A different type of post...
I don't normally use An Artists Business Guide to directly promote anything I am involved in, I prefer to keep it separate to my art business. But I'm going to make an exception this time as I hope and think it may be of interest to some readers.
I have an exhibition coming up next month in Dublin in a new gallery - The Doorway Gallery. The theme I have chosen for the show is emigration - unfortunately a very topical subject at the moment as Ireland is going through a catastrophic economic recession, which has led to another wave of mass emigration from the country. Rather than simply write an "artist statement" for the show and explain what the show is about I decided to create a video, with the aim of conveying a fuller sense of the emotional nature of the exhibition's subject matter. With this in mind I chose an old recording from the 1940s by Count John McCormack, an Irish tenor who was considered the Pavarotti of his day. The song is a lament about emigration called "The Old House" and provides the music for the video.
I created the video over a number of evenings on the sofa in Microsoft Movie Maker, a very simple but effective piece of free software and have just posted the end results up on Youtube. My plan is to use this video over the next 4 weeks as a way of marketing and promoting the exhibition via the internet and social media, and also hopefully to make people pause for a minute and reflect on the sadness and damage that comes with forced emigration.
As I was working on the paintings and thinking about the subject matter - old, deserted Irish farmhouses - it dawned on me just how "normalised" emigration has become in Ireland. My father emigrated to England in the 1950s, where he met and married my mother before returning home to Dublin. My brother and sister emigrated in the 1980s. My sister to Japan and is now married and living with her family in Australia. Some of my closest friends emigrated in the 1980s and are now permanently settled abroad. It's almost like a rite of passage if you are Irish.
And so it became important to me that I try to convey that sense of sadness at what is left behind through something more than just an artist's statement. And that's when I started to make the video. Using a simple slide show format, some concise, complementary text and a carefully chosen song I think it produces something that is more than the sum of its parts. And I now have something more than simply an "artist's statement" that I can add to my website and also something I hope will help get the theme of the exhibition across in a more engaging way.
But that's only my opinion! I would love to know what you think, does it work? Is it effective?
Have a look - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb_nOB9HdYU
I don't normally use An Artists Business Guide to directly promote anything I am involved in, I prefer to keep it separate to my art business. But I'm going to make an exception this time as I hope and think it may be of interest to some readers.
I have an exhibition coming up next month in Dublin in a new gallery - The Doorway Gallery. The theme I have chosen for the show is emigration - unfortunately a very topical subject at the moment as Ireland is going through a catastrophic economic recession, which has led to another wave of mass emigration from the country. Rather than simply write an "artist statement" for the show and explain what the show is about I decided to create a video, with the aim of conveying a fuller sense of the emotional nature of the exhibition's subject matter. With this in mind I chose an old recording from the 1940s by Count John McCormack, an Irish tenor who was considered the Pavarotti of his day. The song is a lament about emigration called "The Old House" and provides the music for the video.
I created the video over a number of evenings on the sofa in Microsoft Movie Maker, a very simple but effective piece of free software and have just posted the end results up on Youtube. My plan is to use this video over the next 4 weeks as a way of marketing and promoting the exhibition via the internet and social media, and also hopefully to make people pause for a minute and reflect on the sadness and damage that comes with forced emigration.
As I was working on the paintings and thinking about the subject matter - old, deserted Irish farmhouses - it dawned on me just how "normalised" emigration has become in Ireland. My father emigrated to England in the 1950s, where he met and married my mother before returning home to Dublin. My brother and sister emigrated in the 1980s. My sister to Japan and is now married and living with her family in Australia. Some of my closest friends emigrated in the 1980s and are now permanently settled abroad. It's almost like a rite of passage if you are Irish.
And so it became important to me that I try to convey that sense of sadness at what is left behind through something more than just an artist's statement. And that's when I started to make the video. Using a simple slide show format, some concise, complementary text and a carefully chosen song I think it produces something that is more than the sum of its parts. And I now have something more than simply an "artist's statement" that I can add to my website and also something I hope will help get the theme of the exhibition across in a more engaging way.
But that's only my opinion! I would love to know what you think, does it work? Is it effective?
Have a look - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb_nOB9HdYU
Yes, it works! Yes, it's effective! I can imagine the viewers walking into the gallery, watching your video, and understanding your country's sadness more deeply. I didn't realize you were losing so many people to emigration. I have always wanted to visit Ireland.
ReplyDeleteFabulous! And the paintings as well ;) Wish I'd had your work to illustrate my recent blog post on underpainting. That transformation from greys to full colour is tremendous!
ReplyDeleteI live in Spain which has born witness to similar waves of emigration - particularly to France, Germany and Latin America. Like Ireland it's currently in desperate times economically and yes, a new generation is beginning to talk of emigration.
Good look with the exhibition, btw :)
Great video, really effective! I've been considering doing some videos of my painting process. I cant afford the equipment to do anything of quality yet but a slideshow is a perfect idea! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, moving video, especially with the music. It conveys the heartfelt images rendered in your work.
ReplyDeleteIt gave me the chills. I am an American artist with Irish ancestors who came over during the potato famine, so I relate to your story from a connected yet different perspective. Ironically, the log cabin that my great great or great great great(I always forget how many greats!) grandfather built in Kentucky was always called "The Old House" by my grandparents. Strange to think that that cabin was his new house while his old house was somewhere back in Ireland.
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