Inside View from Ireland

In search of genuine Irish pixels

DUN LAOGHAIRE -- While discussing the status of an original Irish visual aesthetic with Mick Wilson at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, the thought occurred that globalism and an overbearing European influence might have compromised an original Irish visual aesthetic. That would be a major concern for me, because I hope to spend a year documenting the source of inspiration and the nub of creativity for mid-career Irish artists. That creativity ensures we can mark and identify "authentic Irish pixels" in new media. If we have lost a uniquely Irish visual perpective, we have debased our national culture and become too European.

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Making your politics with profiling

DUN LAOGHAIRE -- I watched uniformed immigration officials observe passengers disembarking from Stena Lines tonight and wondered what would happen to Joichi Ito if he was aboard the vessel. Joi has been treated less than welcome in the US. There's no guarantee what kind of tactic would fit him on arrival to Ireland. Both the US and Ireland are trying their hand at sophisticated profiling, even though many technologists warn that profiling with the assistance of advanced technology doesn't really work. I will be on the receiving end of these technologies next month. They take some of the fun out of international travel.

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Joi Ito -- "My position on the US"
Bernie Goldbach -- "Refused leave to land in Ireland"
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The Connectors

WIRED -- Some people from the filofax of contributing editor Jeff Howe deserve mentioning here because of the roles they play in our connected world.

• Clay Shirky sparks off more ideas per page than any other writer on my weekly reading list. Shirky remains the most important person I have never met.
• Jan Witkowski has the most valuable Rolodex in the field of science. Wired asked him, "Whose dinner party would you most like to attend?" He replied, "Charles Darwin's. Not only did he change the scientific world, he changed how people think. And if you read his biographies, he was clearly a very nice man."
• Linda Stone is part of the Old School Network. Her secret weapon is the dinner party. She told Wired "I've developed a seating algorithm. I don't think of who will sit next to whom, but who sits diagonally. I make sure people with high energy are thoughtfully distributed. I scatter them, so one corner of the table is always lighting up."
• Martin Garbus is a real-world Zelig on a global scale. As a lawyer, he has represented Lenny Bruce, Spike Lee, Samuel Beckett, and Andrew Sakharov. He helped Vaclav Havel craft the Czech constitution and he's currently representing French composer Jacques Loussier in his suit against rap royalty Eminem and Dr. Dre.
• Joichi Ito's must-read blog broke with Japanese corporate orthodoxy, saying it was time for Japan to overhaul its business culture and start rewarding entrepreneurs. Sony chair Nobuyuki Idei agreed.
• Ted Cohen is senior VP for digital development at EMI and a liaison between the file-sharing and msic communities. His secret weapon is "breakfast" because "everyone's awake and less inclined to linger as people do over lunch."
• Seamus Blackley is cocreator of the Xbox and he writes for Develop.
• Nancy Peretsman matches ideas with money in some of the most spectacular entertainment deals.

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Jeff Howe -- "The Connectors" in Wired, November 2003
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Sparking a multimedia culture

UPDATE 23 May 2005 -- Aileen McKeogh passed away today.

KILKENNY -- John McGuinness is a national politician who believes Kilkenny has the seeds of a multimedia culture. Nicky Gogan is a Dublin creative who believes there's a multimedia culture in The Liberties. Attracta Brennan was pulled back to Galway because she missed its creative multimedia sheen. Aileen MacKeogh surrounds herself with multimedia students in Dun Laoghaire. But can any of these places assert themselves as the centre of Irish multiumedia?

Arthouse, the self-acclaimed multimedia centre of the Arts, imploded in Temple Bar in August 2002. Its three storey shell stands empty, but with the windows open on the upper floors, heralding the start-up of higher education in the building. What could this portend?

Things have become cynically commercial in Temple Bar, meaning artistic venues have to fend for themselves in Dublin's cultural quarter. Arthouse collapsed ahead of several educational multimedia companies in Dublin. The business world demands commercial viability. In the current climate, that translates into bums on seats and demands the presence of a sponsor. In the reincarnation of Arthouse, the main sponsor may be third level education institutions. And if their baby steps are successful, it could lead to collaboratively delivered streams of multimedia education flowing into Arthouse from several third level institutions.

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Tansey on the Art of Buying

KILKENNY -- Irish artist Francis Tansey offered sage advice about purchasing artwork to an audience of new media students. His tips are worth passing along.

• If you want an investment that is most likely to perform, buy the work of a mid-career artist.
• Research the artist whose work interests you, reading newspaper reviews and biographies.
• Look closely at where they've trained, whether they have exhibited previously, whether they have won any awards, and whether their work has sold to private collections.
• Spend time browsing in galleries and exhibitions so you learn what you like.
• Set aside some money to collect art from gradute degree shows.
• Figure out where you will display the piece, paying attention to its size and shape.

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Samples of work by Francis Tansey hang in Mondrian, Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny, Ireland.
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Concrete ideas

KILKENNY -- Concrete has been around since the Romans developed it in the first century but my firsthand experience dates only from last summer. Ruth and I discovered some interesting things worth trying once our daylight hours start expanding again.

• There's a flexibility in molding concrete by using temporary shuttering or a mould. For hard landscaping, this flexibility allows an identical treatment for both horizontal and vertical planes, which can give the garden a unified, sculptural quality. This means we could create durable and fluid benches that fit snugly into our garden walls.
• We want to grab some weather-beaten sleepers from Irish Rail and then use them to influence the profile and texture of the finished concrete.
• I want to decorate a portion of a narrow concrete walk with cracked glass tiles. This could look fantastic at night along with tiny, scattered fibre optic lights.
• We can create integrally coloured concrete by adding pigment directly to the wet mix. One solution involves shaking a dry powder directly on the surface of the concrete before it sets.

Art meets science in the Butler Gallery

KILKENNY -- An overflow crowd joined art students from Ormonde College's Higher National Diploma when they led a public discussion in the Butler Gallery yesterday. Twenty students from Tipperary Institute's BSc in Multimedia filled the public gallery space, along with three second level students from Kilkenny's CBS. The hour-long public talks start at 1130 each day this week.

PR items from blogs

KILKENNY -- Yesterday we learned some things in the realm of PR that would be welcomed by Irish artists. Meanwhile, some interesting reading appeared in my aggregate that will enhance PR lectures in the months ahead.

• The Independent dissects the spin and PR campaign in the "Bush Cartel Case for Phony War"
• I have always wanted to earn a degree in Rhetoric. UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use rhetoric and language to dominate politics.
• From Tech Central Station: "Get the attention it deserves."
• Blogvertising: Blogs Emerge As Hot New Ad Medium.
• CNN: "McJob term irritates McDonalds"

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Where new and old media meet

KILKENNY -- I spent a day escorting 25 new media students through the streets of Kilkenny. As the day wore on, I began to reliase that traditional artists still are not marketing their portfolios effectively and they are not researching market interest in them. In fact, some would rather not sully their names by commercialising their creativity. This is a problem that needs to be addressed, otherwise we are educating a generating of artists who may abhor a business-like approach. My new media students know the importance of forging effective web-based strategies that look outward for larger markets. I believe all Irish creatives need this kind of entrepreneurial spirit. Failure to address this perspective nurtures a Welfare State dependency.

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Sent mail2blog using Nokia Commuicator O2 Typepad services from the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny, Ireland.
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Tansey the abstract artist

KILKENNY -- Today for the first time I viewed the work of Irish artist, Francis Tansey. Tansey's work is eye-catchingly colourful. Originally from Dublin he now resides and works from his Bennetsbridge, Co Kilkenny studio. He escaped the distractions of Dublin and now creates world-class works of abstract realism. We ate lunch in Mondrian, where Tansey has displayed four samples of his work.

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Sent mail2blog using Nokia Communicator O2 Typepad service by Roisin Harkin from Zuni, Kilkenny.
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