Ag Triomú san Fhearthainn

Saothar ealaíne i scannán le Maurice Galway

Baineann an saothar ealaíne seo le buanseasmhacht agus, nuair is cosúil go bhfuil an bhuanseasmhacht í fein gan éifeacht, le ceiliúradh ar mhothú ardaithe d’indibhidiúlachas mar dhúshlán in aghaidh saol atá neamhfhoirfe.

“Ní miste cé chomh deacair is atá sé, caithfidh tú é a cheiliúradh ar scor ar bith ... is ionann “é” agus an bheatha … an saol” a deir Galway, ag déanamh achoimriú ar nósmhaireacht de bheith ag cruthú fonótaí físeacha i ndáil leis na himeachtaí a mharcálann, a mhúnlaíonn agus a stiúrann ár saol: cuid acu lúcháireach, cuid acu suaibhreosach agus cuid eile acu duibheagánach amach is amach. Sníonn téacs isteach agus amach as an phróiseas dialainne le líníocht, dialann a chuimsíonn 46 leabhar nótaí a chlúdaíonn an tréimse ó 1991 go dtí an lá inniu. Thosaigh ‘Drying in the Rain’ mar sraith sceitsí agus nótaí corradh beag le seacht mbliana ó shin, i dtrátha an ama chéanna le ‘Fallen Angels’ (2003), meabhrú domhain pearsanta ar chaillteanas, meabhrú a bhí spreagtha ag aingle adhmaid ón 19ú céad a cheannaigh sé ó eaglais i gCill Áirne. Ba é sin an dara scannán a rinne Galway, i gcomhar leis an chumadóir Nico Browne, rud a bhuanaigh ceol mar ghné thábhachtach dá shaothar i scannánaíocht.

Cuireadh an scannánaíocht ar ‘Drying In the rain’ i gcrích thar lá amháin istigh i gcoill. Taispeánann sé ‘duine i réiteach sa choill ag iarraidh é féin a thriomú le linn don fhearthainn a bheith ag doirteadh anuas i rith an ama … cad a ba chóir do a dhéanamh, fear uaigneach, leis féin i móinéar, á thriomú féin san fhearthainn, níl stop ar an fhearthainn … cad a ba chóir do a dhéanamh?” Is dul chun cinn é ar ‘Fallen Angels’ sa bhrí gur léiriúchán lánscála scannánaíochta atá ann. Rinneadh é i gcomhar leis an scannánóir, Eugene O’Connor, agus bhí foireann léirithe de thar 20 duine ag obair air, le tacaíocht ó Aonad Léiriúcháin Teilifíse agus Scannánaíochta FÁS i dTrá Lí. Ba é Dave Keary a chum an ceol. Is a bhuíochas do choimisiún ón Gailearaí, An Fál Carrach, a rinneadh ‘Drying In The Rain’ faoi choinne Féile Ealaíon an Earagail na bliana seo. Ag fágáil fiúntais léiriúcháin as an áireamh, tá gné chomhoibríoch níos mó ag baint leis an scannán seo, údaracht roinnte a thugann léargas ar chreidiúint Galway i gcóineasú na hamharcealaíona agus ceird na scannánaíochta. Níl faic caillte in aistriúchán sa ghníomh seo de líníocht i scannán.

Ciarán Walsh

Drying In The Rain

An artwork in film by Maurice Galway

This artwork is about perseverance and when perseverance itself seems pointless, the celebration of an elevated sense of individualism in defiance of an imperfect world. “No matter how difficult it gets, you still have to celebrate it ... “it” being life … living” states Galway, summarising a habit of creating visual footnotes to the events that mark, shape and direct our lives; some happy, some frivolous and some utterly profound. Text weaves in and out of the process of diary by drawing, comprising a journal of 46 notebooks that cover the period from 1991 to the present. ‘Drying In The Rain’ started out as a series of sketches and notes just over 7 years ago, around the time of ‘Fallen Angels’ (2003), a deeply personal meditation on loss prompted by the acquisition of 19th century wooden angels from a church in Killarney. It was Galway’s second film and collaboration with composer Nico Browne, establishing music as an important feature of his work on film. ‘Drying In the rain’ was filmed over a day in a wood. It ‘depicts a character in a clearing in a wood trying to dry himself as rain continues to fall … what should he do, a lonely man, alone in a meadow, drying in the rain, it’s not going to stop raining … what should he do?” It is an advance on ‘Fallen Angels’ in the sense that it is a full scale film production. It was made in collaboration with filmmaker Eugene O’Connor and involved a production team of over 20 people supported by the FÁS TV and Film Production unit in Tralee. The music was composed by Dave Keary. ‘Drying In The Rain’ was realised by way of a commission form An Gailearaí, An Fál Carrach, for this year’s Earagail Arts Festival. Production values aside, this film has a more collaborative element, a shared autership that reflects Galway’s belief in the convergence of the visual arts and the art of film making. Nothing is lost in translation in this act of drawing in film.