The Good Hatchery presents Savoir Faire 212, the latest collaborative work by artists Ruth Lyons and Carl Giffney at Place, Gorey, Co. Wexford. Place is a new initiate that fuses contemporary art practices with self sustainability, in this case the operation of a shop front.

Savoir Faire 212 is a development of the thematic concerns evident in The Good Hatchery’s recent works, The Solution and Iridescence A. Through the use of water, commonplace utilitarian objects and communication devices, Savoir Faire 212 creates an interactive situation that speaks of necessity, the global society and the storage and distribution of energy.

This solo exhibition is curated by Paul Murnaghan and will open on Friday the 11th December at 6pm at Place, 5 Johns Street, Gorey, Co. Wexford.

Celestial Salt is underway. This winter project run by The Good Hatchery sees six artists bring an art work that was originally created for an art context to the very rural surroundings of The Good Hatchery, an environment with no current infrastructure to support contemporary art. This environment, at this time of year, is characterised by large expanses of frosty industrial bog, short hours of stark winter sunlight, challenging weather conditions and few or no people exploring the out of doors. All of these attributes are rarely involved with outdoor group exhibition in Ireland. Among many other things, Celestial Salt is keen to experiment with this custom.

The following works are now being installed:

.

Mark Clare- Splendid Isolation

Splendid Isolation is a life size replica of a wooden military watch tower used by Israeli forces in the 1940s. The work was originally created in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). It has been exhibited at IMMA, at EV+A in Limerick, in Galway and in Riga, Lithuania. For Celestial Salt the 8 meter tower will be installed on what was once the front lawn of the Clonearl Estate House. The house now long gone, the land is used to graze cattle yet it is still displays uncharacteristically expansive patches of rolling grass, punctuated by oak trees.

.

Alex Conway-  Sound Suit

In Sound Suit Alex Conway engages with his physical surroundings by the means of a self-created suit. This suit incorporates audio technology that includes a series of contact mikes, loop stations, pedals, speakers, radio transmitters and sound recorders. By interacting with various surfaces, textures and materials Alex creates a sonic landscape that is played in real time, recorded and can be transmitted via radio wave. Originally this performative work took place on Dublin’s Thomas Street. For Celestial Salt, Sound Suit will be carried out in three locations that have been chosen by the artist: a dense forest of leafless hazel, a space beneath a motorway overpass and a bog rail line.

.

Anita Delaney-  Pyramidal

Pyramidal is a video installation originally exhibited in Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin. The work comprises of two video projections both screened on a single pyramid structure that is made up of two panels of frosted perspex. For Celestial Salt,  Pyramidal is sited on a large stretch of industrial bog land and is powered by a 230 volt petrol powered generator.

.

Doreen Kennedy- Flower Bed

Flower Bed is a photographic installation that was included in the Sculpture in Context exhibition in Dublin’s Botanical Gardens. By bringing this work to Daingean town centre, Doreen Kennedy has created a blooming flower bed made entirely of photographs that punctuates the town’s winter.

.

Barbara Knezevic-  Elation / Deflation Object

Elation / Deflation Object is an installation of large latex weather balloons filled with helium gas. The installation originally took place at Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin. For Celestial Salt, the installation will float in the rusting skeletal shell of an abandoned warehouse. The remains of this huge building form part of the now defunct Bord na Mona briquette factory.

.

Ben Mullen-  Bog Bodies

Bog Bodies sees Ben Mullen bring a currach that he constructed in Co. Clare to the landscape of east Offaly. He has chosen to install this sculptural work in the bog that sits at the foot of Croghan Hill. The boat is buried 5 feet beneath the turf, invisible to any potential audience members and is left in that state awaiting further developments.

.

Each installed art work is teamed with a writer who is asked to use it a seed to create a new piece of writing. These writings and documentation of all works involved in Celestial Salt will be presented in a publication that will be launched in Dublin in January. Writers include: Darren Barrett, Patrick Bresnihan, Jenny Fitzgibbon, Claire Feeley, Paul Murnaghan and Luke Sheehan.

.

Many thanks to Eileen Hanlon, Offaly Arts Office and all artists, writers and volunteers involved.

The Good Hatchery will be making a presentation at What’s Next?, a proffesional developmet seminar for recent college graduates organised by Draiocht Art Centre. The event will take place on November 12th.

For details of the event, please see the Draiocht website.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A selection of the postcards made during the From Daingean with Love … weekends.

The brief of the project was simply; to make a postcard for a town that has no postcards. The project was inspired by the fact that since the recent renaming of Dingle in county Kerry its Irish name ‘An Daingean’, post destined for Daingean, Co. Offaly has found itself being rerouted to An Daingean, Co. Kerry.

Consequently people who have lived in Daingean for generations have suddenly been bypassed by the postman for the more popular seaside destination leading to the loss or delay of their post.  From Daingean with Love… hopes to instill a sense of pride in place in this town which finds itself at the polar end of the tourist scale to its coastal counter part.

Participating artists visited the area for a short weekend stay during the Summer months. Given that the people of Daingean are the primary market for the postcards, artists were asked to consider what their postcard would say to the local community about the town.

Participating artists included: Tonya McMullan, Lioubov Kadyrova, Chris Timms, Francis Quinn, Kate Minnock, Shiela Rennick, Peter Prendergast, Emma Haugh, Elaine Hurley and Orla Gargan

The postcards are available in the local post office.

.

The Good Hatchery is now accepting proposals for its main annual program: Celestial Salt. This years project aims to investigate the role of contemporary art outside of its comfort zones and usual supports. Artists from all disciplines are invited to propose the presentation of pre-existing work in the environment that surrounds The Good Hatchery.

Selected artists will be provided with an amount of financial and technical support along with transport, local information, workspace and accomodation as required. The outcomes of the project will be documented in a comprehensive publication and be presented at an event detailing the issues arrising from this project.

Celestial Salt will take place in November and December 09. The deadline for submissions is Friday 9th October 09.

.

To see a detailed Celestial Salt brief please click here.

.

.

Ritual Flux 51

The 41st Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival officially opens on Friday 14 August 2009 at 7pm. All the venues are open on Saturday 15 August 12-6pm and daily until Friday 21 August at 6pm.

This year the visual arts trail opens the doors of several historic buildings throughout Birr town centre. Through the generosity of the Festival committee and local business Ritual Flux 51 is housed in 6 venues throughout Birr town centre. Venues include: Masonic Hall & Estate Office, Rosses Row, P. C. Dolan’s Bike Shop, Main Street, Birr Public Library, Johns Hall on Johns Mall and Spinners Town Hall Gallery, Castle Street.

Curated by Eilís Lavelle, Ruth Lyons and Carl Giffney, Ritual Flux 51, includes exhibitions, artist’s talks, walking tours and live events. The Festival offers a unique opportunity for artists and audiences to access these historic locations and exhibitions have been installed in such unique sites as the Masonic Hall, John’s Hall and the Georgian Estate Office.

The Masonic Hall (1767) on Rosses Row houses an exhibition by the Irish artist James Merrigan. For this solo exhibition Merrigan has conceived of a new body of work that responds to this particular location.

“The historic building has inspired a new body of work which is both site-specific and alien to the space. It has really brought about a reflection on particular histories that revolve around community, religion and conviviality. The architecture of the Masonic Hall has been a driving force behind the work, and will be reflected in the appropriated films, forms and histories that make up the work.” –James Merrigan, July 2009

Johns Hall (1833) houses a unique International group exhibition that brings together the work of the renowned Irish artist Seán Hillen, the Germany artist Ulrich Vogl and the Dublin-based, American artist Theresa Nanigian.

The group exhibition in the Estate Office on Rosses Row showcases some exciting large-scale sculptural works by two promising Limerick-based artists Patrick Keaveney and Chris Borland alongside the darkly enchanting work of artist Ann Mulrooney and new paintings by Philippa Sutherland and Kevin Mooney.

A video installation by Anne Maree Barry can be found in P. C. Dolan’s Bike Shop on Main Street and ‘The Polish Language’ an animation by Alice Lyons and Orla McHardy will be shown in Birr Public Library.

Founders of The Good Hatchery, Ruth Lyons and Carl Giffney were invited by independent curator Eilís Lavelle to collaborate in formulating this year’s visual arts programme in Birr. The curators drew on the influential work by Ivan Illich ‘Tools of Conviviality’. In it Illich outlines a proposal for the appropriation of technology by the community and the ordinary citizen. For Illich, the community only really appropriates the tool when the community itself participates in developing the tool and the tool then empowers them.

Illich focused on the original Latin root of “convivial” meaning “..to live with” as opposed to the contemporary meaning “…friendly, lively and enjoyable”. “In post-Celtic Tiger Ireland and in the context of global economic collapse we were struck by the poignancy and relevance of Illich’s seminal work. There are things, or ways of being that bring us together and there are others that drive us apart. Today, more than ever, mutual support and collaboration are crucial to survival and success. Our curatorial aim for this year’s exhibition is to open the discussion on these and related issues.” – Eilís Lavelle July 2009.

The curators will host an afternoon of artists’ talks, presentations and discussion on Saturday 15 August between 3-6pm at Johns Hall. Margaret Hogan, local historian will conduct a walking tour stopping at the various historic buildings, timed to coincide with the artists talks. Monday 17 August, The Maltings, 2:30pm.

Other live events include: A Fluxus Anthology film screening accompanied by live music by artists Russell Hart and Sven Anderson. This is a chance to see films by experimental artists Yoko Ono, John Cale and George Maciunas and others. Spinners, Town House Gallery, Castle Street, Sunday 16 August, 9pm.

We were very pleased when we noticed that  The Solution ,  Ruth Lyons’ and Carl Giffney’s collaborative work created for THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, the inaugural exhibition of IMOCA (Irish Museum of Contemporary Art), was mentioned in an article by Meave Connolly on the Dublin art scene, in the latest edition of FRIEZE Magazine. The printed version also featured an image of the Good Hatchery’s piece!

-The interest in archival modes of presentation in contemporary art over the past few years has also recently been contested by some Dublin-based artists. ‘This Must Be The Place’ (2009), curated by Paul Murnaghan and Sally Timmons, presented works by ten artists’ collectives at the inaugural exhibition of the self-styled, artist-run Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA). Located (just like IMMA) outside the city centre, IMOCA is housed within a leaky, disused warehouse rather than a preserved historical landmark. Participants in the show were asked to respond to a specific question – How Do We Think?  – in any form other than an archive. The results were startling both in terms of scale and form. Artist collective The Good Hatchery, based in a converted hayloft in a rural area of county Offaly, built a large structure (entitled The Solution, 2009) that referenced Bernd and Hilla Becher’s canonical images of water towers and catalogued some Irish examples, while also dispensing water….

Please follow this link to the full article

Further documentation of The Solution and other projects can be found at these sites.

carlgiffney.wordpress.com

ruth.ie

…………………

.

Work has begun on Ritual Flux 51, this years annual visual art exhibition in Birr’s Vintage week and Arts festival. This year Eilís Lavelle will be curating the show along with Carl Giffney and Ruth Lyons, from The Good Hatchery. Exhibiting artists include: Ulrich Vogl, Philippa Sutherland, Theresa Nanigian, Seán Hillen, Orla McHardy, Alice Lyons, Kevin Mooney, Ann Mulrooney, James Merrigan, Patrick Keavney, Chris Borland, Anne Maree Barry, Sven Anderson & economicthoughtprojects’ Russell Hart.  Ritual Fluz 51 and the 41st Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival officially opens on Friday 14 August 2009 at 7pm.

Above Patrick Keavney is pictured beginning his installation in a Georgian Esate house, one of the many interesting sites that will be used around the town. Others include the Masonic Hall, P. C. Dolan’s Bike Shops, Birr Public Library, St. Johns Hall and Spinners Town Hall Gallery. Full details on events, artist talks, film screenings, opening times and related celebrations will be posted here in the coming days.

Ruth E. Lyons’ and Carl Giffney’s latest collaborative work; their solo show entitled     Iridescence A at Monster Truck Gallery, is the subject of a beautiful article ‘The Good Hatchery: Iridescence A and the ultra-ordinary, Monster Truck Gallery, Dublin’ by the curator and writer Claire Feeley in Circa on line. Please follow this link to read the article.

For further documentation of the work please visit

www.carlgiffney.wordpress.com

www.ruth.ie

We would like to celebrate this fantastic Summer we are having in the Good Hatchery by inviting artists to come and spend a weekend in the newly whitewashed hayloft while getting to know the beautiful surroundings. Over the weekend visitors can take in the unique environment of the sprawling black beaches and scramble around on the rare grasses of the herbaceous dunes, if you are lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the much fabled ‘Bog Dolphins’!.

Other outdoor activites include leisurely strolls along the nearby Grand Canal and hikes up the lofty Croghan Hill.

The first of these weekends entitled ‘From Daingean, with Love…’ will take place from the 3rd- 5th July. During the weekend the visitors will be asked to design a postcard in response to the local area. Over the summer months the postcards will be printed and made available in the local Daingean post office. Visitors will be asked for a small donation towards the cost of printing.

FURTHER DATES FOR THE POSTCARD PROJECT

7th-9th        August

21st-23rd    August

28th-30th  August

Interested artists may apply by emailing  Ruth Lyons  at  thegoodhatchery@gmail.com

Along with the following

-  2 jpegs (no larger than 300KB) of their favorite images (these may be images of the artists own work/ images which inspire the artist /images which represent their artistic interests or a combination )

-  A brief artist statement