Journal of an Artist Residency / Miles to date 4,171/ Primary Carbon Footprint to date 1,139 kg = 1.139 tonnes

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Second day in residence

February 28th
Miles 205

Carbon Footprint 58kg
Expenses 25 euro on food and various coffees; mini-DV tape.

Left home at 7.30 am; very windy. Video camera set up to film the journey for the first time. Crossed into Tipperary at Killaloe/Ballina, took the lakeside route through Portroe and onto Netwown, where I added a leprechaun to the image bank, then took a left for Dromineer just outside Nenagh.



















Looked through the windows of Neddy's Cottage in Dromineer; potentially available as public space. Needs work. Dromineer very windswept and silent - like a ghost town.

Back to Nenagh; set myself up in the office, but discovered cannot access internet through my laptop.Will have to check out local library and wireless access at hotels. Interview with a couple of people about the context, using the following list of questions;

What makes North Tipperary unique or culturally distinct?
What is the most interesting thing about North Tipperary?
Who is the most interesting person I could talk to in North Tipp?
Is there something here that fascinates you?
What is the most overlooked aspect of North Tipp?
Is there a part of the history that has been largely overlooked?
What are the areas of friction or tension?
What is the best hope for the future of the place?

Spent a couple of hours in discussion with Martina about various things concerning rural arts development. Noreen at CAVA asked me to write and article for their newsletter. Might use that as an opportunity to make contact with local 'enthusiasts' and hobbyists. Also, want to track down informal, themed environments.Drove to Thurles in the daylight, beautiful road, such a different experience from doing it at night. On a whim took a turn for Templederry; a community that requested increased arts activity. Up into the mountains beyond Templederry, obviously not tourist country, nicer for that.
Second talk in the Visual Dialogues series; Mari-Aymone Djeribi and Dominic Stevens. Individual presentations about their practices as artist [former] and architect [latter], follwed by joint presentation Rural Lexicon which is kind of a new philosophy of living in and relating to the rural context. Very inspiring, as always. I found myself left with a question, as I was after last week's event - how do you de-centralise culture but keep new ideas, new work in circulation [without generating huge carbon footprints?]
www.mermaidturbulence.com

On the way home I had an absoloute brainwave, which I am not going to detail here! Need to keep it close to my chest while it develops.
Got home at midnight - not quite so tired as last week.

No comments: