Issue Four Occupy Paper

8/8/2019 Issue Four Occupy Paper

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Issue Four 1



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CCUPY

Occupy Paper is a new onlinepublication for contemporary art,which runs alongside the visual artprogramme in place in Occupy Space.

Occupy Space is one of Limericks newest exhibition

spaces, located on Thomas street. It was set up tofacilitate an ever expanding need for artistic exhibitionspaces in Limerick. It is an artist led project, run bymembers of Wickham Street Studios on a voluntary basis.Occupy Space is committed to delivering a relentlesslyenergetic programme of exhibitions and events.

Our intention is that this space will be a central axisfor a huge variety of creative people to experimentand present their work. The organization encouragesopenness and accessibility to artists and the visiting publicalike, and aims to provide an open solid platform for thevisual arts. Our program involves hosting exhibitions ofemerging and established artists, with a strong emphasis

on exhibiting those based in Limerick. Occupy Space alsohosts other artist led projects such as artists talks, seminarsand collaborative events with other creative practitionersand organizations.

This visual art journal is intended to expand on theexhibitions and events happening in the gallery as wellas provide a platform for critique and dialogue betweenemerging and established artists in Limerick and beyond.Artists, critical writers and other art practitioners are invitedto submit to the journal and engage with it as a meansof testing, experimenting, developing and expanding onnew ideas and concepts.

Submissions

Occupy paper is a freeonline journal publishedmonthly. We are activelylooking for contributors towrite articles, essays, andreviews.Occupy paper accepts all submissionsrelated to contemporaryart practice from paintingand print to sculpture, videoand beyond.If you wouldlike to be included in thefocus section please send aCV, 5-10 images and a shortstatement about your work.All submissions should besent by email to :

[email protected]

CONTENTSIn the GalleryYo llo mmot

New work by Jim Ricks 04

Jim talks to Aoife Flynn about his practice and exhibition

Culture NightCon-artistry Workshop in Occupy Space 14

InterviewEnda O’Donoghue 20

Talks to Susan Holland about his Berlin-based practice

Sinead Rice 26

Talks to Occupy Paper about her practice

FocusKieran Herlihy 28

Limerick Printmakers




In the Gallery

Occupy Space is proud to present Yo llommot an exhibition of new work by JimRicks. The exhibition was opened by MikeFitzpatrick, Head of Limerick School of Artand Design, on Thursday 9th September.

Yo llo mmot exhibited a dozen works whichare re-created from Tom Molloy’s 2005 soloshow Yo lo vi. This exhibition was originallyshown at Limerick City Gallery of Art, justdown the road from Occupy Space. Thenew works are approximations of Molloy’s

pieces made on a reduced budget withlimited materials and time. As Ricks did notsee the original show these works are basedon the exhibition catalogue photographs.Through this process of re-interpretationbased on limitations, not unlike a cover-band or karaoke, the imitations change,distort and take on a new layer of meaning.At times updating and at times imitatingthe original methodology, Ricks consciously‘riffs’ off of Molloy’s originals.

The project focuses on art history,institutional critique, boundaries andownership, but importantly it investigatesthe origins of creativity. This is achievedthrough a rejection of the ‘original’ andthe ‘individual’, i.e. nothing is new in anypractical sense, but is instead divergentand additive; a combination of existingideas. Yo llo mmot is also a new take onthe tradition in ne arts training through

imitation of ‘old masters’ work.

Jim Ricks was born in California. Hereceived his MFA from the NationalUniversity of Ireland, Galway and BurrenCollege of Art programme and his BFA fromthe California College of the Arts. Here JImRicks talks to Aoife Flynn about his practiceand exhibition.

The show ran from 10th - 25th September 2010

Yo llo mmotNew work by Jim Ricks




AF Hi Jim, could you tell me a bit moreabout your back ground, education,inuential tutors etc?

JR I was a very active grafti artist starting

from high school. Painted loads onwalls and trains in different cities like SanFrancisco, Chicago, Minneapolis andeventually started getting more and moreinterested in photography. I’m reallyfortunate to have lived in SF at the timeas they have a really good City College,then I transferred to the California Collegeof the Arts where I split my major betweenphotography, design and print.

AF What made you decide to come toIreland?

JR I was interested in studying in Europeand had seen a presentation on the BurrenCollege of Art at CCA. I applied to a few

programmes, but when I visited the Burren,the idea of removing myself from the city,distractions (I’m easily distracted) andscenes was very appealing. It is a uniqueplace for an art college and I suppose,like many Americans, I was interested inconnecting with my family’s past. AF What are the differences you noticebetween the art scene in America versusIreland?

JR Difcult to say, as there are many styles,

scenes and schools in the US. The mostglaring difference overall is the marketand private funding. There are a lot ofcollectors in the US and private support andgrants, but per capital Ireland, via the ArtsCouncil, funds the arts something like 50times more than the US. So the motivationand thus the ‘product’ can be verydifferent.




AF What is your practice like in general? I

remember you saying your work is paper-based and portable generally, what kind ofwork do you normally make?

JR Well, I make work out of what I can getmy hands on and what I can afford toproduce. Usually this is easily transportableand I suppose my background inphotography, design and print comes outby primarily working on paper.

AF Where does your imagery originate?

JR The news. Museums. Everyday signs andsymbols. Political posters

AF Yo llo mmot was a kind of homage toyour former tutor Tom Molloy, what madeyou choose his show and how did he takeit?

JR I’m not sure it is entirely an homage. Thatis part of it, but it is also critical, humorousand challenging... or tries to be. I do like hiswork very much and consider him one ofthe most important Irish artists right now.

I think Yo Lo Vi was an important show for Limerick and for Tom. When I put in for the show I wanted to do something aboutLimerick and that ts into my own practice,

which has taken on re-presentation as avehicle for exploring many ideas. WhenI was accepted for the show, I told Tomand he seemed a bit taken aback, maybealarmed. But I think the idea has grown onhim.

AF Is it important the viewer references theoriginal catalogue when viewing the show?

JRYes, essential.




AF Are there any other artists other thanTom that you admire and maybe inuenceyou?

JR A lot of grafti artists inuenced me, the

ones that work more with concepts andsymbols especially. I’m currently workingon some projects with artists I really like andlook up to, one with Hank Willis Thomas andRyan Alexiev and the other with StephanieSyjuco.

But others that have inuenced me would

be Manet, August Sanders, Hearteld,

Duchamp, all the Dadaists, Walker Evans,Lazlo Maholy Nagy, Fluxus, Bernd andHilla Becher, Mike Kelley, Mike Nelson,Hirschhorn, Santiago Sierra, Starling,Wallinger, etc... And all sorts of politicalposters... Paris in 68, Emory Douglas,OSPAAAL, Rupert Garcia...

AF I know you’ve been quite involved with126 in Galway, how did that come aboutand what was the experience like?

JR I was on the Board of 126 for 2 yearsand was the Chair for a while. It was areally interesting and at many times difcult

experience, but ultimately rewarding. Itook it as a fantastic opportunity and triedto programme as many interesting artiststhat I wanted to work with as possible. It’sa brilliant model as well kind of an anti-commercial project, based on Transmissionand Catalyst and now Embassy, with therevolving Board.

AF What are your plans for the future, anyupcoming exhibitions?

JR I’d like to keep doing exactly what I’mdoing, but make a living from it. And livein Europe and then move back to theBay. Solo shows coming up at Pallas andLismore.







In the GalleryCulture Night 24th September 2010 atOccupy Space was a hive of activity; kids,teens and adults learned the tricks of the

trade and how to replicate masterpieces ina Creative Con-artist Workshop. Followingthe example of famous painters, visitors tothe gallery learned to cheat, fraud and forgetheir favourite art-work, received their ofcialCon-artist certicate and exhibited their piece in the gallery. Visitors also had theopportunity to see Jim Rick’s show and meetthe artists who run Occupy Space.

Recreating Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s Sunowers




Alan and Susan show some Con-Artists how to make a Damien Hirst spot-paintingKevin helped our Con-Artists make

some Damien Hirst spin-paintings




Some Con-Artists making Warhol Willie O Deas and below, a Rothko Con Artists making Mondrians and below, some of the Con-artistartwork




Interview Enda O Donoghuetalks to Susan Hollandabout his Berlin basedpractice

Susan Holland Enda, your currentpractice engages a broad spectrumof photographs, taken from thepublic domain, which then undergo atransformative process into painted works.How do you go about ltering theseimages?

Enda O’Donoghue The ltering and

selection of images is an ongoing andcontinually evolving aspect to my work.My selection criteria are based as muchon the subject as the style and qualityof the images, I am mostly interested ineveryday subject matter and an aesthetic

of low resolution and unconventionalcompositions. I have been compulsivelycollecting and cataloguing images foundon the Internet for the past 10 years or moreand while there is a denite subjectivity

to my criteria for selection, there is also astrong element of randomness at least atthe stages of searching and nding. As

a method of pre-selection I have almostwallpapered two walls in my studio withhundreds of printed photos, a selectionfrom those that I have downloaded and thisacts as a way for me to nd images which

play off each other and have potential tobe worked on into paintings.

SH Your recent series of paintings seems tohave moved from the politicized context ofprevious works, what inuenced this transfer of emphasis?

EO’D I am not sure I would think of it asmore or less politicized. The change in focusfor me has been quite gradual and I think this has been more reaction on my partby what I have seen as a shift in the waypeople are using images on the Internet,mainly due to social network services such

as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. AlsoI am very interested in the way digitalphotography has changed the way peopleactually take photos, the preciousnessthat once existed when you had a roll of36 or 24 shots on a roll of lm is gone and

replaced with a more throwaway attitude.This idea of the throwaway and banal or everyday snapshot is something which hasbecome more important to me in the work.

SH Some of your recent works utiliseclose-up images which evoke a sense of

subversive intimacy with your anonymoussubjects, I refer here to paintings suchas Not to mention the coffee... and In

the Elevator, is this investigation of theboundaries of privacy a particular intentionof this body of work?

EO’D There is something inherent withcurrent mobile technology which haschanged the very nature of public andprivate and then there is an ongoingdebate at the moment about people’srights of privacy both in the online andofine world. This is certainly something

which has been an inuence on my

ideas but I am also interested in ideas ofidentity and a kind of open-ended pictorialnarrative and for me the works that youmentioned are also playing with theseideas. I should add that with each photothat I work with I make contact with theoriginal photographer to request their permission and in some cases I have endedup staying in contact with them. This hasbeen a distinct parallel strand to the work which is partly as a way of dealing with theanonymous nature of the Internet and also

a reaction to the issues surrounding onlinecopyright.

SH Indeed there is a suggestion ofvoyeuristic gaze within some of your recentworks, particularly in paintings such asToo slutty? and Mistaking the Peplum. Isthis perhaps a comment on the extentof uncensored imagery uploaded, or perhaps the narcissism of the individual as areection of society as a whole?

EO’D I am not interested in trying to makeany comments or statements about societyas a whole. My interest lies more in the

way people are photograph their lives,their surroundings and themselves. It isalmost like tracking new phenomena ofbehaviour in photography that seem tosurface organically from the chaos. In thatway it is more related to an idea of memesthan social commentary. With the mostrecent paintings my focus shifted to look at photographs that people have takenof themselves. So while there is a sense ofvoyeurism, it is a confused sense. I like thisconfusion.

Too Slutty?




SH Do you intend the titles you choose for your works as implicit textual references, assignicant as the image itself, or are they

simply addendum’s you attach once thework is completed?

EO’D All of the titles for the paintings comefrom the original titles or from the commentsor tags used for the source photo online. So

when titling the works I have always triedto nd a balance between keeping the

work open, providing a link to the originalcontext and also acting as a hook to thebeginning of a new conversation that,interestingly, often echoes the conversationthat happened in the comments with theoriginal photo online.

SH There is a particular strength in thepainting medium to make remarkable theunremarkable. Personally I nd some of

your most engaging paintings are thosethat depict completely un-consideredthrowaway shots such as the rear of thesubjects head. Which of the series are youmost excited about currently?

EO’D I am generally always most excitedabout the newest piece, so at the momentthat is a painting called Reection. But I

agree with you about these unremarkablephotos and with future work I am planningto push this idea of working with even moreunremarkable and throwaway images.These are very slow paintings to makewith a complicated, highly analytical andmethodical process and I nd something

powerful in that contrast of workingfor weeks or months on a large scalecanvas with a photo that is was madeby a complete stranger of a seeminglyinsignicant scene.

Detail :Too Slutty?

Reection

Wow My Stomach

O P24 I F 25




SH Where do you cite your artisticinuences?

EO’D Never an easy question to answer asI have quite a long list which is constantlyexpanding and changing but the two mainartists who have always been a stronginuence on my work, particularly with

regard to the painting process, have beenGerhard Richter and Malcolm Morley. Alsoover the past few years I’ve been quiteinterested by some of the new art comingout of China, in particular the work of XieNanxing. SH It is interesting to note that your background includes a Degree inProgramming and a Masters in InteractiveMedia, and yet your practice at themoment seems to be primarily concernedwith painting. Has any of your recent work taken alternative forms?

EO’D I have been working with a textbased form of drawing using computer character codes and also making ongoingexperiments with video and some purelyphoto based works. One recent photoand video based piece came out of acollaboration with a curator who agreed togive me all of the photographs and video

clips from his mobile phone and permissionto use or present them publicly. To dateI have only shown this as a photo basedwork but wish to redevelop it in the comingyear or so to include the video.

SH You have been based in Berlin since2002; do you nd the cultural climate there

conducive to your practice?

EO’DWhile it is great to have all themuseums, internationally recognizedgalleries, art fairs and a biennale on mydoorstep, the thing that interests me most

about Berlin is the vast grass-roots sceneof artist run galleries and project spaces.

When I moved there rst I wasn’t expectingor even actively looking for a place witha strong artistic scene. What I found hasbeen hugely inuential on and constructive

for my practice and over the past fewyears I’ve watched the art scene and itsreputation grow internationally. There arenow a huge number of artists living andworking in Berlin, some would say too manybut for me this community is what makesthe city very special. Over the past fewyears I have been involved in organizing

and curating a number of group exhibitionsin various locations throughout the city,

mostly in unused commercial premisesand this for me has acted as a great wayof being involved in the community andgetting to know artist whose work I admire.

Enda O’Donaghue is currently exhibiting at GalerieHunchentoot, Berlin until 15th October, his soloexhibition is titled ‘Is Feeling Lucky!’. For additionalimages and information on the work discussed,please see www.endaism.com

appetite

LAN

O P26 I F 27




Talks to Occupy Paperabout her practice

Empty, quiet spaces that seek to evokesilence and emptiness through their minimalordered forms these abstract paintings arecontemplative in nature. The surfaces arebuilt up through intense layering of colour over time to achieve physical depth in thepaintings. These layers relate to the way inwhich layers are built up and worn downthrough the natural processes of time innature. This process also helps to create asense of “ yugen” an Asian concept which

means “inexpressible depth” or invisiblebeauty” .This idea arises from the Japaneseaesthetic of Wabi Sabi which describesthe inexpressible beauty which things,especially natural objects, attain with thepassage of time. It incorporates the idea ofthe beauty of imperfection and irregularityor roughness and avoids ornamentation instructure. The paintings a re meant to beshown in a repetitive series though eachis created individually and works alone.

Sinead

Rice

Installation shot

Repetition is also used to convey a sense ofthe repetition used in mantra as a means ofachieving a heightened awareness and asa way of emptying and quieting the mind.These paintings originally arose out ofan Interest in Asian minimalism and areinformed by research into Zen Buddhism,Zen art work and the inuence of its

philosophical ideas especially in the work ofpost war American Abstract artists such asAd Reinhardt, Robert Ryman, Blinky Palermoetc. whose work reects the inuence of

Asian culture on American painting fromthe1950`s. At the root of the work is a senseof dissatisfaction with modern society. Thework arose out a search for a sense ofpeace and order closely associated withthe Zen Buddhist religion and its focus onmindfulness and meditation as a way ofliving and as an alternative to the constantstimulus and distraction of modern life.

Works on paper i, mixed media, 2010. 10 x 5 in

Untitled i, oil on canvas, 2010, 12 x 12 in

O P28 I F 29




FocusKieran HerlihyOP Tell us a bit about your academic background.

KH After I nished school I

attended Colaiste Stiofan

Naofa in Cork for a FineArt Portfolio course. It wasmy intent to go on to studyAnimation or Graphic Design.During my year I was pushedmore toward combinedmaterials and painting.Limerick and Crawford wererecommended for further study. After attending theopen day in L.S.A.D. I had myheart set on four years there.

Thankfully I was accepted.During rst year I got to try all

six disciplines but Printmakingwas the one for me. I spentthree years studying print in

Limerick and got my B.F.A.in 07. I was awarded theLimerick Printmakers Bursarythe same year. This allowedme to stay in Limerick andcontinue my studio practicefor another year and exhibitmy work in the Printmakersgallery in October 08. Thiswas my rst solo show within

a gallery space.

Occupy Paper30 Issue Four 31




OP What kind of themes andconcerns are explored in your practice?

KH My personal practice isa disjointed auto biography.I draw heavily from mysurroundings. The people Iencounter are a central pointfor many of my pieces. These

Figures appear individually andoften surrounded by some textand/or various iconographyfrom my own life experiences.I like to reference Nostalgiathrough pastiche. I’m not reallyconcerned with the effectgraphic novels; video games,pop culture and fashion haveon the world that surrounds us.I am more interested on thepoints of connectivity thesesub cultures create betweenindividuals.

OP Where does your imageryoriginate?

KH A combination of manyplaces. Media, fashion,cartoons, various forms ofgraphic art and games. My dailylife, memories, hopes, fears,dreams, daily encounters andconversations with both friendsand strangers.

OP I seem to remember your work having a very graphic and

sometimes grafti-like approach,is that something that hasalways inuenced you?

KH Yes, I remember copyingpanels from comics as a kid, thiswould have been one of theorigins of my style and where Ilearned a lot of my early skills.As a teenager my mother wasfairly easy going about how Idecorated my room and for afew years I drew and painted





direct to the walls and layers of band andlm posters were added to it. So I guessthat was a big start to the developmentof my work as it is today. Also I played inBands and Skateboarded so the yers

posters and graphics that came with beingin those circles were a huge inuence on

me. Grafti is a little bit d ifferent. I tried it but

there was none in the town I grew up in andI new nothing but what I saw in magazines.It didn’t make a huge impact on me at rst

and I didn’t revisit aerosols as a mediumagain until college. I have no interest inlettering and tagging but I am very drawnto the appropriation of space.

OP What can you tell us about your processin general? Give us some insight into how

you work.

KH Well I think to begin It would be best

to explain that I keep three sketchbooksat once. One is my draw somethingeveryday sketchbook. I keep this oneto just doodle in, I look at it like training,if you’re an athlete you must train andpractice everyday. This sketch book getsme in the mindset to work and its great at

just unwinding in the evenings. I just draw.Some work in it is relevant but the majorityof this book is just mark making materialtesting and little tests and experiments incomposition.





Book two is my ideas book I write everythingdown in it and I have it with me at alltimes. Some notes consist of one word thatmight b a reference to some research. For example the last entry was ten minutesago and it just says 8-bit Classics. It refersto some music I was listening to at the

weekend. I often scribble plans for displaying of work or areas within the townor cities I visit where Id like to do someStreet orientated work. There are pages ofresearch names and subjects also. Its fairlyspontaneous and rough but it makes senseto me and it has proved essential.

The third is my Preparatory sketchbook. It’sa beautiful leather bound that my sistersgot for me on my last birthday. In this I work through concepts for various works. Whatelements and images I combine. I paste,paint, draw and print directly into thesepages and often do many takes on the

same main composition. These often end

up being templates for larger works that Iwish to execute. I also keep a journal and Itend to add in excerpts into my work.

Currently I nd I am working almost

exclusively in these books. I work on verylarge sheets of paper that I construct

from cheap wallpaper backing but thesedrawings are also just intended as studies.I have been working like this for the past 6months and it is a new approach for me.

OP Are there any artists out there that youreally admire and maybe inuence you?

KH There are so many. I spend countlesshours on the Internet looking at work andreading about artists and exhibitions. I’dlike to give you a short list of some peoplewhose work I love.

Visual Artists; Derek O Sullivan, DesMacMahon, Gerry Davis, DanLeo, JohnnyWong, Brian Fitzgerald, Adam Neate, Zak Smith, Arthur Rackham, Takashi Murakami,Yoshitomo Nara, Brian Lee O Mally, DavidShrigley, Reggie Pedro, Fort Thunder, ChrisJudge, Pete Fowler, Rocksteady Kevie,Nori Kapza, Pu Pazi and For The Love Of.

Musicians: The Cast Of Cheers, AndSo I Watch You From Afar, Mogwai,Anamanaguchi, The Mystery Jets, AdebisiShank, 65daysofstatic, C!ties, Redneck Manifesto, tenpastseven, walter mitty andthe realists, BANTOM and MUM

What to Read: Norwegian Wood by HarukiMurakami, Slaughterhouse V by KurtVonnegut, White Teeth by Zadie Smith,Generation X by Douglas Coupland, Vby Thomas Pyncho, Calvin and Hobbsby Bill Watterson, Hitchhikers Guide to theGalaxy by Douglas Adams, All of Us by

Raymond Carver

OP Any upcoming exhibitions? What are

your plans for the future?

KH I am taking some time to work on afew side projects at the moment. I had thepleasure of meeting some great designersat for the love of in Castlepalooza thissummer so there are some Projects that Iwill be collaborating on.

For now my plan is to put my head down,make-work and walk my dog.





CCUPY

Disclaimer: Occupy Paper is free and makes no prot from the publication of any materials

found therein. Occupy Paper is a publication for the dissemination of artistic ideas and willnot be liable for any offense taken by any individual(s) resulting from any material containedtherein.All images in Occupy Paper are the sole property of their creators unless otherwise

stated. No image in the magazine or the magazine logo may be used in any way without

permission of the copyright holder.Submissions: All works submitted to Occupy Paper must be the sole, original property of the

contributor(s), have the appropriate model releases, and cannot interfere with any other publication or company’s publishing rights.

Occupy Paper is edited by Aoife Flynn, Occupy Space/Wickham Street Studios, Limerick,Ireland.

[email protected]

Issue Four Occupy Paper

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