Contrapunti
Contrapunti
Ron van der Noll
Siamsa Tíre agus Ceardlann na gCroisbhealach
An Sathairn seo chugainn, 27 Lúnasa beidh Ceoil agus chultúr Lucht an Ríocht ó Siamsa Tíre agus na gConallaigh le cheiliúradh I nGailearaí na gCroisbhealach. ‘Contrapunti’ a thugtar ar an taispeántas seo, portráid mearfach de Michael Coleman, fidléir Shligigh. Beidh Pat Ahern, bunaitheoir Siamsa Tíre I lathair chun an taispeántas a oscailt go h-oifigiúl. Dhéanfaidh Johnathan Kelliher, damhsóir Ciarraí I measc damhsóirí na h-áite cur I láthair ar na stíleanna eagsúla a bhfuil acu. Mar chuid den cheiliúradh beidh Lucht an Ríocht ag thabhairt cuairt ar oileán Thoraigh chun casadh le Rí an Oileán Patsy Dan Mac Ruairí. Beidh scannán a thaispeáint ar an oíche, 25 Lúnasa san Óstann agus beidh go leor siamsaíocht ina dhiaidh.
Tagraíonn ‘Contrapunto’ nó cuntraphointe don tséis aonair a scríobhtar I gcomharmóin le séis eile. Seo is eochair ‘Portráid Mhearfach de Michael Coleman de Michael Coleman’ ( a chomisiúnaigh Comhairle COntae Shligigh agus Ionad Oidhreachta Michael Coleman mar chomóradh ar an bhfidléir ó dheisceart Shligigh. Súiteal fuaime / chinéitice é seo a fhiosraíonn an teannas idir foirmeacha comhaimseartha agus tradisiúnta ealaíne, caomhnú agus leanúnachas. Ar cheol Coleman atá an fócas. Le cúnamh meafar súl agus fuaime a chruthaítear brí. Mar aitheantas don obair teicneolaíóchta lenar taifeadadh agus lenar cuireadh ceol Coleman ar bhuanchoimeád, is d’aonghnó atá an obair ealaíne seo meicniúil. Gineann an saothar fuaim chomh maith, dordán, gné den cheol traidisiúnta. Faoi thionchar na himtharraingte agus chúnamh an duine a oibríonn sé. Tagairt do ‘tharraingt na talún’ agus tábhacht na háite ar leith i mbeachtú an traidisiún é seo, agus sa dara cás aithnítear dúil bhunaigh an duine laistigh dá thraidisiún, sainghníómh na hindibhide ina léiriú ar an gcultúr.
Taifead ar choirm a tharla ag oscailt Contrapunti I Siamsa Tíre, Feabhra 2004, is ea scannán ‘Contrapunti 260204’ ( 2005). Leantar isint ilsraitheach ar an idirghníomhaíocht idir ealaín súl agus an ceol, mar a d’fhorbair le linn na coirme; breathnaíodh ar mhaitrís ama, áite agus modhanna eagsúla chun culture a shloinneadh. Le linn na coirme seinneadh cóip digiteach athmháistrithe de thaifeadadh stairiúl 1934 de Michael Coleman ag casadh na ríleanna traidisiúnta Tarbolton, The Longford Collector agus Sailor’s Bonnet. Agus sin ar siúl, chas an ceoltóir Pat Ahern an tsraith chéanna ríleanna ar an bhfidil a d’úsáid Coleman seachtó bliain níos luaithe. Ag pointe áirithe san Longford Collector seinneadh dord I ngléas G ar dhreas Coleman. Chuir Johnathan Kelliher, Máistir rince Shiamsa Tíre, an dlaoi mhullaigh ar an gceiliúradh ar Coleman nuair a dhein sé port rince, do cheol an Sailor’s Bonnet.
In ‘Bouwplaat’ (2004) úsáidtear Móitíf an ‘tí’ mar rúnscríbhinn ar an mbealach a chuireann an indibhid é féin in iúl I gceart an chultúr. Is ionainn an teach agus an fearann pearsanta I gcomhthéacs cultúrtha. Pléann ‘Cantus Firmus’ (2003) le coincheap an dearcadh bhunaidh mar fhoinse thraidisiún agus leis an ath-dhéanamh mar ghné den traidisiún. Tagann athrú suntasach ar an obair le ‘Image of a house / Íomha Tí’ 9 2004), suiteal d’fhoirmeacha tríthoiseacha a chruthaíonn íomhá déthoiseach de theach nuair a fhéactar air ó ionad socair. Éiríonn meicníocht na breathnóireachta amach ina modh chun ár n-aireachtáil a fhiosrú, maraon leis an gceangal idir feiniméin an tsaoil agus ár dtaithí agus léirmhínithe orthu. Is ann fós dontraidisiún, mar ábhar, sa tslí mhearfach a úsáidtear ‘teach’ mar ‘áit’ agus ‘áit mar ‘fearann’, ach dírítear ar an optaic agus meicníocht na haireachtála mar bhunchúram seachas focasú ar Coleman féin. Tugann ‘image of one circle’, (2003) ‘Con-form’ (2003) agus ‘Substance of the land’, (2004) dúshlán na tuisceanna gur ann don ionannas do-athraithe fisiceach ná don bhrí, nuair a thagann an gníomh breathnóireachta agus léirmhínithe I gceist. In ‘Substance of the land’ cuirtear íomhá phriondéltha d’fhearainn I gcodarsnacht le soithigh cheirmeacha chré a fuarthas I bportach taobh thoir de Thrá Lí, le sméideach follasach I leith na tuairisce clasaicí ar an aireachtáil, ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’, a chruthaigh Rene Magritte i 1929.
Feicimid dhá ghné choitianta eile de shaothar van der Noll anseo. Is breá leis seanrudaí – ábhar ó na caogaidí agus na seascaidí – agus feicimid greann cas a bhaineann an bonn de choinbhinsiúin pholaitíochta agus chultúir agus an bogás a chumasaíonn iad. I ndeireadh báire, is é a chuireann a phortráid de Coleman in iúl ná an draíocht a chuireann an t-ábhar a fhágann cultúir ina dhiaidh air. Béimníonn an grá atá aige d’aiseanna meicniúla, agus na hábhair a roghnaíonn sé, an tionchar atá ag na ‘Déantasaigh’ ar a shaothar, agus déantar athléamh ar na próisis thionsclaíochta a imríonn ar an tslí a airímid an aimsir atá caite san aimsir laithreach.
Rugadh Ron van der Noll i Rotterdam 1958 agus oileadh é mar mháistir-cheardaí sa phéintéireacht cheirmeach I stí deilft. Tháinig sé go hÉirinn I 1993 agus bhunaigh sé stiúideo ealaíne ceirmí I gCiarraí, I gcomhair lena phairtí, Mary Moynihan, ealaíontóir ceirmeach de chuid na tire seo. Is mó coimisiún atá curtha I gcrích aige, comhshaothar leis an mórealaíontóir Éireannach Louis le Brocquy san áireamh. Áithnitear Van der Noll as a chur chuige neamhghnách nuálach sa mheán seo.
Contrapunti
Ron van der Noll
'Contrapunto' or counterpoint refers to individual melody written in harmony with an existing melody. It is the key to Ron van der Noll's 'Metaphoric Portrait of Michael Coleman' (commissioned by Sligo County Council and the Michael Coleman Heritage Centre in commemoration of the South Sligo fiddler). It is a sound/kinetic installation which explores the tension between contemporary and traditional art forms, preservation and continuation. The focus is Coleman's music. Meaning is constructed through visual metaphor and sound. The art-work is deliberately mechanical in recognition of the technological intervention by which Coleman's music was registered and preserved. It also produces sound, in the form of a drone, a feature in traditional music. It works by gravitational pull and human action. The first refers to the 'pull of the land' and the significance of place in defining tradition. The second recognises the essential human drive within tradition, the individual expressive act that signifies culture.
The film ‘ Contrapunti (260204), (2005)’ is a record of a performance which took place at the opening of Contrapunti in Siamsa Tire in February 2004. It follows the narrative of a multi-layered interaction between visual art and music as it evolved during the performance; the observation of a matrix in time, location and different modes of cultural expression.
During the performance, a digitally re-mastered copy of a historic (1934) vinyl recording of Michael Coleman playing a series of traditional reels was played; Tarbolton, The Longford Collector and The Sailor’s Bonnet. Simultaneously musician Pat Ahern performed the same series of reels on the fiddle that Coleman used during that recording seventy years earlier. As was standard for Coleman, Pat Ahern was accompanied on Guitar by Mike O’Shea. At a point in The Longford Collector, a drone in the key of G was played on the Coleman piece. Johnathan Kelliher, dance master of Siamsa Tíre completed the tribute to Coleman by dancing The Sailor’s Bonnet.
In 'Bouwplaat' (2004) the motif of a 'house' is used as a cypher for individual expression in a cultural framework. It becomes synonymous with personal territory in a cultural context. 'Cantus Firmus' (2003) deals with the concept of original design as a source of tradition and repetition as a characteristic of tradition. The work shifts a gear with 'Image of a House', (2004), an installation of three-dimensional forms which combine to produce a two-dimensional image of a house when viewed from a fixed point. The mechanics of observation become a way of interrogating perception and the link between phenomena and the way we experience and interpret them. Tradition, as a subject, persists in the metaphorical use of 'house' as 'place' and 'place', as 'territory', but the focus shifts from Coleman to an underlying concern with optics and the mechanics of perception. 'Image of One Circle', (2003) , 'Con-form', (2003) and 'Substance of the Land', (2004) all challenge the idea of a fixed physical identity or meaning in the act of observation and interpretation. 'Substance of the Land' contrasts a printed image of territory with ceramic vessels made from clay found in a bog east of Tralee with a deliberate nod to Rene Magritte's classic take on perception in 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' (1929).
Here we see two further elements which are characteristic of van der Noll's work. He loves old things - the material culture of the fifties and sixties - and a wry sense of humour which gently subverts political and cultural conventions and the complacency which empowers them. Ultimately his portrait of Coleman is an expression of his fascination with the material record of cultures. His love of mechanical devices, and choice of materials emphasise the Constructivist influences in his work and mimic the industrial processes that have shaped our perception of our past in the present.
Ron van der Noll Born in Rotterdam, 1958, van der Noll was educated as a master-craftsman in Delft-style ceramic painting. He moved to Ireland in 1993 and established a ceramic-art studio in Kerry with his partner, Irish ceramic artist Mary Moynihan. He has worked on a number of large commissions including a collaboration with leading Irish artist Louis le Brocquy. Van der Noll is known for his unconventional and innovative approach to the medium.