Installation images courtesy Hazeline Photography (Hazel Fitzpatrick).
The Hearth, is an audio-visual installation work made specifically for the exhibition Stories to Wake Up With, curated by Moran Been-noon.
This show is a part of the Act series, an ongoing digital art project designed by Moran to encourage criticism of contemporary politics. The exhibit, originally entitled Re Act is an expansion of this concept, and is part of a curatorial residency at The Market Studios in Dublin, Ireland.
The original Act project included the development of five digital ‘tools’ or ‘guides’, which were then applied to political content to create artwork. Artists were invited to use the tools created for the Act series for production/inspiration/objects of critique to generate artwork, with no limitation on creative language or genre.
The video and audio were presented as three separate channels. Visitors entering the space first encountered audio Channel 1, a male Irish voice reading the current Irish Constitution. Moving further into the room audio Channel 2 comes to the fore and the projection of a fire in a hearth on an electric heater gathers visitors closer to Channel 2. The installation is set up in a vaguely domestic arrangement of hearth-rug and coffee table. Channel 2 is a multi-vocal reading of excerpts from Brehon Law, factual information about Irish Asylum policy and Law and excerpts from Merriman’s poem the Midnight Court. Multinational friends contributed their accents to this piece. Customs and practices around hospitality, kinship and connected ness to the natural world are the focus of the work.
This is a sample of the audio to give a sense of the piece: The Hearth excerpt, 7mins 30sec
Listen on headphones for best experience, as Channels 1 & 2 are presented separately in R & L earphones.
Thanks to curator Moran Been-noon for the impetus and support to develop this piece and to – Diana Caramaschi; Matthew Darragh; Ewa Miernik; Ndumiso Mhlanga (D-Snipe) and Dave Murphy and Martin Narrendorp (Ras Tinny) and Moran for lending their wonderful voices to the audio.
Monica Flynn 