Reflecting on the Guesthouse Residency

Installation at The Guesthouse
Photographed by Tony Compagno

The residency at The Guesthouse was a valuable opportunity to read and to play with another way of expressing my considerations rather than through a photographic print. Through reflective practice and dialogue I spent the time considering the art piece as the event, rather than as a documentation of the event. This is the installation that you see in the photos and what I presented at the Sunday lunch.

Experiencing the Installation
Photographed by Tony Compagno

The final image of the poetry book was a first edition of Poems by Anthony Cronin from 1957 which I found in the Guesthouse. I was very taken by the poem 'For a Father' in which he talks about how mannerisms come through in later generations. To me that is also relevant to how one piece of work leads to another, which leads to another, and the thought or concept that appears in a later piece is recognisable in some early form in the work that goes before it.

First Edition of Poems by Anthony Cronin
Photographed by Tony Compagno

I was also joined on the Residency by Pádraig Spillane - curator, photographer, philosopher and Vadagam maker extraordinaire. I want to thank Stephen McGlynn and all at The Guesthouse for the opportunity to do this residency. I am also delighted to say that a photograph that I made in Belfast during the Belfast Photo Festival has been accepted into the Rua Red Winter Show which will run from the 12th of November to the 10th December 2011.

The Guesthouse Encounter

I was invited to take part in a residency in The Guesthouse by Stephen McGlynn. The Guesthouse in Shandon, Cork is a visual artist- led initiative that creates a place for artists to meet, exchange ideas and produce work. They run a program of public events, residencies and activities. Stephen McGlynn is currently running a residency program called World's End. He sees the Guesthouse as a place where people who's lives intertwine, if only fleetingly, converge for a short respite. He has invited various different people & groups from his community to avail of this opportunity and use the space as they wish to co-ordinate an event, or present a work in progress, or engage with new areas of exploration.

My 10 day residency started on Sunday when myself and Padraig Spillane, the Stag part of the curatorial team Stag and Deer, unloaded two piles of books into the upstairs apartment, which has become the 'reading room'. I am spending this time exploring ideas around my understanding of the philosophy of phenomenology, and working on an installation using a 16"x12" camera.

Interestingly, the fire alarm became faulty and was going continually Monday and Tuesday, so I retreated to the apartment, the only place where I couldn't hear the siren, and spent the time reading, working on my sketchbook, drinking good coffee, listening to the Shandon bells and reading some more. I've mostly been reading the writings of Lee Ufan. I spent a beautiful afternoon at his show in the Guggenheim in New York this summer. I always find it interesting when an outside force dictates the course of an action like this, and I like a bit of serendipity. So be it. I love the reading. On Wednesday calm returned. I've also been enjoying the conversations I've been able to have with Padraig.


If you're in Cork this weekend I'd like to invite you to Encounter - Sunday lunch at 3pm this Sunday September 18th at the Guesthouse, 10 Chapel Street, Shandon. Its an informal opportunity for you to meet myself and Padraig, see the Guesthouse, experience the installation & meet others. All are welcome.

www.theguesthouse.ie

Current & Upcoming Projects

With all the excitement of winning the Alliance Francaise Award still whirling around me, I continue to be busy. I am currently working on a public art piece for Fort Camden in Crosshaven. I am looking at time passing, stillness and light within the fort, and the large scale abstract images will be shown on the outside of the building reflecting light back into Cork harbour. The piece will be shown from July when the fort will reopen to the public.

Work in progress at Camden Fort (Roseanne Lynch)

I am also preparing for a solo exhibition in Queen Street Studios in Belfast during Belfast Photo Festival, which is the 4th - 14th of August. I am really looking forward to this opportunity as it will be my first exhibition in the city. Its great to see all the new photo festivals, exhibitions and events that have begun to happen in Ireland over the last couple of years.

It will be a busy summer as I'm doing a 5x4 workshop in Paris in June, with Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee. I'm also going to New York for a few weeks in June & July both to soak up the culture and to make contacts with galleries and curators over there. If you have any recommendations for me either in terms of galleries/curators or things to see and do while I'm there, I'd love to hear them.

My 2 week residency in the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris has been booked for November to coincide with Paris Photo, which I have a heard a lot about and am looking forward to experiencing it for myself. And I have also been invited to do a 2 week residency under the curation of Stephen McGlynn, at The Guest House in Shandon, early in September, when I plan to have a large format festival for myself!