The culmination of the three month GMIT CCAM residency in partnership with 126 was a one day exhibition at the 126 gallery on flood st, on the 6th of September.
The show was put up by the artists, a reading of written work by Artist Christina Mullan was presented and once the doors closed at 6pm we participated in a group critic and feedback discussion with Sarah Searson Head of GMIT CCAM Campus.
The show was put up by the artists, a reading of written work by Artist Christina Mullan was presented and once the doors closed at 6pm we participated in a group critic and feedback discussion with Sarah Searson Head of GMIT CCAM Campus.
Conall Cary’s video piece Purgatorio, made in conjunction with Flying Knee Productions, is a well shot and immersive piece. It shows a man dragging a rusted horse plough across an unyielding landscape. The old rusted mechanism speaks of trying to hold on to practices and ways of living that are no longer appropriate in the new environment. Like a belligerent nostalgia.
Next to this was a plinth with the work of Marielle MacLeman, apothecary jars, weaving book and different coloured wools. MacLeman’s work almost seems like apocalyptical art materials. She collects different element from environments (some taken from CCAM) and creates pigments and dyes. The wools on show where dyed with lichen and berries, the apothecary jars were filled with the source materials. Other works created were homemade-charcoal drawings. The richness of the pigmentation MacLeman was able to achieve astounds me and serves to underline the unseen potency of nature.
When considered together it almost seems like a feminist fable, the man toils tirelessly, yet ultimately fails to dominate the environment. While the woman works with the environment, sampling it to create new materials.
Participating artists: Itsa Collective, Christina Mullan, Conall Cary, Tassia Bianchini, Elodie Rein and Marielle MacLeman.