Straylight is Darklight’s visual art strand; this year Straylight presents an array of challenging and exciting work by contemporary Irish artists, displayed at sites and venues in and around Smithfield. The Straylight program is curated by Niamh Murphy.

The centrepiece of this year’s Straylight program is the Irish premiere of Willie Doherty’s Three Potential Endings, presented as a site-specific installation on Smithfield Plaza. Comprehensive information on Three Potential Endings HERE.

The Straylight Performance Art Festival at Mill Street Studios 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. More on that HERE.

Straylight Programme 2009
(Artists listed in alphabetical order)

1. Crag Hill
by Anne Maree Barry
Venue: Light House Cinema

Crag Hill heaves to-and-fro. Through it’s expansive greenery comes a figure. A barefoot girl in a yellow dress walks towards the camera. She speaks about a road and a moment of clarity. Crag Hill explores issues of displacement and attachment to a particular event in the filmmaker’s life. Crag Hill is a surrealist infected story blending truth and fiction.

2. Threshold
by Chris Flynn
Venue: Light House Cinema
Threshold is a 3D animation with original music, presented using multi-planar projection showing three screens of concurrent action, as well as relief projection on structures on either side of the stage. Chris is a Dublin-based graphic designer who also produces music under the ‘Euphiophone’ moniker. More information is available HERE.
Duration:10 minutes.

3. We Invented Halloween
by Michael Fortune
Venue: thisisnotashop

We invented Halloween is the title of a three channel installation recorded on Halloween night, 2005, 2006 and 2007 in the artists family home in rural Wexford, Ireland. Each year, a central activity of the night involves the artists mother dressing up in an improvised manner with anything that will disguise her identity, and calling into his granny’s house, which is next door. Prior to clling to the house we see his mother getting dressed, with the aid of his sisters, who dress and undress her with layers of coats, socks, tights and plastic masks. The work, which involves long, hand held takes, follows her along the road and into the grannies house. In each recording his granny ignores the camera and welcomes his mother, though she is unaware of her identity thinking instead it is one of her great grand children. Each of the three films finishes when his mother leaves the house delighted she has fooled his granny once again. By revisiting this annual practice the viewer is offered an insight into the immediate environment of family life, human relationships and contempary ritual.

4. L.A.A. (Live Action Art)
by Terry Markey
Venue: Light House Cinema

This individual work is a section from a larger, ongoing project. The nature of LAA is to simply cause and create dialogue between two art makers. The vehicle for this creative engagement is a fight. The social effect of an event on a group often allows for open discussion and in the case of this work the event takes the form of an organised fight. Precautions are taking that both individuals are prepared and have agreed on a level of violence (don’t punch me in the nose and I wont punch you type thing). I meet the artist in their own regular work environment – I travel to them – and we discuss a good location for the action to take place. Depending on the artist, the fight usually happens in the morning due to light, as in the case of the work made with Sligo based painter Peter Thomerson. The title for this piece is Live Action Art.

5. ONE-OFF LIVE PERFORMANCE Something Specials
by Niamh Murphy & Meabh Redmond
Location: Smithfield Plaza
Date: Thursday, October 8th
Time: 8PM

Something Specials is a one-off all-female live group performance; a looped monologue created especially for the opening of Darklight 2009 by artists Meabh Redmond and Niamh Murphy.

Additional information will be available on-site over the weekend.

No events at the moment.