Brian Connolly (Ireland)
History Lesson
An install-action that will take place over a period of 3 days in the greenhouse of the Hidden Gardens. The work takes the form of a series of ritual processes leading to increasing visual complexity and tensions within the space. In preparation the Greenhouse will be blacked out whilst the inside will be illuminated with Ultra Violet lighting. During the Install-action I will systematically thread lengths of white thread throughout the interior space. These threads will contact the Greenhouse frame through loops of wire. In this way the threads will jig-jag back and forth inside the structure and will increase in complexity as time passes. Each thread will also pass through a world atlas suspended in the middle of the space. The ends of the threads will be tied to a jam jar, which will be slung on a branch of two potted shrubs. Each jam jar will contain an image relating the history of Ireland, and each image will be illuminated with tea-lights. When all the jars have been slung, stones will be added to the network of threads increasing the tension. Each stone will have a dress hook which will enable the stone to slowly slide on the threads when balances and tensions shift within the thread network.
Brian Connolly, from Northern Ireland, is an international multi-media performance artist whose works often relate to place or context. He employs a range of performance processes, including Install-action, Market Stall Actions, and Group Collaborations. His Install-action works are often durational and visually elaborate, contain both political and spiritual metaphors and are often ritually evocative in their use of lighting and visual tensions.
With thanks to the University of Ulster