened at film festivals at home and abroad.
Yellow was premiered at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival screening in the Light House Cinema.
www.paddycahill.com
Amanda Coogan is a performance artist living in Dublin. In 2008 she performed Yellow for six days at the Artists Space Gallery, New York www.amandacoogan.com
Yellow was performed by: Amanda Coogan, Dee Roycroft, Ann Maria Healy, Anna Berndston,
Olwen Fouere and Victoria Mc Cormack.
www.yellowthefilm.wordpress.com
World Riddle | David Bickley and Slavek Kwi | Gallery 3 | Sat 21 July – Sat 11 August | 10.00am – 5.00pm | Free
World Riddle is an extrasensory immersive installation created through the collaboration of award-winning multimedia artist David Bickley and critically acclaimed composer and sound artist Slavek Kwi.
World Riddle takes as its inspiration and source the work of Victorian biologist Ernst Haeckel. Besides being an early pioneering scientist, Haeckel represented a powerful voice in the dissemination of Darwin’s work and also coined the terms “ecology” and “stem cell”. He is best known however for producing countless and unbelievably detailed drawings of never before seen microscopic life and consequently, he literally “blew the minds” of the Victorian world.
Drawing together elements of Victorian science, etching, digital video, ambient music and 3D glasswork World Riddle creates a powerful gallery experience, representing a cutting edge fusion of techniques and art forms never before staged in Ireland. The intention is to create an immersive installation that impacts on a modern audience at the same level as Haeckel’s original work in the 1800′s.
David Bickley is an installation artist who creates ambient immersive experiences.
Much of his work is based on alchemical ideas of fusing technology with art to create mystical visions of nature.
http://davidianbickley.com/
Slavek Kwi is a sound-artist, composer and researcher whose main interest lies in the phenomena of perception as the fundamental determinant of relations with Reality. From the early nineties Slavek Kwi has operated under the name Artificial Memory Trace.
http://www.artificialmemorytrace.com/
Still Here | Postcard Exhibition | The Old Quay, Skibbereen | Sat July 28 – Sat August 4
(closed Sunday July 29)
Still Here showcases the works of well known Irish and International artists alongside emerging artists – all displayed anonymously in this exciting exhibition of A5 postcard sized, original artworks. The artworks explore a wide range of subjects, styles and media – including painting, drawing, mixed media, editioned prints and photographs. All are signed on the reverse and are for sale at one uniform, affordable price in support of the BA in Visual Art, Sherkin Island. This is an honours degree programme in Fine Art, delivered by DIT in partnership with West Cork Arts Centre and Sherkin Island Development Society. This is an exhibition where the art community has come together to support art education. Still Here is a vibrant exhibition of great diversity. You are invited to come and see if you can spot the work of a well known artist, perhaps discover an artist of the future and take the opportunity to choose a piece of art.
Soft Day | Live Sound Event | Tuesday 31 July | 6.00pm | Free
For over ten years Soft Day, the art-science collaboration of artist Sean Taylor and computer scientist Mikael Fernstrom, have engaged with issues relating to natural cycles in time, climate change and its global effects. Both artists are interested in exploring ‘the cracks’ between various media and creative genres such as expanded theatre, sound art, socially engaged practice, sculpture, music, dance and the application of new technologies.
Sean Taylor is currently Lecturer, Sculpture & Combined Media Department, Limerick School of Art and Design, Limerick.
Mikael Fernström is currently Lecturer, Interaction Design Centre, University of Limerick
In a Not So Silent Way
(20 mins)
Dancing at the Crossroads of the End Times
(20 mins – with video projection)
Marbh Chrios – Dead Zone
(20 mins – with video projection)
Artists are Scared of Collaboration
(20 mins – World Premier performance of this work)
www.softday.ie
Gerhard Richter Painting | Film Screening | Skibbereen Town Hall | Friday 3 August | 3.00pm | €7
Directed by Corinna Belz | 2011 | 97mins
“Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense.” Gerhard Richter, 1962
Over the past five decades, Gerhard Richter has built an oeuvre whose seminal position within the development of late twentieth and early twenty first century art cannot be overestimated. Using footage shot over a three-year period, the film sensitively accompanies the artist, allowing the viewer to become immersed in the subtly suspenseful cycle of the artistic process: making, viewing, judging, destroying, waiting, making, showing. We are delighted this year to welcome director Corinna Belz to introduce her wonderful film on one of the world’s greatest painters, Gerhard Richter.
http://www.gerhardrichterpainting.com
This screening is by Skibbereen Arts Festival in association with West Cork Arts Centre.
Film Workshop at West Cork Arts Centre | with Corinna Belz, Director, Gerhard Richter Painting | Saturday August 4 | 11.00am | €10
Booking: WCAC 028 – 22090 | Places are limited so booking is essential
Skibbereen Arts Festival is delighted to host a workshop with the German director Corinna Belz, director of the acclaimed documentary Gerhard Richter Painting. Corinna will present an intimate workshop where she will share her experiences as a director working on art documentaries. The workshop is recommended for aspiring and experienced film-makers, artists and those seeking a greater understanding of working with artists on film. The participants will be encouraged to join in a Q & A throughout the session.
Corinna Belz studied philosophy, art history and media sciences in Cologne, Zurich and Berlin. Since then she has been working as a television producer, scriptwriter and director on numerous productions of various genres. Her films include Life After Microsoft (2000), Other American Voices (2001), Three Wishes (2004) and Gerhard Richter’s Window (2007). She is currently developing a film on the Austrian writer Peter Handke.
These exhibitions at West Cork Arts Centre are in association with Sound and Vision strand of Skibbereen Arts Festival (www.skibbereenartsfestival.com)
World Riddle was supported by funding from Cork County Council.
Time…and Again was supported by a Choreographic Bursary Award from Dance Ireland.
The Dance of Making was funded by Arts Council Dance Project Funding.