Touchdown

Miles 160
Carbon Footprint 40 kg
Expenses Food 10 Transport of Space Shuttle 302.50

At last the Space Shuttle arrived in Silvermines.

I arrived in Nenagh at 9.30, spoke to the foreman in the Machinery Yard about the possibilty of getting a small crew to come out to Silvermines and help to position the shuttle off the truck. The truck was due to arrive at 10.30 but as these things go it then became 11 o clock, then 11.45, then 1 o clock and finally it arrived at 1.20.

The truck driver Pat was a very nice guy, totally cool about the whole thing, not a bit worried about the fact that it was lunchtime so we probably wouldn't be able to get a crew for Silvermines.

So he positioned it exactly where I wanted and then began the work of turning it into the Imaginary Museum. It was still a real mess inside, half painted in some areas, repair work still taking place around one of the windows etc.

By evening I was removing the old lettering from the outside to replace it with new text. A bunch of teenagers arrived, one of them I had worked with in the school. They helped to position the new text and told me lots of stories about how boring Silvermines is, nothing to do but drink when you can. They agreed to show me the drinking spots (some of them - probably not the most current one, which they need to keep secret). They said that Silvermines is very rough, lads from Limerick drive cars up to the Magobar mines and burn them out up there.

It didn't look rough to me.

A while later some young lads arrived and asked me lots of questions about why it was here, and how could I possibly think Silvermines was interesting etc.

A few of the smaller boys came and started collecting rocks for me from up around the old mining area. By 9.30 or so I had to tell them to stop, that I had enough rocks!

Quiet night in the camper van. I got up at 6.45 to do more painting in the shuttle. The principal of the school arrived at about 9.30 and gave me the key to the school so that I could hook up to the power supply, which I did. It's amazing to have full access to the school like that - I can use furniture etc. as I need it.

I was expecting the Arts Officer, Melanie Scott and Acting Arts Officer, Martina Finn (on her last day) to arrive for a meeting at 10. My friends 'the rock stars' were hanging around wanting to do some more work on their collection.

The meeting was reasonably cordial, although the Arts Officer didn't like the tone of an article that the Tipperary Voice had published about the Space Shuttle getting the go-ahead to move. I imagine that my previous journal entry wasn't popular either, though none of us mentioned it. Luckily for me the Nenagh Guardian had also printed a piece which was word-for-word the press release that I had sent to both papers, to I could point to journalistic re-working of the text.

We went through the fairly extensive 2nd interim report that I had submitted; Melanie said that the Arts Office was keen to offer support from this point forward to ensure the successful realisation of the project and also to 'take the pressure off' me as an artist.

I pointed out that most pressurised period was pretty much over, but I do appreciate the offer.

During the meeting Jim arrived ( I had met him the previous night). He worked in the mines all his life and says he has loads of interesting material but won't lend it to the museum because he plans to sell it for big money. He also described how he sent a drawing to the ESB to show them how the huge tailings pond up the side of the mountain could be converted into a Poulaphooca type Hydro electrical plant, which he seemed to think would lead to a hotel on top of the mountain with cable cars going up to it! He thinks the ESB are very interested in the idea.

Then Pat O' Brien arrived with a lovely piece for the collection. He reckons it's an old piece of school slate - it has a fragment of writing on it that says mines.

So I have about 5 things now in the collection.

A few more people passed through during the day; my three rock start Sean, Tristian and Danial hung around using a printing set I had and helping me to do bits and pieces.

Then in the afternoon I got a full visitation of the teenage boys. It's a very particular energy, so volatile and hard to relate to at times. I really wanted to stay on their good side and was trying to talk to them about what interests them.

There was a lot of talk about how windows get smashed in Silvermines regularly, with each of them pointing their finger at the others as being responsible. I tried to talk to them about why people would do that but they didn't want to engage with that, it seemed a stupid question.

Eventually they drifted away 'up to the mine'. It was quite a relief.

I was getting ready to go for a guided tour with the three younger boys at about half three, when one of them said to me 'the older boys will definately break the windows and peel off the lettering after you go'.

I felt really upset and I could see that it was almost certainly true; probably the very lad who had helped me to put up the lettering would be the first to take it down. It's a really strange thing - it's not malice it's just a kind of absence of feeling for things.

It's what Eric Fromm talked about - the need to create or in the absence of that, to destroy.

A completely untapped testosterone fuelled energy, frustrated by society's failure to give it an outlet.

So, I spent another hour drilling new holes for the window shutters and putting clear contact over the vinyl lettering.

God only knows what condition it will be in when I get back.