I am researching and mulling over the connection between memories and the Irish Landscape. I am currently creating Art based on this. I wanted to continue writing my ideas so that I can continue to refine these ideas so that I can better articulate my ideas. I wanted to document these new ideas and connect the current ideas to my previous work with the Shoah foundation,
Visual History Holocaust Survivors and the emotions that work evoked is a definite beginning of where my current ideas began to emerge, I worked in Frankfurt for a film and video Production company, my work was to record/film the interviews of holocaust survivors, who told their story. The impact of listening to and recording the interviews of people who survived the holocaust in Germany during World War 2, reinforced how fragile life is, while at the same time reinforcing how massive each life is, when that life is lost in a tragic and violent manner, there is a residue left with us and the landscape, I have written about my experience when working in Frankfurt and on the interviews in the past. So if you need clarification on this work go to the post my artist statement, which is a bio of my life and work.
Currently I am using the story of Brian MacNeill the son of Eoin McNeill. I am interested in his relationship with Benbulben in County Sligo. Brian McNeill died on the mountain with his men during the Irish War of Independence. There is a documentary that was aired on RTE about the life of Brian MacNeill and this story moved me so much, the documentary was titled The lost Son, it was told by his gran nephew Michael McDowell former minister for Justice for the FF party.
I was very moved by the passion he had when he told this tragic story. A story that was repeated all over Ireland at the time of the War of Independence and our civil war, the tragic aspect of the story is that so many men and women died or had to leave Ireland because they did not want the treaty between Ireland and England at that time, and because they did not agree they were destroyed so to speak, and their families were made to forget them thru shame and intimidation, it's as if they were hidden within the landscape died and buried and forgotten, the landscape held their pain and shame. I am exploring the impact of Brian McNeills(and all the others who died or had to be banished from Ireland) relationship with the landscape in particular Benbulben where he and his men sought refuge and protection from the Soldiers, who eventually killed (them)him. I want to examine the impact that tragedy had on our landscape. I am examining the human emotions left behind after betrayal, bitterness, severe pain from the loss of someone to death.but then their families were silenced, by fear and shame. Etc, I am using the landscape to personify these emotions and to somehow answer the why's to these emotions, the unfairness of Brian McNeills death, my blog goes into more detail. When I previously worked in the Film and Video production industry, I worked in Frankfurt, Germany for ACI - Medienproduktionsgesellschaft mbH, Herrn Achim Ehlert Ingolstädter Str.38 60316 FRANKFURT One of the projects I worked on was recording interviews of holocost survivors in Frankfurt and the outer towns.. All of the recordings can be seen in the smithsonian museums in Washington the interviews were conducted in 1996. I am extremely proud of this work and feel privileged to have recorded the interviews and met the wonderful and inspiring people who survived.
I had very similar feelings about the bitter sadness of people who have been victims because of others hatred, greediness the holocaust victims and the survivors stories was probably the first time I began to examine the questions I am now seeking answers to in my Artwork, and that is why I feel it is important to mention this experience when discussing my current work.
http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/alostson.html
