Bernhard Gaul ‘Three Studies on Poussin (Book 1515)’

June 30, 2014
Works
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Bernhard Gaul 'Poussin Study 1' (2014)In June 2014 the painter Bernhard Gaul sent a letter to The LFTT requesting to work with book 1515 (Poussin by Walter Friedlaender) from his studio in Corgreaghy, Co. Monaghan. Often using an existing painting as a foil to work against, Gaul describes painting as a ‘social praxis’ and ‘poetic experience; a process of finding positions in response to external parameters’. Gaul originally studied theatre, film and media and first came to painting in 1991 with a study of the centre piece of Uccello’s ‘Battle of San Romano’, in which segments of a reproduction were copied onto 99 wooden blocks and later assembled as a fragmented painting. In contrast with the immediacy of theatre Gaul describes a dissatisfaction with the traditional forms of communicating through painting, ‘displaying artefacts only in set-ups that have more connotation of retail than direct exchange’ and says he is ‘still looking for a form of engagement that could combine that direct interaction of the theatre with the form of reflection and expression that I pursue with painting’. It was the process of documenting the method of exchange and reflection that sparked his interest in The LFTT Library. Gaul set up the self-publishing online platform bgx:mag.com in 2007 as  a way of providing a public space which could be used to expose works in progress as well as publishing articles of his own and by others which otherwise might not be easily available. www.bgxmag.com Read More

The LFTT Library Gets Portable!

April 28, 2014
Fundit Campaign
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HIGHLANES-SHELF-01

In April 2014 The LFTT Library ran a Fundit campaign to raise funds to build a new modular storage/shelving system which could adapt more easily to each new environment. Thanks to overwhelming support the campaign was a success and as a result the library will now live longer and have a wider reach to new audiences. The new build has proven great in protecting the collection in transit, as well as making fantastic modular sculptural material. Thanks to all our wonderful funders for supporting the project, we couldn’t have done it without you.xxx 

Funders: Sofie Loscher, Olwen Coughlan, Bernhard Gaul, Lisa O’Grady, Bernadette Clarke, Jessica Foley, Eleanor Phillips, Helena Tobin, Dylan Hodd, Noeleen Doheny, David Upton, Mary Jo Gilligan, Penelope Collins, Dave Madigan, Vivienne Byrne, Mark Cullen, Eithne Ring, Rory O’Brien, Mark Blamire, Brian Horgan, Tara Prendergast, Sarah Iremonger, Ruth Whelan, Performance Collective, The Infinite Line, Eddie Ryan, Mark McCann, Mary Collins, Highlanes Gallery, EL Putnam, Susan Montgomery, Paul Hayes, Karen Power, Rachel Fallon, Emer Delaney, Emer Lynch, Eilis Lavelle, Anne O’Brien, Paul Timoney, Sarah Honan, The Homework Club, Carmel Hegarty, Sharon Miney, Anja Mahler, John Horgan, Sarah Jayne Booth, Jennie Guy, Patrick Hughes, Fiona Reilly, Michelle Collins, Deirdre Morrissey, Joanne Boyle, Jonathan Mayhew, Unit 1, Sean O Sullivan, Monica Flynn, Padraig Spillane, Cleo Fagan, Dave Garavin, Maria McKinney, Susan MacWilliam, David Collier, Joan Cahalin, Damien Flood, Davey Moor, Fintan Neylan, Journeyman Theatre, Helen Blake, Mick O’Shea, Liam Lavery, Maeve Connolly, Danny Mc Carthy, Monster Truck Gallery and Studios, Tom Ryan, Katherine Atkinson, Aoife O’Dwyer, Maximilian Le Cain, Carolyn Collier, Grainne Tynan, Mark Ewart, Straink, Alan Killian, Jeanne Elliott, Conal McGovern, Jacinta Lynch, Mark Joyce, jessica grehan, Stan Erraught, Maria Tanner, Mary Ruth Walsh, Roseanne Lynch, Helle Helsner, Teresa Gillespie, Vanessa Daws, Caroline Doolin, Stephen Morris, David Monahan, Jenny Papassotiriou, Ormston House.

Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy at Highlanes Gallery

March 26, 2014
Highlanes Gallery, Performance
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Mick O'Shea and Irene Murphy of Strange Attractor performing live at The LFTT Library at Highlanes Gallery May 2013.

Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy of Strange Attractor performing live at The LFTT Library at Highlanes Gallery May 2013.

In May 2013 Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy performed live in The LFTT Library at Highlanes Gallery as part of the exhibition ‘Things in Translation: The Legs Foundation’. Mick and Irene regularly perform as part of sound-art and performance collective Strange Attractor. They are both instrumental in the experimental sound-art scene which Cork city has become renowned for, which also includes Danny McCarthy David Stalling and Anthony Kelly and others. https://www.facebook.com/StrangeAttractorIreland

Mick O'Shea and Irene Murphy of Strange Attractor performing live at The LFTT Library at Highlanes Gallery May 2013.

Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy of Strange Attractor performing live at The LFTT Library at Highlanes Gallery May 2013.

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Things in Translation: The Legs Foundation Exhibition

August 25, 2013
Archiving, Drogheda Arts Festival, Events, Highlanes Gallery, Installation, Works
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'Give me a place to stand, with a lever long enough and I can move the earth' Meadhbh O'Connor (FRONT); 'Merging Point' Vivienne Byrne (BACK); 'The Hunt' Aine Ivers (LEFT) 'Only The World Remains' Aoife Desmond (RIGHT)
‘Give me a place to stand, with a lever long enough and I can move the earth’ Meadhbh O’Connor (FRONT); ‘Merging Point’ Vivienne Byrne (BACK); ‘The Hunt’ Aine Ivers (LEFT) ‘Only The World Remains’ Aoife Desmond (RIGHT)
'Give me a place to stand, with a lever long enough and I can move the earth' (foreground) 'Evergreen (radio mast)' (on wall) Meadhbh O'Connor (2013)
‘Give me a place to stand, with a lever long enough and I can move the earth’ (foreground) ‘Evergreen (radio mast)’ (on wall) Meadhbh O’Connor (2013)
'The Hunt' Aine Ivers (2013)
‘The Hunt’ Aine Ivers (2013)
'The Hunt' Aine Ivers (2013)
‘The Hunt’ Aine Ivers (2013)
'The Hunt' Aine Ivers (FRONT); 'Where Are The Dead' Susan Macwilliam; 'The LFTT Library'; 'Elsies Counter' Jessica Foley; 'Hermes Alive!' Helen Horgan (BACK - L to R)
‘The Hunt’ Aine Ivers (FRONT); ‘Where Are The Dead’ Susan Macwilliam; ‘The LFTT Library’; ‘Elsies Counter’ Jessica Foley; ‘Hermes Alive!’ Helen Horgan (BACK – L to R)
'Only The World Remains' Aoife Desmond (2013)
‘Only The World Remains’ Aoife Desmond (2013)
'Where are The Dead' Susan MacWilliam (2013)
‘Where are The Dead’ Susan MacWilliam (2013)
'Where Are The Dead' Susan MacWilliam (2013)
‘Where Are The Dead’ Susan MacWilliam (2013)
'Where Are The Dead' Susan MacWilliam (2013)
‘Where Are The Dead’ Susan MacWilliam (2013)
'Inside Out' Vivienne Byrne (2013)
‘Inside Out’ Vivienne Byrne (2013)
FOREGROUND OF LIBRARY: 'Elsies Counter' Jessica Foley (2013)
FOREGROUND OF LIBRARY: ‘Elsies Counter’ Jessica Foley (2013)
(L-R) The LFTT Library; 'Elsies Counter' Jessica Foley (2013); 'Hermes Alive!' Helen Horgan (2013)
(L-R) The LFTT Library; ‘Elsies Counter’ Jessica Foley (2013); ‘Hermes Alive!’ Helen Horgan (2013)
'Hermes Alive!' (2013)
‘Hermes Alive!’ (2013)
'Unreadymade' Danyel Ferrari (2013)
‘Unreadymade’ Danyel Ferrari (2013)
'Unreadymade' Danyel Ferrari (2013)
‘Unreadymade’ Danyel Ferrari (2013)

Katherine Atkinson Performs at Highlanes Gallery (2013)

August 21, 2013
Highlanes Gallery, Performance
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60.HIGHLANES

Katherine Atkinson performs on the altar of Highlanes Gallery in response to the exhibition ‘Things in Translation: The Legs Foundation’ (2013)

In August 2013 violinist and performance artist Katherine Atkinson was  invited to respond to The LFTT exhibition Things In Translation: The Legs Foundation at Highlanes Gallery. She decided to stem her performance quite literally from the individual works themselves, enacting an intimate one-one-one engagement with the textures and forms they evoked. It was quite ‘spellbinding’!

Katherine’s work is inspired by physical theatre, using strong visual images as part of the performance. When performing the violin becomes an extension of her physical self, another part of her body as well as an extension of her voice. Inspired by physical theatre, Atkinson uses strong visual images as part of her performance, often responding to specific architectures and environments in an exploration of the boundaries between public and private space.

Katherine says of her practice “I am interested in testing performance concepts in public spaces. I am fascinated by the ways in which audiences respond to public performances, and I have researched this in both my performance work and through academic research.

The encountering of visceral experiences through the physical, sensory and emotional archaeology of an edifice is an inspiring premise. I am interested in looking at the envelope of a building, thinking about the site, ruminating over its purpose, imagining who’s been there before, and sensing who’s there now. It is fascinating to contemplate how a space may change over time, or even in a moment. Wrapped within a site, it is exciting to imagine how the space could be transformed through music and movement by responding to surfaces and textures, floors and ceilings, nooks and corners, light, dark and all shades in between, constructing a physical audio-active foundation for the building.” Read More

Things in Translation: The Legs Foundation

May 5, 2013
Highlanes Gallery, Installation, Performance, Works
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At the opening of Things In Translation: The Legs Foundation, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, May 2013

At the opening of Things In Translation: The Legs Foundation, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, May 2013

After its initial introduction The LFTT Library returned to The Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda in May 2013 for its first commissioned exhibition ‘Things in Translation: The Legs Foundation’ in supported by the Drogheda arts Festival, Louth County Council and Highlanes Gallery. The exhibition was co-curated by Aoife Ruane, director of Highlanes Gallery and Helen Horgan of The LFTT Library. Eight artists were invited to make new work in response to items from the Library collection; Vivienne Byrne, Aoife Desmond, Danyel Ferrari, Jessica Foley, Helen Horgan, Aine Ivers, Susan MacWilliam and Meadhbh O’Connor. The show remained in the gallery from May 5th until August 27th 2013. During this time a programme of lectures, events and performances took place in the gallery. Local ballad band Rapscallion played on the opening night. See related posts for more. Read More

‘After Completion’ by Monica Flynn

October 5, 2012
Highlanes Gallery, Installation, Performance, Residency, Works
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Photo by Jimmy Wheldon

After Completion was a ritual performance devised by artist Monica Flynn in response to content from the LFTT Library and was held at Highlanes Gallery Drogheda on October 5th, while The Library was on residency there. In the artists words…

“After Completion involved 9 performers in a ritual action exploring our innate instinct to bear together.  The piece was developed in response to my interest in accounts of mysticism within the LFTT Library.  My thanks to artist Helen Horgan and Aoife Ruane and staff at the Highlanes Gallery for the opportunity to realise this work and to my fellow performers: Irene Bagnall; Catherine Barragry; Vivienne Byrne; Jessica Foley; Joan Healy; Aoife McKeon; Deirdre Morrissey and Grainne Rafferty. Read More

Highlanes Gallery Library Talk

October 5, 2012
Events, Highlanes Gallery, Installation, Lecture
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DSC_4312On Friday the 5th of October we held a talk in The Library about the projects history so far. The talk was very well attended and there was a lot of questions from the audience. It was one of the first times I became aware of how much the project could mean to the public. In casual conversation with other art practioners there was often the belief that I may have taken on something potentially useless and/or antiquated. The response from the public began to show a very real interest in the heritage of the collection. Sometimes this concern for preservation went to the extreme and there was expressions to the effect that the books might better be kept in a more stable and controlled environment, away from the touches of (artists and the publics) grubby hands. Of course with a traveling library this isn’t possible, or probably even necessary. The librarian at Dublins Marshes Library (the countries oldest) told me she encourages the public to handle their ancient tomes without gloves, bare handed, since the older books (pre 1900’s) are actually made of sturdier stuff than those made by contemporary processes. In any case, nothing, not even a library, lasts forever.