(ath)bhailiúchán - (re)collection
(ath)bhailiúchán
Jill McKeown
Chuir an t-ealaíontóir Jill McKeown isteach tréimhse chónaitheach ar na mallaibh i dTeach an tSléibhe, áis d’ealaíontóirí chónaitheacha atá curtha ar fáil ag Cló Ceardlann na gCroc i Mín á Leá, Gort an Choirce. Tá an taispeántas seo mar thoradh ar an obair a rinne sí le linn na tréimhse sin.
Shílfeadh duine i dtús báire gur saothar an-phearsanta atá sa taispeántas seo ach ní hamhlaidh atá ar ndóigh. Scrúdaíonn an saothar seo an gaol atá idir mionsonra-áit-cuimhne-bailiúchán.Déanann an t-ealaíontóir taiscéaladh níos doimhne ar an ról a imríonn ‘rud’ nó ‘nithe’ inár n-athchuimhní le cois an nádúr pearsanta faoi leith a bhaineann lena leithéid sin. Cé go bhfuil an móitíf bheag nó an rud a spreagann cuimhní cinn thar a bheith pearsanta, is feiniméan é atá leitheadach ar fud an domhain. Tig le nithe ar leith, macasamhail clocha, fiú má tá siad tagtha as áit eile, teannas a chur lenár gcuimhne ar áit agus ar am. Tig le teach, coirnéal staighre nó cairpéad comhcheangal smaointe a mhúscailt agus a thagann chun buaice sa rud ar a dtugann muid cuimhne air. Is dócha gurb iad cuimhní croineolaíocha ónár n-óige is láidre ná ní amháin go gcuimhníonn muid an cairpéad ach fosta na slámáin – tagann cuimhne ar a mboladh agus an dóigh ar mhothaigh siad ar ais chugainn.
Cuireann formhór againn albaim de ghrianghrafanna i dtoll a chéile, cruinníonn muid ornáidí agus nithe beaga cuimhneacháin agus coinnionn muid go cúramach iad. Don ealaíontóir, is ionann an chuimhne ordúil seo le cartlann phearsanta – as uaidh seo a thagann an tagairt do leabhair. Agus siocair go bhfuil na leabhair seo lámhdhéanta, tá níos mó béime leagtha ar ghrinn-nádúr pearsanta an chuimhne. Le linn a tréimhse chónaitheach, d’aithin an t-ealaíontóir nach gníomh é atá srianta d’áit ar leith atá i gcur in eagar agus in ord ár gcuimhní cinn, cibé inár n-intinn nó go fisiceach, agus ansin ag athbhailiú na cuimhní sin. Léiríonn an cása, nó an ‘suitcase’ – comhartha na gluaiseachta agus na soghluaiseachta - ‘(ath)bhailiúchán’ go deismir mar fhéile aistritheach. Ar an tséala sin, tig le cuimhne a bheith amhail le hiarsmalann phearsanta atá inathraithe agus soghluaiste.
Úna Campbell - Bealtaine 2006
(re)collection
Jill McKeown
Artist Jill McKeown recently completed a residency at the Cló Ceardlann na gCroc artist-in-residence facility ‘Teach an tSléibhe’ in Mín á Leá, Gortahork. This exhibition is the result of work she was investigating during her residency.
At first glance this installation may appear as highly personal, this is of course not so. This body of work explores the relationship between detail-place-memory-collection. The artist further examines the role an ‘object’ or ‘things’ play in our recollections and the specifically personal nature of this. Whilst the little motif or object that ignites a memory is highly personal the phenomena is universal. Specific objects such as stones, albeit transported from other places, can accentuate our memory of a place and time. A house, the corner of a stair case, or a carpet can rouse a set of associations which culminate to the thing we call memory. One’s childhood memories are perhaps, chronocologicaly, the most potent of all our memories, we remember not merely the carpet per say but the actual tufts, we remember their smell, their touch.
Many of us compile photograph albums, collect memorabilia and ornaments and hang on to keep sakes. To the artist this ordering of memory becomes an act of personal archiving hence the reference to books. That these books are hand made further emphasises the acute personal nature of memory. During her residency the artist recognised that the act of ordering/collating our memories, mentally or physically, and the act of recalling these memories is not harnessed to a specific place. The suitcase, a symbol of movement and mobility, eloquently describes ‘(re)collection’ as a movable feast. Memory therefore, can be a mobile mutable personal museum.