John Joe Mongan, Roscommon
This exhibition from Kids’ Own is a celebration of work that took place between artists and young people in seven programmes across Ireland.
It offers a facet from which to view some of the collaborative practices and exchanges that have emerged through authentic collaboration and interchange between professional artists and young people. The selection represents a geographical spread throughout Ireland – Dublin, South Dublin, Belfast, Kilkenny, West Cork and Roscommon.
The artworks selected reflect a variety of techniques and media, predominantly digital – audio, video and stop motion animation. There is also photography and painting (pen and ink). The work selected showcases the unique and spontaneous approaches taken by young people in exploring their own individual responses to happiness, identity stereotypes and mapping.
Zoe Shields. Coffee and Cigarettes
In this work, creativity is a place of problem solving, where the worlds of the young people are captured to reveal their innocence, vibrancy, hopes, fears and ambitions for themselves and their communities.
The vision and curatorial concept of the Irish exhibition as part of Experimenta! 2011 is to showcase new ideas, imagination and inspiration in response to the broad theme of “Space” by young people in Ireland. From the work submitted we found that some of the most interesting artworks reflected a more abstract understanding of this theme – “spaces in the mind” or the “emotional connections with space”, we used this concept to draw continuity across the work.
As a curatorial device for the Irish exhibition the video projections are projected into 3 tunnel-like spaces. The hope is that in being here you make a slight mental shift from regarding this place as an exhibition centre to a more private space. That is, this exhibition could become a more internal space where you can think about the simplest thing like a drawing or a sound to bring you on your own journey in your mind and to create your own emotional journey within the space.
CLICK-CLICK project. South Dublin
The exhibition will showcase a variety of approaches to “spaces in the mind” from the intimate sound installation “Dreamcatcher”, which encourages the listener to sit back, close their eyes and get lost in the private space of their own minds, to the stop motion animation created by the young people from Kilkenny to soundscapes captured by young people in Belfast. This work showcases the energy and spontaneity of young people. As one participant remarked, “Animation lets you take things that exist only in your head and give them life and motion.”
We also wanted this exhibition to showcase and support young talent. As part of this show we have commissioned one young artist to create a unique drawing on site. Zoe Shields is an independent young artist based in Dublin. She submitted her own work to the Irish exhibition. Her own statement about her work suggests how she works: “When I’m working I never plan or work from a theme, I enjoy seeing how it turns out.”
The intention of this work is to celebrate the collaborations and to honour the work of these young artists.
Orla Kenny, Director of Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership
Curator of Eksperimenta! Irish Exhibition