Straylight Performance Art Weekender
@ Darklight 2009
8th October – 11 October
Mill Street Studios
Straylight Performance Art Festival
8th October – 11 October
The Dublin Art Mill
The Straylight Performance Art Festival presents a weekend of live performance art. Bringing together the work of 25 different artists, from established and internationally recognised practicioners in the field of live performance work, to exciting new emerging artists.The festival will take place over 4 days at the Dublin Art Mill. Straylight is the Darklight Film Festival’s visual arts strand and is curated by Niamh Murphy.
On Darklight’s launch night – Thursday 8th October, at 8.30pm – Niamh Murphy and Meabh Redmond will be showing their group performance Something Specials on Smithfield Plaza. This performance event will see 20 women standing in formation voicing their frustration with attitude. This is a substantial new piece of work from emerging artists Murphy and Redmond. The piece has been developed in collaboration with the twenty performers, a mixture of actors and non actors and is the result of a unique process of call and return.
On Friday 9th October Straylight’s Performance Festival takes up residence in the Dublin Art Mill. Friday’s program will focus on emerging artists, culminating with a live performance open to the public from 6-8pm. The artists are Linda Conroy, Michelle O Shea, Sinead Corcaran, Aoife Casey, Mia Mularky, Ciara Mc Keon, Roisin Bierne, Mags Geaney, Pearl Henegan, Anna Maria Healy and Niamh Creely.
Saturday 10th October, from 6-8pm will see a series of live performances shown in sequence. Each performance will be approximately 15 minutes in duration, and will be intersected by performances from Noel Molloy, Harold Offeh and Sandra Minchin. Roscommon native Molloy has a substantial international reputation and will be making an actionist piece with various objects including a clown mask and some mixing cement. Offeh is a London based artist: his work challenges gender and racial identity with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. Cork based Minchin will be addressing ideas on censorship in the contemporary world. Mags Geaney, Deirdre McPhilips, Pamela Myers and Lisa Walsh will be performing time-based sequential work throughout the evening.
Sunday 11th October, from 5pm – 8pm will be a living installation performance. This event will present durational performances as a group presentation. All of the artists will perform for three hours: this form of performance presentation is of particular fascination for the curator and strongly informs her examination of contemporary performance practice. We are very excited to include the practice of Aine Philips who, together with Jim Ricks, has devised the piece The Doctor Is In. Dominic Thorpe will be making 900 clocks while Tom Campbell will be sculpting a head from clay. Francis Fay will be Keeping Face, as Lisa Marie Johnson crushes fruit while singing Your Country. Other artists participating are Alex Conway, Victoria McCormack and Elaine Mackey.
All of these performance events are free to the public. Contact us at straylightlive(at)gmail.com to book your audience tickets.
Places are limited so booking is strongly advised.
Performance is omnipresent in contemporary art practice, and internationally it is in the throes of its second wave. Straylight will bring attention to this explosion of the live in the visual arts, highlighting indigenous artists alongside international practicioners. Straylight will capitalise on this abundance of homegrown talent to produce the first Irish performance art festival.
Straylight’s performance art festival is co-curated by the artists Niamh Murphy and Amanda Coogan.
Contact: straylightlive(at)gmail.com
More on Mill Street Studio HERE.
Watch Amanda Coogan at the Manchester International Festival HERE.
