Light Brigade - Longford
The Horse is a beautiful animal, the proportions of it excite us, there is a primal connection between us and the horse and being beside a horse brings that out of us. This was my primary motivation in making a group of horses, I had drawn up a number of proposals for a lantern hose projects over a ten year period to no avail, but it’s hard to dismiss a beautiful idea and I could not let go of it.
Shane Crossan asked me if I had any ideas for Faoin Spéir, I pitched the horse idea and he ran with it suggesting we use the barracks, he drew the connection between the cavalry that was stationed there and the light brigade in the Crimea in the 1860s, where a few Calvary men were sent there from Longford.
I had exhibited a project called Lights in the darkness at Longford barracks as part of the 1916 celebrations; this consisted of 50 life-sized sculptural lanterns of people, to commemorate the innocent bystanders killed as collateral damage during the rebellion.
This project was vey important to me on a personal level, my grandfather was from Keenagh in Longford and he fought in 1916 so being part of that celebration in a meaningful poignant way is very important to me. In that time I built up a fantastic repour with the Longford county council, artists and art activists in the area.
When we devised this project there was a very important community engagement element whereby we worked with over 80 people from men’s sheds, women’s groups, ty students. We made large oval shapes that were covered in tissue and leaves so the light shone through the leaves. I wanted to uses the leaves from different parts of Longford so the finished work had a bit from every part of Longford in it. I had fantastic help from Raquel Montero Callero in delivering these workshops.
When we went to make the light brigade due to covid concerns we made the horses in the art centre at Charlestown in Co Mayo, this is my home town and it made sense to be travelling as little as possible, for me the great advantage was working 3 mins from home and having the assistance from my Macnas colleague Tommy Casby who made half of the horses.
It took about six weeks to make 19 horses we made the frames from wire, bamboo and then covered this in tissue paper and glue. We had friends call in and help us cover the lanterns from different walks of life, a vet was in with us and gave us amazing feedback on the shape and size of horses. We had volunteers cover the horses as we went along which allowed us more time to make the horse frames, for this we must thank- Angela Duffy, Aoife Gibbons and Naoime Clarkson and her family.
We noticed as we made the horses we not only became faster but the animals became more beautiful as we progressed. It was only when we transported the work to Longford that we could see them all together, we placed the work in the front of the barracks in what would have been the gardens, we met many ex soldiers who worked at the barracks for years it was fantastic to meet these men and to get their feedback on the project.
For the final event we wanted to engage with the audience through sound , the band Cronin worked with me and developed a soundtrack that brought the work to another level, we also used pyrotechnicians – black powder monkeys to fire up the sky on the opening night.
Gathering in - Cavan
This was a temporary artistic intervention with long lasting effects. I had been working with the Arts office during the pandemic and we had started a conversation of sorts on how we could bring the arts to the public in a safe and significant way that would not only bring a creative event to Cavan but would also leave a legacy of skills and techniques in the community. This began with Lantern making tutorials online for families using household objects and a series of online workshops with Cavan artists in lantern making.
From this starting point we developed a two week “master class” in lantern making at the town hall art centre, in this two weeks a group of 12 artists made forty two animal and human figure lanterns.
The artists chose domestic and wild animals that would be found in and around the local environs, we ended up with an eclectic mix of sculptures that were unified in the materials we used and the simplicity of the structures, there were no features or colours used to help the unifying effect.
I made a group of Cows and a group of sheep in my own studio with the help of my artist friend and collaborator Tommy Casby.
I made contact with Darragh Slacke and Noel Monahan at this time, who brought their own talents to bear on the work, through the written word and music they created a depth and narrative to the project.
I felt that the plain white work was painted and filled with colour by the poetry and music that was placed alongside the installations. It was through conversations and walks around the town with these two Cavan locals that the landscape the installation was to inhabit emerged.
The pandemic also played a role on how we devised the layout, we could not form crowds so the work was spread over five locations over 3 nights, the music was accessed through QR codes placed beside the individual installations. This in turn created a promenade style event that allowed people who had been cocooning to experience a cultural event with their loved ones in a safe and exciting way, seeing this unfold was very moving.
The restrictions imposed on us by a crisis also freed us up to create work in ways we could never have imagined, using the online realm in particular in the preparation and dissemination of the work has been a real revelation.
The project evolved through the foresight of the Irish Arts Council who developed a stream of funding “Faoin Speir” that would insist that art would happen outside in the public realm for free. Cavan County council Arts Office though the guidance of Catriona OReilly formed a working group online that brainstormed and curated a program for this funding, the Gathering in project was a core part of that proposal.
Lights in the Darkness
They say we see 10 percent of an ice berg, the rest hidden in the sea, for this project the finished products will mark a small percentage of the behind the scenes workshops, organisation and development. In essence, for the artist the process of creating the work with the community groups in Longford has huge significance in creating the final large scale installation on the 24th of April 2016.
The finished piece
The finished piece will be a host of 50 life size lantern figures placed in a location in Longford town for a single evening. This will mark a commemorative event for 1916, in this instance the installation will include sculptural lanterns of men, women and children to symbolise those who died and were injured during this time.
The figures will be featureless representing the anonymity of many of those who died.
The intention of the work is to remember the sacrifice made by those on all sides and no sides.
The process
Tom Meskell, the artist who conceived of this piece, has been developing this style of installation for over 14 years. Fifty figures will be produced through a series of figurative lantern sculpture workshops. The workshops will be held with a number of community groups in various locations in Longford. It is expected that over 100 people will take part in the workshops over a two month period. The participants will be drawn from a broad spectrum of society, Tom has developed a system of creating this work so all can be involved in a meaningful way.
In doing this it is hoped that the workshops will give the participants ownership over the event. The centenary celebration will also create an opportunity to redefine our relationship with our historical past while including new cultural and ethnic influences.
Tom is the grandson of Patrick Doyle a veteran of 1916, who was originally from Kenagh in Longford. For Tom this body of work marks a very personal dialogue with the legacy of a man who died when he was very young but who’s presence is very much alive in his family history and mythology.
They say we see 10 percent of an ice berg, the rest hidden in the sea, for this project the finished products will mark a small percentage of the behind the scenes workshops, organisation and development. In essence, for the artist the process of creating the work with the community groups in Longford has huge significance in creating the final large scale installation on the 24th of April 2016.
The finished piece
The finished piece will be a host of 50 life size lantern figures placed in a location in Longford town for a single evening. This will mark a commemorative event for 1916, in this instance the installation will include sculptural lanterns of men, women and children to symbolise those who died and were injured during this time.
The figures will be featureless representing the anonymity of many of those who died.
The intention of the work is to remember the sacrifice made by those on all sides and no sides.
The process
Tom Meskell, the artist who conceived of this piece, has been developing this style of installation for over 14 years. Fifty figures will be produced through a series of figurative lantern sculpture workshops. The workshops will be held with a number of community groups in various locations in Longford. It is expected that over 100 people will take part in the workshops over a two month period. The participants will be drawn from a broad spectrum of society, Tom has developed a system of creating this work so all can be involved in a meaningful way.
In doing this it is hoped that the workshops will give the participants ownership over the event. The centenary celebration will also create an opportunity to redefine our relationship with our historical past while including new cultural and ethnic influences.
Tom is the grandson of Patrick Doyle a veteran of 1916, who was originally from Kenagh in Longford. For Tom this body of work marks a very personal dialogue with the legacy of a man who died when he was very young but who’s presence is very much alive in his family history and mythology.
Febuary - April 2016 Lights in the Darkness Longford
This project was great fun and involved participants from the Engage Arts group in Longford and participants from the PLC arts course there, the work was displayed as part of the Culture Night events on the 18th September 2015, this was very much a group project and each angel was made by two people.
The Moon Garden
The moon garden was on tour for a second year, this time at the Aisling festival in Longford.
Beast
I was part of a project called BEAST (Baboró, environmet, art, science and technology) and curated the work of a arts science
and schools programme. I put a installation together including all the differents elements and it was in action for the week of Baboró international childrens art festival.
and schools programme. I put a installation together including all the differents elements and it was in action for the week of Baboró international childrens art festival.
The Wishing Trees
This is from a lantern sculpture symposia weekend I facillitated in Cavan at the end of April, the finished piece was called the wishing trees - enjoy!
Look to the Light
This is a lantern sculpture project with young adults from Co Mayo, there were five 3 hour workshops held at National Museum of Ireland - Country Life,
Turlough Park, the figures were based on the collection at the museum and the figures are on tempory display at the museum.
Turlough Park, the figures were based on the collection at the museum and the figures are on tempory display at the museum.
The Moon Garden
This Installation was made in collaboration with the staff and participants at the Rural Training Centre Castlebar Co Mayo, the piece was made for children festivals and will freature in the linnenhall arts centre Roula Boula festival on the 30th and 31st of Oct and the Hullabaloo Childrens art festival in Birr Co Offaly on the 3rd, 4th ,5th Nov 2011. The piece is 10 feet wideand 5 feet deep and 8 feet high and requires electricity and invigilation. There is a sound piece as part of the installation writtten by the participants and recorded by a professional actor Guy Carlton, this utube clip is a slide show of images and the sound track, enjoy!
Minders of the Menagerie - Linnenhall Art Centre 2003
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